Tonsure (/ˈtɒnʃər/) is the practice of cutting or shaving some or all of the hair on the scalp as a sign of religious devotion or humility. The term originates from theLatin wordtonsura (meaning "clipping" or "shearing"[1]) and referred to a specific practice in medievalCatholicism, abandoned by papal order in 1972.[citation needed][2] Tonsure can also refer to the secular practice of shaving all or part of the scalp to show support or sympathy, or to designate mourning. Current usage more generally refers to cutting or shaving for monks, devotees, or mystics of any religion as a symbol of their renunciation of worldly fashion and esteem.
Tonsure is still a traditional practice in Catholicism by specific religious orders (with papal permission). It is also commonly used in theEastern Orthodox Church for newly baptised members and is frequently used forBuddhist novices,monks, andnuns. The complete shaving of one's head bald, or just shortening the hair, exists as a traditional practice in Islam after completion of theHajj and is also practised by a number ofHindu religious orders.
Tonsure is usually the part of three rites of passages in the life of the individual in Hinduism. The first is calledchudakarana (IAST: Cūḍākaraṇa, Sanskrit: चूडाकरण; literally, "rite of tonsure"), also known aschaula,chudakarma,mundana, ormundan, marks the child's first haircut, typically the shaving of the head.[4] The mother dresses up, sometimes in her weddingsari, and with the father present, the baby's head is shaved and nails trimmed, washed and dressed in new clothes.[5] Sometimes, a tuft of hair (shikha) is left to cover the soft spot near the top of the baby's head.[4][5] Both boys and girls typically go through this ceremony, sometimes near a temple or a river, but it is not mandatory in Hinduism.[3]
The significance of the chudakarana rite of passage is the baby's cyclical step to hygiene and cleanliness.[6] The ritual is typically done about the first birthday, but some texts recommend that it be completed before the third or the seventh year.[5] Sometimes, this ritual is combined with the rite of passage ofUpanayana, the initiation to formal schooling.[4][5]
Another rite of passage where tonsure is practiced by Hindus is after the death and completing the last rites of an immediate family member, that is father, mother, brother, sister, spouse, or child. This ritual is regionally found in India among male mourners, who shave their heads as a sign of bereavement.[7] Until a few decades ago, many Hindu communities, especially the upper castes, forced widows to undergo the ritual of tonsure and shun good clothes and ornaments, in order to make them unattractive to men.[8]
According to Jamanadas, tonsure was originally aBuddhist custom and was adopted by Hinduism.[9] However, Pandey and others trace the practice to Sanskrit texts dated to have been composed before the birth of Buddha, which mention tonsure as a rite of passage.[3][5]
Tonsure was not widely known in antiquity. There were three forms of tonsure known in the 7th and 8th centuries:
St. Germanus I,Patriarch of Constantinople from 715 to 730, writes "The double crown inscribed on the head of the priest through tonsure represents the precious head of the chief-apostle Peter. When he was sent out in the teaching and preaching of the Lord, his head was shaved by those who did not believe his word, as if in mockery. The Teacher Christ blessed this head, changed dishonour into honour, ridicule into praise. He placed on it a crown made not out of precious stones, but one which shines more than gold, topaz, or precious stone – with the stone and rock of faith.” In the Eastern Orthodox Church today, priests, deacons, readers, and other tonsured offices do not have their heads shaved. Rather, four locks of hair are clipped from the top of the head in the shape of a cross to mark their obedience to the Church.
