Today, not only Chinese celebrate their new year, but this sames goes to Korean too.
"saehae bog manh-i bad-euseyo" is the New Year's greeting in Korea. New Year's day is the greatest celebration of the year in Korea.
The Lunar New Year or “Seol-Nal” is one of Korea’s favourite holiday. The other major holiday is “Chuseok”.Seol-Nal is a three day celebration and almost all Koreans move to their hometowns to celebrate the occasion.
Koreans celebrate two New Year’s: one on January 1st according to the solar calendar, and another according to the lunar calendar (what we call Chinese New Year here in Malaysia). Most people go back to their hometowns to perform ceremonial rites and pay their respect to their ancestors.
Before Seol-Nal
Seol-Nal is one of the best holiday seasons for department stores and markets. Most people shop for gifts to give to their parents and friends. Meat, fish, fruit, Korean traditional snack “Hangwa” tteokguk (rice cake soup), and various types of wild vegetables are popular items because they are required as part of the ancestral rights. The food prepared for this rite must have nice shapes and colours, and they must be fresh.
People in Korea will be busy traveling to their hometowns during Seol-Nal – so train tickets must be reserved in advanced.
Seol-Nal Day
On the morning of Seol-Nal people get up early to wash and put on their ‘Seolbim’ (new clothes prepared for Seol-Nal which also known as hanbok. They make Sae Bae (bow) to the parents and grandparents. New Year wishes are also exchanged called Duck Dam. Children are highly elated with the New Year celebrations as they receive cash from their elders. Women spend all day preparing sumptuous meals. They make Ttokuk which is the most important dish prepared for the day. Other dishes include garettok, fried meats, fish, dried persimmons, a variety of, walnut, dates, vegetables, traditional cookies etc.
It is customary for family members in Korea to drink a glass of a special liquor called vgui balki sool. This liquor is said to improve the power of hearing. Consumption of this liquor on New Year enables ones to hear clearly all year long. Then comes the time to serve the ancestors. This tradition is popularly known as Chesa. In a clean room, a table altar is placed covered with several food items. Given below is the specific order of food placement:
Jwa po woo rye: On the left - Meat. On the right - Rice Drink
Doo dong mi seo: East : Head. West: Tail
Hong dong bek seo: East: Red color. West: White color.
On a special paper called Chi Bang, the names of the ancestors are written. On the left - men's name and on the right - women's name. The names scribbled should be in a perfect order from great great grand parents to the parents' names.. Such rituals are performed to give energy to the deceased ancestors to give blessings to their descendants.
Children especially like Seol-Nal because they can receive money as a New Year’s gift.
Lately, an increasing number of Christian families are choosing not to perform the ancestral rites due to their religious beliefs. Instead, their family members gather to share food and stories, and spend quality family time during Seol-Nal.After performing the traditional Seol-Nal activities as one’s husband’s parents’ home, families go to the wife’s parents’ home afterwards.hem.
After performing all rituals, it is the time to have some fun and enjoyment. Some most popular games like yut game, kite flying, top-spinning, jae gi cha gi skiing are played on Soe Nal. Yut-nol-ee is one such traditional game that can be played anywhere with great enthusiasm. It is a stick throwing game played from New Year's day until January 15 called Daeborum. Games like Jae gi cha gi (similar to kicking hacky sacks) are also enjoyed by young kids.
For more further details, you may refers to http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_6.jsp?cid=941952.
Enjoy reading and 새해 복 많이 받으세요~~
source from: http://k-popped.com/2008/02/how-do-koreans-celebrate-lunar-new-year/
http://www.happywink.org/newyearfestival/new-year-in-korea.html
by JY
