Museum of World Scissors in Korea
Do you use scissors for cutting up food?
I was cutting up a pizza with a pair of scissors the other day when I stopped and thought, you’ve changed! I cut up bananas with scissors too, chocolate bars, rice cake – you name it. Scissors have become my new best friend in the kitchen.
I never really thought about my philosophy regarding scissors, but on reflection I see that I used to believe kitchen scissors were only for cutting open stubborn food packaging. Even though they lived in the kitchen, they never went near any food.
That was until I moved to Korea where my eyes were opened to a whole new world of scissor-uses. It was like the revelation I had about breakfast – that there are alternatives to cornflakes and toast!
It all started when I saw scissors used to cut up noodles in a restaurant. Korea is the only country I’ve been to where scissors are a regular feature on the table in restaurants. And so I think it’s fitting that the Museum of World Scissors should be in Korea!
Scissors in Restaurants
According to this Korea Times article scissors started to be used in Korean restaurants to cut cold buckwheat noodles (naeng-myeon) in the 1970s. This custom continues and customers can choose if they want to cut the noodles or not. I find them difficult to eat without cutting them though… This seems to be a Korea only custom as, in other parts of East Asia, noodles symbolise longevity so it would be bad luck to cut them!
The article laments at the dangers of using sharp scissors at the table and suggests that the reason for using them is that they are fast to use and customers simply want to eat quickly and go – the shop owners also want a high turnover of customers!
yeonpotang – hot pot of seafood with abalone and octopus, steamed seafood with beansprouts (haemul-chim ), and BBQ chicken (ddak-galbi) can all get the scissor treatment. And at some BBQ meat restaurants the customers use the scissors themselves to cut up the meat.
I didn’t set out to visit the scissors museum. I didn’t even know of its existence. But on a trip to Horse Ears Mountain in North Jeolla Province there it was – the Museum of World Scissors! It’s a fascinating museum and claims to be the only museum dedicated to scissors in the world.
History of Scissors
The earliest scissors appeared in Mesopotamia back in 1500 BC and were made of one strip of bronze bent over to make two blades. They are referred to as spring scissors since they spring open after you squeeze them. The scissors design we use today came from the Romans around 100 AD.
Robert Hinchliffe from Sheffield produced the first pair of modern-day scissors in the 18th century. But The Hangzhou Zhang Xiaoquan Company in China has been manufacturing scissors since 1663. And William Whiteley & Sons from Sheffield, England has been producing scissors since 1760 and is the oldest company in the west.
History of Scissors in Korea
Three Kingdoms
According to the museum website, the oldest scissors ever found in Korea date back to 643 in Silla period and were excavated from a temple. They were made of one curved piece of metal bent around to make two blades. And they were used for cutting candle wicks. (see pic below)
Goryeo period (918-1392)
Later scissors were made of two separate blades usually in cast iron. But the handles had to be grasped from the outside edges. (see pic below) Buddhism was the religion of the Goryeo period and ceremonial scissors have also been found – see this example from the British museum and these much later ones from the met museum.
Joseon dynasty (1392-1910)
By the Joseon period the handles of the scissors had become more round with one side the metal has been bent into a loop – only on one side in this example though. Images below from the Museum of World Scissors homepage
Exhibition Highlights
There’s very little info in English at the museum but still interesting to just look around at so many different kinds of scissors from around the world. And it got me interested enough to do some research when I got home too!
From gardening and farming to medical uses to art and craft – there are scissors for every occasion on show. Not to mention scissors from ancient Korean to scissors from the Vikings.
There are scissors for very specific purposes like the poppy cutting scissors from China during the tea and opium wars in the 19th century.
And who doesn’t want to gaze at the ‘smallest scissors in the world’ which were exhibited at the Yorkshire Fine Art and Industrial Exhibition in 1866?
My interest in calligraphy drew me to an assortment of calligraphy scissors. There was a pair owned by George the 4th of England as well as gold inlaid Ottoman calligraphy scissors from Turkey. (see examples of calligraphy scissors here). Calligraphy scissors have long blades presumably to cut paper straight. But I’ve never seen calligraphy scissors in Korea or Japan. If my calligraphy teachers wants to cut paper she’ll fold it and then run a scalpel through the crease of the fold.
Stork Scissors
I challenge anyone to peruse the selection of adorable stork scissors from around Europe and the USA and then refrain from buying a souvenir pair in the museum shop. Did I buy a pair? Of course I did. We ALL did! And you will too…
FUN FACT: Stork scissors started off as umbilical clamps used by midwives before the stork design was developed into embroidery scissors.
The standing storks in this exhibit at the museum (see pic above) have been classed as stork scissors – but with my new-found expert knowledge of scissors, I do believe that they are in fact umbilical clamps. Just by changing the angle of the blades and making them sharp they could become scissors. Very snazzy.
Apparently midwives did embroidery in their spare time and kept their equipment in the sewing basket and so gradually the stork clamps became stork scissors. See more great examples of these and other scissors here.
Korean Candy (yeot) scissors 엿가위
One pair of traditional Korean scissors at the exhibition are, ironically, not used as scissors at all. The yeot candy scissors are large and heavy with blades too blunt to actually cut the candy.
The scissors are used as a hammer to hit the chisel which breaks up the hard pieces of yeot candy. And they make the snip snip sound to attract customers to the stall! Here’s a youtube video…
The Museum of World Scissors by Horse Ears Mountains is open from 10 to 8 except Mondays and holidays. It’s an unmanned museum so you have to buy the tickets from the machine at the door! 4,000 won for adults.