[INFO] CHUSEOK’S DAY OR KOREAN THANKSGIVING DAY

September 28, 2012 by utaminel 1 Comment

추석[chu.seok] or 한가위[han.ga.wi] is Korean Thanksgiving day.
Hangawi is a word from archaic Korean for “the great middle (of autumn), a major harvest festival and a three-day holiday in Korea celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar.
As a celebration of the good harvest, Koreans visit their ancestral hometowns and share a feast of Korean traditional food such as songpyeon (a crescent-shaped rice cake filled with chestnuts, honey, sesame and/or beans and steamed with pine needles) and rice wines such as sindoju and dongdongju.

chuseok day’s food

In modern South Korea, on Chuseok there is a mass exodus of Koreans as they return to their hometowns to pay respects to the spirits of their ancestors. People perform ancestral worship rituals early in the morning. They often visit the tombs of their immediate ancestors to trim plants and clean the area around the tomb, and offer food, drink, and crops to their ancestors. Harvest crops are attributed to the blessing of ancestors.

One of the major foods prepared and eaten during the Chuseok holiday is songpyeon (송편), a crescent-shaped rice cake which is steamed upon pine needles. Other foods commonly prepared are japchae, bulgogi and fruits.

songpyeon

Folk games

A variety of folk games are played on Chuseok to celebrate the coming of Autumn and rich harvest. Village folk dress themselves to look like a cow or a turtle, and go from house to house along with a Nongak band playing music. Other common folk games played on Chuseok are tug of war, archery, and ssireum (Korean wrestling). Folk games also vary from region to region. The Ganggangsullae dance, forming a circle under the moon is performed by women and children in southwestern coastal regions. They also play the Korean plank, a traditional game played by women on a wooden board.

Here are some wishes for Chuseok Day with hangeul

추석 wishes (polite style)
추석 잘 보내세요. = Have a good time in Chuseok.
즐거운 추석 되세요. = Have a happy Chuseok.
한가위 잘 보내세요. = Have a good time in Hangawi.
즐거운 한가위 되세요 = Have a happy Hangawi.

추석 wishes (casual style)
추석 잘 보내. = Have a good time in Chuseok.
한가위 잘 보내. = Have a good time in Hangawi.

추석 related phrases (polite style)
Do you have any plans for this Chuseok holiday? = 이번 추석 연휴 때 특별한 계획이라도 있나요?

 

 

 

credited to wikipedia and google^^