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1) 'Cheesoohon(娶嫂婚)' of Pastoral Society and 'Seoyokjae(壻屋制)' of the origin of 'Namguiheogahon (男歸女家婚)'

The wedding is a social ceremony, the permanent, public joining of a particular man and woman. The regular ceremony had to be followed because the procedures ensured that their union was socially lasting and publicly recognized even though there were some ceremonial differences depending on era, region, and class. Therefore, when a man and woman not under societal control paired off, there was probably not a particular ceremony in ancient Korean society. However, the common wedding style has been similar since ancient times and the wedding styles which reflect each period coexist in those procedures that ensure the couple is authorized by their parents and society according to the period.

Cheesoohon(娶嫂婚): living with a sister-in-law after a brother's death' is a particular wedding custom in ancient pastoral societies, a type of wedding form practiced in Buyeo, Koguryeo, and Silla. 'Cheesoohon' is a wedding custom commonly performed, not only in ancient Korea, but other ancient pastoral societies. Men in 'Cheesoohon' societies had the right to approach their older brothers' wives or widows. The Tungus and the Manchu were tacitly allowed to have sexual relations with theirs even if their brothers were still alive. In ｢Samgukji Dongeegeon｣ ｢Buyeo｣, 'Cheesoohon' was practiced in Buyeo society, 'take a sister-in-law as man's wife' and traces of it have also been found in Koguryeo and Paekje.

Connubiality in ancient societies formed the most important connection to ensure group solidarity, and the relationship developments, along with blood relations, played an important role in making up for the inadequacy between the social structure and the political system. 'Cheesoohon' also was an expedient to sustain the family and protect the family system by keeping the tribe from breaking up and preventing a loss of human resources. It also ensured a peaceful succession of property from the late older brother to the younger.

'Cheesoohon' used to be widely practiced but disappeared gradually with changing agrarian societies.

The representative characteristic of Korean traditional wedding custom is the tradition of 'Namguiyeogahon (男歸女家婚 : a groom goes to bride's house and has a wedding)' which appears in myth as a sign of a matrilineal society and an old convention passed from the Dangun period to the Joseon Dynasty. Thus, there is not a father figure in the pedigree of blood relationships which appears in ancient Korean recordings or myths, and there are not many cases like these where a man is only involved for reproduction and does not form a family.

'Seookjae' (son-in-law's house) is known as a particular Goguryeo wedding custom, and as the origin of 'Namguiyeogahon'. One of the procedures of Seookjae is making a small house which a son-in-law can stay in after a wedding is arranged orally. First, he visits his prospective in-laws and asked them for permission to live with their daughter. If they accept, the couple live together until the birth of a child, and then return to their separate families. In this case, the mother is the only parent shown on the birth certificate. Despite their time lodging together, the couple have not formed a lasting relationship and have not joined their two families. These relations can be solved honorably by the custom of Seookjae. A series of the procedures which are associated with Seookjae can be seen in folklore couples like the relationship between You Hwa and Haemosoo in the myth of Joo Mong, which is the birth myth of a nation, the myth of Goguryeo, and the folktale couples Hodong and Princess Nakrang in the King Daemoosin period, King Jeenji and Dowhaneo, and Kim Chunchoo and Moonhee. As shown in Table. 1, 'Seookjae' is the custom of the new husband living with his in-laws with his bride in the home of her birth for a while after their wedding, afterwhich she will go to her husband's house. In addition, in spite of lodging together, it shows that the couple are not considered a true, lasting relationship until a woman moves into her husband's home.

'Seookjae' is not only known as a marital custom in Koguryeo but also as the origin of 'Namguiyeogahon' in the Koryo dynasty or the Joseon dynasty as is the custom in Silla and other neighboring countries. The amount of time that the couple stays in the home of the wife's birth is not fixed; a couple may stay after a wedding ceremony is held there, they may move out for reasons such as the husband becoming a government officer, or he may move near the home of his wife's birth to support her parents after living in a different area. Because of this, a family structure is not uniform for reasons of family composition, a job and economic power etc.

