Hyungbae Korean Rank Badges

Paul Georg Baron von Möllendorff.

This image made me remember an insight into Harold Keshishian as expert and connoisseur.  Two Chinese Rank Badges came up for sale at Sloane’s auction in Bethesda Maryland. The badges had a high estimate well under $2,000 and surged to over $8,000 with Harold winning the lot over a phone bidder.

Everybody wanted to know why Harold would pay so much for the two Chinese Rank badges which delighted Harold to no end. Because as he told me they were not Chinese Rank badges but rather the far more rare Korean Rank badges.

These badges were worn fore and aft as we see in this image of Paul Georg Baron von Möllendorff.  Baron von Möllendorff was born February 17, 1847 in Zehdenick, Prussia and died April 20th, 1901 in Ningbo, Zhejiang, China. Baron von Möllendorff  adopted the Sino-Korean name Mok In-dok while he was deputy foreign minister of the kingdom of Korea. He also served as the president of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1896 and 1897.

Baron von Möllendorff was a very important person at the Joseon (Choseon) court. Besides the historical record we can tell by his badge. One crane was a junior official and two cranes signify a senior official. It is often assumed that the ornate and more luxurious badges are the more esteemed but not so. The badges started out simpler and became increasingly more ornate as time passed. So the simplest badges are also the oldest.

Hyungbae Korean Rank Badge

Hyungbae the rank badges are properly called were first used in Korea in the first year of the reign of King Dangjong in 1453. Rank Badges with one or two cranes among the clouds denoted a civilian governed official as opposed to a military rank badge. 

Military Hyungbae Korean Rank Badge

Hyungbae were first used in Korea in the first year of the reign of King Dangjong 1453. I see them as a copy of the Ming Badges but I think they were originally from the Yuan Mongol dynsaty