Hair in Yashidal Culture

Throughout history, the Yashidal people valued their hair and even assigned mystical powers to it. It is said that strength of character and qualities of leadership can be seen in strong, healthy hair, and long hair is considered a sign of integrity and personal values. This is also part why leadership positions are more often assigned towards women, as they are less prone to natural hair loss. Unless struck by a severe illness that make a person bedridden for an extended amount of time or being infested with lice that both require a haircut for the sake of their hygene, it is very uncommon to see ordinary people with hair shorter than the mid of their back, although depending on the fashion of the day, the locks framing the face may be styled in a variety of fringes.

Social Status

How the hair is worn mostly depends on the person's age and their status within their family. Minors generally wear their hair in one or two braids or a ponytail according to their preference. The exact styling oftentimes varies regionally or by occassion, for example in competitive sports events, minors often loop their braids to keep them out of the way.
During their Coming of Age Ceremony, the young adults are allowed to don an adult hairstyle for the first time. Ordinary members of the family will wear their hair in a half-updo most of the time or continue to wear braids for practicality, while the head of the family wears their hair in an updo to command authority. Adults who are not the head of the family are allowed to wear updos in a professional context once they graduated or finished their apprenticeship and can be considered a professional. It is disrespectful to wear an updo during family occasions, though, as it is considered to undermine the authority of the actual head of the family. Former heads of the family who handed that function down to the next generation however are still allowed to wear updos, they are oftentimes sought out for guidance by the new head of the family and generally hold a lot of respect within society.

Facial Hair

Most people are bare-faced and do not wear beards as it is widely considered as rather unattractive for young people. However, fathers are expected to grow facial hair within the first weeks after their first child's birth, as it is their traditional way to proclaim their parental status once the child is born and they have adopted them. It is also considered extremely inrresponsible to shave the beard off once having a child, even if the child has died, since it is seen as neglecting parental duty. In the current fashion, while donning a full beard, it is still kept fairly short and well-groomed.

Religion

To prove their humility, selflessness and dedication towards the spiritual journey, priests, monks and nuns in Cunang temples and shrines are required to shave their head completely, symbolising their detachment from the worldly matters. Men are also required to shave their beards as they need to detach themselves from their descendants. Some scholars also argue that through baldness, the gods have easier access to a person's mind, helping them towards enlightenment and disclosing their teachings more directly, and that natural hair loss is a sign of wisdom and a calling from the gods. Others point out that the natural loss is a sign of weak character and that only the act of deliberately shaving the hair off is significant for a person's enlightenment.

Death & Mourning

Death is usually the only time a person will wear their hair open, as they are now unrestricted by birth, rank and position and need to leave their mortal shell behind. It is also said that Younin will need to read the person's lifestory in their hair, and intricate hairdos are considered 'hiding' parts of that, a highly immoral act. This is also the reason why depictions of ghosts typically show them with open hair. However, it is not uncommon for the deceased to be adorned with flowers or holly branches to aid them in the afterlife and admit them to the cycle of rebirth. Those are often woven into crowns, the so called "Younin crowns", and are typically made by a member of the family.
Keeping a lock of a loved one's hair is considered a deep sign of devotion, and once the person dies it is not uncommon to see their family and friends donning jewelry that incorporates the deceased's hair in intricate ways. Morgue goldsmiths oftentimes pick floral or landscape motifs that symbolise rebirth and the afterlife. It is also not uncommon to be buried with such jewelry, as it calls their spirit to help guide the newly deceased to the afterlife or is said to help reconnect in the next life.

Prisoners

The cutting of convicted prisoners' hair still stems from the ancient Four Kingdoms, where banishment was a popular punishment especially for crimes against humanity, such as rape or murder. Convicts got their hair cut to demonstrate their depravity, loss of humanity, and shame. It was an irreversable sign for the other communities to shun them and examine their character more closely.
With Fuyuan military culture spreading after the Unification Wars, banishment was a rarer occurance and most convicts of crimes against humanity received the death penalty, the hair cutting however remained as a tradition after their sentence was read. However, it was uncomfortably common that fellow inmates would beat those criminals to death out of disgust before they could be executed, so convicts of any crime would receive a hair cut as soon as they enter prison for egalitarian reasons.

Military

Hair as black as cedar wood
Lies in a chest of silk
Cold steel was all it took
To make this blossom wilt

Snow upon the Cedar Tree by Anonymous

While Yashin's soldiers widely wore their uncut hair in a topknot during the Unification Period and after, the late Wuchang period and the Kasahire period saw a rapid increase in soldiers who cut their hair short. As soldiers were scarce and populations dwindling in those tumultous times, Kasahire used plenty of prisoners for his military campaigns with the promise of liberty once they served in his wars.
The military also ended the taboo of cutting one's hair at all during the Beulseong period, when the military under Taroín influence donned short hair and was widely respected for ending Kasahire's terror regime. However, long hair is still a sign of a cultivated civilian and thus developed various expressions over time.
Nowadays, it is mendatory for members of the military, and by extension the police force, to cut their hair short to distinguish them from officers of the civil service and symbolise their absolute submission to the military. The hair cutting ceremony is highly ritualistic and is accompanied by an oath of loyality the new member has to swear upon their soul. Kills in battle thus won't count against their soul but utmost loyality up til death are a given, yet descendants are not affected, so many soldiers also don a beard if appropriate. Especially in times of war when the second child of every family is drafted into the military, the hair cutting ritual is one of the most dreaded parts and often has the air of a mourning ritual. Their cut braid will be stored in a wooden box labelled with their family and hometown, so in case the military member dies and the body is too difficult to identify or transport back, the braid will be sent instead for the family to perform the funerary rites with.
Once a member retires from military services, they are allowed to grow their hair long again and are regarded as civilians.