St. Germanus I writes "The total tonsuring of the head is in imitation of the holy Apostle James, brother of the Lord, and the Apostle Paul, and of the rest."[16]
In theLatin Church of theCatholic Church, "first tonsure" was, in medieval times, and generally through to 1972,[17] the rite of inducting someone into the clergy and qualifying him for the civil benefits once enjoyed byclerics. Tonsure was a prerequisite for receiving theminor andmajor orders. Failing to maintain tonsure was the equivalent of attempting to abandon one's clerical state, and in the1917 Code of Canon Law, any cleric in minor orders (or simply tonsured) who did not resume the tonsure within a month after being warned by hisOrdinary lost the clerical state.[18] Over time, the appearance of tonsure varied, ending up for non-monastic clergy as generally consisting of a symbolic cutting of a few tufts of hair at first tonsure in the Sign of the Cross and in wearing a bare spot on the back of the head which varied according to the degree of orders. It was not supposed to be less than the size of a communicant'shost, even for a tonsuratus, someone simply tonsured, and the approximate size for a priest's tonsure was the size of a priest's host. Countries that were not Catholic had exceptions to this rule, especially in the English-speaking world. In England and America, for example, the bare spot was dispensed with, likely because of the persecutions that could arise from being a part of the Catholic clergy, but the ceremonious cutting of the hair in the first clerical tonsure was always required. In accordance withPope Paul VI'smotu proprioMinisteria quaedam of 15 August 1972, "first tonsure is no longer conferred".[17]
Apart from this general clerical tonsure, someWestern Rite monastic orders, for exampleCarthusians andTrappists, employed a very full version of tonsure, shaving the head entirely bald and keeping only a narrow ring of short hair, sometimes called "the monastic crown" (see "Roman tonsure", above), from the time of entrance into the monasticnovitiate for all monks, whether destined for service as priests or brothers.
Today inEastern Orthodoxy and in theEastern Catholic Churches ofByzantine Rite, there are three types of tonsure:baptismal,monastic, andclerical. It always consists of the cutting of four locks of hair in a cruciform pattern: at the front of head as the celebrant says "In the Name of the Father", at the back of head at the words "and the Son", and on either side of the head at the words "and the Holy Spirit". In all cases, the hair is allowed to grow back; the tonsure as such is not adopted as a hairstyle.
Baptismal tonsure is performed during the rite of Holy Baptism as a first sacrificial offering by the newly baptised. This tonsure is always performed, whether the one being baptised is an infant or an adult.
Monastic tonsure (of which there are three grades:Rassophore,Stavrophore and theGreat Schema), is the rite of initiation into the monastic state, symbolic of cutting off of self-will. Orthodox monks traditionally never cut their hair or beards after receiving the monastic tonsure as a sign of the consecration of their lives to God (reminiscent of the Vow of theNazirite).
Clerical tonsure is the equivalent of the "first tonsure" in the Latin church. It is done immediately prior to ordination to the minor order ofreader but is not repeated at subsequent ordinations.[19] This led to a once common usage that one was, for instance, "tonsured a reader", although technically the tonsure occurs prior to the prayer of ordination within the ordination rite.
Since the issuing ofMinisteria quaedam in 1972,[17] certain institutes have been authorized to use the first clerical tonsure, such as thePriestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (1988), theInstitute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (1990), and thePersonal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney (2001).
Although the tonsure itself is obsolete, the wearing of a skull cap, called azucchetto, in church to keep the head warm, which the fuller form of clerical tonsure led to, still survives. The zucchetto is worn by thepope (in white),cardinals (in red) andbishops (in purple) both during and outside of formal religious ceremonies. Priests may wear a simple black zucchetto, only outside of religious services, though this is almost never seen except on abbots, who continue to wear the black zucchetto, or abbots of the Order of Canons Regular of Premontre, who wear white. Another congregation of Canons Regular, the Canons Regular of the Lateran, wear a white zucchetto as part of their proper habit. Some priests who held special titles (certain ranks ofmonsignori and some canons, for instance) formerly wore black zucchettos with red or purple piping, but this too has fallen out of use except in a few, extremely rare cases.
Some monastic orders and individual monasteries[which?] still maintain the tradition of a monastic tonsure. While not required, it is still a common practice of Latin Church friars, such as theFranciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word.[citation needed] Some references compare the tonsure to theCrown of Thorns worn byChrist at thecrucifixion.[20][21]
InBuddhism, tonsure (Sanskrit:mundanā) is a part of the rite ofpravrajya and also a part of becoming abhikshu (monk) orbhikshuni (nun). This involves shaving the head and face. This tonsure is renewed as often as required to keep the head cleanly shaven.
