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() is a Sino-Korean term derived from the terms (l=; ; ) and (p=guānfú; ). The term () is a collective term which refers to historical official attire, which was bestowed by the government court, including Chinese courts of various dynasties. The (labels=no) system was a court attire system in China which also formed part of the () system. This system was them spread to neighbouring countries and was adopted in Korea since ancient times in different periods through the ritual practice of bestowal of clothing. Acknowledgement through bestowed robes and crowns (labels=no) from the Emperor of China, who held hegemony over East Asia, would give support to Korean Kings and successors, as being the authentic rulers of their country as well as confirmed the political status of the Korean kingdom in the rest of the Sinosphere. The system in Korea was different for each kingdom and changed throughout different periods. For example, initially given by the Chinese court in ritual practice, successive were more often than not locally manufactured in Korea with different colours and adopted into hanbok. The , which was used as the uniform of court officials (including civil court officials), formed part of the system and was used like the suit is nowadays.
The rulers and the upper class in Korea's history adopted different kinds of foreign-influenced clothing in each dynasty, mostly from China's Tang dynasty, Song dynasty, Yuan dynasty, and Ming dynasty dynasties, while the commoners were generally less influenced by these foreign trends and their indigenous aesthetic continued to be seen in their clothing. Despite wearing foreign-influenced clothing, the rulers and the upper class still wore clothing that were indigenous outside of court. Under the dominance of the Han dynasty, Goguryeo and the little states () were bestowed attires and other miscellaneous items from the Han dynasty court. In the Goryeo dynasty, the system was largely influenced by the clothing system of other cultures, especially by the Han Chinese ruled dynasties, the Mongol Empire, the Liao dynasty (which adopted the ritual practice of bestowing from the Later Jin in the 10th century and later imitated the practice), and the Jurchen Jin dynasty. In Korea, whenever a new dynasty was established, the Korean ruler and his court would be bestowed official clothing from the Chinese emperor. This ritual of the Chinese Emperor bestowing official attire also included the official attire of the Korean Kings in the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties known as the Dragon robe.
A long type of po was introduced to Goguryeo and originated from the long which was worn by the Han Chinese in court.
Another form of robe was the mid-calf po, which originated from the North China, and was used to fend against cold weather; this form of robe was adopted by the Goguryeo upper class for various ceremonies and rituals. This court po was eventually modified and became the with no vents. According to Samuel Lee:
The court po was used for ceremonies and rituals, as well as in the royal attire goguryeo called the . And, what is now currently known as the forms part of the indigenous hanbok attire as:The Han dynasty influences can also be observed in the tomb murals of Goguryeo which were primarily painted in two regions: Ji'an (labels=no) and Pyongyang, which are the second and third capitals of Goguryeo from the middle of the 4th to the middle of the 7th centuries respectively. The Goguryeo murals dating from this period in the region of Ji'an typically shows the characteristics of the people of Goguryeo in terms of morals and customs while those found in the regions of Pyeongyang would typically show the cultural influence of the Han dynasty, including figures dressed in attire, as the Han dynasty had governed this geographical region for approximately 400 years.
The Goguryeo mural paintings found near Pyeongyang, such as the Anak Tomb No. 3 of Goguryeo dated 357 AD located near Pyeongyang, shows also strong influences of the Eastern Han dynasty which appears to have continued lingering in the regions of Manchuria during the third and early fourth centuries CE. The subjects and characteristics found on the murals are derived from the murals found in the Eastern Han dynasty tombs of China. The tomb owner is depicted as an idealized official of the Eastern Han dynasty being seated in frontal position wearing a Chinese ; the closest prototype of this mural painting can be found in the mural from the Yuantaizi Tomb in Chaoyang country, Liaoning, dating from the 4th century CE. The painting of the wife of the tomb owner wears a multi-layered Chinese attire, known as the (links=no), and may indicate the Chinese clothing-style of the Six Dynasties. The Anak Tomb No. 3 also exerted strong influences on the subsequent development of iconography, structure, and tomb mural painting techniques found in the Goguryeo tombs.
Traces of influences from the Han dynasty continued to appear in the early 5th century Goguryeo tomb murals located in the Pyeongyang areas, such as those from the (labels=no) where the ancient worn by the owner of tomb was red (or purple) in colour and had wide sleeves. It is also worn with a waist belt similarly to the native Korean --style.
Illustrations of maids from the same tomb are also depicted wearing clothing attire which are similar to those worn from the North and South dynasties of China to the Tang dynasty the clothing attire of these maids are different from the one worn by the maids in the murals in Ji'an. Moreover, Goguryeo, influenced by the Chinese, also developed the ritual of bestowing attire to smaller entities, such as Silla, which in turn did so to other smaller entities.
