Mituri

Mituri
Korean name
Hangul	미투리
Revised Romanization	mituri
McCune–Reischauer	mituri

Mituri (Korean: 미투리) are traditional Korean woven shoes. They could be made using a variety of techniques and materials; some styles were seen as more luxurious, and therefore reserved for the upper class, although both lower and upper-class people wore the shoes. The shoes could be dyed in a variety of patterns and colors.^[1]

They are very similar, especially in form, to jipsin, which are also traditional Korean woven shoes. The difference lies primarily in materials; jipsin are typically made of straw, while mituri are made from a variety of materials, including hemp,^[1] Cyperus exaltatus (왕골), or cattail.^[2]

The shoes wore down easily; when going on a long journey, people would bring along extra pairs of mituri, depending on the expected amount of walking needed.^[2]

A famous example of mituri is those from the tomb of Lee Eung-tae. The shoes were woven using a mixture of hemp and human hair; they were created ritually by Lee's wife, likely to pray for Lee's recovery from illness.^[2][3]

See also

• List of Korean clothing
• Waraji – straw sandals from Japan

References

1. "미투리". Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (in Korean). Retrieved 2023-12-31.
2. "우리역사넷". contents.history.go.kr. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
3. 이, 병학 (2009-10-09). "420년 만에 환생한 애절한 '사랑과 영혼' 생생". The Hankyoreh (in Korean). Retrieved 2023-12-27.