2) 'Banchinyoung (半親迎)', the compromise of 'Namguiyeogahon(男歸女家 婚)' and 'Chinyoung(親迎)'

Reformers in the early Joseon Dynasty used ceremonies to create the traditions to differentiate themselves from Koryo and tried to apply 'Joojagarea (朱子家禮: behavioral norms of the home by Joohee in the Song dynasty) to the Joseon Dynasty. Paternal-centered tendencies began to appear in many different ways such as the chastity ceremony or changes in relations between wives and concubines, wedding ceremonies, and relative structures by accepting Neo-Confucianism ideology in the late Koryo dynasty.

The Confucian wedding style founded on 'Joojagarea' is based on the 'Chinyoung', Chinese wedding system against the established 'Namguiyeogahon (男歸女家婚: the groom goes to the bride's and gets married there)' wedding practice, though 'Namguiyeogahon' was the common wedding style thanks to long-standing custom. The wedding ceremony of 'Chinyoung' followed the wedding custom of China, and 'Banchinyoung (半親迎: the groom goes to the bride's and comes back with the bride right after the wedding ceremony)' style was accepted into the life of the Joseon dynasty. 'Banchinyoung' is an etiquette that demands the groom go to the bride's house and then come back with the bride the day after the wedding ceremony, at which time the bride first meets her parents-in-law. 'Banchinyoung' is a wedding style created from the process of 'Namguiyeogahon' while accepting Confucianism principles during the Joseon dynasty, representing the ideal of Confucian etiquette.

The wedding procedures can be divided into the preparation before a wedding ceremony and the process of the ceremony itself. The preparation before a wedding ceremony includes, in order: Hondam (婚談: a wedding arrangement), Napchae (納采: a proposal letter), sending a letter to the house of the fiancée (in which the Four Pillars of the bridegroom-to-be are written), Yeongil (涓吉: setting a date), and Nabpea (納幣: sending silk). As Hondam is the process of sounding out people's opinion of the proposed marriage, Maepa (媒婆: an old woman matchmaker), a woman matchmaker, or a man matchmaker arrange a marriage, going frequently between both families. Napchae is a courtesy in which the groom's family officially asks the bride's for a marriage after both families have consented to the match through a matchmaker. The groom's father sends the bride's Cheonghonseo (請婚書: a paper asking for marriage) and his Saju (四柱: one's date of birth) by official rite. Yeongil, selecting a lucky omen, is a procedure used to choose a date for the wedding and sends it to the groom's parents if the groom's then sends Saju to the bride's. Nabpea is a processes that occurs after the groom's family receives Heohonseo (許婚書: a letter allowing a marriage) and Yeongil, during which his family sends a wedding gift box containing Honseoji (婚書紙) and Pyebaek (blue silk and red silk). Nabpea is a box of wedding gifts that the groom's family sends to the bride's.

A wedding ceremony is composed of the processes of Chohaeng (初行: the beginning, when the groom goes to the bride's house), Daeryea (大禮: the most important rite in ones' life, the ceremony), and Woogui (于歸: going to the groom's house). During Chohaeng, the groom goes to the bride's house where the wedding ceremony will take place. Chohaeng begins with the groom leaving his house on a horse, accompanied by his friends and servants etc. Daeryea is the wedding ceremony during which the groom and bride, in wedding costumes, celebrate at a Choryeacheong (醮禮廳: a place where a wedding ceremony is celebrated) in the bride's garden. Afterwards, Woogui means that the groom returns to his house with his new bride. During this rite, the bride meets her parents-in-law. Woogui is usually done on the same day, but popularly can also happen three days after the ceremony.

Fig. 1. 
Banchinyoung, a wedding procedure in Joseun dynasty

Wedding costumes are typically the main visual method of expression for a wedding. They are regarded as being standardized in the Joseon dynasty when Confucian lifestyles became the norm and important life rites were expressed through costume. Wedding costumes for ordinary people during the Joseon dynasty are classified in grades according to status and time period.

Wedding costumes for the bride and groom were similar to clothes that only a few people were allowed to wear normally in the Joseon dynasty where the status system still existed. Grooms' wedding costumes are the uniforms of officers and brides' are the formal dress for the women in the Yangban aristocracy. Thus, no ordinary person, who was not Yangban and did not have a government post, could ever wear such clothing in daily life. Only on the occasion of a wedding ceremony were they allowed to wear official uniforms without the appropriate status level.

