A FULL-FLEDGED TOP-KNOT
Like all Korean boys, Yung Pak wore his hair in two braids, and by the
time he was twelve years old these had become very long, and hung in
black and glossy plaits down his back.
On the day that he was thirteen his father called him to his room and
told the lad that the time had come for him to assume the dignities of a
man. In accordance with that statement, he had decided that on the next
day his son should be formally "invested" with the top-knot. In other
words, the crown of his head was to be shaven, and his long hair tightly
coiled upon the bare place thus made. This is called the "Investiture
of the Top-knot," and is always attended by solemn ceremonies.
In preparation for this event Ki Pak had made careful and elaborate
arrangements. He had provided for his son new clothes and a hat after
the style of his own. He had also consulted an eminent astrologer, who
had chosen the propitious day and hour for the ceremony after due
consultation of the calendar and the stars and planets in their courses.
Generally, if the father is blessed with good fortune and a number of
sons, he acts as his own master of ceremonies on such an occasion, but
as Ki Pak had only this one son he decided to ask his brother, Wu-pom
Nai, who had several sons and was a prosperous merchant of Seoul, to
fill this important position.
Yung Pak could hardly wait for the morrow to come. So excited was he at
the thought of the great honour that was to be his that he spent almost
a sleepless night. However, like all nights, long or short, this one
passed, and the wished-for hour at last arrived.
All the male members of the family were present. Korean women are
reckoned of little importance and take no part in social and family
affairs. On this occasion no men except relatives were asked to attend.
Yung Pak was directed to seat himself on the floor in the centre of the
room, facing the east. This was the point of compass revealed by the
astrologer as most favourable to the young candidate for manly honours.
With great deliberation and much formality Wu-pom Nai proceeded to
loosen the boy's heavy plaits of hair. Then with great care, while the
onlookers watched with breathless interest, he shaved the crown of the
lad's head, making a bare circular spot about three inches in diameter.
Over this spot he twisted all the remaining hair into a coil about four
inches long, pointing slightly forward like a horn.
Over the top-knot thus made the master of ceremonies placed the
_mang-kun,_ which was a crownless skull-cap made of a very delicate
stiff gauze. This was tied on very tightly,--so tightly that it made a
deep ridge in Yung Pak's forehead and gave him a severe headache; but he
bore the pain heroically and without flinching--for was he not now a
man? The regular Korean man's hat, with its flapping wings, was next put
on, and this part of the ceremony was complete.
Yung Pak now rose from his position, and made a deep bow to each one in
the room, beginning with his father, and then in regular order according
to relationship. Afterward, accompanied by his relatives, he proceeded
to the room where were placed the tablets in memory of his ancestors.
There he offered sacrifice before each one in turn. Lighted candles in
brass candlesticks he placed in front of each tablet, and beside the
candles he put dishes of sacrificial food and fruit. Then, as before
his living relatives, he bowed profoundly to the tablets of the dead
ones, and formally and seriously let them know that he had been
regularly invested with the top-knot, and now had the right to be
regarded as a man.
The sacrifices made, Yung Pak called at the homes of all the male
friends of the family, who now for the first time looked upon him as
their equal, and in the evening Ki Pak gave a great dinner in honour of
his son. Here there was much feasting and rejoicing, and all united in
wishing the greatest prosperity and lifelong happiness to the little
Korean boy now become a man.
He is no longer our _little_ Korean cousin. Hence, we leave him at this
point, joining heartily in the best wishes and the compliments bestowed
upon him by his friends.
THE END.
End of Project Gutenberg's Our Little Korean Cousin, by H. Lee M. Pike