Embroidery, Korea

Embroidery – Chasu

Embroidery appears to have begun from the prehistoric era when the human race first started to make clothing and Korean chasu has a long history. As times changed, it has been a way of expressing the people’s concept of beauty. Along with weaving and sewing, chasu was a method of cultivating beauty in very corner of daily life.

During the Chosun Dynasty, the subang (embroidery room) was exclusively responsible for the embroidery of clothing and miscellaneous objects for the royal family. Once they had completed a certain level of training and demonstrated a high level of expertise, women were selected to enter the palace to work in the subang. Interrelations among various artisan organisations and the subang provided the cornerstone of the palace chasu, which is also called kungsu.

The kungsu tradition produced delicate and perfectly executed embroidery. In contrast with kungsu, there was the embroidery produced by the common people called minsu. Minsu was a domestic skill passed down through the family. It was in the charge of women and reflected the characteristics of the individuals who created it.

Embroidered folding screen played an important role in the main events in a person’s life. They were widely used at congratulatory banquets, such as those for anniversaries, birthdays – especially the 60th birthday = and engagements, for mourning ceremonies and other rites.  They were not only used in the various rooms of the home, but also in temples and shrines, as well as in palaces, depots, guest houses and lecture halls.

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