Doljanchi (돌잔치) and Birthdays (생일 - saengil)
Let’s talk about birthdays! Birthdays tend to be happy occasions and are celebrated across culture. There is also a certain component of tradition to birthdays. Whether or not you’re someone who enjoys celebrating birthdays you cannot deny their importance. I recently read about a really interesting Korean tradition that takes place during an individual’s first birthday. Traditions and celebrations like these are deeply tied to culture and can be passed down from generation to generation. Many cultures have specific traditions to celebrate certain birthdays and ages. In America, a 21st birthday is significantly more monumental than turning other ages. In Latin American culture, a quinceañera is a significant celebration when a girl turns 15 years old. Korea also had its own set of traditions.
There are a couple of interesting things about birthdays and aging in Korea! First of all, your Korean age is probably different from your American age or “international” age. In Korea, when you are born you are already one year old. This is because the time a baby spends in their mother’s womb is counted as part of their age and it is rounded up to one year. This will actually add one year to your age if you are American because most other countries count newborn babies as zero years old. The next noteworthy part of age in Korea is that you increase your age by one on January 1st (New Year’s Day) every year regardless of when your real birthday was. To make sense of this other age systems measure your age by how long you have lived but the Korean age system measures age by how many years you have actually experienced. This system of Korean age is mostly cultural though and to maintain international standards and avoid confusion a lot of people use the international age system instead. Individual birthday celebrations do happen on a person’s actual birthday but the celebration is not as large as the New Year’s celebration. This birthday celebration on January 1st is an embodiment of the collectivist culture in Korea. Everyone celebrates another year of life together. In my American culture, we all celebrate our birthdays separately and individually perhaps also a symbol of America's individualistic culture.
To recap:
- In Korea, you are born one year old.
- Your Korean age increases by one not on your birthday but instead on January 1st of each year.
If you want to calculate your Korean age you can add one or two years to your actual age. This is because you automatically are one year older from birth and depending on when your birthday occurs each year you may need to add two years. Here is a simple formula to help you calculate your Korean age:
Birthday has passed this year: Your Age + 1 = Korean Age
Birthday has not passed this year: Your Age + 2 = Korean Age
Growing up in the US, I was always taught that asking someone their age is incredibly rude and was surprised to learn that asking someone their age is actually very common and one of the first things Korean people ask each other when they meet someone new. This is not meant to be offensive but instead meant as a way to make sure that one can address someone else with the appropriate level of formality. This is because of the honorifics system in Korean which is based on status and age. When addressing someone who is older than you, unless you are good friends, you should be sure to use the formal speech form. My language partner Jannette and all of the resources I have used online are always very clear that it is incredibly important to use the correct level of politeness so it is important to know someone's age.
On a baby’s first birthday (known as doljanchi (돌잔치) or dol (돌)) a very important celebration takes place which is known as Doljabi. This birthday and a person’s 60th birthday are considered the most important in Korea. Historically, many people died before these birthdays and because of that these ages are of special significance because of lack of medicine. In the past living over 60 was rare and these elders were highly celebrated. During a baby’s first birthday they wear a traditional Hanbok and there is special food served like the seaweed soup called miyeok-guk (미역국).
For the Doljabi ceremony a variety of objects, usually 6 to 8, are placed in front of the baby on a table or tray. The baby then chooses one or two of the objects and the object(s) they choose is/are meant to foretell their future regarding their lifestyle or career. Some common items included in the ceremony include a pencil or book to predict intelligence, money to predict wealth, a gavel to predict a career as a judge or lawyer, a microphone to predict life as an entertainer, and other items. Of course the parents are allowed to use whatever items they would like. This is what a traditional doljabi might look like:
If you’d like to watch a doljabi ceremony here’s a link to one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGuLwRYn3e8
Traditions like these are really important to a culture and age is especially significant in Korean culture. I really like learning about special ceremonies and traditions found in different cultures. I think traditions like these highlight the values of a culture and just help show some fun things about each culture. These events don’t even have to be linked to an entire culture. As an adoptee myself I celebrate my adoption day (or gotcha day) every year. This is a very special day for me and my family and many of the people I know in the adoptee community celebrate this day too. It was really great to read about these special celebrations in Korea (whether or not the doljabi ceremony actually predicts these babies’ futures)! Maybe now I’ll be more excited to turn 60 too!
References:
https://www.koreanclass101.com/korean-age/
https://snackfever.com/blogs/magazine/its-time-to-celebrate-korean-birthday-traditions
https://thesoulofseoul.net/2016/01/04/a-babys-first-birthday-korean-style-vs-american-style/
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/happy-new-year-you-are-now-a-year-older-in-korea
Replies
Hi Mallory, I love your insightful post and the doljabi ceremony is so cute! Similarly, I'm super confused with the age system in Korean and, additionally, the counting system. Also, about asking someone about his/her age is also considered not polite in China as well! Finally, it's glad to know that this tradition has passed on after so many generations. Again, thanks for the sharing!
I am always so confused when people try to explain to me their Korean age but now I finally understand! There is something similar in China but only older generations in the northern part of China use it, but I am surprised by how this tradition is passed on in Korea and how people are still using it!
Hi Mallory,
The Korean age system is such an old system that practically only Korea uses it! I think it has to be with a strong emphasis on the social hierarchy based on age. It also makes more sense if you follow the Korean school system as it provides students the opportunity to be the same age. And as you commented, unlike how it might be rude in the US, Koreans ask for your age before anything else. A code switch I have to be aware of when meeting people from the two cultures. I also loved reading about your summary on 돌잔치s. TMI but I picked up the bow (and arrow). Thank you for your comprehensive post!
I was always confused about the age system in Korea. When I was in middle school, I asked my Korean friends to explain the age system in Korea, their answer was very vague, and somehow they brought up their Korean calendar and say tell me they only have 10 months each year. After reading your cultural post, I have a better idea of the age system in Korea now and it is very interesting that babies are borne 1 year old.
Mallory,
This is a very beautiful and insightful post. I like the way that you connected the birthday celebrations on New Years to the collectivist culture of Korea. This totally ties into why Koreans ask which year you are born rather than how old are you as we would in America. I love how the culture has it’s own traditions and years it cherishes like Doljabi and a person’s 60th birthday. I would have never guessed that these years would be so important, but in respect to the Korean culture and history, it completely makes sense. I also love learning about ceremonies and traditions so I very much enjoyed your post. Thank you for sharing these special traditions!