Chuseok

Origins

According to popular belief, Chuseok originates from gabae (hangul:가배 Gabae started during the reign of the third king of the kingdom of Silla (57 BC ??AD 935), when it was a month-long weaving contest between two teams. Come the day of Gabae, the team that had woven more cloth had won and was treated to a feast by the losing team. However, it is also said that Chuseok marks the day Silla won a great victory over the rival kingdom of Baekje. It is believed that weaving competitions, archery competitions, and martial arts demonstrations were held as part of the festivities.

Many scholars also believe Chuseok may originate from ancient shamanistic celebrations of the harvest moon. New harvests are offered to local deities and ancestors, which means Chuseok may have originated as a worship ritual. In some areas, if there is no harvest, worship rituals are postponed, or in areas with no annual harvest, Chuseok is not celebrated.

Traditional customs

In contemporary South Korea, on Chuseok, masses of people travel from large cities to their hometowns to pay respect to the spirits of their ancestors. People perform ancestral worship rituals early in the morning. Then, they visit the tombs of their immediate ancestors to trim plants and clean the area around the tomb, and offer food, drink, and crops to their ancestors. Harvest crops are attributed to the blessing of ancestors. Chuseok is commonly translated as "Korean Thanksgiving" in English.

Charye

It is one of the ancestral memorial rites that have been done for thousands of years in Korea. It is done in the morning of Chuseok, and families hold a memorial service for their ancestors, usually honoring four generations back. The meaning of Charye is to return their favors and honor them. It is due to a belief that Koreans do not believe that a person is really dead when they physically die. They believe their spirits are still alive and protect the descendants, so they honor their ancestors by preparing special foods for them. Also, it is important to know how to arrange the foods of Charye on the table: on the north, rice and soup are placed; and, fruits and vegetables are on the south. On the west and in the middle, meat dishes are served; and, on the east, rice cake and some drinks such as makgeolli or soju are placed. The details may vary from each region.

Seongmyo and Beolcho

Seongmyo and Beolcho are also done around Chuseok week. Seongmyo is a visiting to ancestral grave sites and Beolcho is the activity to remove weeds around the grave to clean their ancestor's site.

Songpyeon

One of the major foods prepared and eaten during the Chuseok holiday is songpyeon (송편; 松편),a Korean traditional rice cake which contains stuffing made with ingredients such as sesame seeds, black beans, mung beans, cinnamon, pine nut, walnut, chestnut, jujube, and honey. When making songpyeon, steaming them over a layer of pine-needles is critical. The word song in songpyeon means a pine tree in Korean. The pine needles not only contribute to songpyeon's aromatic fragrance, but also its beauty and taste

Songpyeon is also significant because of the meaning contained in its shape. Songpyeon's rice skin itself resembles the shape of a full moon, but once it wraps the stuffing, its shape resembles the half-moon. Since the Three Kingdoms era in Korean history, a Korean legend stated that these two shapes ruled the destinies of the two greatest rival kingdoms, Baekje and Silla. During the era of King Uija of Baekje, an encrypted phrase, "Baekje is full-moon and Silla is half moon" was found on a turtle's back and it predicted the fall of the Baekje and the rise of the Silla. The prophecy came true when Silla defeated Baekje in their war. Ever since, Koreans started to refer to a half-moon shape as the indicator of the bright future or victory. Therefore, during Chuseok, families gather together and eat half-moon-shaped Songpyeon under the full moon, wishing themselves a brighter future.

Hangwa

Another popular Korean traditional food that people eat during Chuseok is hangwa. It is an artistic food decorated with natural colors and textured with patterns. Hangwa is made with rice flour, honey, fruit, and roots. People use edible natural ingredients to express various colors, flavors, and tastes. Because of its decoration and nutrition, Koreans eat hangwa not only during Chuseok, but also for special events, for instance, weddings, birthday parties, and marriages.

The most famous types of hangwa are yakgwa, yugwa, and dasik. Yakgwa is a medicinal cookie which is made of fried rice flour dough ball, and yugwa is a fried cookie that also refers to a flower. Dasik is a tea cake that people enjoy with tea.

Baekseju

A major element of Chuseok is the alcoholic beverages. Liquor drunk on Chuseok is called baekju (白酒, literally "white liquor") and nicknamed sindoju (新稻酒, literally "new rice liquor") as it is made of freshly-harvested rice.

Kooksoondang, a maker of Korean traditional liquors, restored "Yihwaju," rice wine from the Goryeo era (918-1392), and "Songjeolju" that has been widely enjoyed by Joseon (1392-1910) aristocrats. Its "Jayang Baekseju" package comprises a variety of liquors ― Jayang Baekseju, Jang Baekseju, Baekokju ― that are claimed to enhance men's stamina.

Adults say that if you drink the alcoholic beverage which the ancestors have drank; there will be nothing you’ll be scared of.

Others

Other foods commonly prepared are japchae, bulgogi, an assortment of Korean pancakes and fruits.

History of chusheok gifts

The Korean people started sharing daily necessities such as sugar, soap or condiments as Chuseok gifts in the 1960s. The gifts have changed since the Korean economy has developed. The Korean people had more option for Chuseok gifts like cooking oil, toothpaste, instant coffee sets, cosmetics, television and rice cookers… in the 1970s. People chose gift sets of fruit, meat and cosmetics in the 1980s. In the 1990s, for more convenient and healthy, people used gift vouchers for Chuseok. In the 21st century, well-being and fancier gifts like sets of olive oil, natural vinegar and electronic devices become most popular option for Chuseok gifts.

