(), also known as the hairpin ceremony, is the equivalent of the ; the marks the transition from childhood to adulthood of a Chinese woman and involves the use of a (). It is only after the ceremony that a woman is considered an adult and is therefore eligible to be married. In ancient times, the ceremony could be performed by people of any social class; however, rich people were more likely to hold the ceremony than poor people.

Origins

Both the , the capping ceremony for Chinese men, and the ceremony appeared in China in ancient times, prior to the Qin era.

Age

The 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. If the young girl was still not

betrothed An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...

at the age of 20, the ceremony had to be performed again.

Procedures of ceremony

The procedure of the ceremony occurs through the following steps: # A married woman, typically one of the girl's relatives, combs the hair of the young woman, # 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. # She is then given an adult name. # The hairpin is later removed after the ceremony. After the 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 Needlework refers to decorative sewing and other textile arts, textile handicrafts that involve the use of a Sewing needle, needle. Needlework may also include related textile crafts like crochet (which uses a crochet hook, hook), or tatting, ( ...

Derivatives and influences

Korea

Korean women perform a coming-of-age ceremony that follows the Confucian tradition known as ''Gyerye'' () where they would braid their hair and roll it up into a chignon before putting it in place with a

binyeo A (; ) is a Koreans, Korean traditional hairpin for fixing ladies' chignon (hairstyle), chignons. Its main purpose is to pin the chignon in place, but it also serves as ornamentation, and it has different usages or names according to its materia ...

(i.e., a hairpin) on their 15th birthday.

Vietnam

The ''tuổi cập kê'' (also known as ''the age of wearing hairpin'') occurs when a girl reaches the age of 15. 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.

References

Chinese culture Rites of passage East Asian traditions Confucian rites {{Religious Confucianism