Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1905-08-14
eEOUL'S QUEEREST.
A.. Eyed Woman In tho Grass
Green Cloak.

nae Eyed Woman In the Grass
Green Cloak.
.,-om my point Of view the prina-
.,d almost the only charm that
has for the newcomer lies IN the
NV ot the costumes that It pre-
-" avs George KEENAN,. writing
IT the capital Of Korea in the Out
- at Is not interesting architec-
-,Iv and it is detestably and dis
.1ngly unclean, but its street scenes,
.tcularly in the unmoditied parts Of
old town. are unlike anything to be
nd elsewhere in the east. | have
adv referred to the strange I'm.
..sion made by population clothed
o,,v IN white, to the grotesquely alb
4 headgear Of the mourners, to the
.lv naked women and to the effemi-
70 girIish appearance Of the boys,
IN Seoul there is another figure
,ch is quite as striking as any Of
10 and that is the one eyed woman
the grass green cloak.
.1nst as you are beginning to get &C.
tomed to the woman in white, With
handbreadth shoulder jacket, her
,chv skirts and her seminude ap-
rance, you run up against the Won
IN green. whose costume is bizarre
,ugh to give you a fresh shock Of
mise. Her outer garment, which is
that can be seen, may be roughly
ribbed as green silk waterproof.
n white neck yoke and sleeve cuffs
together in front by means Of
long ribbon tie strings. Two Of
strings are bright scarlet and two
reddish purple. and they hang
70 In front nearly to the ground.
4 grass green waterproof trimmed
Is scarlet and purple ribbons would
striking enough even If 1t We're
m In the American way, but Il Is
30 worn On the contrary, the
X yoke, or collar, is thrown over
khead. and the cloak is ORA wn around
= face so as to conceal all except Que
while the sleeves, which are mere
Inns without openings for the arms,
ng down from the wearer's ears
uthing more extra ordinary than this
= green burnoose, with its scarlet
purple strings and its dangling
Mite margined ear sleeves. would be
ID to imagine. and when in a crowd
street or market place you see a
en Of these polychromatic appar-
h and an equal number Of basket
sded mourners gliding noiselessly to
4 fro In a throng Of white robed
hts who are tanning themselves or
lok1ng long stemmed pipes you feel
b rubbing your eyes to make sure
ht you are awake.
These women in green are the wives
men who belong to what may be
aed the Korean middle class. and
hir costume is additionally said to
be had its origin in ruse de guerre
scnced by the women Of Seoul when
dty was attacked by the enemy at
ut In the absence Of all its male
enders. The wives Of the latter. 1t
md, caught up weapons. threw their
hands jackets over their heads and
mined Tor womaned) the walls, AMI
ne they fought so bravely, or made
Eh brave show Of fighting. that the
hacking force. taking them for men,
ioandoned the assault and withdrew.
In commemoration Of this achieve
H0t the women and their descendants
s6e permitted to wear as badges Of
nonor the jackets that they had
ufoVn over their heads when they
fsned to the walls. This explanation
ne green cloak sounds like story
invented to fit an observed fact, but
ne persistence of color in this partlc-
uar garment while all other clothing
sesaalns white and the transformation
Welul sleeves into conventional
Aams which now hang down from the
@s feeu to Indicate a survival Of
nm a..