Gache
Encyclopedia
Gache is a big wig worn by Korean women. Women of high social backgrounds and gisaeng wore wigs (gache). Like their western contemporaries Koreans considered bigger and heavier wigs to be more aesthetic. However, there is a record of an incident where a heavy gache wig led to the death of a 13-year-old bride as the heavy wig compromised her neck as she was getting up to greet her father-in-law entering the room. Also due to its costliness, some lower class families took up to 6–7 years preparing a new gache wig for their new daughter-in-law.
However, the gache also flourished in other Korean dynasties like the Goryeo
, Goguryeo, Baekje, Silla
, Balhae
, Gaya
, and Gojoseon
. They were decorated with silk objects, gold, jewels, silver, coral, jade, etc. Certain decorations were reserved for royalty.
Such was the women's frenzy for the gache (and the death of the bride) that in 1788 King Jeongjo
prohibited and banned, by royal decree, the use of gache, as they were deemed contrary to Confucian values of reserve and restraint. In 19th century yangban
women began to wear jokduri
, a small hat that substituted the gache. However gache still enjoyed vast popularity in gisaeng circles. Inclusive of its decorations,and traditional weddings. A gache usually weighs about 3 to 4 kg.
However, the gache also flourished in other Korean dynasties like the Goryeo
Goryeo
The Goryeo Dynasty or Koryŏ was a Korean dynasty established in 918 by Emperor Taejo. Korea gets its name from this kingdom which came to be pronounced Korea. It united the Later Three Kingdoms in 936 and ruled most of the Korean peninsula until it was removed by the Joseon dynasty in 1392...
, Goguryeo, Baekje, Silla
Three Kingdoms of Korea
The Three Kingdoms of Korea refer to the ancient Korean kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla, which dominated the Korean peninsula and parts of Manchuria for much of the 1st millennium...
, Balhae
Balhae
Balhae was a Manchurian kingdom established after the fall of Goguryeo. After Goguryeo's capital and southern territories fell to Unified Silla, Dae Jo-yeong, a Mohe general, whose father was Dae Jung-sang, established Jin , later called Balhae.Balhae occupied southern parts of Manchuria and...
, Gaya
Gaya confederacy
Gaya was a confederacy of territorial polities in the Nakdong River basin of southern Korea, growing out of the Byeonhan confederacy of the Samhan period.The traditional period used by historians for Gaya chronology is 42–532 CE...
, and Gojoseon
Gojoseon
Gojoseon was an ancient Korean kingdom. Go , meaning "ancient," distinguishes it from the later Joseon Dynasty; Joseon, as it is called in contemporaneous writings, is also romanized as Chosŏn....
. They were decorated with silk objects, gold, jewels, silver, coral, jade, etc. Certain decorations were reserved for royalty.
Such was the women's frenzy for the gache (and the death of the bride) that in 1788 King Jeongjo
Jeongjo of Joseon
King Jeongjo was the 22nd ruler of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea. He made various attempts to reform and improve the nation of Joseon. He was preceded by his grandfather King Yeongjo and succeeded by his son King Sunjo...
prohibited and banned, by royal decree, the use of gache, as they were deemed contrary to Confucian values of reserve and restraint. In 19th century yangban
Yangban
The yangban were part of the traditional ruling class or nobles of dynastic Korea during the Joseon Dynasty. The yangban were either landed or unlanded aristocracy who comprised the Korean Confucian idea of a "scholarly official." In reality, they were basically administrators and bureaucrats who...
women began to wear jokduri
Jokduri
A jokduri is a type of Korean traditional coronet worn by women for special occasions such as weddings. It consists of an outer crown which is covered with black silk, and the inner which is filled with cotton and hard paper. Its top is decorated with cloisonné ornaments. The crown is also called...
, a small hat that substituted the gache. However gache still enjoyed vast popularity in gisaeng circles. Inclusive of its decorations,and traditional weddings. A gache usually weighs about 3 to 4 kg.