To every man his headgear

If you have ever watched a so-called historical K-drama, you may have observed that in Chŏson Korea (1392-1910) it was uncommon for people to cut their hair, even for men! The longer the hair, the better. This was not just the fashion of the time but had a symbolic meaning. Indeed, as with most things from this period, donning long hair was derived from Confucianism. The Confucian teaching of shinch'ebalbu sujibumo 신체발부 수지부모 (身體髮膚 受之父母) states that your body comes from your parents and therefore shouldn’t be wounded or damaged. Hair is an important part of your ancestor’s dowry and should therefore be left uncut.

After marriage, men commonly started to wear their long hair in a topknot or sangt'u 상투. This topknot was part of the coming-of-age ceremony. After this ceremony the boy, no matter what age, was recognized as a man. From then on the new man was permitted and even obliged to wear a topknot and a hat. The changing of clothes and hairstyle is the material embodiment of the social implications of this ceremony.contents.history.go.kr/mobile/tz/view.do?levelId=tz_b34 After the ceremony, the man was from then on expected to invest in his duties as the man in the family but also in society. This means that he was acknowledged by his ancestors’ spirits as the one to honor and protect his family members and who has to help by offering and praying to his ancestors. In society the man was expected to be responsible and considerate towards others.koreatimes.co.kr/www/opinion/2020/01/715_281346.html

When going out, people usually wore a traditional hat or gat. The manggŏn, or headband, was tied around the forehead to hold the gat in place and keep the man’s hair well-arranged. As a man, hair falling on the shoulder was seen as impolite and unrefined. The headband itself was also tied to the status of the wearer. That is why not having a manggŏn meant being from a low class or having no status at all (read: being enslaved). If you look at figure 1, you can see two ring-shaped buttons at the side of the headband (kwanja). These showed the status of the man wearing it. On the front of this headband, we can see an ornament (p'ungjam) that is used to fasten the headband. The ornament implied a higher status. This particular headband has a tortoiseshell ornament. But what does this specific material tell us about the status of the men that wore this specific headband?