Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1905-06-08
SEOUL'S QUEEREST.
1As Ons Eyed Womaa In the 0rass
Green Cloak

VAo VnS EYED WOma0 II the Af01o
Greer Cloak.
Prom my point of view the pr1nG
pal and almost the only charm that
Seoul has for the newcomer lies IN the
novelty Of the costumes that 1t pre-
sents,' says George kennan. writing
about the capital Of Korea In the OUt
look. at is not interesting archite.'
turally. and it Is detestably and d,
/ g,lstingly uncean, but its street scene
particularly In the unnodified parts OF
the old town. are unlike anything to be
found elsewhere in the east. have
already referred to the strange I'm
preston made by population clothed
wholly In white, to the groteSquely alb
surd hcadgear of the mournsrS to the
partly naked women and to the efiein
nate. gifliSh appearance OF the boys.
hut In Seoul there il another figure
which Is quite as striking as any OF
these, and that is the one eyed woman
In the grass green cloak
Just rs you are beginning to get ac-
customcd TO the woman in white, with
her llandbreadtll shoulder jacket, her
pearance you run up against the wom-
an in green whose costume is bizarre
enough to give you fresh shock Of
surprise. Her outer garment, which is
oil that can be seen. may be roughly
described as green silk waterproof,
with white neck yoke and sleeve cuffs,
held together in front by means Of
p, 4 .,t
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 1t were
Worn in the American way. but 1t 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
shaIns without openings for the arms,
hang down from the weaier's ears.
Anything more extraordinary than this
grass green DurnooSe, with its scarlet
and purple strings and It's dangling
"
hard to imagine and when III crowd
ed street or market place you see
dozen Of these polychrolnatic appar1-
tlonS and an equal number Of basket
headed nourners gliding noiselessly to
and fro in throng Of white robed
ghosts who are tanning themselves or
smoking long stemmed pipes you feel
IT, t,, III,
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 tradltionally said to
have had its origin in a ruse Gle guerre
practlced by the women Of Seoul when
the city was attacked by the enemy at
night IN the absence OF all its male
defenders The wives Of the latter. 1t
is said. caught up weapons, threw their
husbands Jackets over their heads and
manned lor 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
We're permitted to wear as badges of
honor the Jackets that they had
thrown over their heads when they
rushed to the wallis. This explanation
Of the green cloak sounds Ike story
invented to fit an observed fact. but
the persistence of color iu this part.c
ular garment while all other ctothiuS
remains white and the nsformati0u
Of useful sleeves into conventional
shams which now hang down from The
ears seem to indicate a survival "
come ancient and significant CUSTOM