Picture
So let's understand some korean culture today, in the previous post, Seohyun says that Chueosuk is coming up soon, if you don't know what is Chuseok, don't worry, here are some info for you to understand what is Chuseok.
*****
Chuseok is sometimes referred to as the ‘Korean Thanksgiving’, ‘Hangawi‘, ‘Jungchujul‘, or ‘Gabe‘ and is celebrated on the brightest full moon of the year, which occurs in mid-August on the lunar calendar. Unlike Western society, Koreans still use the lunar calendar for important dates, so a lot of their holidays are centered around the moon and its cycle.

For 2011, the day of Chuseok falls on September 12th and in 2012, the holiday will be celebrated on September 30th. Chuseok is essentially a celebration of a good harvest, as it’s around this time that grains and fruits will be at their ripest and freshest for harvesting.  To celebrate a year of successful farming, families will all pack up and head home to their ancestral hometowns and ‘bon-ga‘ (directly translated to ‘main house’, but it’s usually the home of the oldest or head of the household, e.g., grandparents, parents), where they’ll dress up in traditional clothing, cook delicious food, and pay their respects to their ancestors.

Picture
As you’ve probably noticed by now, respect for the elderly is a highly important trait for Koreans.  Chuseok isn’t simply just a feast celebration, as there are three major duties that must be completed:

1. ‘bulcho‘:  Weeds and such that have grown around the graves of family members all summer long must be picked and discarded.

This is an especially important task for families because Korea (and Asian society in general) places a lot of emphasis on saving face before the public. When one commits a mistake, the first thought isn’t, “Oh no, I am embarrassed,” it’s usually, “What would others think of this mistake?

Graves with weeds still growing around them after the Chuseok holiday will make others assume that they have undutiful children, and is considered an embarrassment for the family.

2. ‘sungmyo‘: Respect must be paid to the grave, often in the form of bowing before it and offering alcohol, fruits, meat, and shikhye.


Picture
3. ‘charye‘: An elaborate table setting of food offered to the ancestors at home.  There are several meticulous steps to setting this up and doing it properly, like lighting candles before the alcohol is poured in exactly three different cups and bowing twice after it.  Each dish also has a specific area of the table it needs to go on.

Once the tasks are completed, it’s time to play.  These games are outdated and families will normally gather to just chat and drink after dinner or play go-stop, but they’re still often put on display at public events.


1. ‘kangkangsullae‘: A game specifically for women, where several dozens will gather under the moon and dance in a circle, linking arms.

2. ‘sonori’/'geobuknori‘: Two people will throw on a cape made of hanji (traditional Korean paper made from mulberry trees) and run around town under the guise of a cow or a turtle, going from house to house, asking for food. The food will often be shared with families who cannot afford Chuseok meals.

Picture
Others include wrestling, cow fighting (a display of how well you fed and raised your cow all summer long), tug of war, and archery.

Songpyeon is one of the representative food items of Chuseok, and it’s made from the newly harvested rice.  It’s essentially a small, crescent-shaped rice cake that contains either red beans, chestnuts, jujubes, powdered sesame, or just brown sugar.

When you make the songpyeon, you make a wish as you scoop in the contents and carefully fold it up into a crescent shape so that your wish doesn’t fall out.


Picture
Credits: allkpop, VITALSIGN

    Click HERE to search the site


    KST Time

    We need someone who knows how to use the Weebly web editor and can help me to update this page with News. Email me if interested.
    E-Mail: [email protected]

    Site Translator


    Recent Post


    Share this post


    Picture


    Affiliation

    Picture
    Picture

    E-mail Subscription

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Like this Page

    Archive아카이브

    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011

    Tags – 태그

    All
    2011
    500
    About
    Accident
    Aid
    Album
    All
    All About Girls
    Anniversary
    Announcement
    App
    Apply
    Awards
    Baby
    Bank
    Birthday
    Cf
    Charts
    Comeback
    Concert
    Culture
    Cut
    Download
    Drama
    Endorsements
    Fancam
    Forum
    Fun
    General
    Generation
    Girls
    Guest
    Hd
    Hello
    Hyoyeon
    Image
    Intel
    Interview
    Japan
    Jessica
    Live
    Magazine
    Mama
    Man
    Mtv
    Music
    Mv
    New
    News
    News.Yoona
    Niigata
    Notice
    Nyc
    Performance
    Performances
    Phone
    Photobook
    Picture
    Pictures
    Promotion
    Running
    Scans
    Selca
    Seohyun
    Show
    Shows
    Singapore
    Sm
    Snsd
    Snsd.news
    Snsd News Sunny
    Sone
    Sooyoung
    Soshi
    Soshified
    Stage
    Sunny
    Survey
    Taeyeon
    Taiwan
    Teaser
    Teayeon
    Tiffany
    Tour
    Town
    Ufo
    Urgent
    Video
    Videos
    Vita
    Weebly
    Yonghwa
    Yongseo
    Yoona
    Yuri


    pages. Learn more.