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| A family dressed in hanbok takes a selfie at Gyeongbok Palace in central Seoul in this May 5 photo. Korea Times file |
By Kim Rahn
The wearing of hanbok, a kind of traditional Korean outfit, and the cultural conduct associated with it, has been designated as national intangible cultural heritage.
The Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) said, Wednesday, it gave the designation to "hanbok lifestyle" as it embodies Korean identity and values.
Hanbok lifestyle refers to a series of cultural practices, ranging from making the clothes and wearing them to the specific etiquette for its use on different occasions such as during rituals, ceremonies and recreational events.
Ancient relics and records, such as murals at tombs dating to the Goguryeo Kingdom (37 B.C.―A.D. 668) and clay figures from the Silla Kingdom (57 B.C.―A.D. 676), show people on the Korean Peninsula had already been wearing hanbok in the Three Kingdoms period ― a basic two-part hanbok consisting of a "jeogori" (top) and either a "chima" (skirt) or "baji" (trousers).
Most people these days do not wear hanbok as much as before, but hanbok is still worn as a means of showing respect and courtesy, and especially on occasions linked to family ceremonies, such as weddings, children's first birthdays and ancestral rituals, as well as on the traditional holidays of Lunar New Year and Chuseok (a Korean autumn festival).
"We concluded hanbok was worthy of being designated as a national intangible cultural asset in that: it has been passed down through generations in the country for such a long period; there are historical relics and documents proving this; studies of the attire abound in a variety of fields including its history, aesthetics, design, technique, marketing and education; the clothes are still worn in important family and ritual events; and traditional knowledge on hanbok lifestyle has lived on," the CHA said in a release.
Considering that hanbok lifestyle is maintained and enjoyed not by a specific group but by the general public in the country ― like the practice of making kimchi or the folk song "Arirang," which have both already received the national intangible cultural heritage designation ― the CHA named it as an item that does not recognize specific groups or experts dedicated to its preservation.
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