A bun is a type of hairstyle in which the hair is pulled back from the face, twisted or plaited, and wrapped in a circular coil around itself, typically on top or back of the head or just above the neck. A bun can be secured with a hair tie, barrette, bobby pins, one or more hair sticks, a hairnet, or a pen or pencil. Hair may also be wrapped around a piece called a "rat". Alternatively, hair bun inserts, or sometimes rolled up socks, may also be used to create donut-shaped buns. Buns may be tightly gathered, or loose and more informal.
Double bun
Double or pigtail buns are often called odango, which is also a type of Japanesedumpling. The term was popularized by the anime and manga series Sailor Moon, whose eponymous heroine and other characters wear their hair in this style. The term odango in Japanese can refer to any variety of bun hairstyle. In China, the hairstyle is called niújiǎotóu. It was a commonly used hairstyle up until the early 20th century, and can still be seen today when traditional attire is used. This hairstyle differs from the odango slightly in that it is gender neutral; Chinese paintings of children have frequently depicted girls as having matching ox horns, while boys have a single bun in the back.
Men in China wore their hair in a topknot bun as early as 200BC as depicted on the terracotta soldiers. They were worn until the end of the Ming Dynasty in AD 1644, after which the Qing Dynasty government forced Han Chinese to adopt the queue hairstyle. Men of the Joseon Era of Korea wore the sangtu as a symbol of marriage. 16th centuryJapanese men wore the chonmage for samurai warriors and sumo wrestlers. In the west, topknots were frequently worn by "barbarian" peoples in the eyes of the Romans, such as the Goths, Vandals, and most importantly, the Lombards. Later, the hairstyle survived in the pagan Scandinavian north and with the eastern nomadic tribes such as the Bulgars, Cumans and Cossacks. Paul the Deacon, in his description of the traditional barbarian style of the Lombard nation, describes their hair thus so, "they uncovered the flesh of their heads by shaving all around the neck, sides, and back of the head until the nuchal zone. The hair on the top, left long, was parted in the middle and hung down to the corners of their mouths.". This perfectly describes the modern western top knot as it appears untied. Historical and iconic examples of men with long hair using this style as practicality include:
Rishi knot
The rishi knot is a topknot worn by Sikh boys and men as a religious practice, in which the hair is formed into a bun. In the Sikh tradition, a turban is then worn atop the bun. This hairstyle is also known as joora, and was traditionally worn by Hindu monks known as rishis.
