Gwallye is the Korean coming-of-age ceremony that traditionally marked a young man’s entry into adulthood by awarding him an official hat.
The ceremony was part of Confucian family and social practice during Korea’s Joseon period. Its name refers to the capping rite: a young man received the sangtu hairstyle and wore adult headgear, including the gat, a distinctive traditional Korean hat. The ritual signaled that he had assumed adult responsibilities and could participate more fully in society.
Gwallye was not simply a birthday celebration. It was a formal household ceremony involving elders, ritual clothing, and prescribed stages. The precise age could vary according to historical period, family, and local custom, although it was generally associated with adolescence or the early teenage years.
A related female rite was gyerye, in which a young woman received a hairpin and adopted adult dress. Gwallye and gyerye are therefore different from doljanchi, which celebrates a child’s first birthday.