Doljanchi (돌잔치) is a tradition in Korea that celebrates the first birthday of a baby.
Traditionally, at the beginning of the dol, people gave prayers. They would prepare a prayer table with food such as rice, seaweed soup, and water. They prayed to two Korean gods, Sanshin (the mountain god) and Samshin (birth goddess, asking for luck and long life and thanking the birth goddess. However, not many people do this because Christianity became one of the dominant religions in Korea. Because Christianity is one of the dominant religions in Korea, this tradition does not happen anymore. This tradition generally happened during the Joseon Dynasty.
The child participates in a tradition called doljabi (돌잡이), a fortune-telling tradition where the child is placed in front of various objects. There are traditional doljabi objects and modern doljabi items that are placed in front of the child. Some examples of traditional doljabi items are money (wealth), pencil (scholar), rice (plentiful life), thread (long life), and bow and arrow (military career). Some more modern doljabi items are a microphone, stethoscope, sports ball, gavel, and many more. The child's parent chooses the items for the doljabi so they can choose the traditional or modern items or a mix of both. He or she is encouraged to grab an item from the set of items, and the item selected will foretell his or her future. The child crawls over to the items laid out for him or her, and the items chosen predict what kind of future the child will have.
Doljanchi tradition began in the 18th century. During that time, Korea was not very developed, especially in the healthcare field, so the infant mortality rate was very high. Even in the 1950s, it was at 26%. Since their infant mortality rate was so high, they considered it a milestone if the infant reached his or her first birthday. Therefore, the people celebrated the milestone with a big party wishing for the child’s good future and life.
During the doljanchi, the birthday baby wears a hanbok and a traditional hat. For girls, they would wear jobawi (조바위) which is a traditional Korean winter cap with earflaps or gulle (굴레), which is a traditional headgear worn for warmth and style. For boys, they would wear a bokgeon, a hanbok head shroud young children wore, or a hogeon (호건), a traditional headgear for young boys to wear.
Dolsang (돌상) is the main rectangular table that is seen at the child’s first birthday. On top of the rectangular table, there are two circular round tables. They represent the wish and hope for the child to grow up without facing hardships. On top of the dolsang, various items have significance and meaning. Some items are fruit, rice cakes, five silk pouches (harmony), dates, minari wrapped in threads (vitality), and many more. There are different kinds of rice cakes put on the dolsang. One kind is baeksulgi (백설기) which represents the pure start of life. Another type is osaek songpyeon (오색송편) which has five different colors representing harmony with the child’s surroundings.
Comments
Amy, thank you for sharing such an interesting post! The Doljabi tradition sounds fascinating! Does anyone ever take note of whether someone's life outcome aligns with the thing they chose during Doljabi? I think such type of comparison in hindsight would be really fun. Also, you mention that the parents choose the items for Doljabi. I am guessing this means that all the items are things that the parents would be happy about their child picking? Because I was wondering if there are ever instances where a child's picks something and it makes the parents unhappy or concerned.
Hi Amy! I really enjoyed learning more about Doljanchi. I attended a Doljanchi when I was about 12 years old, approximately 10 years ago. One of my close family friends closely follows Korean tradition and each of her four children had big celebrations for their first birthday. From what I remember, Gavin, the birthday boy, wore a hanbok and bokgeon. They also had Gavin participate in the fortune-telling tradition and I believe he chose a dollar bill. It was a really meaningful and fun celebration; I am glad to know more about it through your cultural artifact post!
This cultural post is so interesting! I always knew Doljanchi was a celebration done for babies when they turned one but I never knew the real reason and culture behind this celebration. I never knew this started because the infant mortality rate was so high in the 18th centuries. I also did not know that the celebration was related to a religion such as praying to two Korean Gods. I feel like in the modern days the purpose changed where people just celebrate this as a tradition because everyone does it. I think I chose a pencil during my Doljanchi..Which item did you select?