Happy New Year!
In Korea, we have lots of seasonal customs. But nowadays, people just take the two biggest holidays; Seollal, Chuseok. People usually say that the most important and the biggest holiday is "Seollal", a Lunar New Year's Day in Korea. Like as the name of the holiday, the "Lunar", Seollal fundamentally originates from a memorial day of calendar reform. But regardless of calendar, people in nowadays take meaning of Seollal just as make a promise in their body and mind to prepare for fresh start of a new year and look for familliar wellness. And people think it is a time of gathering and having a good time with relatives that they have no seen for a long time. Since Seollal is the biggest and the most important holiday in Korea, there are many things to be prepared and performed.
First, at the very day of Seollal, families do an ancestral rites. To look for familiar wellness, people expect this in a way of rendering thanksgiving to their ancestors. So they prepare for the ancestral rites carefully. People prepare for the variety of foods needed in the ancestral rites before or sometimes during the holiday just before the very day of Seollal. There are foods to be prepared; noodles, rice-cake soups, various kinds of soups, rice cakes, liquor, korean pancakes, various fruits, jerkys, various herbs and sweet rice drinks. Also there are other things to be prepared; folding screens, an ancestral tablet, incenses and candles. All these materials and foods are arranged in place. And in front of the ancestral rites table, people bow to ancestors two and a half times.
And it is not just people only to bow to their ancestors. At the very day of Seollal, people do bow each other too, and we called it "New Year's bow". Formally, the bowing is conducted in a way of from one's inferiors to one's elders. At this bowing, different from bowing in ancestral rites, one's inferiors bow to one's elders just one time saying "Happy new year!" in a position of right hand over left hand. When it is over, one's elders give words of blessing. And in the case of children elders give them New Year's cash gifts. So children in nowadays often consider Seollal as a day of earning money.
People could barely think Seollal is just a serious and rigid ceremonial day, but there are also various kinds of playings people can do in Seollal. The most popular Korean playing in Seollal is a "playing yut". This is a Korean traditional playing handed down from ancient times. Playing yut is kind of a board game like a "Blue Marble", using four wooden sticks called "yut". In the game, families are divided into some groups, and sometimes they do betting. Beyond this entertainingness, it is not just a family game, but it is a way of enhancing family bond and harmony.
Through the holidays of Seollal, by rendering thanksgiving to the ancestors, people could determine themselves to prepare for their families and of course their own wellness, and a fresh start of a new year. Also all the relatives could gather together on the holiday after a long saparation, and through this meeting playing entertainments together, familial bonds could be enhanced. Seollal has so much importance in these context. It is the biggest and the most important Korean traditional seasonal custom, which should be succeeded forever.
Second Draft
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
In Korea, we have lots of seasonal customs. But nowadays, people just take the two biggest holidays; Seollal, Chuseok. People usually say that the most important and the biggest holiday is "Seollal", a Lunar New Year's Day in Korea. Like as the name of the holiday, the "Lunar", Seollal fundamentally originates from a memorial day of calendar reform. But regardless of calendar, these days people take meaning of Seollal just as make a promise in their body and mind to prepare for fresh start of a new year and look for familiar wellness. And people think it is a time of gathering and having a good time with relatives that they have no seen for a long time. Since Seollal is the biggest and the most important holiday in Korea, there are many things to be prepared and performed.
At the very day of Seollal, families do an ancestral rites. To look for familiar wellness, people expect this in a way of rendering thanksgiving to their ancestors. So they prepare for the ancestral rites carefully. People prepare for the variety of foods needed in the ancestral rites before or sometimes during the holiday just before the very day of Seollal. First, there are foods to be prepared; noodles, rice-cake soups, various kinds of soups, rice cakes, liquor, korean pancakes, various fruits, jerky, various herbs and sweet rice drinks. Next, prepare for the rest; folding screens, an ancestral tablet, incenses and candles. And then, arrange all these materials and foods in place. Finally, in front of the ancestral rites table, bow to ancestors two and a half times.
And it is not just people only to bow to their ancestors. At the very day of Seollal, people do bow each other too, and we called it "New Year's bow". Formally, the bowing is conducted in a way of from one's inferiors to one's elders. At this bowing, different from bowing in ancestral rites, one's inferiors bow to one's elders just one time saying "Happy new year!" in a position of right hand over left hand. When it is over, one's elders give words of blessing. And in the case of children, elders give them New Year's cash gifts. So nowadays, most children often consider Seollal as a day of earning money.
People in different cultures could be apt to think that Seollal is just a serious and rigid ceremonial day, but there are also various kinds of playings people can do in Seollal. The most popular Korean playing in Seollal is a "playing yut". This is a Korean traditional playing handed down from ancient times. Playing yut is kind of a board game like a "Blue Marble", using four wooden sticks called "yut". In the game, families are divided into some groups, and sometimes they do betting. Beyond this entertainingness, playing yut is not just a family game, but it is a way of enhancing family bond and harmony.
Through the holidays of Seollal, by rendering thanksgiving to the ancestors, people could determine themselves to prepare for their families and of course their own wellness, and a fresh start of a new year. Also all the relatives could gather together on the holiday after a long separation, and through this meeting, playing entertainments together, familial bonds could be enhanced. Seollal has so much importance in these contexts. It is the biggest and the most important Korean seasonal custom, which should be succeeded forever.