Chisungu is a Bemba female initiation ceremony in Zambia that traditionally prepares girls for adult social roles.
The ceremony is associated with the Bemba people and may include instruction, songs, dances, symbolic objects, and seclusion. Senior women traditionally transmit knowledge about relationships, household responsibilities, sexuality, fertility, and community expectations. Its length and details have varied according to period, locality, and family circumstances.
Chisungu is especially notable because it is not merely a private family celebration. It is a structured educational and ritual process in which older women act as teachers and custodians of cultural knowledge. Songs and performances can communicate ideas indirectly through metaphor and symbolism.
Descriptions sometimes treat all African initiation ceremonies as interchangeable, but Chisungu is specifically associated with Bemba communities. It should also not be confused with Mukanda, a male initiation tradition found among several peoples of south-central Africa.