The Press., 1905-04-05
SEOUL'S QUEEREST.
The One Eyed Woman I'm the Gras
Green Cloak.

1MC VMS Gy@0 woman Am &h@ Grass
Green Cloak.
"From my point of view the princi-
pal and almost the only charm that
Seoul has for the newcomer lies in the
novelty Of the costumes that it pre-
sents," says George Kennan, writing
about the capital Of Korea in the Out
look. 1T is not interesting architec-
turally, and it is detestably and dis
gust1ngly unclean, but its street scenes,
particularly in the unmodifled parts of
the old town, are unlike anything to be
fouEd elsewhere in the east. I have
already referred to the strange i'm
preston made by a population clothed
wholly in white, to the grotesquely alb
surd headgear Of the mourners, to the
partly naked women and to the effem1-
nate, girlish appearance of the boys,
but in Seoul there is another figure
which Is quite as striking as any of
these, and that is the one eyed woman
in the grass green cloak.
"Just as you are beginning to get ac-
customed to the woman in white, with
her handbreadth shoulder jacket, her
bunchy skirts and her seminude ap-
pearance, you run up against the wom-
an IN green, whose costume is bizarre
enough to give you a fresh shock Of
surprise. Her outer garment, which is
all that can be seen, may be roughly
described as a green silk waterproof,
with white neck yoke and sleeve cuffs,
held together in front by means of
four long ribbon tie strings. Two Of
these strings are bright scarlet and two
dull, reddish purple, and they hang
down in front nearly to the ground.
"A grass green waterproof trimmed
with scarlet and purple ribbons would
be striking enough even If it were
worn in the American way, but it is
not so worn. On the contrary, the
neck yoke, or collar, is thrown over
the head, and the cloak is drawn around
the face SO as to conceal all except one
eye, while the sleeves, which are mere
shams, without openings for the arms,
hang down from the Wearers ears.
Anything more extraordinary than this
grass green burnoose, with it's scarlet
and purple strings and its dangling
white margined ear sleeves, would be
ed street or market place you see a
dozen Of these polychromatic appari-
tons and an equal number Of basket
headed mourners gliding noiselessly to
and fro in a throng Of white robed
ghosts who are tanning themselves or
smoking long stemmed pipes you feel
like rubbing your eyes to make sure
that you are awake.
'"These women in green are the wives
Of men who belong to what may be
called the Korean middle class, and
their costume is traditionally said to
have had it's origin in ruse de guerre
practiced by the women Of Seoul when
the city was attacked by the enemy at
nissat IN the absence Of all its male
defenders. The wives Of the latter, it
is said, caught up weapons, threw their
husbands jackets over their heads and
manned Tor wOmaned) the walls, and
there they fought SO bravely, or made
such brave show Of fighting, that the
attacking force, taking them for men,
abandoned the assault and withdrew.
''In commemoration Of this achieve
ment the women and their descendants
were permitted to wear as badges Of
honor the jackets that they had
thrown over their heads when they
rushed to the walls. This explanation
Of the green cloak sounds like a story
invented to fit an observed fact, but
the persistence of color in this partic-
ular garment while all other clothing
remains white and the transformation
Of useful sleeves into conventional
shams which now hang down from the
ears seem to indicate a survival Of
some ancient and significant custom"