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I just watched a KBS History Special episode that talked about the old Korean tradition of men wearing earrings--and we're talking OLD tradition, like a thousand proven years old. Earrings for men and women were found all over Korea, from the riverside trash heaps of the Stone Age to sixth-century graves of high-ranking men to graves of officials in the 15th or 16th century.
Below are earrings from the grave of King Muryeong, who ruled Baekje (in southwest Korea) from the late fifth century to the early sixth:
The custom of men wearing earrings was not one that either the Chinese or Japanese shared. In fact, during the Korea-Japan war of the late 16th century, the hole in the earlobe was one way to distinguish between Korean and Japanese men. So if a Japanese soldier brought in a bunch of trophy ears claiming to have killed this many Koreans and a lot of the ears had unmarked lobes, he would be suspect for cutting off the ears of his Japanese comrades to exaggerate his achievements. Similarly, Koreans were on the lookout for Japanese spies, whose distinguishing marks included unpierced ears.
Here's a related story from a seventeenth century book, Eo-u-ya-dam (於于野譚). A Korean translator was in China with his diplomatic mission when he heard about a courtesan who was so proud she wouldn't accept foreign men as clients. Since this translator spoke Chinese like a native, he was pretty sure he could pass as one. He went to her dressed like a Han Chinese man, and she almost fell for it--until she saw the pierced holes in his earlobes and recognized him as a Korean man. Oh well, can't win 'em all, tiger.
Silver earrings of a design discovered in a 15th or 16th century official's grave
Earrings on men were officially banned in the the sixteenth century, when the king gave an edict to punish men who wore them. Why? Earlier, a Chinese envoy at court had called earrings on men a barbaric custom. You have to look at the context; China was being harried by the Xianbei, a federation of nomadic tribes whose warriors wore--you guessed it--earrings. Ming China was also under pressure from the Qing, a kingdom founded by Manchurians who also wore earrings.
Yup, Korean men's ear-adorning ways were from our roots as nomads in North Asia. And it probably didn't sit well with the Chinese that their polite "little brother" country, the one who had taken so eagerly to Chinese ways, still carried reminders of a fiercer past right on the ears.
The measure against earrings worked about as well as fashion bans tend to, meaning not very well. But whether from the ban or other factors, the custom faded out over time. It's still pretty cool though, that for all we think Choson men were so straight-laced and boring, they actually had that fashionable flair--and that it wasn't sissy at all, but a blast from the past that could make even China uncomfortable. Or made Chinese prostitutes shun them. There's a downside to everything.
But on the upsiiiide... (from the TV show Iljimae)
Below are earrings from the grave of King Muryeong, who ruled Baekje (in southwest Korea) from the late fifth century to the early sixth:
The custom of men wearing earrings was not one that either the Chinese or Japanese shared. In fact, during the Korea-Japan war of the late 16th century, the hole in the earlobe was one way to distinguish between Korean and Japanese men. So if a Japanese soldier brought in a bunch of trophy ears claiming to have killed this many Koreans and a lot of the ears had unmarked lobes, he would be suspect for cutting off the ears of his Japanese comrades to exaggerate his achievements. Similarly, Koreans were on the lookout for Japanese spies, whose distinguishing marks included unpierced ears.
Here's a related story from a seventeenth century book, Eo-u-ya-dam (於于野譚). A Korean translator was in China with his diplomatic mission when he heard about a courtesan who was so proud she wouldn't accept foreign men as clients. Since this translator spoke Chinese like a native, he was pretty sure he could pass as one. He went to her dressed like a Han Chinese man, and she almost fell for it--until she saw the pierced holes in his earlobes and recognized him as a Korean man. Oh well, can't win 'em all, tiger.
Silver earrings of a design discovered in a 15th or 16th century official's grave
Earrings on men were officially banned in the the sixteenth century, when the king gave an edict to punish men who wore them. Why? Earlier, a Chinese envoy at court had called earrings on men a barbaric custom. You have to look at the context; China was being harried by the Xianbei, a federation of nomadic tribes whose warriors wore--you guessed it--earrings. Ming China was also under pressure from the Qing, a kingdom founded by Manchurians who also wore earrings.
Yup, Korean men's ear-adorning ways were from our roots as nomads in North Asia. And it probably didn't sit well with the Chinese that their polite "little brother" country, the one who had taken so eagerly to Chinese ways, still carried reminders of a fiercer past right on the ears.
The measure against earrings worked about as well as fashion bans tend to, meaning not very well. But whether from the ban or other factors, the custom faded out over time. It's still pretty cool though, that for all we think Choson men were so straight-laced and boring, they actually had that fashionable flair--and that it wasn't sissy at all, but a blast from the past that could make even China uncomfortable. Or made Chinese prostitutes shun them. There's a downside to everything.
But on the upsiiiide... (from the TV show Iljimae)
