Binyeo (hangul: 비녀; Korean pronunciation: [bi.njʌ]) is a Korean traditional hairpin for fixing ladies' chignons. Its main purpose is to pin the chignon in place, but it also serves as ornamentation, and it has different usages or names according to its material or shape. [1] Binyeos are divided into two kinds, a jam (hangul: 잠; hanja: 簪; Korean pronunciation: [dʑam]) and a che (hangul : 채; hanja: 釵;). Jams have a long body and ches have a ∩ shape. Binyeos are usually used by women, but they are also used by men to fix their sangtus (Korean topknots) in place.[2]
In ancient times Dangun taught the people how to put up and comb their hair as they started grooming it, and that is presumed to be the origin of the binyeo, but no record about this exist. It is presumed that binyeos were also used in the period of the Three Kingdoms of Korea with a Goguryeo ladies' hair style similar to chignons today.[3]