A binyeo, or traditional hairpin/rod, is worn by married women in Joseon. Think of it as the Joseon equivalent of a wedding ring, showing everyone that you were a married woman. It came in many different materials such as gold, silver, nickel, brass, pearl, jade, amber, coral, wood, bamboo, or animal bone as well as possibly adorned with jewels if you were wealth enough. The design of the heads of hairpins were fashioned in shapes of, among others, a mandarin duck, plum blossom, bird, bamboo, lotus bud, magnolia, peony, pomegranate or chrysanthemum.
However, two designs were reserved for royals because of their elevated social status. A Crown Princess would have one designed like a phoenix. Meanwhile, only the Queen could have a dragon binyeo.
EXCEPT...
All women, from the highest born to the lowest commoner, were allowed to wear a dragon binyeo when they got married. For at least one day in their life, each woman was a queen.
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Non-FictionI love to read and learn new interesting facts about history or the world. Not everything that I discover has any relevancy in my writing. However, I'd hate for these tidbits of trivia to be lost forever. Think of this as an archive of the fascinati...
