A Study on Korean Man's Head Ornaments in the Joseon Dynasty

조선시대 남자(男子)의 수식(首飾) 연구(I)

This study reviewed pertinent literature and examined relics of manggon(a headband worn to hold a man's topknot hair in place), donggot(a topknot pin), and chigwan(a topknot cover). Before the modernized short hair style, wearing a gat was an important custom. Therefore, manggon, which was used to hold a man's hair in place under the gat, was considered an essential part of the man's official dress code. Donggot is a pin that held the topknot hair in place. It was a must have for a married man, like the binyeo, a lod-like hairpin, for a married woman. Unlike gwanja, it had nothing to do with official rank, but materials were of a variety of materials, including jade and gold. The structure of the donggot was studied in three parts-head, neck and body. Major forms for the head include the mushroom, bean and ball. Bullet and half-cut bullet forms were also found. Forms for the neck include straight-neck and curved-neck. A neck with a belt around a double chin was also found. Forms for the body include the tetrahedron, octahedron and cylinder. The most popular form for silver and white bronze donggot heads was the mushroom, followed by bean and pile forms. Chigwan is also called chipogwan, chichoal, choalgyesogwan, noingwan and sangtugwan. In poetry it was called chichoal, and it used to be called taegogwan in the past as well. Chigwan was so small that it managed to hold a topknot. According to confucian custom in the Joseon period, by wearing chigwan, men didn't display their bare topknot even when they didn't dress up. When they went out, they wore another official hat over the chigwan.