Coming of Age Ceremony for 43rd ‘Coming of Age Day’
[May 18, 2015]
<Traditional coming of age experience ceremony for the 43rd Coming of Age Day>
“As crowns were worn three times on a good day of a good year, brothers will love together in virtue and they shall receive the great blessings of the heavens with longevity (以歲之正 以月之令 咸加爾服 兄弟俱在 以成厥德 黃耈無疆 受天之慶)”
At the Gugye Seowon of the YU Gyeongsan Campus at 10 a.m. on the 18th, during the ‘Gwannye’(冠禮), the first part of the ‘gwanhonsangje’ ritual, YU President Noh Seok-kyun, who was invited as the guest of honor, recited a message of congratulations to male students who became 20 years old this year. Following the chipo-geon and yu-geon, the students wore the gat, which is the third crown, and tied the strings to officially announce that they had entered adulthood.
YU (President Noh Seok-kyun) held the ‘traditional coming of age’ experience ceremony in light of the 43rd ‘coming of age day’. This is a national memorial day designated as the third Monday of May and it is a day to congratulate youths who became 20 years old for reaching physical and mental maturity coming out of puberty and naturally reminding them of their responsibilities and duties as adults.
This traditional coming of age ceremony that was even more significant as being the 68th anniversary of the school, a total of eight students including six international students from Tanzania, Jamaica, Malaya, Uzbekistan and China all wore traditional clothes and took part in the ‘gwannye’ for men and ‘gyerye’ for women.
Kakono David Mabula (29) from Tanzania who enrolled at the YU Park Chung Hee School of Policy and Saemaul this year said, “Unlike the coming of age ceremony of Tanzania, I was impressed with the really solemn atmosphere and procedures.” He added, “It was a fun experience as a foreign student. I was able to experience the charms of traditional Korean culture that teaches the pride and responsibilities of being an adult.”
Gwannye is a ceremony of placing three hats on a man who became the age of 20 that emphasizes his responsibilities to his family, society and country. This ritual is completed by raising the hair in a topknot and wearing three crows. It is divided into the bunni ritual of changing clothes and taking a sip of alcohol to declare to the heavens that one has become an adult called chorye, and the myeongjarye ritual of giving a nickname called ‘ja’ as a representation to keep the body and name given to the new adult from his ancestors. Gyerye is a ritual where a woman undos her pigtails and raises here in a jjok (chignon) and uses a binyeo (hairpin) to officially declare that she is an adult woman.
YU President Noh Seok-kyun, who watched the entire traditional coming of age ceremony that lasted for about one and a half hours said, “We must protect and preserve the traditional coming of age ceremony, which is a ritual that is not just a passage ritual, but a ritual of learning and realizing the spirit of filial piety and the pride and responsibility of being an adult.” He added, “I hope that the students who have met their coming of age this year will become the force behind of Korea who respect theirselves, love others, and fulfill their social responsibilities.
