Korean negotiators in white hanbok during the United States expedition to Korea (1871)
Korean name
Hangul
민복
Hanja
民服
Revised Romanization
Minbok
McCune–Reischauer
Minbok
Until the 1950s, a significant proportion of Koreans wore white hanbok, sometimes called minbok (Korean: 민복; lit. clothing of the people), on a daily basis. From birth to burial, many Korean people across the social spectrum dressed in white. They only wore color on special occasions or if their job required a certain uniform.[1] Early evidence of the practice dates from around the 2nd century BCE. It continued until the 1950–1953 Korean War, after which the resulting extreme poverty caused the practice to end.
It is not known when, how, or why the practice came about; it is also uncertain when and how consistently it was practiced. It possibly arose due to the symbolism of the color white, which was associated with cleanliness and heaven. The Japanese colonial view controversially attributed the Korean penchant for white clothing to mourning rooted in historical suffering. The practice was persistently maintained and defended; it survived at least 25 pre-colonial and over 100 Japanese colonial era regulations and prohibitions. It survived despite its inconvenience, as stains had to be painstakingly removed from the clothes.
Westerners, who began visiting the peninsula in the 19th century, viewed the practice as a curiosity.[1] Japanese people and a number of Koreans saw it as a frivolous and backward practice, partly because of the maintenance the practice demanded, partly because the maintenance largely encumbered women who did the laundry, and also because some of them believed that the clothes were indeed for mourning.
This practice has developed a number of symbolic interpretations. The rigorous defense of the practice and effort needed to maintain it have been seen as symbolic of Korean stubbornness. The Korean ethnonationalist terms paegŭiminjok (백의민족; 白衣民族; baeguiminjok) and paegŭidongpo (백의동포; 白衣同胞; baeguidongpo), both roughly meaning white-clothed people, were coined to promote a distinct Korean identity, primarily as a reaction to Japanese assimilationist policies.
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