Jan 27 2009
LNY in Korea
Koreans celebrate Lunar New Year too… it’s very similar to the tradition that the Chinese follow here in Singapore but yet different in its unique ways. Well, since my colleagues and some of you here have been asking about the Korean way, I thought I might as well do a short write about it and provide a peak into what goes on to those who are interested.
Lunar New Year in South Korea is called ‘Seol’ and it’s one of my favorite time of the year. Why? It’s one those rare times when you find Seoul quite empty!!! Everyone goes back to his/her hometown to be reunited with family and relatives. Those who’ve been to Seoul will know how mad traffic can get there. So it’s quite a refreshing change to see Seoul in its relaxed and laid back mode 
Having said that, to those who plan to vacation in Korea, please avoid this period. Most shops are closed …
Back to tradition… spring cleaning takes place as well in Korea the week before the big day. And on LNY’s day itself, you’re supposed to wear the hanbok – the traditional Korean costume. I say ’supposed’ because not many practise that today since it’s not the most convenient wear. A pity…
An important event that takes place in the morning of LNY is performing an ancestor-memorial ritual “Chesa”, that is paying respects to their ancestor. And for this, you have to set up an altar with chesa food. Mind you, there is a specific order in which the food items should be placed and you mustn’t get this wrong.
On the left – Meat. On the right – Rice Drink
East : Head. West: Tail
East: Red color. West: White color.
If you ever see a table setting of such, you’ll always find that a bowl of red dates are placed at the top left hand corner of the altar table. Why? Dates represent the King and have only one seed. ( i honestly don’t really get this but that’s the official explanation… ha~)
After the food and altar’s ready, the whole family gathers in front of it and takes turn to bow to pay respects. The senior elders will lead the way and then the younger ones. After each bow, a drink of Korean traditional wine is served on the altar table. A symbolic gesture to say ” Please eat and drink what we’ve prepared for you.” Everybody gets his turn here. After this ritual, the young ones are expected to turn to their parents and grandparents and do the same bow and wish them Happy New Year.
The bow is a very important aspect of the Korean tradition. There’s a technique to bowing and it’s different for boys and girls, males and females. It’s a full body bow and this bow is sometimes so deep your forehead touches the floor. It’s to show utmost respect to your elders. After the bow, the elders will give us angpows… except in Korea, they either give it in a envelope or hand over cash like that without concealing it in an envelope etc… so everybody knows who’s getting how much;p
The rest of the day is then either spending time with the family or visiting your ancestor’s grave… and that’s pretty much the agenda for the day. I have to say though, mothers have it tough during this period. Still a very conservative and traditional Korea, women are expected to prepare all the food (for the altar and the family) and it’s a full day’s job. This is one time when I see all my aunties and my mother and my grandmother crowding the kitchen trying to make enough food for everybody. It’s almost like a mini restaurant kitchen and I get amazed at how efficient they are and how they divide the work among themselves. Of course, sometimes we, girls are called into the task when there’s not enough help to go around. We usually get the easy tasks i.e either frying or cleaning the plates.
If there is one thing that Koreans have to eat during the Lunar New Year, it is tteokguk, a tasty clear beef broth with soft and chewy rice cakes sliced in oval shapes.
According to tradition, you can only get older when you eat the rice cake soup. ( A lot of children take this meaning literally and end up eating bowls of it in one morning in their greedy bid to grow up fast!) This is also why sometimes people ask your age by questioning how many bowls of rice cake soup you’ve had in your life, instead of asking directly.
Korean people consider Lunar New Year to be the most important holiday of the year. The country celebrates a total of 3 days - designated holidays.
Well, this year the whole holiday period run for 5 days because the weekend falls directly after the official LNY holidays. They’re calling it the ‘golden holidays 2009.’
HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR EVERYONE!
17 responses so far
Hi Suzanne Jung
Happy Lunar New Year
Happy Lunar New Year Suzanne!!!
Happ New Year Suzanne..
새해 복 많이 받으세요. =D
Happy Lunar New Year to you as well… Suzanne Shii.
This is really a interesting topic. It really gave me another look on how other asians from another country celebrate Lunar Calender festivities in their native form.
In my last trip to Seoul, i just can’t stop hearing on the locals axiety towards the forecoming Mid-Autumn. Hence i thought that only the mid-autumn and christmas is the “hottest”(celebrated) days in korean calender…. ooops… my ignorance… hehe.
happy new year! thank u for posting this. i’ve always wondered how koreans spent they new year..=D
Hi Suzanne, I am a first year student at NUS. I’m currently researching on the Korean community in Singapore, and have collated some information with regards to how Koreans in Singapore celebrate Lunar New Year today. My mother is a Korean, and I am curious as to how other Koreans celebrate the Lunar New Year differently from ours. I’d like to know if, whilst you were growing up here in Singapore, the activities you did here with your family, or with the Korean community during the Lunar New Year have differed from the way Koreans celebrate it back in Korea?
