Lunar new year’s day is the first folk holiday of the year for the Korean people.
The custom of celebrating the day includes charye (memorial service for ancestors), sebae (new year greetings), solbim (attire of the day), sechan (foods of the day) and folk games.
With the holiday approaching, people clean their houses inside and outside, and prepare foods for the day.
First, to celebrate the day they hold a memorial service in honour of their ancestors, which is called charye .
New year greetings, or sebae , are given to the seniors of the family in the order of ages and then to the elders of the village and relatives’ families as well as to the teachers.
This custom came from the local tradition of respecting elders and valuing decorum.
Acquaintances exchange good wishes with each other, and this is called toktam .
At families everyone gets up early in the morning and puts on new clothes, which is called solbim or sejang .
Rice-cake soup and other dishes for the day called sechan are prepared, and family members and relatives get together to share them praying for good health and happiness in the new year. Sechan is also shared by neighbours.
Folk games add more to the festive mood of the day.
Typical folk games include yut (four sticks) game, seesawing, sleighing and kite-flying.
This custom reflects the Korean people’s noble and beautiful etiquette and optimistic and rich sentiment and emotion, and it has been inherited and developed as part of the national intangible cultural heritage items. This year’s lunar new year’s day falls on February 17.
O Kwang Rim
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