How do Koreans celebrate Seollal (Lunar New Year's Day)?

How do Koreans celebrate Seollal (Lunar New Year's Day)? | Korea.net News

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How do Koreans celebrate Seollal (Lunar New Year's Day)?

Date: February 06, 2008

* The article courtesy of Tour2korea.com (Korea Tourism Organization)

- A Quick Peak at How Korean's Celebrate Seollal -

Seollal, Koreans' favorite holiday, is just around the corner. Koreans usually celebrate two New Year's: one on January 1st according to the solar calendar, and another according to the lunar calendar, falling this year on February 7th. During Seollal (Lunar New Year's Day), most people go back to their hometowns to perform ceremonial rites, paying their respect to their ancestors, so the day before and after Seollal are also designated holidays.
However, because the weekend falls directly after the official Seollal holidays (Feb. 6-8), the holidays will run from Feb 6 to 10 for 5 days. Seollal therefore provides a great opportunity for foreign visitors to tour Korea's cities and enjoy Korean culture without the usual bustle attached. So how do Koreans spend their Seollal? Let's take a peak at Korea's Seollal holiday, where we can imagine it quite busy but happy.


	Before Seollal Purchase gifts at department stores and markets!

Most families are very busy during the week leading up to Seollal. There is a lot of shopping to do to prepare for the ancestral rites, and because Seollal brings the rare occasion of all family members together in one place at the same time, it makes for a very stressful time to have everything run smoothly. Therefore, Seollal is one of the best holiday seasons for department stores and markets. Most people shop for gifts to give to their parents and friends. Meat, fish, fruit, Korean traditional snack ‘Hangwa', tteokguk (rice cake soup), and various types of wild vegetables are popular items because they are required as part of the ancestral rites. The foods prepared for this rite must have nice shapes and colors, and they must be fresh. Most families spend an average of ￦200,000 on food for Seollal. It is taken very seriously.

Another necessary step to follow in preparation for Seollal is reserving train tickets. Thousands of people travel at the same time mostly to their hometown provinces. Before and after Seollal, the highways are very congested at this time of the year. Therefore, trains are a preferred transportation method because it is on time and there is no traffic, and to secure a seat most people reserve their train tickets at least a month in advance. Of course, those who decide to personally drive know what they are getting themselves into ahead of time.

What usually takes two hours takes four to five hours from Seoul to Daejeon. And so Busan, which is about four hours away, requires eight hours on the road during Seollal. All radio stations broadcast special live traffic updates because of the massive migration of people. Due to serious traffic problems, parents who live in smaller provinces are choosing to come to their children's home in Seoul to let their children avoid this traffic congestion chaos.

What are some of Seollal's most popular gifts?

Seollal gifts depend on the economy and trend of that year. The continuously popular gifts are department store gift certificates and cash.

Many elders also like receiving Ginseng, honey, and other health products, or massage goods. Daily necessities gift sets are also popular gift items including products such as shampoo, soap, and toothpaste. Other popular gift sets include food gift sets of ham, tuna, Korea's traditional snack ‘Hangwa', dried fish or fruit baskets.


	Seollal Day Perform ancestral rites and play traditional Korean games with family members!

The day before Seollal, family members gather together to prepare the holiday food. The ancestral rites dishes must be prepared with care, which is made to taste good and look good. Seollal's most important food is tteokguk, but 20 other dishes such as wild vegetables, Korean style pancakes, various types of fish, galbijjim (rib stew), japchae (noodles with meat and vegetables), and more are also specially prepared because of the ancestral rites. To cook all this food requires long hours of work, and this reality has brought about the expression ‘holiday syndrome'. Unlike the male members of the family, the women work all day long preparing holiday food. Having to do this every year, every holiday season, women have been showing symptoms such as headaches, backaches, and other physical pains when the holidays come around.

Lately, and gaining considerable popularity is the opinion that a holiday should be a family-oriented. Accordingly, some families are dividing the responsibilities for food preparations with each family, asking them to bring their own dishes to share. More shops are offering holiday-cooking services, where you can purchase ready-made food. If you order in advance, your holiday dishes can be delivered to your home on the day of Seollal or the day before the actual holiday. Prices range between ￦200,000 and ￦300,000. Naturally, young housewives prefer this service if they can afford it rather than cooking mostly throughout Seollal.

