Why did everyone in old Korea wear white?
If you have the good fortune to spend time looking over photos and videos of Korea in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, you will notice something quite striking: nearly everyone’s wearing white. There is a uniformity in the appearance of the people, marked by their plain, unadorned white clothing. Contrast this with the bright pinks, blues and greens we see foreigners wearing around the…
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Korea saw a striking uniformity in the appearance of its people, with nearly everyone donning white clothing. This plain, unadorned white attire stood in stark contrast to the vibrant colors of the foreign clothing seen in palaces and on screen in modern K-dramas. A quote from 1920 encapsulates this phenomenon: "While China and especially Japan are using so many different colors in their dresses, there is no such trend in the neighboring country, Joseon.
They wear no color but white. Even when they use a color, it's an almost colorless jade." The question arises: why did Korean people wear white, and what was the reason behind their being known as the Baekui Minjok, or People in white? Despite the diversity of clothing colors in neighboring countries, Korea was unique in its adherence to a monochromatic palette.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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- Why did everyone in old Korea wear white? koreatimes.co.kr
