East Asian age reckoning

Countries in the East Asian cultural sphere (China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and their diasporas) have traditionally used specific methods of reckoning a person's numerical age based not on their birthday but the calendar year, and what age one is considered at birth. These methods currently see only limited use in certain contexts and areas, mainly in South Korea and Taiwan. A person's age will always be one or two years greater than his or her age in the international norm. In the context of South Korea, this reckoning is often referred to as Korean age, but in 2022, the government of South Korea announced plans to switch from this Korean age system to the system used by most other countries in the world.

In traditional China, where the system originated millennia ago, people were considered to be ''one "year old"'' at birth (one ''sui'' 嵗/岁), and on New Year's Day of the lunar calendar, another year was added to their age. In other words, age was counted with ordinal numbers, not cardinal numbers; also, age was counted from the lunar new year, not from the date of birth. The Korean system uses the Gregorian calendar.

South Koreans also use a third system sometimes called year age, especially for administrative purposes, determined by the difference of the birth year and the current year. To put it simply, the equation is given by marking a person to be zero years old at birth, or:

Eastern Mongolia has a different system for measuring a person's age, which is based on the number of lunar cycles that have passed (since birth for boys; girls are measured from conception).

China

Currently in China and in Chinese societies around the world, the term ''sui'' when used all by itself can be ambiguous. In most contexts, such as the age on legal documents, it is equivalent to the English "years old." Thus, in China, where the legal age of alcohol consumption is 18 ''sui'', one is not legally permitted to drink alcohol until after their 18th birthday. However, in some contexts, such as in determining age for fortune-telling purposes, or in reading pre-modern texts, one must distinguish between the traditional way of calculating age and the modern way adopted from the West.

In pre-modern times, ''sui'' was calculated from the time of birth. A person was one ''sui'' as soon as they were born. At the Lunar new year, they turned two ''sui'', and every subsequent new year after that, they were one more ''sui''. Thus, by traditional reckoning, ''sui'' does not exactly mean "years old". To differentiate today, the term ''xu'' 虛/虚 or ''mao'' 毛 (both meaning ''nominal'') is added to the word ''sui''.

In many Chinese societies around the world, a child's horoscope is calculated at birth and is considered relevant throughout their life. The horoscope is calculated using the traditional ''sui'' (''xu sui''). This becomes important, for example in calculating a person's ''fan tai sui'' 反太歲/反太岁, which occurs after every twelve-year zodiac cycle. Thus, for a child born in June of the year 2000, a year of the dragon, the first ''fan tai sui'' year would occur in the next dragon year, which would begin on Lunar new year in the year 2012, when the child turns 13 ''sui''. By modern reckoning, the child would be 11 years old at the beginning of the year and turn 12 years old in June. Therefore, the modern way of reckoning age does not correspond to the horoscope. Using the traditional reckoning, the child in the example is 13 ''sui'' for the entirety of the ''fan tai sui'' year.

If one needs to distinguish the Western adopted terminology that is in general use now, ''xu sui'' is contrasted with ''shi sui'' 實歲/实岁 (or ''zhou sui'' 周嵗/周岁), but outside of astrological uses, the need for such a contrast today is rare. One must be careful, however, when calculating ages in pre-modern times. A figure listed as 69 ''sui'' during the Song dynasty, for example, would not be 69 years old and would instead be either 67 or 68. The exact age, by modern reckoning, would be impossible to know just from the ''sui'' alone, without knowing the actual year of birth by the Gregorian calendar.

When a child has survived one month of life (29 days, if using Lunar month reckoning), a ''mun yuet'' () celebration can be observed, in which duck or chicken eggs dyed red are distributed to guests to signify fertility.

Taiwan

East Asian age reckoning, both linguistically and in practice, follows the example of China ''(see )'' as the vast majority of Taiwanese people are ethnically Chinese. Unlike the Chinese however, the Taiwanese more widely use the East Asian age reckoning in a variety of social contexts and the term ''sui'' () less ambiguously refers to ones age according to this system. While birthdays are increasingly celebrated according to the Gregorian calendar, the traditional age reckoning is retained (e.g. Su Beng's centennial was celebrated to honor his November 5th, 1918 birth in the Gregorian calendar in 2017, not 2018). Furthermore, Taiwanese, like South Koreans, do not add year to their age on their birthdays but on New Year's Day (in the case of Taiwan, on the Lunisolar Chinese calendar New Year and not the Gregorian one as in Korea).

Korea

Koreans who use the traditional system refer to their age in units called ''sal'' ( 살), using Korean numerals in ordinal form. Thus, a person is one ''sal'' (''han sal'' []) during the first Korean calendar, calendar year of life, and ten ''sal'' during the tenth calendar year. ''Sal'' is used for native Korean numerals, while ''se'' (세; 歲) is used for Sino-Korean. For example, ''seumul-daseot sal'' () and ''i-sib-o se'' () both mean 'twenty-five-year-old'. If the international system is used (''man-nai'' []), then the age would be ''man seumul-daseot sal'' (). South Koreans speaking of age in the colloquial context will almost without question be referring to the traditional system, unless the ''man'' qualifier is used.

