From September 30th to October 2 Chuseok or the Korean "Thanksgiving" or "Autumn Harvest Festival" has passed. It is a harvest festival celebrated in many parts of Asia, which mainly consists of celebrating with family and honoring their ancestors. It spans during the entire full moon which this year is a total of 3 days. In Seoul, there is massive traffic to leave and reunite with family in other providences, so the capital is usually left abandoned. It is one of the rare holidays celebrated in Korean culture and is one of the biggest breaks workers have during the year.
The holiday starts with Charye (차레), it is usually held at night and the women of the family spend the day preparing a bountiful feast for the offering table for their ancestors. Charye (차레) also involves a bowing ceremony and ritual that the firstborn son will lead and the whole family with a bow to their ancestors at the ancestral table before eating. As times as changing more and more, women are against the patriarchal elements related to Chuseok. Since many married women are forced to spend the holiday with their in-laws hidden away in the kitchen, and the Chuseok celebration requires making over twenty different dishes ranging from rice, soup, dessert, and intricate meat dishes. The setup of the ancestral table is very particular and it can be a very stressful time, which is why many younger people are ignoring tradition and instead of using it as a time to vacation.
During Chuseok Korean families usually play Go-Stop or Hawtu which is a very animate matching game where you need to throw your cards to match. There are also yearly TV programs that are shown during Chuseok called "Chuseok Specials" and many broadcasting companies use Chuseok to test the response of TV show Pilots. The Idol Star Atheltic Championship is a family favorite that has been running for 10 years now, where all the popular K-pop Idols are gathered to compete in mock Olympics to win prizes and public recognition. The younger generation also bows to their elders to receive money, as another on-going tradition and the older generation spends the night drinking together. With bigger families, they even assign numbers for each generation and go in turns to bow to their elders. Chuseok highlights the importance of family ties in Korean culture as well as the continuous importance of tradition.
For the next day or Beolcho (벌초) they clean the graveyard of their ancestors from any trash and trim the surrounding area. Afterward, they celebrate Seongmyo (성묘) where the day is usually spent waking up early to visit the family grave and have a small ceremony there.
Due to COVID-19 these celebrations had has to be altered to meet social distancing criteria to prevent the spread of the virus. Many families could not meet with the older members and had to instead talk through video chat. As a response, the government has closed all nightclubs, bars, and canceled all events with large groups. They have also closed all graves to prevent close contact, the first in Korean history that this has happened
Replies