 New
Year’s Day
Koreans love celebrations and the year is filled with special holidays and festivals. Some have a religious significance, and some commemorate events in the thousnds of years of the country’s history. The first day of the first lunar month, which is called Sol by Koreans and usually falls in late January or early February, has traditionally been the biggest holiday. On this holiday Koreans usually rise early. The entire family gathers together, and they often dress in traditional clothing and visit friends and relatives. What they especially do on this day is to observe ancestral rites so that ancestors are honored. After the ceremonies, they enjoy a feast and the younger members of the family make a deep, traditional bow to their elders. This is an occasion for family reunions and special honoring of parents and grandparents. Holiday foods are served, the younger generations bow to the older ones, and small children are given little gifts. Sul (rice wine) and ttokkuk (rice dumpling soup) are always served. Songs and games are a part of the celebration. Boys may have kite-flying contests. They paste sharp glass powder on their kite strings and try to cut the strings of others as the colorful kites bob overhead. The kite flyers must use every part of their bodies as they tug and pull and urge the kites in the right direction. The boy whose kite is the last one flying is the winner. Korean girls might jump on seesaws as part of the celebration. This pastime was more than a game years ago. At one time, girls more than seven years old were not allowed outside the courtyard of the family home. In order to see the outside world, they would bounce on a seesaw placed low to the ground. As thy bounced into the air, they could see over the courtyard walls. Today, though, girls play on seesaws just for fun. 
Other major holidays include Taeborum, the first full moon of the year, when farmers and fishermen pray for rich corps and enjoy special games; Tano, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, when farmers take a day off from the field for joint entertainment; Ch'usok, the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, a harvest festival and day of thanksgiving; and Buddha's Birthday, the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, when believers observe special services at temples and stage colorful lantern processions. |