The 100th day after a baby was born is called ' (, ) which literally means "a hundred days" in Korean, and is given a special celebration, marking the survival of what was once a period of high infant mortality. The first anniversary of birth named '' dol'' () is likewise celebrated, and given even greater significance. South Koreans celebrate their birthdays, even though every South Korean gains one ''sal'' on New Year's Day. Because the first year comes at birth and the second on the first day of the New Year, children born, for example, on December 31st are considered to become two-year-olds the very next day, New Year's Day (of the Gregorian, not the Korean calendar).

Hence, everyone born on the same calendar year effectively has the same age and can easily be calculated by the formula: Age = (Current Year − Birth Year) + 1

In modern South Korea the traditional system is used alongside the international age system which is referred to as ''man-nai'' () in which ''"man"'' () means "full" or "actual", and ''nai'' () meaning "age". Hilts and Kim, (2002), p. 228 (quote) "Koreans have a peculiar way of calculating age. When you're born, you're already one year old, and then you get another year older when New Year's Day rolls around. The result is that your hangungnai (한국나이), 'Korean age', is usually one to two years older than your man-nai (만 나이), 'actual age'. Underage kids sometimes try to take some advantage of this, but eligibility for drinking, obtaining license etc is determined by your actual age." For example, ' means "full ten years", or "ten years old" in English. The Korean word ' means "years elapsed", identical to the English "years old", but is only used to refer to the first few birthdays. ' or simply ' refers to the first Gregorian-equivalent birthday, ' refers to the second, and so on.

The traditional system has not been used in modern North Korea since the 1980s. South Korea is now one of only two countries (the other being Taiwan) that widely uses the East Asian age, which is consequently sometimes referred as "Korean age".

A Korean birthday celebration by the Lunar calendar is called ' () and ' () is the birthday by the Gregorian calendar. In the past, most people used the Lunar calendar (') to tell their birthdays rather than the Gregorian calendar ('), but nowadays Koreans, especially young generations, tend to use ' for telling their birth dates.

For official government uses, documents, and legal procedures, the international system is used. Regulations regarding age limits on beginning school, as well as the age of consent, are all based on this system (''man-nai''). The age qualifier for tobacco and alcohol use is actually similar to, but distinct from the East Asian reckoning system. A person is allowed tobacco and alcohol if it is after January 1 of the year one turns 19 (post-birth age). This is the "year age", which is basically (Korean age – 1), or when a person's Korean age is 20.

Calls to remove the system intensified in early 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as inconsistent use of the two age systems created conflicts in the eligibility criteria for COVID-19 vaccines and a vaccine passport rule; some residents were being deemed ineligible for vaccination, but at the same time subject to a proof of vaccination requirement for certain establishments. In April 2022, the transition committee of president-elect Yoon Suk-yeol stated that the government planned to amend the Civil Code and other relevant legislation to switch to the standard international age system. On 8 December 2022, the National Assembly passed a bill that would prohibit the usage of traditional ages on official documents effective June 2023.

Japan

The traditional Japanese system of age reckoning, or ' (, lit. "counted years"), which incremented one's age on New Year's Day, was rendered obsolete by law in 1902 when Japan officially adopted the modern age system, known in Japanese as ' (). However, the traditional system was still commonly used, so in 1950 another law was established to encourage people to use the modern age system.

Today the traditional system is used only by the elderly and in rural areas. Elsewhere its use is limited to traditional ceremonies, divinations, and obituaries.

Japanese uses the word ''sai'' ( or ) as a counter word for both the traditional and modern age system.

Because of the idea of ''yakudoshi'' or unlucky years, ''kanreki'' is a special occurrence for celebrating 60 years of life, meaning one has returned to the same combination of zodiacal symbols that governed the year of one's birth.

Vietnam

Having been influenced by Chinese culture, the ancient Vietnamese also used this system and, despite not being the official age on papers and in daily usages at the present, the East Asian age is still in limited use by adults, especially old people in rural areas. However, this age system is not really familiar to the younger generation. In Vietnam, it is called ('her age'), (literally 'our age', contrasting with Western age ) or (' lunar-calendar age').

See also

* Chinese calendar
* Japanese calendar
* Korean calendar
* Republic of China calendar
* Vietnamese calendar

Citations

General and cited references

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External links

Japanese kazoedoshi counting

{{DEFAULTSORT:East Asian Age Reckoning
Age and society
Chinese culture
Japanese culture
Korean culture
Vietnamese culture