and pouring a libation on an altar, flanked by household
Lares (
fresco from
Pompeii)
Classical antiquity According to
Herodotus (5th century BC), of all the days in the year, the one which the
Persians celebrate most is their birthday. It was customary to have the board furnished on that day with an ampler supply than common: the richer people eat wholly baked cow, horse, camel, or donkey (), while the poorer classes use instead the smaller kinds of cattle. On his birthday, the king anointed his head and presented gifts to the Persians. According to the law of the Royal Supper, on that day "no one should be refused a request". The rule for drinking was "No restrictions".
Ancient Rome In ancient Rome, a birthday (
dies natalis) was originally an act of religious cultivation (
cultus). A
dies natalis was celebrated annually for a
temple on the day of its founding, and the term is still used sometimes for the anniversary of an institution such as a university. The temple founding day might become the "birthday" of the
deity housed there.
March 1, for example, was celebrated as the birthday of the god
Mars. Each human likewise had a natal divinity, the
guardian spirit called the
Genius, or sometimes the Juno for a woman, who was owed religious devotion on the day of birth, usually in the household shrine (
lararium). The decoration of a
lararium often shows the Genius in the role of the person carrying out the rites. A person marked their birthday with ritual acts that might include lighting an altar, saying prayers, making vows (
vota), anointing and wreathing a statue of the Genius, or sacrificing to a patron deity. Incense, cakes, and wine were common offerings. Celebrating someone else's birthday was a way to show affection, friendship, or respect. In exile, the poet
Ovid, though alone, celebrated not only his own birthday rite but that of his far distant wife. Birthday parties affirmed social as well as sacred ties. One of the
Vindolanda tablets is an invitation to a birthday party from the wife of one Roman officer to the wife of another. Books were a popular birthday gift, sometimes handcrafted as a luxury edition or composed especially for the person honored. Birthday poems are a minor but distinctive genre of Latin literature. The
banquets,
libations, and offerings or gifts that were a regular part of most Roman religious observances thus became part of birthday celebrations for individuals. A highly esteemed person would continue to be celebrated on their birthday after death, in addition to the several holidays on the
Roman calendar for commemorating the dead collectively. Birthday commemoration was considered so important that money was often bequeathed to a
social organization to fund an annual banquet in the deceased's honor. The observance of a
patron's birthday or the honoring of a political figure's Genius was one of the religious foundations for
imperial cult or so-called "emperor worship."
Asia with dedication
China The Chinese word for "year(s) old"
suì) is entirely different from the usual word for "year(s)" (,
nián), reflecting the former importance of
Chinese astrology and the belief that one's
fate was bound to the
stars imagined to be in opposition to the planet
Jupiter at the time of one's birth. The importance of
this duodecennial orbital cycle only survives in popular culture as the 12 animals of the
Chinese zodiac, which change each
Chinese New Year and may be used as a theme for some gifts or decorations. Because of the importance attached to the influence of these stars in ancient China and throughout the
Sinosphere,
East Asian age reckoning previously began with one at birth and then added years at each Chinese New Year, so that it formed a record of the
suì one had lived through rather than of the exact amount of time from one's birth. This methodwhich can differ by as much as two years of age from other systemsis increasingly uncommon and is not used for official purposes in the
PRC or on
Taiwan, although the word
suì is still used for describing age. Traditionally, Chinese birthdayswhen celebratedwere reckoned using the
lunisolar calendar, which
varies from the Gregorian calendar by as much as a month forward or backward depending on the year. Celebrating the lunisolar birthday remains common on
Taiwan while growing increasingly uncommon on the mainland. Birthday traditions reflected the culture's deep-seated focus on
longevity and wordplay. From the homophony in
some dialects between ("
rice wine") and (meaning "long" in the sense of time passing),
osmanthus and other
rice wines are traditional gifts for birthdays in
China.
Longevity noodles are another traditional food consumed on the day, although western-style birthday cakes are increasingly common among urban Chinese.
Hongbaosred envelopes stuffed with money, now especially the
red 100 RMB notesare the usual gift from relatives and close family friends for most children. Gifts for adults on their birthdays are much less common, although the birthday for each decade is a larger occasion that might prompt a large dinner and celebration.
Japan The Japanese reckoned their birthdays by the Chinese system until the
Meiji Reforms. Celebrations remained uncommon or muted until after the
American occupation that followed
World War II. Children's birthday parties are the most important, typically celebrated with a cake, candles, and singing. Adults often just celebrate with their partner. on the Day of the Sun 2012
North Korea In
North Korea, the
Day of the Sun,
Kim Il Sung's birthday, is the most important public holiday of the country, and
Kim Jong Il's birthday is celebrated as the
Day of the Shining Star. North Koreans are not permitted to celebrate birthdays on July 8 and December 17 because these were the dates of the
deaths of Kim Il Sung and
Kim Jong Il, respectively. More than 100,000 North Koreans celebrate displaced birthdays on July 9 and December 18 instead to avoid these dates. A person born on July 8 before 1994 may change their birthday, with official recognition.
South Korea South Korea was one of the last countries to use a form of
East Asian age reckoning for many official purposes. Prior to June 2023, three systems were used together"Korean ages" that start with 1 at birth and increase every
January 1st with the
Gregorian New Year, "year ages" that start with 0 at birth and otherwise increase the same way, and "actual ages" that start with 0 at birth and increase each birthday.
First birthday celebrations was heavily celebrated, despite usually having little to do with the child's age. In June 2023, all Korean ages were set back at least one year, and official ages henceforth are reckoned only by birthdays.
Africa Ghana In Ghana, children wake up on their birthday to a special treat called
oto, which is a patty made from mashed sweet potato and eggs fried in
palm oil. Later they have a birthday party where they usually eat stew and rice and a dish known as
kelewele, which is fried
plantain chunks. == Distribution through the year ==