Samogwandae (紗帽冠帶), or the groom's wedding costume, is composed of a Samo (紗帽: a black hat government officials used to wear), Danryung (團領: a costume which has a round neckline), a Dae (帶: belt), and Heukhwa (黑靴: black leather shoes). At the beginning of the Joseon dynasty, both official uniforms and the wedding costumes for grooms were black, though Danryung in nymph pink used to be popular late in the Joseon dynasty. The groom's wedding costume represented a fantasy for the men in the Joseon dynasty, and therefore, it is thought that the color changed according to that of government officers' costumes.

The bride's costume commonly features a Wonsam (圓衫) or Hwalyot, and Joekdoori, Hwaguan (花冠: a ceremonial coronet), binyeo (chignon hairpin), or daenggii (hair ribbons) as hair ornaments, and Yeonjeegonjee-makeup (red and black rouge spots on a bride's brow and cheek). Wonsam is the costume used as wedding costume of a court or Yanban family. Very heavily embroidered Hwalyot were worn as wedding costumes in a Yangban family (see fig.2-1). However, ordinary people mostly wore Wonsam as a wedding costume because Hwalyot represented a considerably economic burden. The Wonsam for ordinary people has been decorated with stripes of many colors (fig.2-2) instead of the flamboyance of the heavily embroidered Hwalyot. In this context, there appeared various wedding costumes in ordinary classes according to regional or economic situations.

Fig. 2. 
Wedding Costume of Yangban and Ordinary People in the Joseon Dynasty

The wedding costume style used for the Peabaek ceremony is an x-shape sewn on a green Jeogori (a Korean-style short coat for women), a long red skirt, and a band encircling the waist, which was used to replace the wedding costumes in Andong (fig.3-1). In Pyongyang province, a Fur-Baeja (a vest-style costume) on a green Jeogori (see fig.3-2) was used to replace the wedding costumes. A yellowish green-single layer Wonsam, a red Wonsam belt, and a long red skirt were worn as wedding costumes in the Gaesung province (see fig.3-3).

Hwaguan and Joekdoori (coronets) are common wedding hair decorations as well as binyeo (a chignon hairpin) and different kinds of daenggis (hair ribbons). However, there are regional features among hair ornaments as well as clothes. Though Jockdoori are commonly rounded, angle-shaped ones have commonly been worn in Andong province (see fig.3-1), daenggi and binyeo were sometimes added to more splendidly decorate one like a flower (see fig.3-2), and pearl ornaments were often used on a chignon in Pyongyang province. In Gaesung province, the wig with French-pleats and hair ornaments with thread are the most specific regional features, as well as hair decorated with a binyeo and different kinds of splendid daenggis (see fig.3-3).

Fig. 3. 
the wedding costume and hair decoration in different regions

The hairstyles in the past were decorated with gachea (a kind of wig that looks like a bundle of hair placed on top), but a chignon has been used in its place since the Joseon dynasty. Cheunmuri and uyeomuri, which are the ornament styles of court, have been allowed as decoration for ordinary people during the wedding ceremony since the 18th century. Uyeomuri (a high placed French pleat with a bundle of several long stripes of twisted hair), the ceremonial hair style decorated with Uyum Jockdoori (made of cotton wool), Yongbongjam (龍鳳簪: a binyeo ornamented with a dragon's head shape), Tteoljam (trembling ornaments like a flower or butterfly shaped depending on motions) were used for a queen, a princess, or a daughter of a king's concubine. The chignon and ornaments known as the present traditional wedding hairstyle might have been used after the King Soonjo period, a chignon being common. Hwaguan and Jockdoori are typical ornaments used for the chignon as well as different kinds of daenggiis and binyeoes in various sizes and ornaments (see fig. 4).

Fig. 4. 
hair decoration for wedding ceremony

Besides the costume and hair decorations, makeup is a main factor for wedding adornment. The makeup for the bride has largely been Yeonjeegonjee (a red rouge spot on the bride's cheek and a black one on the brow), made with Yeonjee. The ordinary people who weren't allowed to use Yeonjee often used red peppers cut and attached to the face or replaced the makeup with red dyed paper.