''Namaksin'' () are traditional

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

n wooden shoes made for wearing during muddy and rainy conditions. There was a misconception that these traditional clogs came not from

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

but from the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in the past, but in reality, there had been clogs at least from Three Kingdoms period of Korea, which were similar to ''geta'', Japanese clogs. Those ''namaksin'' were called "pyeonggeuk (平屐)". It is presumed that clogs of

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (; ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BCE to 660 CE. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. While the three kingdoms were in separate existence, Baekje had the h ...

went to Japan, and it became the origin of geta. Clogs in Baekje had three holes like geta, but clogs in

Silla Silla (; Old Korean: wikt:徐羅伐#Old Korean, 徐羅伐, Yale romanization of Korean, Yale: Syerapel, Revised Romanization of Korean, RR: ''Seorabeol''; International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ) was a Korean kingdom that existed between ...

had five holes. How people tied its strings in that era is unclear. In the Three Kingdoms period, there were two types of clogs: open-toes shoes, and close-toes shoes. As time went by, the latter became primary as namaksin. These shoes were worn by Koreans of all ages and social positions, usually in the rainy seasons.

References

* 인병선 "한 · 중 · 일 삼국의 고대 나막신 연구" 문화재 38 pp. 109–128 (2005) : 109. UCI G704-SER000010438.2005..38.003 * An Illustrated Guide to Korean Culture - 233 traditional key words. Seoul: Hakgojae Publishing Co. 2002. pp. 138–139. * "Culture." EPIK. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 September 2013. * "Dutch clogs." The Hutchinson Encyclopedia. Abington: Helicon, 2013. Credo Reference. Web. 29 September 2013. * DeMello, Margo. Feet and Footwear: A Cultural Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood/ABC-CLIO, 2009. Print. Clogs (shoes) Korean footwear Medieval costume {{shoe-stub

See also

References