This week I learned about Lunar New Year. I was surprised to learn that Lunar New Year is celebrated not only in China but also Korea. I was unaware that Koreans celebrated Lunar New Year and that they go by the lunar calendar. I learned that people even get the day off to be able to celebrate with their families. My language partner and I watched a video about the really bad traffic and how difficult it is to be able to find a train ticket back home to the countryside.
In Korean, Lunar New Year is called 설날 (sul nal). For Chinese New Year, I have traditionally eaten dumplings. I was surprised to learn that Koreans also make their own dumplings. Chinese dumplings and Korean dumplings are similar but the ingredients that go in the inside of the dumpling skin is a little bit different. Dumpling is called 만두 (man doo) in Korean. The main dish that Koreans eat for Lunar New Year is rice cake soup (떡국). This was a dish I had never heard of. The main ingredient is rice cake and there is a phrase that if you eat the rice cake soup, you also “eat” a year, which means that you are one year older. That also leads into one of the interesting things about Korean culture that I learned. People usually count age along with Lunar New Year, so even though it is not your birthday yet, you tell people that you have gained a year. One of the dishes I was familiar with was the Korean pancake. Koreans will eat a mini version of the pancake. It is called 전 (jeon). There are many different kinds of mini Korean pancakes. For example, you can make a Korean squash pancake. You can also make a meat patty pancake. If I were to eat it, I want to really try the sesame leaf small pancake. I have tried sesame leaf when I ate Korean BBQ. In the sesame leaf pancake, the meat patty filling goes inside.
For games, Koreans play a game with four sticks. It is called 윷놀이 (yout no lee). It is like a board game and the goal of the game is to get 4 markers out before the opposite team. One game that I found was similar to majang was hwa two (화투). It is a similar strategy game with cards.
One thing that was really different in culture between Chinese and Korean Lunar New Year is how we receive money from elders. In Chinese culture, we usually get a red envelope. However, in Korean culture, you have to bow to elders. This is called sae bae (세배). I learned that you have to say a phrase which means receive many blessings while you bow. In Korean it is “세해 복 많이 받으세요” and it is pronounced “sae hae bok many ba de sae yo”.
It was really interesting to learn about the similarities and differences between Chinese and Korean cultures on Lunar New Year. It was easier to learn certain foods and customs because of the similarities.
Replies
Hi Sam,
Great post! I had heard that Koreans celebrated Lunar New Year too just briefly while doing research about the Korean culture. However, I never got a change to look into it. This is such a wonderful perspective given by comparing the differences in Chinese and Korean cultures. It's so interesting that although some aspects like eating dumplings are similar, there are many that are not, such as the way you bow to elders in Korean culture but you get a red envelope in Chinese culture. I think it's so interesting that in Korea you are basically one year old when you are born and on the New Year you age one year more. I learned that this is often why Koreans will ask which year you are born in rather than how old you are. Thank you for sharing!
Sam,
Your post is extremely interesting! Before reading this I knew about the similarities between Chinese and Korean culture regarding Lunar New Year. The Vietnamese also celebrate Lunar New Year. Every year I receive a red envelope like what you described. Furthermore, we go to temple to pray and eat oranges for good luck. We also play a card game called thirteen that is kind of like old maid.
Sam,
I had not realized that Koreans follow the Lunar calendar, along with its' affiliated holidays and traditions. It makes me wonder why the Lunar calendar is not followed in Japan, and what the common denominator for following the lunar calendar was in China and Korea. It is also interesting to think that despite the fact that both the Chinese and Koreans celebrate the Lunar New Year, the ways in which each one of these cultures celebrates are both different, but the same.