Cheollik

 A men’s po (robe or coat) imported from the Yuan Dynasty of China (1271-1368) which was worn from the mid-Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392) as everyday wear or as military uniform (yungbok).

Although it is difficult to pinpoint when the cheollik was first imported to Korea, the oldest extant record that contains mention of cheollik is the Goryeo song Jeongseokga (Song of the Gong and Chimes). In the poem the wife of a solider headed for battle cuts out a cheollik with iron and sews it using wire. This old text suggests that the cheollik was introduced after the mid-Goryeo period. A pictorial source is Samjaedohoe (Collected Illustrations of the Three Realms), which depicts a Korean dressed in the cheollik. A child’s yoseoncheollik is currently preserved at Haeinsa Temple.

Throughout the Joseon Dynasty, cheollik were worn by people from all walks of life, from kings to shamans. It was worn on a variety of occasions as a military uniform, as everyday dress, and as an undergarment. In the section on miscellaneous bans in the “Book of Rites, ” Gyeongguk daejeon (Grand Code of State Administration) stipulates restrictions on cheollik according to social position: “The high-born should wear cheollik and skirts that do not exceed 13 pok [pok means one width of cloth], and ordinary people should not wear fabric that exceeds nine seung [counting unit for warp threads in fabric] and particularly, their cheollik and skirts should not exceed 12 pok.”

Among a set of everyday attire for the king sent by the Ming Dynasty in 1444 (26th year of the reign of King Sejong) dopo and cheollik were included along with gollyongpo. The Joseon government also provided its officials with a set of clothes, including dallyeong, dapo, and cheollik, which suggests that the cheollik was worn as an undergarment. The cheollik was usually worn as an undergarment but in times of emergency the outer robes were taken off and the cheollik under them functioned as a military uniform. This was a measure designed to ensure that officials did not let their guard down even during peacetime.
Wonghaeng eulmyo jeongni uigwe, a state record of King Jeongjo’s visit to the tomb of his father and the 60th birthday celebration for his mother, Lady Hyegyeong, mentions that the king wore gollyeongcheollik as he left the palace. Here gollyongcheollik refers to a cheollik robe with rank badges (yongbo) attached to the front and the back, and both shoulders, similar in style to the king’s official robe gollyongpo and King Cheoljong’s military uniform.

The cheollik is a traditional garment composed of an upper garment (sangui) with a pleated skirt (hasang) attached. When it has a visible waistline it is called yoseoncheollik. The basic cheollik has a straight collar and the sleeves are either detachable or connected. The detachable sleeves are attached with knotted buttons, strings, or tacking. The connected sleeves cannot be taken off, hence cheollik with such sleeves are inherently long-sleeved robes. The traditional cheollik provides important standards for distinguishing periods according to changes in the ratio of the length of the top to the skirt as well as changes in the collar, sleeves, goreum (chest ties), and pleats. Going into the latter late Joseon Dynasty, the skirt became longer than the upper part and the collar changed from a straight one to a rounded one. The sleeve openings of the cheollik were straight from shoulder to wrist, which means that the width at the shoulder was almost equal with the width at the sleeve ends. Over time, however, the middle section of the sleeves became wider. The chest ties were originally short and narrow but became longer and wider, while the pleats in the skirt grew from fine pleats 0.1-0.2 cm wide to bigger pleats around 1.5-3 cm wide.