In Korean tradition, a child’s first-birthday celebration featuring a future-prediction object-choice ritual is called doljanchi.
The word doljanchi combines dol, meaning a child’s first birthday, with janchi, meaning a feast or banquet. The celebration traditionally marks survival through the vulnerable first year and expresses hopes for the child’s health and prosperity.
One famous part is doljabi. The child is placed before objects such as books, money, thread, or food and encouraged to choose one. Traditional interpretations link the selected item with a possible future, although modern families often add humorous or contemporary objects such as a microphone, stethoscope, or sports equipment.
Doljanchi is not the same as baek-il, which marks 100 days. Nor is doljabi itself the name of the entire party: doljabi refers specifically to the object-selection ritual within doljanchi.