The Gat, Embodying the Dignity of Classical Scholars

The gat has long been a symbol of seonbi, or classical scholars, known for their commendable character and well-groomed appearance. It is a cultural asset that comes in a wide variety of shapes with unique geometric features and aesthetics. It was originally used as practical headgear for protection from sunlight, rain, and wind, but evolved into an official hat that reflects the wearer’s social status with the variation of materials, shapes, and production methods. As shown by the expression “refinement of attire,” referring to the classical scholars wearing a durumagi (traditional Korean overcoat) or dopo (traditional robe for men) with a gat to be dressed formally, or dressing in samogwandae (traditional clothing of Joseon) and adjusting the attire, the gat was part of classical scholars’ attire that had to be worn at all times. It is unclear exactly when Korean men started wearing gats but it can be traced back to the Three Kingdoms period based on tomb murals. 

The gat known to us today originated from paeraengi, which was widely used by commoners during the Goryeo dynasty, and it developed into a more stylized craft during the Joseon dynasty. Therefore, heungnip (heuk-rip), otherwise known as a gat, was used by seonbi, or classical scholars, who valued refining their attire, and depending on their preferences, the height and width varied, and stylistic changes were made over the years. The gat is the culmination of the aesthetics achieved by combining different materials, including horsehair, bamboo, silk thread and/or cloth, and hanji (traditional Korean paper), and the essence of the structural beauty created with simple tools such as needles and iron. To make a gat with these materials and tools, the utmost skills of the craftsmen (chongmojajang, yangtaejang, and ipjajang) are essential. Chongmojajang, weaving horsehair into the shape of the crown, yangtaejang, making the brim out of bamboo thread that is as thin as hair, and ipjajang, adding a layer of silk thread or cloth to the crown and brim to assemble the components, need to work together to produce one gat. The gat, which was an essential part of Korean men’s attire, gradually declined in popularity due to changes in fashion and the government’s order for men to cut their hair short, and its legacy is being carried on mainly in Tongyeong, Yecheon, and Jeju.

Gannil Jeong Chun-mo 

Jeong Chun-mo, a bearer of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage gat-il, was born in 1940 in Yecheon, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province. He began receiving training in gat work in 1958 under Lee Jong-guk, the third-generation owner of a gat business in Yecheon. The following year, in 1959, Jeong worked at Lee Jang-wu’s gat workshop in Gyeongju, and in 1960, he moved to Daegu, where he learned the craft during the day and attended a night high school in Bisan-dong, Daegu. At the time, the landlord of the place where he lived for three years was Park Yeong-ui, who owned a large gat workshop. Park did not have the skills to make gats himself; he was a wealthy man who could afford to hire renowned first-generation gat tradition bearers, including Kim Bong-ju (1903-1977) and Go Jae-gu (1898-1979), and Jeong, who had been working during the day and studying at night, was able to learn the art of gat making from top-notch craftsmen in the largest gat workshop in the country. 

As a young adult, Jeong worked more than 15 hours a day making gats. In 1964, he opened a gat workshop called Ipjagongeopsa in front of the main entrance of Daegu Dalseong Park to produce and sell gats. Back then, people were looking to buy gats because they were an essential item for formal occasions such as weddings and funerals. However, with the oncoming wave of industrialization, the demand for the traditional hat plummeted, and Jeong was forced to close the business in 1973. In 1974, he moved to Chungmu (present-day Tongyeong) and began training under Kim Bong-ju, a bearer of the title Ipjajang, and became a student of Go Jae-gu, a bearer of the title Chongmojajang, in 1976.

Afterwards, Jeong invited So Mun-do from Geojedo Island to Tongyeong and learned how to make yangtae, or the brim, until 1980 when So passed away. Therefore, he acquired all the basic skills related to gat making, which consisted of different types of work such as making the crown and brim and putting the two components together. He began submitting his works to the Human Cultural Property Exhibition in its first year in 1973 and won the Participation Prize in the second year, Excellence Prize in the third year, and the Minister of Culture and Public Information Prize in the ninth year. In 1982, marking the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Korea and the United States, he was invited to exhibit his works and demonstrate the gat-making process at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. To promote the excellence and beauty of Tongyeong gats overseas, he donated his works to the Smithsonian in the United States (1982), the Vienna Museum in Austria (1983), and the Vatican Museums in Rome (1984).

Making a single gat drains all the energy from the body. Although Jeong has been doing it for half a century, he finds that nothing is more arduous and challenging than making a gat. After spending eight or nine months making a jinsarip, he often finds his eyesight weakened. Still, he cannot stop making them. This is because he knows that no one else can make a jinsarip. The brim he creates captures the beauty of the curves pursued by the traditional aesthetics of Korea. The translucent black luster of the gat reflects the dignity and poise of classical scholars, while the sunlight falling upon the delicately crafted brim and the shadows cast on the face by the sunlight filtered through the brim demonstrate an exquisite combination of openness and closure and are considered to be the essence of the Korean aesthetics that remain relatively unknown on the world stage. 

Works

- Tongyeong Gat_45×15 cm

The Tongyeong gat is considered an archetypal gat, as it is said that during the Joseon dynasty, Daewongun sent people to Tongyeong to source custom-made gats. Also, all citizens obtained white gats from Tongyeong to wear for Emperor Gojong’s state funeral. 

- It consists of a crown and a brim made by weaving bamboo thread, and silk or hemp cloth was placed over the brim before applying lacquer (otchil). 

- Tongyeong Eumyangsarip_41x15 cm