The Costume, the Pattern of Joseon Dynasty: Government Officials' Uniform, Black Dallyeong

Gyeonggi Province Museum

Gyeonggi Provincial Museum

Portrait of Hong Myeong-ho (1799)Gyeonggi Province Museum

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Gyeonggi Provincial Museum, we came up with the special exhibition “The Costume, the Pattern of Joseon Dynasty”. The exhibition, named after the costume and design of the Joseon Dynasty.“The Costume”consists of five parts: part one is ‘Officials' Ceremonial Attire, Red Jobok’, part two is ‘Officials' Uniform, Black Dallyeong’, part three is ‘Confucian Scholars’ Ceremonial Robe, White Sim-ui’, part four is ‘Women’s Ceremonial Robe, Green Wonsam’, and the last part shows ‘Men and Women’s Vest, Baeja’. And also, discolored costumes from the original attire were splendidly recreated by Korean costume professionals. In “The Pattern”, one of the relics in the Gyeonggi Provincial Museum, displays the various and distinctive patterns of Joseon Dynasty, through which our ancestors pursued beauty and their desires to express due courtesy with full dress code including a variety of designs.We sincerely hope that you can feel and appreciate the beauty of Korean clothing in a new light.

Dallyeong, Official Robe(Reproduced)Gyeonggi Province Museum

2. Officials' Uniform, Black Dallyeong

Dallyeong is named after a round collar shape. It was an official’s daily uniform, but non-officials also wore it as their bridal wear during the Joseon dynasty. The attire consisted of Dallyeong, Samo, Poomdae, and Hwa. The general public were not allowed to wear this robe, but they could especially wear it during their wedding ceremony. In discussing affairs of the state in the reign of 28 years of King Sejong, black Dallyeong was considered more formal compared to red Dallyeong. Black Dallyeong was called Sangbok, and red Dallyeong was called Sibok. Hyungbae - insignia attached to the chest and back of the officials’s everyday uniform - was attached only to black Dallyeong to indicate wearer’s rank. According to Gab-sin-ui-je-gae-hyeok - dress reform carried out in May 1884, the 21st year during the reign of King Gojong - only black Dallyeong was to be allowed to wear and red Dallyeong was no longer allowed. In 1900, officials' everyday uniform was changed into the western-style official uniform. 

Dallyeong, Official Robe(Reproduced)Gyeonggi Province Museum

It is a one layer Dallyeong made of cloud-patterned silk, with the lower part of the outer collar, Angil, and the right sleeve lost, and has a tacking mark with a Hyungbae on the chest and back. The collar width is narrow, the neck is shallowly exposed, the sleeve seam gets narrower as it gets closer to the cuff, and the armpit garment of the side hem is in a form of a small pleat on the inside and a big pleat on the outside, with the top part of the big pleat folded diagonally inwards, having the typical form of Dallyeong of early Joseon Dynasty.

Dallyeong, Official Robe, From the collection of: Gyeonggi Province Museum
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Dallyeong, Official Robe, From the collection of: Gyeonggi Province Museum
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Dallyeong, Official Robe(Reproduced)Gyeonggi Province Museum

It is made of plain-patterned silk, and the color has strong traces of dark blue, which is used for Dallyeong for public duty. There is a 'Baekhan (silver pheasanat) Hyungbae', horizontal 38cm and vertical 34cm, attached to the chest and back of the Dallyeong, and the Baekhan Hyungbae corresponds to a civil official Dangsang-gwan 3rd rank at the time. The sleeve has a curved form sleeve-seam, narrow near the armpit and having a wide breadth, and the early 17th century characteristic can be seen of the upper part of the armpit garment of the side hem reaching upwards diagonally.

Dallyeong, Official Robe, From the collection of: Gyeonggi Province Museum
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Dallyeong, Official Robe, From the collection of: Gyeonggi Province Museum
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Dallyeong, Official Robe(Reproduced)Gyeonggi Province Museum

It is made of cloud-patterned silk, and is presumed to have been a dark blue, but it has lost its original color because it was left for a long time inside a grave, and only has traces of blue left. It has a 'Woonhak (cloud and crane) Hyungbae(운학雲鶴흉배)', horizontal 36cm and vertical 37.5cm, attached to the chest and back of the Dallyeong. The crane pattern of the Hyungbae appeared in early 17th century and was used as a Hyungbae for civil officials until the 1900s, when the Dallyeong attire was discontinued. The sleeve has a wide breadth, and as both the front and back armpit garment were held to attach an external coat string, the armpit garment heads backward naturally. This can be seen as the transitional characteristic of the 18th century when the armpit garment of the side hem was yet to be completely attached to the back.

