Motifs
Motif · Plants
Tree (tree of blissful life)
나무 / 수목문樹木文namu / sumokmun
A stylised branching tree, the classic wedding embroidery, wishing for a flourishing family line.
- Wishes for
- Family lineage, fertility, eternal conjugal happiness
The most typical 수보 motif: a stylized branching tree in multicolored embroidery on wedding wrappers. 수목문보 is a pattern category.
History & tradition
Joseon households; wedding 수보, especially Gangwon (관동)
The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture calls the tree the most typical embroidered-bojagi motif: trees were held sacred, and on wedding cloths they carried wishes for blessing. The Met reads the branching form as a family tree and fertility; such cloths often wrapped wedding gifts. Gangwon-region 수보 are noted for making the wish especially plain.
Tree 수보 are among the most collected and exhibited bojagi in museum collections.
Sources for this entry
석류石榴seongnyu