Seollal (설날) is known as the Korean Lunar New Year and it is one of the most important holidays in Korean culture. Seollal marks the first day of the Korean lunar calendar which is typically around the end of January and beginning of February each year (90daykorean.com). Although Seollal is one day long, the day before and after Seollal are recognized as Korean public holidays, so celebration festivities typically last for three days (90daykorean.com). Lunar New Year is celebrated among many countries throughout Asia, but interestingly each one has a different way of celebrating with their own unique customs and traditions (90daykorean.com). For Korean Lunar New Year, families gather from all over Korea at the house of their oldest male relative to pay their respects to both the ancestors and elders (asiasociety.org). Seollal is a a special time for families to come together through activities such as performing ancestral rites, eating traditional foods, playing folk games and traditions such as Sebae (세배) (english.visitkorea.or.kr). Sebae is the most important of the Korean Lunar New Year traditions and is the act of kneeling with one’s hands on the ground to bow deeply to their elders (90daykorean.org). Younger people such as students must bow to the elders and wish them a happy new year, and the elders return the wishes and give money known as “sebaetdon” (세뱃돈) as a gift to the youngers (90daykorean.com). Typically people wear hanbok (한복), which is traditional Korean clothing, while performing Sebae (90daykorean.com).
Charye (차례) is another important tradition of highly structured ritual of ancestral worship during the Korean Lunar New Year (asiasociety.org). Typically female relatives prepare food which is then served by the male relatives as a gift to the ancestors (asiasociety.org). The most important dish that is traditionally eaten during Seollal is tteokguk (떡국), a rice cake soup (90daykorean.org). Traditionally, eating tteokguk signified turning one year older in Korean culture, so in the past it was only eaten on Seollal, but now many Korean restaurants serve it year round (90daykorean.org). The food is set out behind the family’s ancestral tablets, and everyone bows down to the tablets to show respect to the ancestors (90daykorean.com). The final step is a ceremony called “eumbok” (음복) where everyone eats the food and thereby “gains the ancestors’ blessing for the coming year” (asiasociety.org). The prepared foods typically vary by region, but the rules such as placement of the foods are generally similar (asiasociety.org). Charye is a very traditional ritual performed by many Koreans during Seollal, but it is not quite as widespread of a practice today in Korean culture (90daykorean.com).
There are also many traditional games that families play together during Seollal. One of the most popular games is yunnori (윷놀이) which is played between two teams and requires four special sticks that are curved on one side and flat on the other (90daykorean.com). The game is a race to the finish as teams take turns throwing the sticks in the air, and the way the sticks land determine how far players move around the board (90daykorean.com). Another popular game is called GoStop (also known as Godori - 고도리), which is a card game played by 2-3 people where players bet small amounts of money using Hwatu cards (asiasociety.org). Hwatu (화투) means “Battle of Flowers” and refers to the beautiful floral images painted on the deck of 48 playing cards (asiasociety.org). The deck of Hwatu cards is split into 12 different sets of 4 cards with each deck representing a different month of the year (asiasociety.org). GoStop is played by matching features of the cards in different combinations to score points, and after earning 3 or 7 points (depending on the number of players), the player must decide whether to continue going or to stop the game (asiasociety.org). Playing these traditional games is a fun way that families celebrate Seollal and look forward to the new year ahead.
Sources:
https://www.90daykorean.com/korean-lunar-new-year/
https://asiasociety.org/korea/seollal-korean-lunar-new-year
https://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/ATR/SI_EN_3_6.jsp?cid=941952
Yunnori 윷놀이 Hwatu 화투
Comments
Hey Kayla! I loved reading about the lunar new year in Korea. I actually researched different holidays in Korea for my cultural presentation and lunar new year is definitely a very interesting tradition in Korea. My grandma actually loves playing Hwatu and I play Hwatu with her all the time!