[KS] Choson period official dress

[David McCann]

But didn't the royal robes have to show dragons with one less claw per 
foot (c.p.f.)?

David McCann

On 3/15/06 11:55 PM, gkl1 at columbia.edu wrote:

>If Henny says so I guess I must've said something about this once,
>but it's easier to repeat it than look up what I said. Yes, ChosOn
>dynasty court dress was identical with the court dress of the Ming
>dynasty, with the exception that the identical dress and emblems,
>etc. were two ranks (in the nine-rank scheme) lower in Korea. That
>is, the court dress of a Rank I (the highest rank) ChosOn official
>was identical to that of a Rank III official at the Ming court.
>This means that the last two ChosOn ranks, VIII and IX, had
>distinctive Korean designs.
>   When Korean official embassies reached the area just outside the
>Chaoyang (East) Gate of Peking, they changed into their formal
>court dress and marched in a procession into the city and through
>the streets to their residence. It is said that those Chinese who
>still nourished pro-Ming (and therefore anti-Manchu) sentiments
>would come to secretely enjoy the spectacle. There are many stories
>in embassy diaries and other casual literature about emotional
>scenes with Chinese begging to touch, or even briefly wear, the
>Korean formal clothing. Other than this, the only permitted display
>of Ming dress that was permitted in Qing China was in the theatre,
>since the Peking Opera was essentially a Ming institution, and the
>historical character of the stories made the dress of earlier
>dynasties appropriate. One consequence of this is that when Korean
>officials went through the streets of the capital on their
>business, less sophisticated spectators would point and say, "Look!
>Actors!"
>
>Gari Ledyard
>
>Quoting Michael Robinson <robime at indiana.edu>:
>
>  
>
>>Dear List:
>>
>>It is a small point but I thought someone out there might be more
>>up on this than myself.  Were the robes for Choson officials
>>patterned after the regalia of the Ming?  I'm saying this in a
>>throw away sentence in my new text...but perhaps this is wrong.
>>I'm wondering about the evolution of official dress since we are
>>dealing with half a millennium here.
>>
>>Mike Robinson
>>    
>>
>
>
>  
>
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