Ji Li (ceremony)

Both the {{Transliteration|zh|Guan Li}}, the capping ceremony for Chinese men, and the {{Transliteration|zh|Ji Li}} ceremony appeared in China in ancient times, prior to the Qin era.{{Cite web |title=Ethics: the Core Concept of Chinese Rite of Passage--《Northwestern Journal of Ethnology》2017年02期 |url=https://en.cnki.com.cn/Article_en/CJFDTotal-SAGA201702017.htm |access-date=2021-03-18 |website=en.cnki.com.cn |archive-date=2022-09-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220907115800/https://en.cnki.com.cn/Article_en/CJFDTotal-SAGA201702017.htm |url-status=dead }}

The {{Transliteration|zh|Ji Li}} ceremony occurs when a girl is engaged or if she is getting married. However, it typically takes place when a young girl reaches the age of 15 even if the girl is not engaged or married.{{Cite web |last=Li |first=Hongrui |date=2017 |title=Culture Insider: How ancient Chinese welcomed youth into adulthood[1] |url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/m/shandong/yantai/2017-05/04/content_29324001.htm |access-date=2021-04-02 |website=www.chinadaily.com.cn}} If the young girl was still not betrothed at the age of 20, the {{Transliteration|zh|Ji Li}} ceremony had to be performed again.

The procedure of the {{Transliteration|zh|Ji Li}} ceremony occurs through the following steps:

1. A married woman, typically one of the girl's relatives, combs the hair of the young woman,
2. The hair of the young woman is gathered up into a bun before being fastened with a ji (hairpin) which is typically inscribed with auspicious patterns.
3. She is then given an adult name.
4. The hairpin is later removed after the ceremony.

After the {{Transliteration|zh|Ji Li}} ceremony, women had to learn how to be proper wives; this learning including the proper manner of speech and dress. They also had to learn needlework.

Korean women perform a coming-of-age ceremony that follows the Confucian tradition known as Gyerye ({{Korean|hangul=계례|hanja=筓禮}}) where they would braid their hair and roll it up into a chignon before putting it in place with a binyeo (i.e., a hairpin) on their 15th birthday.{{Cite web |title=Coming-of-age Day |url=https://folkency.nfm.go.kr/en/topic/detail/255 |website=Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture}}{{Cite web |title=Coming-of-age ceremony for girls(筓禮) |url=https://folkency.nfm.go.kr/en/topic/detail/34 |access-date= |website=Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture}}{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/882879939 |title=Guide to Korean culture. |date=2013 |others=Haeoe Hongbowŏn |isbn=978-89-7375-571-4 |location=Seoul, Republic of Korea |pages=107–108 |oclc=882879939}}

The tuổi cập kê (also known as the age of wearing hairpin) occurs when a girl reaches the age of 15.{{Cite book |last=Tri C. Tran; Tram Le |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1017727951 |title=Vietnamese Stories for Language Learners : Traditional Folktales in Vietnamese and English Text (Audio Download Included). |date=2017 |publisher=Tuttle Publishing |isbn=978-1-4629-1956-7 |oclc=1017727951}} At the age of 15, the girl starts to wear a hairpin, and the hairpin becomes an inseparable aspect of a woman; as such, giving a hairpin to a man symbolizes that the woman trusts the man completely. It is based on a Chinese custom.

• Guan Li – equivalent ceremony for male
• Chinese hairpin
• Hanfu

• Genpuku, the Japanese coming-of-age ceremony
• Cug Huê Hng, the Teochew coming-of-age ceremony

{{Reflist}}

Category:Chinese culture

Category:Rites of passage

Category:East Asian traditions

Category:Confucian rites

{{china-stub}}{{Types of Han Chinese clothing}}

{{Religious Confucianism}}