Enjoy Korean New Year, Seollal!

Seollal (Lunar New Year or Korean New Year) is one of the major holidays in Korea. Seollal is the first day of a new year and is based on the lunar calendar. The reason why Seollal is calculated using the lunar calendar is because the lunar calendar sets a date for the moon to circle the Earth once a month, and ancestors used the lunar calendar. Seollal is the first day of the lunar calendar and is a three-day holiday, including the day before and after. This year’s Seollal was February 12th in the solar calendar.

Usually on Seollal, people return to their hometown and spend time with relatives. There are various traditional customs you can enjoy on Seollal. On Seollal, people traditionally hold ancestral rites and eat tteokguk(rice cake soup) in the morning. Eating tteokguk on Seollal means getting one year older. In addition to tteokguk, they also eat sanjeok, tteokgalbi, sikhye, and so on. And on this day, it has been a traditional custom to bow to adults. Sebae, New Year’s bow, expresses his or her gratitude to adults and wishes them good health. Adults give Sebaetdon(New Year’s cash) to their children. Also, the clothes worn on Seollal are called sulbim, which came from the tradition that on the first day of new year, it is meaningful to throw away the old things and start anew, and to change into new clothes because there is joy in welcoming the new year. They perform ancestral rites to their ancestors and sebae to their elders.

In addition, there are many games played on Seollal. The most representative game of Seollal is Yutnolee. Yutnolee is a game enjoyed by both men and women of all ages. Throw all 4 sticks and the number gotten will determine how many dots to move on the board. The game is won when the four token of a team reaches the end point. Also, there are games such as neolttwigi (Korean jumping game similar to see-saw), tug-of-war, ttakji-chigi (a game of slap-match), jegichagi, and kite flying.

Seollal is an important day that contains Korean traditional customs and culture. And it is a day to wish you good health and good luck for the new year. Let’s enjoy Seollal together!

 

Written by Jade Min

University of Hawaii at Manoa, 4th year, Korean Language Flagship Major and Asian (Korean) History Major, Exchange student at Korea University. Intern at VANK (Voluntary Agency Network of Korea).