Culture is a matter of tradition and history, and also one of suggestions for forecasting our future to show us our own present identity and follow-up directions. The culture is a customary behavior as adopted between social members and the artifact o...
Culture is a matter of tradition and history, and also one of suggestions for forecasting our future to show us our own present identity and follow-up directions. The culture is a customary behavior as adopted between social members and the artifact of such behavior. That is, culture is the whole of all behavioral types incorporating material and mental elements. Social system in our behaviors represents diversity and relativity as cultural attributes, and also has a successive uniqueness about gradual evolution and transformation. Especially, in an ideological view of comparing so called Seonbiism(the scholar ideas) in Chosun dynasty with Samuraism in the era of Edo Bakuhu, the former indicates moral and defensive thoughts that valued and respected ‘literary(文)’ power much more than military power. On the other hand, the latter indicates warlike and aggressive social characteristics of samurai class that intended to embrace literary power under the control of ‘military’ power.
Even in view of hairstyles as shown in the history of cosmetic culture, Chosun's traditional hairstyles typically included round-laid, knotted and braided hair. As various eras of history passed by, round-laid or knotted hair was changed into diverse forms by leveling up and down hair with wig or accessories(ornaments). Around the end of early Chosun dynasty, our ancestors took a hairstyle that combines skull and round-laid hair using wig based on knotted hair. On the way of change to knotted hair typical of the later Chosun dynasty, knots attached around neck were leveled down little by little so that they were laid on jacket called Jeogori in the later Chosun dynasty. Afterward, the knots have been leveled up back to the rear of skull so far since the early 20th century.
On the other hand, Japanese typical hairstyles as generated throughout the era of Edo Bakuhu took five articulated knots according to the location of hair on skull. Early hairstyle was completed in the early era of Edo Bakuhu, and was a little modified into different fuzzy hairstyles typical of mid and later era of Edo Bakuhu, which amounted to as much as about 270 to 280 types. With regard to fuzzy hair called Gok typical of early Edo Bakuhu, particular hairstyles included Jeonbal(前髮), Yangbin(兩빈), Po(포) and Gok(곡) on the side of hair. Here, a bundle of hairs as generated and divided from skull structure were named with 5 different designations. Even in the course of rounding(丸輪) to make a topknot called Kye(계), each hairstyle was named according to its size.
By leveling up and combing hairs over the top of head so that they may be hung down naturally around neck, this hairstyle represented Po(포) in various ways up to the era of later Edo Bakuhu. In terms of Yangbin(兩빈), the hairstyle was varied depending upon extendibility to horizontal direction. Jeonbal(前髮) indicated a sort of Japanese traditional lovelock, which involved bobbed and tied hairs or used a comb called Jeul(櫛) for the volume touch of combing up hairs toward the top of head. From the mid Edo Bakuhu, there was a popular custom for intentionally revealing thin hairs through knots using a wood supporter called Chae(剃) to tie small amount of hairs. Even thick haired women tended to cut or thin out some hairs between one another to reveal thin hairs deliberately. As described above, Jungchae(中剃) indispensable and fundamental to women's hairstyle making was not only a complementary mean for hairs arrangement, but also the source of formative aesthetics.
In this study, universal hairstyles in the era of Chosun dynasty and Edo Bakuhu indicate contemporary mainstreams, in which original hairstyles generated for convenience in daily life were modified into ones representing social positions and classes. Critical minds about developmental course in the system of ornamentation start from the method of handling long hairs. Complicated style for unbobbed but long grown hairs brought about the development of ornaments that may fix or mount hairs simply. The evolution in ornaments or cosmetics also shows tastes and elegances of human life in formative arts.
The studies on the history of traditional hairstyles are distinguished not only as the inference about synchronic hairstyle system according to the development of styling tools, but also as that about the diachronic evolution of hairstyles through the history across society and culture in general. In this context, relevant aesthetics and its history have essential relationship with the history cosmetic culture, which may give honorable meanings to us.