Dallyeong, Official Robe(Reproduced)Gyeonggi Province Museum

The outer cloth was made of cloud-patterned silk and the inner cloth was made of lotus flower-patterned silk, and it is presumed to have been a dark green. It has a 'Woonhak (cloud and crane) Hyungbae', horizontal 30.8cm and vertical 34cm, attached to the chest and back of the Dallyeong. In this period, differentiation of rank came not from the number of animals but from the type of animal pattern, and the crane Hyungbae symbolizes the civil official Dangsang-gwan. The side hem armpit garment is fixed on the back with a button knot, which is different from the forms of the early Joseon Dynasty. Euiwongun Lee Hyuk is the grandson of Inpyeong Daegun, the third son of King In-jo.

Dallyeong, Official Robe, From the collection of: Gyeonggi Province Museum
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Dallyeong, Official Robe, From the collection of: Gyeonggi Province Museum
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Dallyeong, Official Robe, From the collection of: Gyeonggi Province Museum
Show lessRead more
Dallyeong, Official Robe, From the collection of: Gyeonggi Province Museum
Show lessRead more
Dallyeong, Official Robe, From the collection of: Gyeonggi Province Museum
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Dallyeong, Official RobeGyeonggi Province Museum

It is a Dallyeong made of plain-patterned silk, and a Gapoomdae with pictures drawn on plain-patterned silk was excavated together. It has a 'Baekhan (silver pheasant) Hyungbae', horizontal 36cm and vertical 35cm, attached to the chest and back of the Dallyeong, and as the 『Sokdaejeon』1746 prescribes that the civil official Hyungbae of Dangsang-gwan is of Woonhak, and Dangha-gwan is of Baekhan, the crane Hyungbae symbolizes the civil official Dangha-gwan. Jikryeong is overlapped in the Dallyeong, and the coat string, armpit garment, and Doryeon are stitched together, while the armpit garment was fastened with a knot after being folded backwards. Shim Ik-chang is the fourth son of Shim Ji-won 1593-1662, who served as a Youngeuijeong.

Dallyeong, Official RobeGyeonggi Province Museum

Dallyeong, Official Robe, From the collection of: Gyeonggi Province Museum
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Dallyeong, Official Robe, From the collection of: Gyeonggi Province Museum
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Portrait of Hong Myeong-ho (1799)Gyeonggi Province Museum

Portrait of Hong Myeong-ho

It is a portrait depicting the officials' Dallyeong attire of Dangsang-gwan of the late 18th century, and it can be known that it is a picture drawn at age 64 in 1799 and recorded at age 75 in 1810 because it is written on the top right of the screen, "Son Am 64 years, drawn at Sim Gi's Seshimjae in lunar calendar August of Gimi year. Written personally at the age of 75 in Gyeongoh year." The tip of the Samo is high, and there is a pattern on the horn on each side. The Dallyeong is a dark green with a cloud pattern, and there is a 'Ssanghak (double crane) Hyungbae' on the chest,

which symbolizes the civil official Dangsang-gwan. The double cranes of the Hyungbae are usually holding a Youngji mushroom in their mouths, but in the portrait of Hong Myeong-ho, they can be seen holding a peach twig in their mouths. The sleeve is wide, and the side hem armpit garment is fixed on the back. An indigo Jikryeong can be seen through the side openings of the Dallyeong. He is wearing a Seodae for 1st rank officials on the waist, and black shoes.

Samo, Official HatGyeonggi Province Museum

Samo, Official Hat

It is an official hat worn when wearing a Dallyeong. The Samo has a low front and a high back, and has two horns (Yang-gak) on the left and right. The height of the Mojeong and the shape of the Yang-gak were different depending on the era. In the early Joseon Dynasty, the Mojeong was low and the Yang-gak was long and pointed downwards, but in the late Joseon Dynasty, the Mojeong was high and the Yang-gak were short and horizontal. The『Sokdaejeon』1746 prescribed that officials of Dangsang 3rd rank and above wear Munsagak made of patterned silk, and officials of Dangha 3rd rank and below wear Dansagak made of plain silk.

Credits: Story

The exhibition 'The costume, the Pattern of Joseon Dynasty' consists of five parts. Explore more about 'confucian scholars' ceremonial Robe, white sim-ui' in the third part.

Director : Jun, Bo Sam
Exhibition planning : Kim, Joon Kwon / Jeong, Mi Sook
Exhibition support : Lee, Sung Jun / Hur, Mee Hyung / Lee, Ji Hee / Jo, Hyun Yi /
Lee, Young Eun / Jeon, Ik Whan / Heo, Jung Ae / Sim, Kyeong Bo / Lee, Suck Ju / Pak, Young Hee / Choi, Yong Hak / Kim, Choong Sun

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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