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Chuseok, otherwise known as Hangawi, is one of the most looked-forward-to festivals grandly celebrated across families in South Korea. The mid-autumn harvest festival, often identified as the Thanksgiving day celebrated in Western countries, is a three-day holiday where South Koreans are often seen returning to their hometowns to celebrate the special day with their families.
Like all family-gathering festivals, Chuseok also comes with its customs, such as people adorned in Korea's traditional attire, Hanbok, conducting ancestral memorial services to the past generations, Charye, and indulging in the traditional cuisine of the country like Songpyeon, Hangwa, and more. Additionally, the festivity also lightens up homes as they engage in folk games and ideally end the day with warming alcohol.
Additionally, the festivity also lightens up homes as they engage in folk games and ideally end the day with warming alcohol.
All you need to know about Chuseok: The Korean equivalent of the Thanksgiving day
Origin
Chuseok, which literally translates to 'Autumn Evening' gains its origin from Gabae, a month-long weaving contest that took place during Silla Kingdom's third king's reign. The winner with the longest woven cloth would win a big feast organized by the kingdom, and this competition slowly spread into other kinds, such as archery, martial arts, etc.
There's also an added belief that the festival is a worship ritual where new harvests are offered to local deities, which is done annually during a full moon, otherwise called the celebration of the harvest moon.
Customs and Attire
Given that the festival pays deed to the traditional roots of the country, many of the earlier customs and traditions are followed during Chuseok. Most families hold a Charye, an ancestral memorial ritual that is done to pay homage to the previous generations and hope for an abundant harvest in the coming years.
Freshly harvested rice, meat, fruits, vegetables, rice cakes, etc., are some common offerings made during the service, though they vary from province to province.
In addition to Charye, South Koreans are also adorned in their traditional attire, Hanbok (literal translation refers to Korean Clothing), referred to as Choson-ot in North Korea. These attires are also seen in several other occasions celebrated in South Korea, such as marriages, Lunar New Year, etc. The attire ideally consists of a Jeogori jacket, Baji pants, Chima skirt, and the Po coat, which remains unaltered to date, though it sometimes inherits modern aesthetics.
Another intriguing custom is the gift-giving tradition, where the packages usually include essential items such as coffee powders, oils, cosmetics, etc. However, they also extend to lengths where people gift each other expensive mushrooms, red ginseng, wine bottles, and other products like televisions, gift vouchers, rice cookers, etc.
Cuisine
Food, grandly celebrated in South Korea, naturally comes with its specialties on a remarkable day like Chuseok. While meals undoubtedly differ from one household to another, many households primarily prepare Songpyeon and Hangwa.
Songpyeon is a traditional rice that is made through a combination of sesame seeds, black beans, mung beans, cinnamon, pine nut, walnut, chestnut, jujube, and honey, and its name literally refers to a pine tree due to its strong aroma and flavor.
This dish takes all the more significance due to its shape, which converts from a resemblance of a full moon to a half moon during the process of its meaning. This often alludes to the prophecy of the rival kingdoms, Baekje and Silla, who were referred to as full moon and half moon, and the defeat of the former by the latter, which was previously predicted, added much more significance to the dish.
Hangwa is a rice-based sweet made from rice flour, honey, fruit, and roots. The sweet comes in three varieties, yakgwa, yugwa, and disk, which are usually combined with tea and differ in taste, texture, flavor, and color.
The Chuseok festival's cuisine is usually tied with a glass of Baekju (literally translates to white wine). It gained prominence since the Joseon era due to its claims of increasing men's stamina.
Games
Chuseok comes to a full circle as family members and friends usually engage in an array of traditional folk games. Ssirieum is one of the most popular games due to its heavy history of 5,000 years, where two players wrestle with each other, and the winner takes home the great price of a bull and a kilogram of rice. These competitions are still held across the country during Chuseok.
Another martial arts-based game is Taekkyeon, a hand-to-hand fighting game where an individual is required to defeat his opponent solely based on hand movements. A traditional board game resembling the ones played in modern days is Yut Nori, which is prevalently played to date.
Other festivities include Ganggangsullae, a traditional folk dance performed in groups; Juldarigi, which is a tug-of-war competition that gathers the entire population of a village; and Dak-ssa-umm, which translates to Chicken Fight, and individuals fight against each other while standing in one leg. Lastly, there's also Hwatu, modernly identified as the card game Go-Stop.
Is Chuseok celebrated in North Korea?
Given that Chuseok was an existent festival before the division of Korea, the festival is still celebrated in North Korea. However, their traditions differ widely from South Korea due to the limited resources. In North Korea, people are often seen visiting their ancestors' tombstones and traveling to places if social and economic circumstances allow them to.
The three-day festival which differs every year according to the moon's cycle, therefore, stands as one of the country's grandest and most celebrated festivals.
