The Production Standard of Imperial Costume of the Korean Empire, Gyeon-yang

Before modern design appeared in earnest, ‘Gyeon-yang(見樣)’, the production method based on pictures or three-dimensional models was used for craft designs across East Asia. Gyeon-yang of imperial costume of the Korean Empire inherited the tradition of the Joseon Dynasty and worked as the production standard for systematization, standardization, and uniformity of the form, design, and symbol. Gyeon-yang became the formative design and production standard of crafts which reflected the national policy index and ruling ideas and the basis of confirming technical control of the state in the traditional society. The research scope of this thesis includes Gyeon-yang of imperial costume worn by empress, crown prince, etc. on which most Gyeon-yang relics are concentrated. Gojong utilized imperial costume by establishing the new clothing system as a means to flaunt the independence of the Korean Empire achieved through the succession of traditional royal clothing culture. The production of several pairs of jeoguibon, wonsambon, etc. for the purpose of enhancing the status of imperial family shows the dignity of imperial costume and the will to practice new system. The production standard of court dress in Gungnaebu of the Korean Empire lasted in the form of Gyeon-yang that inherited the tradition and was separated from general court dress due to the inflow of Western official uniform according to the political system of that period. Therefore, clothing system of the Korean Empire focused on the succession of tradition of Gyeon-yang, the production standard of imperial costume, and became the system which the design of Western official uniform flowed into. This thesis intensively analyzed on historical materials of the Korean Empire, such as royal protocols, annals, the Diaries of the Royal Secretariat, official gazettes, newspapers, etc.Gyeon-yang, the production standard of imperial costume reflecting national policy index and ruling idea of the Korean Empire, is a production structure where design and production are separated and therefore in line with the concept of design today. ‘Doan(圖案)’ is a neologism that originates from Japanese tradition such as ‘Gukgong(圖工)’ and ‘Anga(案家)’. The term ‘Doan’ was made by Noutomi Kaijiro(納富介次郞) as a Japanese equivalent of design so as to participate in Vienna international exhibition of 1873(明治 6). It means a picture of uijang(意匠) or goan(考案) for the production of artistic crafts, or pattern. The birth of Doan was the result of the transition of production system from craftsmen to machine and necessities to control industrial design nationally. The paradigm shift of the production system from Gyeon-yang to modern design is marked by its intensive usage in commercialization as the origin of industrial design with its purpose of nationalistic design. Modern design is the standard that distinguishes modern times from pre-modern times.A deep study on Gyeon-yang, the production standard of the whole crafts made by diverse materials-clothes, stone figures, metals, ceramics, woods, fibers, etc.- and its production system will be supplemented by future thesis. Through Gyeon-yang the production standard of intangible heritage and the essence of crafting culture, this thesis should ascertain the context and truth of traditional society, take a view of the production system of crafts connecting premodern times to modern times with the Korean Empire as the starting point, and suggest a vision.