(Photo from the Seoul Tourism Organization).
Seollal (설날), or the lunar New Year, is the traditional Korean calendar’s most important holiday, along with the autumn harvest festival, Chuseok. Although its origins are unclear, many say the rituals go back to the 6th century. It was during ancient Korea’s Three Kingdoms period when the lunar calendar was first adopted. Today, several Asian countries, including China, Mongolia and Vietnam, all celebrate the lunar New Year holiday.
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The onset of autumn each year in Seoul often means an uncharacteristic calm and quiet in the city. No, it’s not that over 10 million residents decide to slow down to watch the leaves change. It’s because late September or early October marks Chuseok (추석), Korea’s annual thanksgiving holiday that’s among the most important dates on the Korean calendar.
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A photo of a man with an ox in Korea, 1972 (photo from here).
Well, by now you may already know that Koreans use two calendars, one that’s solar and the another that’s lunar-based. So while Korea celebrated the near year on January 1st with much of the rest of the world, today, Monday, January 26th, marks the first day of the lunar calendar.
This special day is called Seollal (설날), and many say it’s Koreans’ favorite holiday. This new year is called gichungnyeon (기충년), or the year of the ox. The ox symbolizes diligence and sincerity, patience, hardwork and modesty… probably behavior we should all practice during these economic times.
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