On the morning of Seollal, people get up early to wash and put on their
‘Seolbim (new clothes prepared for Seollal)'. Many people wear Hanboks. Then the families gather to perform ancestral rites, paying their respects by offering them food. According to Korean traditions, it is believed that ancestors return to enjoy the holiday food prepared for them. An ancestral tablet is placed on the rites table along with all the dishes and drinks. This is to show appreciation and respect for late ancestors. The ancestral rites also symbolize the descendants' prayers for a good new year.

After the rites have been performed, everyone shares the holiday food together. Tteokguk is also prepared without exception, made of thinly sliced tteok (rice cakes) cooked in beef soup. According to tradition, eating tteokguk on Seollal adds one year to your age. Therefore, the children ask each other ‘how many servings of tteokguk did you have?' and they calculate their age according to the number of serving they had just for fun.

After finishing their meal, the younger generations pay their respects to the elders of the family by bowing to them. The elders offer well-wishing remarks such as ‘have a healthy year' or ‘meet someone nice' as they give the young people ‘New Year's money'. Children especially like Seollal because they can receive money as a New Year's gift. Lately, an increasing number of Christian families are choosing not to perform the ancestral rites due to their religious beliefs. Instead, their family members gather to share food and stories, and spend quality family time during Seollal.

I want to know, what do you do for entertainment on Seollal Day?

After the ancestral rites ceremony is over, the members of the family play traditional games for entertainment. The most common game is yut nori. It is a fun and easy-to-learn game that requires a certain degree of teamwork. Players sometimes make bets with extra cash from their ‘New Year's money' they received. Some families order pizza or chicken after the games.

‘Gostop,' which uses flower cards and board games are also popular Seollal games. Though flower cards are more complicated to play than yut nori, it is nonetheless popular even with adults. Once you begin a game of flower cards, hours race by in no time at all. Children like to play board games like Zenga.

If you want to play folk games such as jegichagi, neoltwiggi, tuho, or kite flying, be sure to visit a nearby palace or park. The palaces and parks equip themselves with folk games for visitors to enjoy. Also, many families go to the movie theaters. Seollal is a busy season for the movie theaters.


	After Seollal Go from your husband's parents home to your wife's parents home!

After performing the traditional Seollal activities as one's husband's parents' home, families go to the wife's parents' home afterwards. It has become a general practice to visit both in-laws during Seollal, and to pay their respects, in equal measure, at both homes. This change is due to the decrease in boy-child preferences and patriarchy. More people have become aware of the fact that men and women should be equal, and since family sizes have grown smaller, some prefer girls as opposed to boys. In fact, recently the saying ‘it's disappointing to have a son' is often said jokingly.

I'd Love to Know! This Year is said to be the Year of the Mouse, Is It True?

With the approach of lunar New Year's Day, every Korean becomes increasingly interested in knowing what zodiac sign they are and the guardian animal of the year. There has been a Korean tradition that people do fortune telling for the New Year in relation to the zodiac animal. Also, people can tell characteristics and destinies of babies born in the year of specific animal. It is true that nowadays this kind of tradition is gone, yet people are still interested in the zodiac sign just for fun.
The year of 2008 is called ‘Mujanyeon' that stands for the year of the mouse. Mouse, first in the cycle of 12 zodiac animal signs, symbolizes affluence, hope and opportunity. It is said that a mouse is able to sense danger, works hard and brings fecundity and wealth so that people born in the year of mouse is gifted with luck of eating well in his or her entire life. May everyone be blessed with luck of eating well and being rich in this year of the mouse!

Plus Tip- I wish to travel Korea during Seollal Holidays!

It is very quiet in Seoul during the Seollal Holiday because most families leave Seoul to visit their relatives in their respective hometowns as well as many shops and restaurants close for the holidays. The city feels somewhat deserted at this time of the year.

Palaces, parks and theme parks are probably the busiest places during Seollal. They offer various traditional games and events to visitors as fun entertainment. But if you wish to visit the provincial areas, you may want to consider changing your schedule. Buses and trains are crowded and traffic is pretty serious. A quiet relaxing tour of Seoul is recommended if you are going to visit Korea during Seollal.


	After Seollal Go from your husband's parents home to your wife's parents home!

Namsangol Hanok Village

If you get off at Chungmuro Subway Station, you are right in front of Namsangol Hanok Village(traditional Korean village). You may consider it interesting to find this area standing between the tall buildings. This village has restored five traditional Korean houses, with a pavilion, a pond and a time capsule which makes it a perfect spot to take a walk.