Thank you in advance for answering my questions and I’d appreciate if you could reply me asap!
Hi Zying,
Happy LNY! And I’m glad to help.
The whole idea of celebrating LNY in Korea is similar to how we do it here in Spore – it’s all about getting together with your immediate and extended family and spending time together, whilst paying respect to your elders and your ancestors too.
So you’ll find most overseas Koreans making their trip back home for the reunion… as for those overseas Koreans who aren’t able to make that trip back… they’ll still practise that reunion meal with friends around them. Except… in Singapore, it’s the reunion dinner that holds major siginificance…. for Koreans… it’s the first meal of the day that’s important. So friends gather at somebody’s house for breakfast and it’s usually dduk-gguk. If you have aunties and uncles in spore, then you’d visit their home and have breakfast with them.
We can’t practise the ‘ritual’ procedure in Spore since we don’t have the ancestral tablet nor the resources available in Spore to set up the chesa table…
but most in spore still practise the ‘bow’ to your elders and they will give you an ‘angpow’ … and it’s really the red angpow in Spore I notice.
Hope that helps!
Cheers,
Suzanne
Thanks Suzanne! This did help. We played “yut” on CNY. It was great fun. Have a joyful week ahead!
Hi zying,
Did you have fun playing “yut”? It is one of the traditional games played during the LNY too… a board game equivalent for our parents and grandparents during their time then
It’s great that you have the yut sticks with you. Just don’t throw it too high or it’ll hit somebody’s head
Have a great week ahead too!
Suzanne
Hi Ed,
You’re right. The Mid-autumn festival is the next big holiday celebrated in Korea. It calls for another reunion for the family and relatives and this is another time when traffic can become quite bad on the highways out of Seoul. Another mass exodus to get home for those whose hometowns are not in Seoul. But a breeze to drive in Seoul itself… I love the evening rides during this time along the Han River… the night lights and the cool autumn breeze… just awesome!
Cheers
Suzanne
hi zying,
if i might chime in . . . you gots to be careful when playing yut though. my jageun halabuji (grandmother’s younger brother) won $50 in our family game and i had to pay up although i was a poor graduate student at the time. maybe suzanne has her own crazy yut stories (apparently where sticks are flying and hitting people’s heads!)
don’t let the pretty sticks and cute figures fool you. yut is a cuthroat competitive game!
paul
“After the bow, the elders will give us angpows… except in Korea, they either give it in a envelope or hand over cash like that without concealing it in an envelope etc… so everybody knows who’s getting how much;p”
:S That would turn ugly very quickly if practised here, because not only elders give to those younger, but vice-versa and also anyone who is married have to give to those who are not, even if they are the same generation. And because the no. of children (married and unmarried), and grandchildren in each household/family nucleus will never balance out, people end up talking behind others’ backs for the rest of the year about who made profits/losses
I’ve called for the abolishment of angpow practice among my kinsman, largely because I feel ashamed to be receiving angpows when I am at (well alright…past) the age when I should be giving them out 
Hi Suzanne, thanks for the great piece on Soel. The description of a tradition or cultural event is so much richer when described by one who has lived and ‘breathed’ in it. I can relate to your description of the “Chesa” more than what I saw on the Arirang channel recently and I totally agree that it’s a pity that the charm of the Hanbok is lost on younger Koreans. Am thinking of making a trip to Korea in spring. But it has been said that autumn is the best time to be there. In your opinion, when is a good time to be in Korea? Have a wonderful weekend!
Hi Simon,
Personally, my favorite seasons are the in-between ones haha
relatively cheaper than before.
Spring and Autumn – both great times to visit. Not too cold nor too hot and you get to enjoy colours which you don’t get to see in Singapore. I personally like Spring… makes me feel alive again if you know what I mean. A sense of a new beginning… a feeling of hope sets in in Spring.
I have low tolerance for cold so therefore the opinion.
Now’s a good time to visit
Cheers,
Suzanne
Thanks for the tip! I vaguely understand what you mean about the seasons. Singaporeans in general miss out a lot since we never get to experience any change to our seasons. For us, it’s either wet, dry, or hot. Now I just have to decide between watching the cherry blossoms in spring or enjoy the explosion of colours in autumn. Hmmm… that’s a tough decision to make!
Please tell us more about your wonderful mother, family and country now.