The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1905-05-12
SEOUL'G QUEEREST.
Tic One Eyed Woman In the Grass
l.

TIC One Eyed Woman In the Grass
Green Cloak. ,
Prom ry point of view the princi-
Seoul has 70: the newcomer lies in the
novelty of tie costumes that it pre-
SCENTS" says George KEENAN,. writing
shout tie capital of Korea in the Out
look. 1t is not Interesting architec-
turaIiy. and it is deteStably and dis
Euatin@!v unclc&n. but its street scenes.
particularly in the unmoditied parts of
the Old town. are unlike anything to be
found elsewhere III the east. | have
already referred to the strange I'M
preston made by Il population clothed
wholly in white. TO the grote~iuely alb
surd hcaGacar of the mourners. 10 the
partly naked women and to the effemi-
nate GirliSh appearance Of the boys,
bat IL Seoul there is Another figure
these aEd that t.; the one eyed woman
i'll Tie Sra&5 green cloak.
lust IS Yea are beginning to get ac-
cuStUmcd to the woman in white, with
her haudbrcadth shoulder jacket, her
bunclly skirts and her seminude APP
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 Il green silk waterproof,
with white rccil 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.
~ grass green waterproof trimmed
with scarlet and purple ribbons would
be striking enough even if it We're
worn in the American way, but it is
not 50 worn. On the contrary, the
neck yoke, or collar, is thrown over
tie head. and the cloak is drawn around
the face so rs to conceal all except one
eye. while the sleeves, which are mere
shans. without openings for the arms,
hang down from the wearer's ears.
Anything more extraordinary than this
grass green burnoose, with its scarlet
and purple strings and its dangling
white mar@ined ear sleeves, would be
hard to imagine. and when in crowd
ell street or market place you see Il
dozen of these polychromatic appari-
tons and an equal number of basket
headed mourners gliding noiselessly to
and fro i'll Il throng of white robed
ghosts who are tanning themselves or
smoking long stemmed pipes you feel
Ike 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 additionally said to
have had its origin i'll Il ruSe de guerre
practiced 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 tor womancD the walls, and
there they fought 50 bravcly. or made
such Il brave show of fighting, that the
attacking force. taking them for men,
abandoned the assault and withdrew.
In commemoration Of this achieve
mcnt 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 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"