TheTheravadaVinaya stipulates that a monk must shave every two months or when the hair grows two finger-breadths in length. When the Buddha-to-be first cut his hair, the remaining hair curled clockwise to this length, never to grow long again. It is common for the monastic community to shave during the full moon and new moonUposatha days.[22]
Mahayana tradition varies slightly in its forms of tonsure depending on region. According to the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya commentary (四分律刪繁補闕行事鈔, T. 1804) byDaoxuan, newly-ordained monks should leave one, three, or five small knots of hair (cūḍā) that are ceremonially shaved by their teacher when receiving precepts.[23]Chinese Buddhism includes a practice calledjieba (戒疤), wherein the monk or nun receives small burns to the scalp to symbolize their adherence to thebodhisattva path.
TheVerse of Tonsure (Teihatsu no ge 剃髮偈) is recited bySoto Zen practitioners:[24]
Tibetan Buddhist tradition assigns auspicious days depending on when both laypeople and monastics cut their hair.[25] TheMūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya also regulates the wearing of a special cloth when shaving the head calledkeśapratigrahaṇa (剃髮衣). This is also the name of the shrine built for the Buddha's hair before it was enshrined in a stupa inTrāyastriṃśa heaven.[26]
The purification process of themetzora (one afflicted withtzaraath) involved the ritual shaving of themetzorah's entire body except for the afflicted locations.[27]
In an effort to distinguish themselves from ancient practices of tonsure associated with idolatry, by doing the inverse,Orthodox Jewish males do not shave thecorners of their beards or scalps with straight blades, as described inLeviticus 19:27.
See also the custom ofUpsherin, celebrating a boy's first haircut at the age of three.
Partial tonsure is forbidden in Islam. Muhammad forbade shaving one's hair on some parts of the head while letting it grow on other parts, as in tonsure. However, shaving the head entirely is allowed. The proscription is detailed in thehadith.
عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ – صلى الله عليه وسلم – نَهَى عَنِ الْقَزَعِ
From Ibnu 'Umar (he says), the Prophet – peace be upon him – forbids the Qaza‘ (i.e. shaving hair on some parts of the head while let it grow on other parts). Hadith Bukhari V/2214 no.5577 aboutAl-Qaza‘, and Hadith Muslim III/1675 no.2120, aboutthe Proscription of Al-Qaza‘)[non-primary source needed]
عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ رَأَى النَّبِي صَلَّى الله عَلَيهِ وَسَلَّمَ صَبِياًً قَدْ حلقَ بَعْضَ شَعْرٍ رَأسَه وَ تركَ بَعْضاً فقال: اَحلِقْهُ كُلَّهُ أَوْ دَعْهُ كُلَّهُ
From Ibnu 'Umar (he says), the Prophet – peace be upon him – saw a boy whose head shaven on some parts and let the hair grow on other parts. Then, the Prophet commands, "Shave the head entirely or let the hair grow entirely" Hadith Ahmad II/88, Hadith Abu Dawud no. 4195, and Hadith An-Nasa-i no.5048)[non-primary source needed]
Among theMerovingians, whose rulers were the "long-haired kings",[28] the ancient custom remained that an unsuccessful pretender or a dethroned king would be tonsured. Then he had to retire to a monastery, but sometimes this lasted only until his hair grew back.[29] ThusGrimoald the Elder, the son ofPippin of Landen, andDagobert II's guardian, seized the throne for his own son and had Dagobert tonsured, thus marking him unfit for kingship,[30] and exiled.[31]
The practice of tonsure, coupled withcastration, was common for deposed emperors and their sons inByzantium from around the 8th century, prior to which disfigurement, usually by blinding, was the normal practice.[32]
The traditional custom of tonsures performed at Tirumalai as religious ceremony can not be viewed upon as a custom of the Brahmanic [Hindu] religion.
The dictionary definition oftonsure at Wiktionary
Media related toTonsure at Wikimedia Commons
