Traditions of East Asia
Lunar New Year, tea ceremony, hanami, chuseok and the ancestors. 261 traditions on EveryParampara so far.
Countries
🇨🇳 China 151🇭🇰 Hong Kong 9🇯🇵 Japan 145🇲🇴 Macau 4🇲🇳 Mongolia 22🇰🇵 North Korea 22🇰🇷 South Korea 58🇹🇼 Taiwan 30
Cities and towns
On the calendar
🇨🇳 China and 5 morePostpartum confinement
A period of rest, nourishment, and seclusion for mothers after giving birth.Rite of passage
🇰🇷 Jeju, South KoreaGut굿
Sacred rites of song, dance, and spirit communion performed by Korean shamansSpiritual
🇰🇷 Jeju, South KoreaHaenyeo해녀
Female free-divers of Jeju Island who harvest seafood from the ocean.Table custom
🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanShichi-Go-San七五三
A Japanese festival celebrating the growth of three-year-old girls, five-year-old boys, and seven-year-old girls.Rite of passage
🇯🇵 JapanComing of Age Day成人の日
A Japanese public holiday welcoming new adults with municipal rites and celebrationsRite of passage
🇨🇳 China and 6 moreRed envelope紅包 / 红包 (hóngbāo)
Money in a red packet, given at Lunar New Year, weddings and other big daysEtiquette
🇨🇳 ChinaChinese funeral rituals
Traditional rites of mourning, vigils, offerings, and ancestor veneration across ChinaRite of passage
🇰🇷 South KoreaKorean traditional funeral
A multi-day ritual blending Confucian rites and shamanic practices to guide the deceased to the afterlife.Rite of passage
🇨🇳 Beijing, ChinaHanfu漢服
The dress of the Han Chinese, named for the Han dynasty and worn again todayDress
🇨🇳 China and 4 moreSky burialབྱ་གཏོར་ (bya gtor)
A Tibetan funeral in which the dead are laid out on a rock for vulturesRite of passage
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreAncestor veneration
Honouring dead relatives with offerings, meals and prayers, kept in cultures worldwideSpiritual
🇯🇵 JapanMiyamairi宮参り
A first visit to a Shinto shrine, about a month after a baby is bornRite of passage
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreJoss paper金紙 (jīnzhǐ)
Paper money burned for ancestors and gods, folded and offered in Chinese worshipSpiritual
🇯🇵 JapanJapanese funeral葬儀 (sōgi)
A Buddhist farewell in Japan: a wake, cremation, bone-gathering and a family graveRite of passage
🇰🇷 South Korea and 1 morePyebaek폐백
A Korean wedding rite where newlyweds bow to elders and share dates, chestnuts and wineRite of passage
🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanShinto wedding神前結婚
A short purification ceremony before the kami, sealed by three cups of sakeRite of passage
🇰🇷 South Korea and 1 moreDoljanchi돌 (dol); 돌잔치 (doljanchi)
A Korean first-birthday rite where a baby picks an object that hints at the years aheadRite of passage
🇨🇳 ChinaTraditional Chinese marriage婚姻 (hūnyīn)
A wedding rite that joins two families, arranged by a go-between and sealed with giftsRite of passage
🇰🇷 Seoul, South Korea and 1 moreMarriage in Korea
Weddings in Korea, from Goryeo matchmaking to Confucian rites and modern chapel vowsRite of passage
🇯🇵 Kyoto, Japan and 5 moreTeeth blackening
A custom of dyeing teeth black to mark adulthood and beauty in parts of Asia and Oceania.Rite of passage
🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanGenpuku元服
The Japanese rite of passage that marked a child's entry into adult lifeRite of passage
🇨🇳 ChinaTraditional Chinese wedding dress
The ceremonial bridal garments worn in Han Chinese marriage ceremoniesDress
🇨🇳 Taiyuan, ChinaGuan Li冠禮
The traditional Chinese coming-of-age capping ceremony for young menRite of passage
🇨🇳 China and 2 moreJi Li笄禮
The traditional Chinese coming-of-age hairpin ceremony for young womenRite of passage
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Haenyeo: Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Shichi-Go-San: Bergmann at Japanese Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0, source
- Coming of Age Day: moguphotos, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Chinese funeral rituals: Salzmann, E.v., CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source
- Postpartum confinement: Unknown, Public domain, source
- Gut: ReSearcher at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Hanfu: Anonymous Song Chinese artist after the original by Gu Hongzhong, Public domain, source
- Doljanchi: en:User:Jamsong, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sky burial: FishOil at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Red envelope: Oldie~commonswiki, Public domain, source
- Ancestor veneration: Thang Nguyen, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Miyamairi: I (Sakura-saku-kuni) took this photograph., Public domain, source
- Joss paper: Vmenkov, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Japanese funeral: 夢の散歩, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pyebaek: halfGoku, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Shinto wedding: Jakub Hałun, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Traditional Chinese marriage: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Marriage in Korea: Jérôme Banal ( Eden2004 ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Teeth blackening: momo, CC BY 2.0, source
- Traditional Chinese wedding dress: Tunere, CC BY-SA 4.0, source