Collection: Willard Dickerman Straight and Early U.S.-Korea Diplomatic Relations, Cornell University Library Title: Corean beauty Date: ca. 1904 Place: Asia: South Korea Type: Postcards/Ephemera Description: A young 'kisaeng' (singing girl) in full Korean traditional dress. She has a typical married women's hair style (jjok), which is called chignon with a hairpin (the 'pinyo'). Korean 'kisaeng', or singing girls, dressed up for singing and dancing. A 'Kisaeng's' social position was among the lowest in the traditional Korean class system. Their daughters also became 'kisaeng' and their sons became slaves. The art of entertaining of the 'kisaeng' is analogous to the Japanese geisha. These professional entertainers were highly trained in the arts of poetry, music, dance, and other forms of social or artistic diversion. eIn the early 1900s, 'kisaeng' did their hair up in a 'chignon' and wear shorter jackets (about 7-8 inches) than ordinary women - The skirts were cut with a full slit at the back and were fixed to the right side, while upper class women's skirt were fixed to the left.e Source: Kwon, O-chang. Inmurhwaro ponun Choson sidae uri ot, 1998, p. 140. Inscription/Marks: Pencilled inscription on verso of image: 'Corean beauty' Identifier: 1260.74.12.06 Persistent URI: hdl.handle.net/1813.001/5xs8 There are no known U.S. copyright restrictions on this image. The digital file is owned by the Cornell University Library which is making it freely available with the request that, when possible, the Library be credited as its source. We had some help with the geocoding from Web Services by Yahoo!
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Collection: Willard Dickerman Straight and Early U.S.-Korea Diplomatic Relations, Cornell University Library Title: Husband and wife of Corea Date: ca. 1904 Place: Asia: South Korea Type: Postcards/Ephemera Description: Obviously a well-crafted studio photograph, the couple depicted here (without any children) is composed and face the camera directly. Both in traditional Korean attire, the husband (an official) is seated, while the woman stands to his right. Source: Kwon, O-chang. Inmurhwaro ponun Choson sidae uri ot, 1998, p. 128. Inscription/Marks: Inscription imprinted on image: 'Husband and wife of Corea' Identifier: 1260.74.12.07 Persistent URI: hdl.handle.net/1813.001/5xs9 There are no known U.S. copyright restrictions on this image. The digital file is owned by the Cornell University Library which is making it freely available with the request that, when possible, the Library be credited as its source. We had some help with the geocoding from Web Services by Yahoo!
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From Pyongyang to Seoul, these vintage photographs serve as windows to the past, giving us a glimpse of Korea before its 38th parallel separation.
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These photos were taken in Korea in the late 19th - early 20th centuries
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Collection: Willard Dickerman Straight and Early U.S.-Korea Diplomatic Relations, Cornell University Library Title: Women going out Date: ca. 1904 Place: Asia: North Korea; Pyongyang Type: Postcards/Ephemera Description: The inscription imprinted on the postcard in Japanese characters indicates an outing of 'Pyongyang' women. The big objects over women's heads were used to hide their face and to protect from sunshine or rain. This is number three of a series of Japanese postcards on Korean customs. On the 'objects' worn on the head, W.R. Carles comments that 'There seemed to be a passion among the poor people for enormous hats, but those of the women were gigantic, and required both hands to keep them in position.' Source: First Encounters - Korea 1880-1910; edited by Peter A.Underwood with Samuel H. Moffett & Norman R. Sibley, Seoul, 1982. p. 112. Inscription/Marks: Inscription imprinted on image: 'Going out of woman' Identifier: 1260.74.09.01 Persistent URI: hdl.handle.net/1813.001/5xr8 There are no known U.S. copyright restrictions on this image. The digital file is owned by the Cornell University Library which is making it freely available with the request that, when possible, the Library be credited as its source. We had some help with the geocoding from Web Services by Yahoo!
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