When you enter the front gate, you will see the vast valley and the Chunugak to the left of the pond. Along with the pond, it is a splendid place where performances are held. On the side you will see five traditional houses. These houses were rebuilt after the traditional houses of Joseon Dynasty. The houses belong to various social ranks of the society from peasant to king. The furniture in the house are situated to help guests understand the daily life of the past. The clean traditional houses and used home equipments are great to take pictures. If you would like to see souvenirs, stop at the traditional craftwork exhibit where you can buy small dishes and souvenirs. You can also have traditional tea and refreshments. On the grounds, there are traditional games you may want to try such as 'neolttwigi' (sea-saw jumping), 'tuho'(arrow throwing) and 'yunnori' (traditional game of throwing wooden yut sticks). In addition, you may not want to miss traditional marriage ceremony. During the weekends, traditional marriages are shown at Bak Yeong Hyo's Residence. The traditional marriage ceremony is an interesting event for both Koreans and foreigners and many gather to watch although it is not shown at certain hours. During the winter season (November to February), there are not many weddingceremonies held, as it is frequently held in Spring and Fall. Hours for the ceremony are held around noon or 1 p.m. Visitors can take pictures with husband and wife wearing traditional wedding costumes.

Furthermore, there is also a time capsule in remembrance of Seoul's 600 Year Anniversary. Buried in 1994, it is anticipated to open four hundred years later.

Homepage : http://www.hanokmaeul.org/ (Eng, Kor, Jpn, Chn)

Gyeongbokgung Palace

Established in 1395, Gyeongbok Palace is also called “Northern Palace” because it is located more toward the north compared to Changdeok Palace (Eastern Palace) and Gyeonghee Palace (Western Palace). Gyeongbok Palace (No.117 Historical Number) prides itself for having the largest magnitude and being the most beautiful among the 5 other palaces.

It was destroyed by a fire during the Japanese Invasion of Korea (1592-1598) but the Palace (7.700 rooms) was later restored under the leadership of Heungseondaewongun in the years of King Gojong (1852~1919) .

In the Gyeongbok Palace, the most representative edifices of the Joseon Dynasty, Gyeonghoe-ru Pavilion and Hyangwonjeong Pond still remain. Woldae and sculptures of Geunjeongjeon (The Royal Audience Chamber) represent the past sculpture art which was the trend back then.

The National Palace Museum of Korea is located south of Heungnyemun Gate, and the National Folk Museum is located east within Hyangwonjeong.

Homepage : http://www.royalpalace.go.kr/html/eng/main/main.jsp (English)

N Seoul Tower

Opened to the public on October 15, 1980, Seoul Tower has been designated as a major tourist attraction where the beautiful panoramic view of Seoul can been seen. The 236.7 meter high Seoul Tower built on the 243m Mt. Namsan has been known as the best tower in Asia. After 30 years of devoted support from tourists, it was remodeled on December 9, 2005 with magnificent new look.

The alphabet N holds the meaning of being new and a total construction investment of 15 billion won in the grand scale remodeling of N Seoul Tower. With the construction of the new lighting system, the appearance, color and pattern of the tower brings change to each season or event. In addition, with the theme of ‘Flower of Seoul,' lighting with the use of 6 different searchlights from different angles will take place from 7p.m. to midnight.

The lobby is prepared with Media Zone, Pavilion Experience Hall, exhibitions and performances. The N Grill western-style restaurant that revolves 360 degrees every 48 minutes, and Sky Restroom offering comfort and scenic view of Seoul are high recommended places to visit. Furthermore, N Seoul Tower has resuscitated as a complex cultural are from a mere observatory.

Homepage : http://www.nseoultower.com (Eng, Kor)

Seoul Museum of History

Seoul Museum of History reflects on the history and traditional culture of Seoul. You can experience and learn about Seoul, and heighten your understanding of Seoul. You can see the vestige from the prehistoric era to the modern Seoul. Many of the Joseon Dynasty relics were donated during the Relic Donation Campaign. The number of relics being displayed is constantly increasing. You do not need to buy a ticket for admission. Anyone can come free of charge. 17 years after opening, it was renovated in May 2002, so now it boasts of having very modern facilities. If you have heavy luggage, check it at the coat check in the 1st floor and head to the 3rd floor. The main exhibit halls are all on the 3rd floor. You can see the landscape of Seoul when it was the capital of the Joseon Dynasty. You can also see the atmosphere of the daily life of the Seoul people. You can also view the exhibits on the online cyber museum. On the 1st floor there are many convenient facilities. There is a Kids Corner for the children to support the silence in the exhibit halls. The Special Exhibition Hall, the Exhibition Hall for Donated Relics, and Museum Shop where cultural products are produced and sold, are also on the 1st floor. If you enjoy dainty foods and tea, visit the cafe Gyeonghuigung. It is a cozy and graceful cafe, which stays open after museum hours. It is a composed and comfortable space where you can feel the atmosphere of Seoul.

