Korea Han Style

Can you give me six words  with the prefix han  which are cultural symbols of Korea? That’s right, “Han Style” are six cultural symbols, collectively referred to as Hangeul (writing characters), Hanbok, (traditional dress), Hansik (traditional food), Hanok (traditional architecture), Hanji (traditional paper) and Hanguk Eumak (traditional music). So let’s discover Korea Han-Style!

Hangeul                                                                                  In 1446 King Sejong, with the aid of some scholars invented Hangeul to give the Korean people an alphabet that was easy to read and write . King Sejong, enthroned the fourth king of Joseon is known to have had a great passion for intellectual pursuits, love for his people and a deep interest in improving the lives of the peasantry. He is said to have always put his people first during his reign.  His head adorns  the Korean 10,000 won note.

The original name was Hunminjeongeum. The modern name Hangul was coined by Ju Sigyeong only in 1912. Han meant "great" in archaic Korean, while geul is the native Korean word for "script". Han could also represent  the Sino-Korean word "Korean", so that the name can be read "Korean script" as well as "great script".

      Hansik, meaning Korean food, contains less meat than most traditional Western or Chinese cuisine, featuring a wide variety of fermented foods and assorted vegetable dishes with rice. It is very nutritious and is gaining  popularity around the world for its health benefits. Traditionally, Korean table settings comprises of a number of side dishes. Family and friends gather around the table and share between themselves, sampling every dish with the exception of boiled rice and guk (soup) which are served individually. This  reflects the true characteristics of Koreans as being people who like to do  things together.
The must-have dishes in Korean cuisine are boiled rice and kimchi.  In a typical Korean meal, an array of side dishes is served all together at once. Kimchi is an essential side dish. In fact, it is a world-famous dish now and is  considered to be one of the world's top five health foods.  Some of the better known Korean dishes besides kinchi are bibimbap (boiled rice mixed with vegetables), galbi (seasoned ribs), bulgogi (marinated, barbecued beef), and hanjeongsik (a full-course Korean meal).

Hanbok                                                                       A hundred years ago, the hanbok was worn as everyday attire. Men wore jeogori (Korean jackets) with baji (trousers) while women wore jeogori with chima (skirt). Today, it is rarely worn, it is only worn on days of celebration such as weddings, Seollal (Lunar New Year's Day) or Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving Day).

The Hanbok serves as the traditional as well as the national attire of Korea. It is a very effective expression of Korean identity. It is often characterized by vibrant colors and simple lines. The Hanbok is not meant to be tight fitting. The Korean ladies look so stylish and elegant in their hanbok everywhere they go. Combined with fashion accessories they look even more beautiful. Below are some of the accessories I sourced from the KTO website

 Samo a hat worn together with dalleyong (a robe) by officials as everyday clothes

Gat a type of hat worn by men in the Joseon Dynasty. It was worn with po (a gown) by officials outside their homes

 

Nambawi a winter cap worn by bothe men and women to cover the forehed, upper neck and ears. Also called pungdaengi

Bokgeon a type of hat worn by men in the Joseon Dynasty It was worn with po (a gown) by officials outside their homes

Hoegeon Headgear worn by boys in the late Joseon Dynasty, similar to Bokgeon but the crown of the head is open and patterns of ears, eyes and beards are embroidered to show a tiger design

Jokduri a type of crown worn by women to complete a ceremonial dress. It was usually worn together with consam (a bride’s long overcoat) Hard paper and cotton filling are covered with silk and a cloisonné ornament is placed on the top.

Hwagwan a crown worn by women to complete a ceremonial dress. Adorned with butterfly ornaments five-colored beads and gold thread it is more lavish than jokduri and was mostly worn with hwarot or dangui

Jobawi a winter cap for women it is open on the top and its sides are rounded to fully cover the ears. It was generally made in black silk with tassels hanging on the front and back. Gems sometimes decorate the tassels. Gold gilt or beads were also used for decoration

Gulle decorative headgear to keep children warm. Mostly worn by both boys and girls age 1 – 5 years old. For winter use it was made of black silk. For use in spring/fall five colored thin silk was used.

Ayam a winter cap mostly worn by women. It does not cover the ears and some are lined with fur. A long daenggi hangs on the back, which is called ayamdeurim, and is sometimes decorated with jade or amber.

Dwikkoji an accessory pinned on knotted hair by women in the Joseon Dynasty It also had a practical use as it was used as an earprick and a stick to part hair.

