Wrap · Gifts
Hairpin knot
A hairpin-shaped holiday gift wrap that suits long rectangular boxes, from a well-known Seollal wrapping guide.
- For
- Holiday (Seollal) gifts
- Wraps
- Rectangular box
- Cloth
- laid as a diamond
- Closed with
- Double-tie (square knot by two ties)
- Level
- Moderate
From a widely reposted Seollal guide ('설날 보자기 싸는법') naming four basic knots: 비녀, 만두, 수국, 상투. Said to look best on rectangular contents.
- 1Set the box on the cloth.
- 2Tie the near and far corners together twice.
- 3Tie the left and right corners together twice the same way.
- 4Spread the four tails into a cross.
- 5Gather one upper tail into a rounded roll pointing to the centre.
- 6Wrap another tail around the roll.
- 7Tuck the end of that tail under the opposite knot to hide it.
History & tradition
Modern Korea; named by Lee Hyo-jae, about 2008-2010
Named after the binyeo, the long hairpin that held a married Joseon woman's chignon, because one tail is rolled and bound into a long shape lying across the knot, like a pin through a chignon. The name and form come from hanbok designer Lee Hyo-jae's bojagi gift-wrapping, reposted as a Seollal guide in 2010; she says she named her knots after their shape. It is a modern decorative wrap that borrows a traditional image, not a historical knot.
Still shared in Seollal and Chuseok wrapping guides, usually for long rectangular boxes.
The link to the hairpin is visual; no source claims a historical use.
Researched with medium confidence.