Type of Chuseok gifts and prices

There are some extravagant gifts that includes: one kilogram of wild pine mushrooms, which are expensive because they cannot be artificially grown (560,000 won) $480.27 USD and red ginseng products known to boost stamina (1.98 million won) $1698.11 USD. However, the most exorbitantly Chuseok priced gift is six bottles of wine at Lotte Department Store for a staggering (33 million won) $28,301.89 USD.

Chuseok gift sets are big business in Korea, and whether you end up with a haul of flavored seaweed or off-brand SPAM, you can typically be assured that your treasures came with an upped price tag. Some of the most over the top gift sets on gmarket include seaweed, Ginseng, Chocolate, Mushrooms, Kopi Luwak and Spam.

Gift guidance

The gifts are typically small, simple and oftentimes, food-related because Chuseok is a harvest festival. There are some loose etiquette surrounding who gives what to whom.

If you are buying a gift for a boss or an older person, personal hygiene products might not be the best way to go, as it would be a little awkward to hand your boss a toothpaste gift set. Honey is always a welcomed gift idea. Another popular one is a dried salted croaker fish called gulbi. The goal here is to buy something that is a little more desirable or elegant than cleansing products.

For a co-worker, friend or someone of similar age, traditionally, it was seen as a nice gesture to get some dried fruit as a gift, especially persimmon, or gham. These days you pretty much have free-range, and since buying gifts for friends and colleagues is pretty uncommon, any gift will suffice as there is no real protocol. Those are just some ideas and if you want to play it safe, rice cakes, tea, cookies or other equally small gifts are also fine. Most of the gift sets and packages at the stores are reasonably priced.

Folk games

A variety of folk games are played on Chuseok to celebrate the coming of autumn and rich harvest. Village folk dress themselves to look like a cow or a turtle, and go from house to house along with a Nongak band playing music. Other common folk games played on Chuseok are archery and ssireum andtug-of-war, juldarigi(Korean wrestling). Folk games also vary from region to region.

Ssireum

Ssireum(=씨름) is the most popular Korean sport played during Chuseok, and contests are usually held during this holiday. Scholars have found evidence for ssireum's existence back during the Goguryeo dynasty era, Ssireum is assumed to have 5000 years of history. Two men wrestle with each other while holding tight to their opponent's satba, red and blue band. A player loses when his upper body touches the ground. The ultimate winner becomes Cheonha Jangsa, Baekdu Jangsa, or Halla Jangsa; these all mean "the most powerful". The winner gets a bull and 1 kg of rice as the prize. Due to its popularity among both the young and the old, ssireum contests are being held more frequently, not limited on the important holidays.

Ganggangsullae

The Ganggangsullae(=강강술래) dance is a traditional folk dance performed under the full moon in the night of Chuseok. Women wear Korean traditional dress, hanbok, make a big circle by holding hands of each other, and sing a song while they are going around a circle. Its name, Ganggangsullae, came from the refrain repeated after each verse, so there is no actual meaning to it.

The dance originated in the southern coastal area during the Joseon dynasty. To watch a video clip of the Ganggangsullae dance, click here.

For other folk games, they also play Neolttwigi (also known as the Korean plank), a traditional game that is played on a wooden board.

Juldarigi

Juldarigi(줄다리기), tug-of-war, was enjoyed by all the people in a village. They often divided into two teams symbolizing the female and male forces of the natural world. The game is considered an agricultural rite to augur the results of the year's farming. Thus, if the team representing the female concept won, it was thought that the harvest that year would be rich.

so-nori, it is a funny performance in which people used a straw mat to disguise themselves as a cow and called from door to door for all to get together and share foods.

Chicken Fight (Dak Sa Um)

The Korean people used to watch chicken fights(=닭싸움), and learned how the chickens fought, someone decided to make this into a game.

How does this activity relate to the Culture of the country? This activity is still played Korean Thanks giving day called Chuseok. Time needed for activity: The teams playing can decide.

Rules/Instructions: Chicken fight is a game that you have to fight as if you were a chicken.

1.First separate into two groups that are fair. 2.You need to bend one leg up and hold it bent with your knee poking out. 3.You attack with your bent knee. 4.The aim is to knock the other people over, making both feet touch the ground 5.The last person who is left with their knee bent, wins the game This game is about strength speed, and also balance.. Order to stay alive you have to fight back.

Hwatu

Hwatu (hwa tu = 화투) is composed of 48 cards included 12 kinds. It originated from Japan's card game which called Hanahuda. In late Joseon dynasty, it was introduced by Nintendo. But, this story is not exact. Nowadays, hwatu is the most popular gambling to Korean. The way to play and the term of hwatu originated from Tujeon. We might pronounced hwato. Early hwatu was similar to Hanahuda. But, it was changed because it beard the blame for Japan's style. It went through course that it was reduced by 4 base color and thinner than before. Then, it spread through the way to turn out goods on a mass production basis.

Chuseok in North Korea

Since Chuseok has been a traditional holiday since long before the division of Korea, people in North Korea also celebrate Chuseok. However, the ideology that divided Korea also caused some differences between Chuseok of North Korea and that of South Korea. Since the division, South Korea has adopted a westernized culture, so the way South Koreans enjoy the holiday is a typical way of enjoying holidays with family members. However, North Korea moved away from the traditional ways; in fact, North Korea did not celebrate Chuseok and other traditional holidays until the mid-1980s.

Though most North Koreans do not have any family gatherings during Chuseok, some, especially those in working classes, try to visit their ancestors's grave sites during Chuseok. However, social and economic issues in North Korea have been preventing visits. In addition, their extremely poor infrastructure, especially in terms of public transportation, make it almost impossible for people to visit grave sites and their families. In contrast to the poorly situated lower class North Koreans, middle and elite classes enjoy the holiday as they want, easily traveling wherever they want to go.

Dates for Chuseok on the Gregorian calendar

Chuseok is on the following days: