Ryan and his Hanbok

My dad came over on Saturday to see the kids and one of the first thing he asks is where Ryan’s one year photo is. More importantly, where is Ryan’s one year photo in his “Hanbok” or “Tol” clothes. The “Tol” is Korean for “first birthday".

In the past, due to a lack of medical information, Korea's seasonal temperature differences, and many childhood related diseases, the death rate for children was extremely high. Many children died before their first birthday. After the age of one year, the survival rate steeply increased, making this milestone a very happy one for the child's parents. It has also been a custom to celebrate a child's 100 day birthday (baek-il) , but in most areas this birthday is less important than the Tol and any celebrations are smaller in scale.

Tol has two meanings in Korean. The most common meaning is a child's first birthday. It can also be used as a generic description for birthdays: Chut-tol (first birthday), Du-tol (second birthday), Seo-tol (third birthday), etc.

My dad and Mrs. Kim bought Ryan his Tol outfit on their December trip to Hawaii, and it was given to him on his first birthday. Apparently my dad has been waiting for the pics ever since.


Can't touch this
The clothes for the tol include a cheonbok (long blue vest) worn over a durumangi and a bokkeon (black hat with a long tail). Words and symbols related to children were sewn onto the fabric. Originally, the clothes were only for sons of the yangban class. Eventually, the custom and costume spread to other classes and included daughters as well, but with a different style of clothing.

We have a photo of Karsyn in her hanbok sitting on our stereo cabinet in the living room (in case you’re ever over and wonder why Karsyn is dressed up in the costume).

Ryan is not particularly fond of hats, so the bokkeon didn’t go over too well. In fact, the whole outfit didn’t go over too well the first time Sonya tried to have his portrait taken in his outfit.


The Grand Wizard whooping it up with Haraboji & Karsyn
So, we busted t out and tried to snap a few photos of him in it. He lasted about two minutes before he was ready to shed his silk duds.

Sonya and I will try to tag team him at the photo studio one of these weekends and see if we can get a portrait of him.

While Ryan may not think it’s that cool, he may be swayed by the fact that big stars like Nicholas Cage and Britney Spears have been known to chill in their Hanboks. Too cool!