• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.5 no.5
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• pp.481-494
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• 2003

The Gamrotenghwa of the Choson Dynasty is a unique genre of buddhist painting in that the destiny of the dead souls and the guidance to nirvana are expressed in reality. More than 50 of the Gamrotenghwa are known to be present, and the lower part of the paintings includes a wide assortment of folk customary scenes reflecting the social life style of the time when the painting was drawn, such as difficulties in life. public life, punishment and war. Changes in the costume of the people shown on the customary scenes of the Gamrotenghwa according to the time based changes in painting style were investigated in this study. The results are summarized in three points. First, the costumes of bureaucrats showed a tendency of preservation without any major changes in the painting. On the other hand, costumes of public and entertainer in the scenes were very close to those worn by the people at that time. The realistic description of public life in the painting may establish the value of the Gamrotenghwa as the historical documents. Second, the costume of the people in the painting showed a dual structure as the social positions; bureaucrats wore various official hats, large coats and belts to expose their social prestige. while the general public wore simple and convenient clothing which is divided into shirt and pants. The dual structure of the costume in the painting is in well accordance with that of the later period of Choson dynasty, suggesting that the customary scenes in the painting represent the social life style of the period. Finally, the customary scenes in the Gamrotenghwa are very variegated. which shows a variety of beauty of wearing even though they look coarse in a sense. The diversity of wearing beauty in the picture may contribute to the recreation of the beauty of shape in the new design of Hanbok.