Binyeo a rodlike hairpin used to fasten a crown or a wig and hold braided hair up. In addition to the practical use, binyeo had a decorative purpose and indicated the status of the wearer. They were referred to as yongjam, bongjam, jukjam, mokryeokjam, maejukjam or jukjeoljam depending on the decoration on the top of binyeo. The materials, shapes, sizes and patterns of binyeo vary greatly.

Cheopji an ornament placed on the top of knotted hair when women wore ceremonial dresses. It was often made with silver in the shape of a frog. Long tails were attached on both sides and knotted together with the hair. Royal court ladies used it everyday, but commoners wore it only with ceremonial dresses. It also functioned as a fastening for jokduri or hwagwan

Daenggi a ribbon used to tie and decorate long hair. There are a great variety including jebiburi, daenggi, apdaenggi, doturak daenggi and goidaenggi

Norigae one of the major accessories for women.The norigae pendant was widely used by royal court ladies as well as commoners. It is tied to the outer goreum (a coat string) or the waist of a skirt and gives a luxurious look to the entire outfit. The two major types of pendants are samjak norigae, (a pendant with 3 ornaments) and danjak norigae (a pendant with one ornament)There are many types of norigae including jangdo, su, hyangnang, horibyeong, samcheonju, baneuljip and soknorigae.

 Hanok, traditional Korean houses, are environment-friendly establishments as they are built with materials readily available in nature, such as wood, earth, stone, straw, clay (for ceramic roof tiles), and paper. The two major types of hanok are giwajip (houses with tiled roofs) occupied by the nobility and chogajip (houses with straw-thatched roofs) inhabited by the peasantry. The most distinctive difference between these two types of houses is the roof. As suggested by their names, the giwajip is covered with tiles called giwa . Such houses were expensive and not considered affordable by the common people. A chogajip has a straw-thatched roof, which was a bountiful by-product of rice cultivation. Although the chogajip is a rare sight today, some Koreans still live in giwajip. In order to build hanok, wooden pillars and frames are set up. Then, bricks made of earth and grass are used to fill in the frames. Floors are made of stone and earth.

Hanok plays an important part of Han style because of their unique, yet very scientific heating system called ondol.The ondol system includes a firebox below and flues that heat the entire floor from below. To accommodate the ondol system, the floor of the hanok was elevated above the ground, and rooms were made relatively small to maximize warmth. Since floors were heated and warm, people did not use beds or chairs and liked to sit or lie down directly on the floors, as is still commonly done today. Enough hanok have been preserved in many places that some Koreans still continue to live in them. In addition, Hanok Living Experience Centers have been opened in many parts of Korea for those who would like to experience living in traditional Korean houses.

These days, doll-making with hanji is popular. Dolls made of hanji , which feature a unique texture and the feel of soil, are very depictive of Korean culture. A hanji museum and dak paper museums are open at four locations across Korea .

Thanks to beautiful designs that highlight the textures of dak paper, it now has many new uses, such as wrapping paper, material for handicrafts, and letter paper.  Hanji is pasted on the wooden window frames and doorframes of Hanoks. Walls are also finished with hanji.  For the flooring, oil-coated hanji is plastered.

Traditional Korean music has many slow-rhythm, sentimental songs that epitomize the sad history of Korea . Such unique Korean sentiments had significant influence on Korean popular music and drama.

Traditional Korean music is rife with historical sentiment, typifying the suffering Koreans endured, and has had a great influence on Korean popular music. As a result of unceasing efforts to renew traditional Korean music, fusion art groups performing fusion music as well as classical Korean music have recently emerged. Many have attempted to integrate traditional style together with modern music. Such examples can be traced to the recent popularity of combining traditional music with B-boy technique. These initiatives have been successful, and traditional Korean music is fulfilling its role as a cultural code of Han Style today.

Traditional Korean music enjoyed by the royal families or nobility was quite different from that favored by the peasantry. While music preferred by noblemen eluded a sense of calm and elegance, peasants were fond of upbeat music with quicker rhythms, reminiscent of songs chanted while working. However, the most popular traditional music, such as the very famous Arirang, is sentimental and has a slow rhythm, symbolic of Korea's sad, traumatic history.

Types of Traditional Music

“Sujecheon”, a piece of instrumental music performed at the royal court
“Jeonpyehoemun”, a music piece played during events at the royal court                                                                                                                                     “Ujosamsudaeyeop”, songs with lyrics from poetry by noblemen or scholars: