笄年

jīnián

noun

Meanings

1 the age at which a girl comes of age (15 in old usage)
2 a girl's coming-of-age

Characters

hairpin (used in coming-of-age ritual)

Examples

女子十五而笄，称为笄年。

Nǚzǐ shíwǔ ér jī, chēng wéi jīnián.

A girl reaches maturity at fifteen — this is called jī-nián.

她已到笄年，家中开始为她议亲。

Tā yǐ dào jīnián, jiā zhōng kāishǐ wèi tā yìqīn.

She had reached her coming-of-age, and her family began discussing marriage.

Tips

history

笄 (jī) is a hairpin. In ancient China, a girl's 笄礼 (jīlǐ, 'hairpin ceremony') at fifteen marked her as marriageable — her hair was put up and fixed with a 笄. The male equivalent was 冠礼 (guānlǐ, the capping ceremony) at twenty, behind 弱冠 (ruòguān, 'weak-cap age').

register

Strictly literary/classical. You won't hear 笄年 in conversation — look for it in historical novels, classical Chinese, or formal essays about traditional culture.

Stroke Order

笄 jī

年 nián