Age reckoning in Menghe
Menghe has a number of distinct practices relating to age reckoning, or the reporting of an individual's age. The main systems still in use are traditional age, round age, and standard age, each of which may be used in different contexts. Round age follows the modern Western convention, with babies starting at age zero and gaining one year on each anniversary of their birth (using the Gregorian calendar), while in traditional age and standard age all individuals gain a year of age on the same date.
Traditional age
Traditional age (Menghean: 음세 / 陰歲, Ŭmse), literally "Lunar Age," is a form of age reckoning in which all babies are considered one year old at the date of birth, and gain an additional year on the first day of the lunar calendar (which usually falls between January 21st and February 20th). For example, a child born on February 7th 2016 would be counted as two years old on February 9th of the same year, despite having been born two days earlier. Birthdays are then celebrated as part of the lunar new year, and one's age can be calculated from the number of lunar new years they have experienced, plus one. Depending on the time of year - that is, on whether the current date is between one's birth anniversary and the lunar new year, or between the lunar new year and one's birth anniversary - a person's traditional age will be either one or two years higher than their conventional Western age.
The exact origins of this system are unclear. In 92 BCE, the Yuhwa Emperor issued an edict stating that lunar age reckoning would be standardized in Meng dynasty records, though it is known that the system was already in use by then.
Prior to that time, a number of other age-counting traditions had existed, usually based on the date of conception. Some historians speculate that this may have provided the basis for the rule that all babies start at the age of one. Age counting based on the date of conception remained widespread in the nomadic tribes of the Northwest as late as the 1920s. Nevertheless, "traditional age" in Menghe almost universally refers to the lunar-based counting system.
Since 1951, traditional age is no longer recognized in official documents, as this was the year that the government formally switched over to the Gragorian calendar. It has also fallen out of favor in everyday contexts. It is mainly used in Sindo religious ceremonies, and in traditional lunar new year celebrations. Traditionally, a person's age is usually counted in months since birth until they reach the traditional age of four - that is, for the first two to three years after birth.
Round age
Round age (주세 / 週歲, Juse), also translated as "full age," "real age," and "biological age," follows the conventional Western tradition in which children are born at the age of zero and gains a year on each anniversary of their birth. The term "round age" represents the passage of a full year between birth and first birthday. Historically, one's birthday was based on the lunar calendar, but today it is almost exclusively based on the solar calendar.
Various forms of "round age" are believed to predate the "traditional age" system, but fell out of official use after the Yuhwa Emperor issued his edict on age counting. Solar round age was the sole official system recognized by the government between 1951 and 1969, when the standard age system entered use.
While rarely used in official laws, except in some regulations concerning the suitability of medicine for young children, round age is still commonly used in informal or everyday circles. Many Mengheans celebrate birthdays on the anniversary of their birth rather than during the solar or lunar new year celebration. Unless otherwise specified, age is assumed to be round age. Nevertheless, traditional or standard age are used to rank people by seniority, ensuring that two individuals' age difference in years (and by extension, social customs relating to seniority and hierarchy) will remain constant.
Standard age
Standard age (표준세 / 標準歲, Pyojun-se) is the official age reckoning system which entered use in 1969. It shares features of both the traditional and round age systems: individuals are counted as age zero at birth, and add a year each time they pass January 1st. This has the advantage of using the solar calendar, meaning that it is easier to convert between the two systems (simply subtract the current year from the year you were born). It also removes ambiguity about how to count age for people born on leap days.
Standard age was originally restored because it remained consistent for each year's cohort of children; for example, all children enter primary school at the standard age of 6, and graduate at the standard age of 19, unless they skipped a year via a Chŏllima leap. It has since been extended to other areas, and is commonly used in scholarly research to examine cohort effects.
Examples
- Age to join the Joguk Janyŏ: 7
- Age to join the Youth Vanguard: 15
- Age of consent: 17
- Voting age: 19
- Legal drinking age: 19 (purchase and consumption)
- Smoking age: 19 (purchase and consumption)
- Eligibility for conscription: 19
- Age to join the Menghe Socialist Party: 21
- Age of candidacy: 24
Depending on the time of year relative to one's date of birth, standard age is either the same as round age or one year higher. Thus, for example, a conscription age of 19 means that recruits may be either 18 or 19 in round age by the time they begin training, but under no circumstances would they have a round age below 18.