{"id":6723,"date":"2020-09-23T03:29:30","date_gmt":"2020-09-23T08:29:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/korean\/?p=6723"},"modified":"2020-09-23T03:29:30","modified_gmt":"2020-09-23T08:29:30","slug":"korean-thanksgiving-chuseok","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/korean\/korean-thanksgiving-chuseok\/","title":{"rendered":"Korean Thanksgiving – Chuseok"},"content":{"rendered":"

Did you know that there are still a few things that South Korea and North Korea share in spite of over 70 years of separation? One of them is that both countries still celebrate two major Korean holidays. One is <\/span>\uc124\ub0a0 (<\/b>Seollal<\/b>: Lunar New Year\u2019s Day) and the other is <\/span>\ucd94\uc11d (Chuseok<\/b>: Korean Thanksgiving Day). Koreans celebrate these two major holidays in the <\/span>\uc74c\ub825 (eum-ryuk:<\/b> lunar calendar).<\/span><\/p>\n

2020 has been crazy, nevertheless \ucd94\uc11d is coming soon. Every \uc74c\ub825 15th of August is \ucd94\uc11d. In 2020, 1st of October will be \ucd94\uc11d. Today, I am going to compare the ways \ucd94\uc11d is celebrated between South Korea and North Korea.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Image by Pixabay<\/p><\/div>\n

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Chuseok and Chuseok Food<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

In South Korea, \ucd94\uc11d is one of the biggest family holidays. Most people take a break from work and spend time with family. 75% of Koreans travel to their home, which creates the worst traffic jams on the road. Although, the most exciting thing about \ucd94\uc11d in my memory is holiday food. <\/span>\uc1a1\ud3b8 (Song-pyun<\/b>: half-moon shaped rice cake), <\/span>\uac08\ube44\ucc1c (gal-bi-jjim:<\/b> slow cooked braised short ribs), <\/span>\uc7a1\ucc44 (jap-chae<\/b>: glass noodle), <\/span>\uc804(Jeon<\/b>: pancake) and <\/span>\ub098\ubb3c\ubb34\uce68 (nah-mul-moo-chim<\/b>: seasoned vegetables), and many other great culinary treats. You will get well fed on \ucd94\uc11d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Image by Pixabay<\/p><\/div>\n

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In North Korea, there are two types of holidays. One is <\/span>\ubbfc\uc18d\uba85\uc808 (min-sok-myung-jeol<\/b>: a folk holiday) and the other one is <\/span>\uc0ac\ud68c\uc8fc\uc758\uba85\uc808<\/b> (<\/span>sah-hoew-joo-eu-myung-jeol<\/b>: a socialist holiday). \ucd94\uc11d is an official holiday in North Korea. However, North Koreans don\u2019t consider \ucd94\uc11d as a big holiday as South Koreans do because \ucd94\uc11d in North Korea is \ubbfc\uc18d\uba85\uc808.\u00a0 North Koreans eat \uc1a1\ud3b8, \uc804, <\/span>\uace0\uc0ac\ub9ac\ubb34\uce68 (<\/b>goh-sah-ri-moo-chim<\/b>: seasoned bracken)<\/span> and <\/span>\ubc24\ub2e8\uc790 (bahm-dahn-jah<\/b>: chestnut rice cake). I have never heard of \ubc24\ub2e8\uc790 before, but it sounds delicious. It is made of <\/span>\ucc39\uc300\uac00\ub8e8<\/b> (chop-ssal-gah-roo:<\/b> glutinous rice powder), honey and chestnut. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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How is <\/i>\ucd94\uc11d Celebrated?<\/p>\n

\ucd94\uc11d is usually a three-day holiday in South Korea. Traditionally, the South Korean women in each family usually make <\/span>\ucc28\ub840\uc74c\uc2dd (cha-rye-eum-sik:<\/b> food for ancestral rite) the day before \ucd94\uc11d. On the day of\u00a0 \ucd94\uc11d, family members have <\/span>\uc131\ubb18 (seong-myoe:<\/b> a memorial ceremony for their ancestors) at home. It is not uncommon to travel to their ancestor\u2019s\u2019 graves to have the ceremony. Afterwards, they eat \ucc28\ub840\uc74c\uc2dd with family and play<\/span> \uc804\ud1b5\ub180\uc774 (jeon-tong-no-ree<\/b>: a traditional game) such as <\/span>\uc737\ub180\uc774 (yut-no-ree: <\/b>a game of yut), <\/span>\uc81c\uae30\ucc28\uae30 (jea-gi-cha-gi:<\/b> kicking jea-gi), <\/span>\uadf8\ub124\ud0c0\uae30 (gue-neh-tah-gi:<\/b> swing)<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

I remember I was helping my mother and aunts because I always felt bad for their hard-laboring to make a lot of food for the whole family. This tradition still exists, and a lot of people get \uba85\uc808 \uc2a4\ud2b8\ub808\uc2a4<\/strong> (<\/strong><\/span>m<\/strong>yung-jeol-stress: <\/b>stress from holidays<\/span>).<\/b> \uba85\uc808 \uc99d\ud6c4\uadfc (<\/strong>myung-jeol-syndrome)<\/b> is a legitimate phenomenon in South Korea. As more families in South Korea are getting smaller, you\u2019ll see them break from tradition in order to minimize \uba85\uc808 \uc2a4\ud2b8\ub808\uc2a4. They either go out for a dinner or order \ucd94\uc11d food from catering services.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Image by Pixabay<\/p><\/div>\n

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On the other hand, \ucd94\uc11d sounds like a much simpler holiday<\/span> in North Korea. It is a one-day holiday. \ucd94\uc11d is an official holiday, but it is considered more suitable to give a day of rest to provide better service for the nation rather than a family holiday. Although North Koreans will still go visit their ancestor\u2019s graves and share \ucc28\ub840\uc74c\uc2dd as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

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I heard that this year \ucd94\uc11d might be simpler because of the pandemic, but I cherish the holiday spirit which brings the love and peace.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Did you know that there are still a few things that South Korea and North Korea share in spite of over 70 years of separation? One of them is that both countries still celebrate two major Korean holidays. One is \uc124\ub0a0 (Seollal: Lunar New Year\u2019s Day) and the other is \ucd94\uc11d (Chuseok: Korean Thanksgiving Day)…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":158,"featured_media":6727,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6723","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t