Wrap · Weddings & rites
Wedding-box carrying strap
The knotless cotton strap by which the 함 bearer carries the wedding box on his back to the bride's house.
- For
- 함진아비 carries the 함 on his back to the bride's house, after dark
- Wraps
- Wrapped 함
- Cloth
- laid as a square
- Closed with
- One-pull release tie
- Level
- Involved
'무명 여덟 자로 된 함질끈… 석자는 땅에 끌리게 하고, 나머지는 고리를 만들어' (Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, 납폐). 'The shoulder strap must be made without knots' (Segye Ilbo). The 함진아비 carries the box on his back (namu.wiki), traditionally a man with sons and both parents alive (encykorea), and must not set it down on the way.
Strap of 무명 8 자 (encykorea); another account uses a whole 필 of 소창 cloth
- 1Prepare a cotton strap: 8 자 of 무명 (or a full bolt of 소창).
- 2Twist the cloth by hand into a rope without knots.
- 3Pass it round the wrapped box.
- 4Leave 3 자 trailing to the ground.
- 5Form the rest into loops for the bearer's shoulders.
- 6Loosely wind about six turns around one shoulder area, keeping about 3 m free as the lead (마부끈).
- 7Finish so one pull releases the strap.
History & tradition
Joseon wedding rite of 납폐
The encyclopedia describes eight 자 of plain cotton passed round the wrapped box, three 자 left trailing on the ground and the rest looped for carrying; the strap, like the wrap, is made without knots. The carriers were men with sons and a living spouse, travelling after dark with torches and never setting the box down. In the 1980s-90s friends of the groom, faces masked with dried squid, shouted '함 사세요!' and bargained for 함값 at the door.
The noisy procession faded from the 2000s amid noise complaints and disputes over money, and is now rare.
Some accounts say the cotton strap was later reused as nappy cloth (Segye).