"Like the Mongolian style, it is possible that this Koryŏ style ''Koryŏ continued to influence some Chinese in the Ming period after the Ming dynasty replaced the Yuan dynasty, a topic to investigate further."The ritual bestowal of only resumed in late Goryeo. In an attempt to restore new cultural norms which they perceived as being non-contaminated by the Mongol cultural influences, King Gongming and King U of Goryeo tried to establish amicable diplomatic relationship with the Ming dynasty and voluntarily requested to be bestowed clothing from the Ming dynasty, which included their royal attire (e.g. the Dragon robe) and thus recognized the superiority of the Ming dynasty.
Even after the fall of the Ming dynasty when the Chinese empire was no longer ruled by Han Chinese, the rulers of Joseon did not regard the Manchu people as the legitimate rulers of China; instead, they viewed the Joseon court as "the only true, legitimate heir to the Ming dynasty". This belief was reflected in the Joseon , which continued to show the Ming dynasty-based clothing design. It was also the pride of Joseon to preserve Confucian culture and visually manifest it through the traditional dress system of the Ming dynasty.
Moreover, the animosity caused by the Later Jin invasion fuelled this notion which continued due to the Qing invasion of Joseon. Joseon continued to use the Ming dynasty-based rather than receiving the Manchu-style , which they considered as being and ironically barbaric. In the later half of the Joseon dynasty, as new could not be requested from the fallen Ming, it was instead manufactured in Korea which leads to its localization, such as the uniquely Korean U-shaped collar found in the , which can also be seen in later forms of .
The robe was a with large-sleeves which was made of black silk gauze; it was worn with a (mourning cap), a red skirt, a (girdle), a (a ritual token which was attached to the round collar), a (a black apron with embroidery and tassels), leggings, Korean cotton socks, and low-sided shoes called . The (inner garment) was made of white silk, the white neck band of the inner robe was visible under the . A red apron was worn between the and the .
In the early Joseon, the Ming dynasty bestowed the , a plain red ceremonial robe along with , a with seven pheasants, to the Joseon queen which was then worn as a ceremonial attire.
In the late Joseon, the system of Joseon was developed and was modified such that pheasant heads would appear on the back of the along and also added a rank badge to the . During the Korean empire, the was modified again and became blue in colour for the Korean queen which was now proclaimed empress; this blue also expressed the proclamation of Korea as an independent nation.
It was also the official court attire for the high-ranking military and civil officials; they wore it when they would meet with the King and was worn for important ceremonies. Examples of special occasions were the national festivals, or announcement of royal decrees. The consisted of a wide-sleeved, red silk gauze robe which was worn over a blue inner robe; a red apron was worn in the front of back. On the back, there was a , i.e. a rectangular-shaped embroidered insignia. To indicate the rank of the officials, officials wore ; the had gold stripes which would mark its wearer's rank.
During the Korean Empire period, when Emperor Gojong wore the as his attire for imperial audience, he decided to upgrade his to that of the Chinese Emperor's by including the () with twelves (l=beam) of jade strings, thus replacing his initial () which used by the feudal kings; he also wore the (), a red robe which was worn by the Emperor and the feudal kings.
The Korean differed from the worn by the Chinese Emperor as the King of Joseon were feudal kings. As feudals kings, the Kings of Joseon were not allowed to use the twelve beaded strings instead they had to use nine beaded strings. Moreover, they were supposed to wear a robe in their which was decorated with nine out of the Twelve Ornaments and thus their this robe was referred (). The nine ornaments on the were either painted or embroidered and they represented the virtue and authority of the King; the crown prince of Joseon on the other hand were only allowed seven out of the twelve ornaments. The of Joseon was thus was made up of eleven different pieces of garment and apparels, which included the (; a jade tablet), the (), the (; l=upper garment) which was the , the (), the (; l=big belt), the (; an inner robe), (), (; a type of decorative panel), (, ornament), ( socks), and (, shoes). There were also instances when Korean kings wore the reserved for the Emperor. During the years of the Yuan invasion of Goryeo, King Gongmin was recorded to have temporarily worn the of an emperor with the Twelve Ornaments and wore the with twelve beads. However after the establishment of the Ming dynasty, King Gongmin restarted wearing the of a feudal king.
Following the fall of the Ming dynasty, the Joseon court decided to establish their own system in accordance to their own national customs under the reign of King Yeonjo in 1744. Until 1897, King Yeonjo's guidelines concerning the Joseon system remained in effect; some changes were later on implemented with the proclaiming of the Korean Empire. When Emperor Gojong declared himself emperor of Korea when he appropriated the ancient Chinese dress system and wore a , which emulated the with Twelve ornaments and the twelve-beaded string of the Chinese emperor. The Joseon was thus localized and developed into its current form through time.
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