Happy Chuseok (Hangawi)

There's something to love about traditions. I'm a bit old fashioned this way. I find traditions and rituals very comforting.

I often wonder what, if any, rituals we might include from our child's culture into our lives. The Man and I have co-opted other rituals and traditions from other places and made them our own, so it makes sense to us to add in a few from the birth country of our child too.

Chuseok seems like one of those rituals that was tailor-made for us. It's spiritual without being religious. Pays homage to the past while acknowledging the gifts of the present. It's about family and celebrating your ancestors. And certainly the fact that it centers around food and thankfulness are key elements that appeal to us.

Here is where my knowledge of this Korean tradition gets a bit bookwormish. I've read all about this holiday via the world wide interweb, but that's it. Hopefully one day we can celebrate this lovely holiday with someone who has actually experienced it first hand.

Chuseok is the Korean version of Thanksgiving and the nation's biggest holiday. Most people make a pilgrimage to their home towns and families celebrate this time together. This year's celebration is September 21-23 and according to the Korea Times, every bus, plane and train out of Seoul is sold out!

image from flickr/bhophoto

At the very center of this holiday is family. Koreans were traditionally agrarian and this was a time to thank their ancestors for bountiful fall harvests and share their riches with family and friends. Traditional activities are to visit the graves of the family's departed and maintain the grave sites; holding memorial services for ancestors; playing games including Korean wrestling; and for the head of the household to buy everyone a new outfit.

A blogger at Seoul Eats describes the holiday like this:

"Chuseok is the Korean version of Thanksgiving. During this holiday, the family gives thanks to their ancestors by welcoming the spirits into their houses to taste the ethereal flavors of the year's harvest. This may sound superstitious, but the real intention is to commemorate the departed. Because without our ancestors, literally, we wouldn’t exist. This is a family holiday and to be invited to a family's Chuseok celebration is a very special honor. Basically, the family is accepting the guest into their family to not only meet the living relatives that attend, but also the spirits that have passed."

Be sure to read the rest of the excellent post which describes the traditions of one family regarding food preparation and presentation. (Interesting trivia fact: foods are prepared somewhat blander than typical--without strong flavors of garlic or chili pepper common in Korean foods--which are believed to offend the ancestors.) Foods are placed in a prescribed manner on a low table for the departed. Here's a description of the ceremony:

"The ceremony is a beautiful progression to behold and one that has significance needs explanation to be understood. Koreans believe their ancestors live a mirrored existence, so the table settings of the rice bowl, soup, and chopsticks and spoon are the opposite from the living. The first pouring of rice wine is to welcome the ancestor into their home, the second pour is to say, "enjoy the food" and the third is to say good-bye and to go in peace. During the ceremony no living creature is allowed to be killed because- not even a fly- because it could be the spirit of the ancestor that has arrived to enjoy the meal. Koreans believe their ancestors will devour the spirit of the food but could be offended by strong flavors, so the feast is prepared as simply and naturally as possible. Everything red on the table is to the west and everything white to the east. The tops of the fruit is pared off on the end so the visiting ancestors can easily enjoy the food."

Special foods are often prepared, including the most traditional item, songpyeon (rice cake). Check out Maangchi's blog post for excellent directions on making this! More details about the foods traditionally eaten at Chuseok are found here at One Fork, One Spoon.

All of this sounds quite amazing. It makes me start to think what type of Chuseok ritual we can create for our family?

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LINKAGE!
AsiaOne News: Men doing bigger share of Chuseok Chores (so many comments I could make here..)
Ask a Korean: How to hold jesa (a memorial ceremony for the dead)
Visit Korea: Chuseok-Korean Thanksgiving Day (history, traditions and food)
Korean Class 101: Korean Culture Class-Chuseok