koreans

Tea

The Korean tea tradition does not rest on camellia: grain and herbs are brewed, most often 大麦茶 dàmàichá, boricha — barley roasted until dark and boiled; drunk hot after fatty food, cold as relief in the heat. Alongside it, 玉米须茶 yùmǐxūchá from corn silk and 五味子茶 wǔwèizǐchá from schisandra, while the ceremonial side is called 茶礼 chálǐ, darye. In Yanbian this is a living household norm, not a reconstruction. The lineup rule for such cases follows the 苦荞茶 precedent and applies equally to all non-camellia cards: we take the custom but explicitly call it an infusion not made from the tea plant, rather than passing it off as camellia tea.

Headwear

남바위 nanbawi — an everyday quilted winter cap worn by men and women of any age: quilted dark canvas with a narrow dark-brown fur trim along the brow, covering the ears, with a short stiff nape flap down to the collar. The crown is open in a wide oval per the nanbawi’s own cut — this is the normal fit, not a slit: the smooth scalp is simply visible in the oval, and nothing grows through it. The ayam is still excluded (women’s formal wear). The accent: a honey-roasted tea bud in place of the knot-button above the brow.

Object

The barley ear has moved to the belt: a bunch of three ears roasted to dark amber, tied with a straw cord, tucked behind a narrow cloth sash at the hip, the awns fanning out and lightening toward the tips — the grain for barley tea.

Clothing

A white canvas jacket with an asymmetric wrap closure and fabric ties instead of buttons, a dark quilted sleeveless vest on top, loose trousers tied at the ankles.

Palette

Bleached canvas and dark quilted vest, gray-brown fur trim, dark amber of roasted grain, light awns.