Mun Ik-jeom Brings Cotton to Korea

Mun Ik-jeom, returning from an embassy to the Yuan, brought cotton seeds, and his father-in-law Jeong Cheon-ik grew them successfully; cotton cloth soon transformed how ordinary people dressed.

Returning from the Yuan in 1363 with cotton seeds (the tale that he hid them in a brush handle is a later embellishment), Mun planted them with his father-in-law Jeong Cheon-ik at Danseong in Sancheong. Jeong is said to have also made the cotton gin and spinning wheel. In Joseon, cotton cloth became the main textile and even served as currency.