Homepage : http://www.museum.seoul.kr/(Kor/Eng/Jpn/Chn)

Samcheonggak

Samcheonggak, established in 1972, was the place of important government negations and dinners in the 1970s and 1980s.In 1990, Samcheonggak changed its name and became a restaurant, until management closed it down in December of 1999.

As of the year 2000, the site of Samcheonggak was designated a cultural facility.Samcheonggak was no longer known as a place only used by exclusive groups, it was now open to the public.In October of 2001, Samcheonggak started its new calling as a traditional cultural performance center. The Sejong Center for Performing Arts currently operates Samcheonggak's 6 buildings that are designed in a traditional style of Korean Architecture known as ‘hanok.'The six buildings are comprised of a performance hall, Korean restaurant, tea house, and guest accommodations.

Samcheonggak is one of the most famous places in Seoul where one can enjoy traditional performances and fine dining.

Samcheonggak has been perchased(in August 2005) and is operated by Paradise Co.,Ltd.

Homepage : http://www.samcheonggak.or.kr (Eng, Jpn, Kor)

Lotte World Folk Museum

The Lotte World Folk Museum is a place where one can view and comprehend the 5000 years of Korean history.It was designed for both the foreigners and the Koreans to easily learn and enjoy the Korean culture and history.Although it is a museum featuring history it is not difficult to follow.By utilizing magic vision, multi vision, reduced model, and animation, the place gives its best to entertain the viewers.

It has restored important cultural assets and exhibits them, and there are daily traditional music and dance performances.There are also many corners where the audiences can participate together.There is a traditional marriage ceremony vestibule where the bride and groom may marry one another according to the traditional marriage decorum.Perhaps if you are lucky you might participate in one yourself.

The most important exhibit hall at Lotte World Folk museum is the history exhibition hall.Starting from the entrance you are able to meet the landscape and folk paintings.On the ceiling of the audiovisual room, pictures of the map of Korean Peninsula, crater of Mt. Baekdusan, and the galaxy unfolds.Through the multi-vision you are able to observe Korean traditional performances.

Along past the entrance and the multi-vision room you enter the prehistoric ages.The prehistoric ages room presents a tyrannosaurus model in a 1/2 scale of its original size.You may be able to take a peek at the Stone Age life by looking at the relics of that time such as a dinosaur's egg, fossil and dinosaur animation.It will be hard for those to walk away from the prehistoric age room if you are interested in those things.However, many other exciting places await you.At the model village you will be able to view the life styles and diverse customs of the Joseon dynasty.

At the Imjinwaeran Hall you will be able to view through advanced visual technology, the magic vision, the situation of that time and the fighting scenes of General Yi Sun-Sin.It will feel as if you were right there when the war took place.At the Folk Playground, the weapons and instruments of the Joseon Dynasty (1392~1910) are exhibited.There are models of the villages of Korean ancestors as well.You will marvel at the amusing and colorful miniatures.

The features of a ritual of exorcism in a shaman's house are produced through an operation model.Also features of children reading the Chunjamun (thousand character text) at a Joseon Age Sodang (village school), and villagers making wishes at the tutelary deity shrine is also minutely depicted.

Homepage : http://www.lotteworld.com(Kor/Eng/Chn)

Comments

Posted by: korean | September 24, 2009 5:37:19 AM

both chinese and korean have New year. they just celebrates New Year differently.

Posted by: Meirina | February 13, 2008 3:13:27 PM

Whatever we call the celebration, it marked out different style and culture. Great to learn the Seollal holiday.

Posted by: latie | February 06, 2008 3:49:10 PM

Chinese way of counting new year was a widespread culture in Northeast Asia. Italians do not accuse Europe of stealing its "Roman influence" so if you're a Chinese just be proud of the cultural influence and don't be a sissy.

Posted by: Someone | February 06, 2008 1:56:28 PM

Is this Chinese New Year or Korean New Year? what Koreans are doing here in Chinese New Year

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