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.

For example, initially given by the Chinese court in ritual practice, successive gwanbok were more often than not locally manufactured in Korea with different colours and adopted into hanbok.

[9] After Gojoseon of Liaodong was defeated by the Han dynasty of China, four Chinese commanderies known as the Han-Sagoon were established in the region in 108 BCE.

Proto-Koreanic entities were in constant conflict with these states until Goguryeo eventually ousted the Chinese from those regions by the early 4th century CE.

The durumagi emanates from the long coat worn by northern Chinese to fend off cold weather in ancient times.

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.

[16] The tomb owner is depicted as an idealized official of the Eastern Han dynasty being seated in frontal position wearing a Chinese paofu; 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.

[16] 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 Gamsinchong (龕神塚) where the ancient durumagi worn by the owner of Gamsinchong tomb was red (or purple) in colour and had wide sleeves.

[17] [Tomb Owner] This figure is sitting on a flat bench under a red curtain, in a purple durumagi (a traditional Korean men’s overcoat) with both hands held inside the wide sleeves on his chest.

The influence of Goguryeo can be seen in Silla court clothing, which included a similar decorative apron with triangles but under their jeogori (top) in a more indigenous fashion.

During King Mun's reign, Balhae started to integrate Tang dynasty elements, such as the bokdu and danryeong into its official attire.

[23] However, due to the instability among mainland political entities, early Goryeo period had no official bestowing of gwanbok by an emperor.

'square collared half-arm');[30] without any visual illustration or unearthed artefacts of the banryeong banbi, a suggested modern interpretation of the physical appearance of such garment was drawn in a 2005 study by senior researcher Choi based on the description provided by the same poem.

[9] The Gwanbok system of Joseon continued the one used from the late Goryeo period and based itself on an early Ming dynasty court attire.

[32]: 116  During the coup d’etat of Yi Seong-gye, Joseon had created its own gwanbok style, such as the blue gonryongpo, a color representing the east.

[32]: 48  But among other countries in the Sinosphere, Joseon was ranked second after Imperial China according to the concept of minor Sinocentrism, known as So-junghwa sasang (Korean: 소중화사상; Hanja: 小中華思想; lit.

Little China ideology), with the Joseon dynasty equating Sinicization, junghwa (Korean: 중화; Hanja: 中華; lit.

[32]: 48 Even after the fall of the Ming dynasty when the Chinese empire was no longer ruled by Han Chinese people, the rulers of Joseon did not regard the Manchu as the legitimate rulers of China; instead, they viewed the Joseon court as "the only true, legitimate heir to [the] Ming dynasty".

[32]: 116  It was also the pride of Joseon to preserve Confucian culture and visually manifest it through the traditional dress system of the Ming dynasty.

[citation needed] Joseon continued to use the Ming dynasty-based gwanbok rather than receiving the Manchu-style guanfu, which they considered as being hobok and ironically barbaric.

[33] In the later half of the Joseon dynasty, as new gwanbok 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 danryeong, which can also be seen in later forms of wonsam.

'beam') of jade strings which was reserved for the Emperor, thus, replacing his yuanyouguan (원유관; 遠遊冠; wonyugwan) which was worn by the feudal kings.

[36] There were several types of gwanbok (관복; 冠服) according to status, rank, and occasion, such as jobok, jebok, sangbok, gongbok, yungbok, and gunbok.

However, the term gwanbok (관복; 官服) used in a narrow scope only denote the gongbok and the sangbok, which typically refers to the danryeong-style attire, worn by the court officials.

[12]: 55–58  It was worn by civil and military officials when the King would hold memorial services at the Royal Ancestral Shrine where he would perform ancestor veneration ritual, called jesa.

[12]: 55–58 The robe was a danryeong with large-sleeves which was made of black silk gauze; it was worn with a jegwan (mourning cap), a red skirt, a dae (girdle), a bangshim-gokryeong (a ritual token which was attached to the round collar), a husu (a black apron with embroidery and tassels), leggings, Korean cotton socks, and low-sided shoes called hye.

[12]: 55–58 The jeogui (적의; 翟衣), also called referred as gwanbok, myeongbok, and yebok (예복; 禮服; lit.

[12]: 53–55 During the Korean Empire period, when Emperor Gojong wore the jobok as his attire for imperial audience, he decided to upgrade his jobok to that of the Chinese Emperor's by including the tongtianguan (통천관; 通天冠; tongcheongwan) with twelves liang (Chinese: 梁; pinyin: liáng; lit.

[42] Following the fall of the Ming dynasty, the Joseon court decided to establish their own myeonbok system in accordance to their own national customs under the reign of King Yeonjo in 1744.

[42] Until 1897, King Yeonjo's guidelines concerning the Joseon myeonbok system remained in effect; some changes were later on implemented with the proclaiming of the Korean Empire.