14 Sep 2008, Posted by Matt in Festivals & Holidays,Food & Drink,Gyeongsang,Seoul,Transportation, 1 Comments

Chuseok: The Full Moon Festival

During Chuseok, my family conducted an early morning ancestral worship ritual. Afterwards, everyone enjoyed a feast!

The Korean calendar is a hybrid one. It’s a mix of the Gregorian calendar, which begins on January 1st, and a luni-solar calendar that begins on the first new moon of the year. The result is a mix of holidays- so, while Korean Independence Day always falls on August 15th, a traditional holiday like the harvest festival Chuseok (추석), occurs on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, which means sometime in September or early October.

This year, Chuseok, which is also known as Hangawi (한가위), falls on September 14th. The days before and after are combined to create one of Korea’s four main traditional holidays. This weekend, tens of millions of Koreans are returning to their ancestral hometowns to be among family and friends. Traditional rites include an early morning ancestral worship ritual and the tending of family tombs, called beolcho (벌초).

Most villages hold their own festivals. There are a variety of traditional plays and folk games that vary by region. In North Gyeongsang Province, where my mother’s family lives, one traditional game has two teams compete to capture or destroy each other’s gama (가마), or palanquin. Typically played by boys, it was said that the winners would easily pass their civil service exams.

This is my aunt with freshly made Songpyeon (송편), Chuseok’s signature food.

Of course, as an early harvest festival, food is a holiday highlight. Although most homes feature a huge assortment of delicious foods, the quintessential Chuseok treat is songpyeon (송편), which is a crescent-shaped rice cake filled with chestnuts, honey, sesame and/or beans and steamed with pine needles. It’s said that while the Chinese prefer a full-moon shape, Koreans prefer the half-moon, because while the full moon is fleeting, the crescent symbolizes future growth and potential.

Stuffing myself silly with delicious homemade food makes Chuseok one of my favorite Korean holidays. So, this weekend I, too, will board one of the gwiseong yeolcha (귀성열차), or homebound trains, as part of the mass exodus out of Seoul. For other travelers, however, if you didn’t purchase your train tickets several months ago, good luck finding a seat! I don’t recommend taking a bus or car, either, as you’ll be stuck in horrible traffic. For example, the drive between Seoul and Busan typically takes less than four hours. But during Chuseok, it can take you literally all day!

During Chuseok, millions of Koreans make pilgrimages home to their family’s ancestral villages. This photo is of Seoul Station.

So, a word to travelers this weekend: stay put! But even if you do, good luck locating a restaurant or an ATM! Cash machines are typically drained the week running up to Chuseok, and Seoul’s typically bustling streets will be eerily quiet.

All is not lost, however. I did some research and found several tourist sites that are open this weekend. If you want to experience a bit of holiday culture, the National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts in Southern Seoul is offering a special, three-part Chuseok performance tomorrow. It will feature royal court music, folk songs, tightrope walking and samulnori percussion music. If you arrive with three generations of your family in tow, it’s free. But, if you can’t cajole mom and grandma to join you, it’s 5,000 won.

Seoul’s major palaces, the Jongmyo Shrine (종묘) and the Namsangol Hanok Village (남산골한옥마을) and several local amusement parks will all be open with Chuseok-related events. Other popular tourist sites like the 63 Building (video link), the COEX Aquarium, the War Memorial of Korea and the Namsan Cable Car (in Korean) will also be available to tourists. But travelers should note that most of the shops at Namdaemun Market and Insa-dong will be closed.

(A version of this text aired on KBS World Radio on September 13, 2008.)