Traditional shoes - The Korea Times

Hwang Hae-bong demonstrates how to make traditional shoes in his house in Macheon-dong, Seoul. / Korea Times photos by Choi Won-suk

Fifth-generation artisan revives shoemaking tradition

By Chung Ah-young

Hwang Hae-bong grew up watching his father and grandfather make traditional shoes. But at the time, he didn’t intend to succeed his family’s business. He wanted to do something more promising than making traditional shoes.

But when he was discharged from the military service in 1973, his grandfather was too old to continue this job and his father passed away before his grandfather.

“When I was 23, my grandfather was already in his 80s. He couldn’t work by himself without my support. So, I didn’t have a choice but to succeed my grandfather in this job,” Hwang said in an interview with The Korea Times.

Hwang, who was then in his 20s, didn’t find making shoes in a small workshop an attractive job.

“In the early days, I felt as if there was no escape from my life. In the small workshop, I felt trapped, working all day long to make traditional shoes. I thought my life was hopeless and nobody recognized me. So, I frequently went in and out of the workshop,” he said.

“But I think this job was my destiny. It was inevitable,” he said.

His grandfather was the late Hwang Han-gap (1889-1983), the last master traditional shoemaker who served the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910). The late master, who was named an Important Intangible Cultural Property No. 37 in 1971, had made “jeokseok,” or red shoes secured with ankle ribbons for King Gojong.

His grandfather mostly made traditional low-cut men’s shoes called “taesahye” and women’s shoes made with silk with a cloud pattern called “unhye” until the early 1980s, during which the demand for those types of shoes were still strong.

His grandfather, the only artisan who possesses traditional shoemaking skills, had a large number of customers, but after he passed away in 1982, the number of orders for traditional shoes was dramatically declined.

“I had to start from scratch to sell traditional shoes,” he said. As a fifth-generation artisan, Hwang did the legwork, selling traditional shoes to new customers at hotels and tourist spots.

His son Hwang Duck-sung, 36, is learning shoemaking skills from him as a sixth-generation artisan.

“Without my son, it is hard to sustain this job because I am getting older,” he said.

“I took on the family business because if I didn’t, it would disappear. My family business has been maintained for the past five generations but was briefly stopped after my grandfather died. When I returned to the workshop, I revived it,” he also said.

Beyond the family legacy

Hwang learned traditional shoemaking skills from his grandfather, but he wanted to learn more. He continuously studies more techniques through old documents, and with the help of academic scholars, started restoring relics.

He reproduced “jeokseok” and “cheongseok” or the blue shoes with ankle ribbons worn by the queen during the Joseon Kingdom and “mokhwa” or men’s wooden-sole deerskin boots worn by both civil and military officials, which is portrayed in the Goguryeo mural.

With these reproductions, he received the President Award from the Korea Annual Traditional Handicraft Art Exhibition in 1999 and was designated as Important Intangible Cultural Property No. 116 in 2004.

After he established his reputation, he felt his life was finally going in the right direction.

His traditional footwear has been used in many period television dramas and films, such as “Untold Scandal” in 2003 and “Hwang Jin-i” in 2006.

“Many television dramas and films prefer to use cheaper, mass produced shoes because of budget problems. I understand that, but I hope many people would realize that the shows are a good medium for reintroducing traditional Korean shoes. It will be more effective to show our traditional, genuine handcrafted shoes through the programs,” he said.

Shoes as symbols of social status

Traditional footwear can be categorized according to height — into low-cut shoes called “hye” and high-cut shoes called “hwa.” Wearing hye and hwa was strictly a privilege of the elite class. Commoners were allowed to wear the leather shoes only at their weddings.

Traditional footwear can also be divided according to material. During the Joseon Kingdom, commoners wore wooden clogs or straw shoes in their daily lives, while “yangban” (noble class) and royal families wore “gatsin” or leather shoes adorned with flamboyant patterns and colors.

The artisan said many people mistakenly think traditional Korean shoes were rubber shoes, but those were introduced only in the 1920s during the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945). “This is completely wrong. It is a pity that the rubber shoes are thought of as representative traditional Korean shoes,” he said.

Dresses and ornaments, including shoes and hats, which thrived particularly in the Joseon period, show the wearer’s social status and rank in the Confucian state.

As the Joseon Kingdom waned and the social hierarchy system crumbled, more people wore the leather shoes, increasing the demand for the production of gatsin.

However, the traditional shoes gave way to rubber shoes in the 1920s and Westernized shoes in the 1930s.

Hwang emphasized that the most important aspect of making traditional shoes is creating the perfect toe tip and the curved shape on the edge. “Traditional shoes are beautiful. Shoes represent Korea’s true traditional beauty and elegance,” he said.

The typical form of hye combines the natural curve of the hem of the sleeve of the “jeogori,” a traditional Korean-style jacket, and the pointed tips of the “beoseon” or Korean socks.

Who is Hwang Hae-bong?

Hwang Hae-bong was born in Seoul in 1952. He is a fifth-generation traditional shoemaker. His grandfather was the late master shoemaking artisan Hwang Han-gap (1889-1983), the last traditional shoemaker from the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910).

He received the President Award from the Korea Annual Traditional Handicraft Art Exhibition in 1999 and was designated as Important Intangible Cultural Property No. 116 in 2004.

His traditional footwear have been worn by top actresses, such as Ha Ji-won, Jeon Do-yeon and Lee Mi-sook in many period television dramas and films, such as “Untold Scandal” in 2003 and “Hwang Jin-i” in 2006.

What are traditional Korean shoes?

“Gatsin” are traditional Korean leather shoes, which can be categorized according to height — low-cut shoes called “hye” and high-cut shoes called “hwa.” In the past, there was a division of labor in the production of hye and hwa.

Wearing hye and hwa was strictly limited to the elite class. Commoners were allowed to wear the leather shoes only at their weddings.

During the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910), gatsin were worn only by the “yangban” (noble class) and royal families, while wooden clogs or straw shoes were worn by the commoners.

According to “Gyeongguk-daejeon” (Grand Code for State Administration), the demand for traditional shoes was so high that there were 16 hwa makers and 14 hye makers.

Hye are made by pasting several layers of cotton or ramie cloth onto a cotton lining and covering them with silk to make the outer rim. This is then sewn onto a leather sole. It is important to maintain the shoes’ balance to prevent the tips of the shoes from twisting.

There are some 20 different kinds of hye and hwa from the Joseon era — “taesahye,” “oikohye” and “jeokseok” for men and “suhye,” “unhye,” “danghye” and “heukhye” for women. They are mostly made of leather, silk and other materials appropriate for each season.