Ancient Korean pointed hat (gokkalmoja): https://www.fmkorea.com/7133259093
Early Joseon Ssanggye-meori (double bun): https://www.fmkorea.com/9260696539
Goguryeo King's hat: https://www.fmkorea.com/9265913441
Goryeo King's attire: https://www.fmkorea.com/9270461390
Goryeo married woman's hairstyle: https://www.fmkorea.com/9272242079
I've been having fun writing about costume history lately, so I'm keeping these posts coming.
This time, I want to dive into hairstyles that, surprisingly, might actually be historically accurate (?).
Long-haired male characters pop up all the time in historical dramas (sageuk).
Plenty of people just shrug and accept it, but I’ve seen a lot of folks who really hate it.
They’re like, 'Even if he’s a bachelor, sure, a danggi (braid) or chonggakmeori (bachelor bun) is fine, but why are they rocking actual long flowing hair back then?'
But... surprisingly, it wasn't unheard of for men in pre-modern Korea to sport long hair.
The most famous example, even featured in textbooks, is the Silla envoy shown in the *Wanghoe-do* (Emperors' Gathering) painting.
In this painting, the Silla envoy has very long, straight hair that almost reaches his waist, swept back.
The *Wanghoe-do* painting isn't considered highly accurate due to the nature of the artifact (it wasn't painted from direct observation when the Silla envoy arrived, but is a copy made by the artist 'Yeomipbon').
However, personally, I think it's unlikely that they would mess up such a glaring feature as long hair, even if they got minor details like collar or shoe shapes wrong.
So, are there any confirmed examples of long hair outside of Silla?
Surprisingly, yes. Male long hair is confirmed in artifacts from the Joseon era, too.
Among the tomb sites from early Joseon is the grave of a man named Byeonsu.
Byeonsu was born in 1447, died in 1524, passed the military exam in 1469, and continued military service. He hit the historical 'lotto' when he joined the Jungjong Coup, earning the title of coup meritorious subject.
After that, he lived a pretty successful life, serving as the Naval Commander in Chungcheong and Jeolla provinces.
Byeonsu's tomb yielded a huge haul of incredibly valuable artifacts for costume history research, including an intact *cheollik* (Joseon-era military robe) and the wooden figurines (mogu) seen in the picture above.
Among the *mogu* excavated from Byeonsu’s tomb, there's one depicting a boy wearing a *gat* (hat) with his straight, unbound hair flowing down his back.
Related sources explicitly describe this as 'unbound, flowing hair' belonging to an 'unmarried man.'
Meaning, not just Silla, but up until early Joseon, it was possible for unmarried men to walk around with their long hair down.
So, what about late Joseon?
People often say Joseon before and after the Imjin War (Japanese invasions) was essentially a different country with the same name. Did hairstyles change, too?
But surprisingly, paintings depicting long-haired men still exist from late Joseon.
The painting above is one created by a Japanese artist showing the Joseon Tongsinsa (diplomatic delegation) procession, currently held at the British Museum.
This artifact dates to the 18th century.
The photo below is a 17th-century Japanese painting of the Tongsinsa, where long-haired men also appear.
They look a bit feminine, but I don't think there's any chance they were women.
It’s unrealistic for a crucial diplomatic mission like the Tongsinsa during that period to bring a huge number of women, and most importantly, these long-haired figures are wearing *dallyeong*.
(FYI, *dallyeong* is the general term for clothing structured similarly to what we commonly picture as 'official court robes.')
This is crucial because by the 17th century, women's *dallyeong* started disappearing.
Up until early Joseon, many female ceremonial robes like the *wonsam* and *noui* were basically just heavily embroidered *dallyeong* with fancy patterns, but the design shifted dramatically starting in the 17th century.
So, the fact that they are drawn looking feminine, with flower patterns on their clothes and highlighted lips...
I think it’s just that these unmarried, young, handsome guys showed up with their hair down, and the Japanese (a country with a known culture of male-male relations/Nansei) decided to just 'moe-ify' them a bit in the drawing.
To sum up: male long hair is confirmed in Silla artifacts, and throughout both early and late Joseon, it's confirmed for unmarried men.
I don't know if this was the case in the other Three Kingdoms or the Goryeo Dynasty, which sits between Silla and Joseon.
But Silla and Joseon weren't completely isolated, so surely they had long-haired dudes too? At least for Goryeo, it's confirmed in records that unmarried men wore ponytails.
However, the long hair you see in sageuk isn't usually the result of intense research based on these artifacts; it's more like a blind squirrel finding a nut (accidental accuracy).
That's because sageuk often features hairstyles like the half-updo, and the topknot + long hair combo (like the famous Choi Soo-jong in *Taejo Wang Geon* meme) is super common.
This tendency is especially strong in pre-Joseon settings (sometimes middle-aged or elderly viewers, accustomed to old-school historical epics, genuinely believe the topknot + long hair combo is historically accurate for pre-Joseon eras).
But as far as my current knowledge goes, these specific combinations haven't been validated by actual artifacts.
Some people occasionally argue, 'The Silla envoy in the *Wanghoe-do* has long hair but also seems to be wearing a small crown/hat, so isn't that a topknot + long hair combo?' Personally, I think that would require way too much hair, making it unlikely unless the men were wearing large hairpieces (*gache*) just like the women.
Oh, one more thing: the headband + long hair combo hasn't been confirmed in artifacts either.
Descriptions of long-haired men in artifacts generally show them not wearing anything around the forehead, simply flipping their hair back.
P.S. In Korean historical dramas, they often use that long hair + topknot combo not just for Korean characters, but often for Chinese characters too...
The funny fact is that this hairstyle is actually closer to Vietnamese fashion of the time, rather than Chinese (though Vietnam also featured just long hair, not the long hair + topknot combo).
Unlike Joseon, where only unmarried men had long hair, during the Later Lê Dynasty (15th–18th C), married men in Vietnam also enjoyed long hair.
This means the combo of official robes + long hair + beard is actually confirmed there.
(A painting depicting Vietnamese envoys, drawn in China during the Later Lê Dynasty.)
"Thought that long hair in sageuk was always fake? Turns out, those Silla and Joseon bachelors were out here serving looks! We stan the accidental accuracy, but commenters agree historical accuracy is a tough gig."
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