Wrap · Weddings & rites

Wedding box wrap

함 싸기函ham ssagi

The red double cloth wrapped, without a knot, around the 함 box of letter and silks the groom's family sends before a wedding.

For: Wedding: groom's family sends the 함 (채단 silks, 혼서지 letter) to the bride's home before the wedding
Wraps: Lacquered or paper ham box
Cloth: laid as a diamond
Closed with: Geunbong seal band, Pin closure
Level: Moderate

Red outside: '함을 홍색 겹보자기로 싸되… 묶지 않고 謹封이라고 쓴 종이로 감는다' and '붉은쪽이 겉으로'. Avoiding knots wishes that the couple's life 'unties smoothly' (술술 풀리기를). Inside, 청단 is wrapped in red paper and tied with blue thread; 홍단 in blue paper and tied with red thread, with a one-pull 동심결.

1Pack the box: red (or pink) hanji in the base, blue 채단 below, red 채단 on top, five-grain pouches at the corners and centre, 혼서지 last or on the lid.
2Close the lid.
3Lay the double-layer 함보 as a diamond, red side down.
4Set the box in the centre.
5Bring the near and far corners up and match them over the box.
6Bring the left and right corners up and match them.
7Gather the four corners at the top centre without knotting; twist them into a lotus shape, or wind them twice and pin them.
8Fold a paper band written 謹封 (근봉) and wrap it round the gathered neck so the characters face front.

History & tradition

Joseon wedding rite of 납폐; still practised in reduced form

In 납폐 the groom's family sent the bride's house the 혼서 letter and blue and red 채단 silks in a box, usually the day before the wedding. The wrapping carried wishes: the bundle is left unknotted, or tied so one pull frees it, so the couple's life will 'come undone smoothly'; the corners may be twisted like a lotus and sealed with a 근봉 slip.

The 함 survives in many weddings, though often a suitcase replaces the box and the procession is dropped.

Details vary: Segye (2013) says red double cloth with the corners gathered unknotted; other accounts describe a red-and-blue 겹보 wrapped red side out.

Sources

Sources for this entry

NextWedding-box carrying strap

함질끈 / 걸방hamjilkkeun / geolbang