25 September 2013
This year, Chuseok (추석) was celebrated on Thursday, 19 September 2013. Chuseok is a public holiday for all South Koreans (and, thankfully, all English teachers, too). It is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th Lunar month. The widely-followed tradition is to go back to one’s hometown to spend time with family and to visit ancestral graves. It is also referred to as “Korean thanksgiving” or “Autumn/Harvest Festival”.
Families come together to share some quality time, make traditional Korean food and honour the ancestors. There are worship rituals, visits to the graves, weeding of the grave area and offerings of harvest to the ancestors. Christians in South Korea, for the most part, still visit the graves and keep the area trimmed, but they do not worship the ancestors or engage in offering rituals.
The families eat traditional food and drink rice wine during this time. The most famous traditional food is songpyeon (송편). This is small rice cake with stuffing, which is steamed over pine needles (“song” 송 means pine). The stuffing ranges from sesame seeds, black beans, mung (yellow sprout) beans, cinnamon, pine nuts, walnuts, chestnuts, jujubes (Chinese dates), and honey. There are many folk tales around songpyeon and the significance revolves around the shape of the rice cake. One old wives’ tale says that, for the women of the family, if they make a well-shaped rice cake then they will have a very beautiful daughter.
Since it is one of the two big holidays, the other being the Korean Lunar New Year, it is inevitable that travelling during this time is both busier and considerably more expensive. Flights to Korea’s Jeju island and also out of the country, are sold out months in advance, at premium prices. Roads are heavily congested and local resorts, pensions and inns are usually fully booked.
With the weather at this time of year being almost perfect, it’s no wonder that Chuseok is such a popular holiday. “High sky”, only occasional rain, cooler but comfortable temperatures and beautiful landscapes transforming under autumn colours. It’s perfect weather for hiking, camping, outdoor activity, picnics or spas.