Please consider making a contribution to wikiHow today. Please consider making a contribution to wikiHow today. Please help us continue to provide you with our trusted how-to guides and videos for free by whitelisting wikiHow on your ad blocker. Chuseok festivities culminate in a feast of traditional Korean foods and rice wine. South Koreans spend the day with family members giving thanks, while North Koreans are thought to have fewer familial gatherings on Chuseok. It's one of the country's most significant holidays of the year, and could even be called Korean Thanksgiving. Alcoholic beverages play a major role in Chuseok. Jegichagi is a game that’s similar to hacky-sack, and children often play the game on Chuseok.

You might be able to readily identify what the third Thursday of November is, but what about the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar? I like to celebrate by cooking traditional Korean food for my family, especially savory pancakes known as jeon. Considered to be the number-one dish beloved by Korean royalty, galbi jjim, a succulent medley of braised short ribs and vegetables, is a soul-soothing, special-occasion stew perfect for celebrations like Chuseok. But Chuseok is also unique and different from our western traditions in many ways. When they are steamed just right, the outer layer of the rice cakes gives off a beautiful and glossy shine. Chuseok is just one of many harvest festivals celebrated around the globe. Here are some upcoming dates for Chuseok (according to the Gregorian calendar) so you can mark the date: If you’re visiting Korea during Chuseok, or you want to throw a traditional Chuseok celebration, there are several traditions to follow.

Accept. Continue reading, Discover the best online memorial sites for remembering a loved one... This article has been viewed 9,210 times. On this day, a full harvest moon appeared in the sky and families gathered to enjoy time together and give thanks to their ancestors for the plentiful harvest. Made of mostly zingy scallions held together by just a bit of batter and fried until golden and crisp, this take on pajeon from chef Hooni Kim is the perfect way to ring in the jeon-happy Chuseok.


The two main traditions associated with Chuseok are, (showing gratitude to the ancestors at home) and. Chuseok might resemble the American holiday of Thanksgiving in many ways, but its central purpose is slightly different. They are soft and pillowy with a sweet and chewy texture. This is due primarily to economic and social issues, as well as a poor infrastructure that makes travel more difficult in North Korea.

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The dance is more historical than modern, so you might not see it take place in current-day homes very often. Using the newly harvested rice, people make steamed rice, rice cakes, and liquor. Connect with friends faster than ever with the new Facebook app.

And as big as Thanksgiving is in the U.S., Chuseok is huge in Korea. Whether you’re visiting Korea during the festivities, or you’re just interested in learning how. And while we give thanks in America on Thanksgiving, we don’t often direct our thanks to relatives who have passed away. Chuseok is also sometimes called Hangawai, which translates roughly to “the middle of August.” Korea celebrates Chuseok on the 15th day of the 8th month of every year, according to the lunar calendar.

Leading up to Chuseok, I looked forward to this the most. Similar ancestral worship rituals often take place on the anniversaries of loved ones’ deaths and as part of, Beolcho and seongmyo: cleaning and visiting the grave. Because I spend so much time in the restaurant at Cote, this is a valuable holiday that allows me to take a day and spend it with my wife, Nayun, and my daughter, Dani. There are, of course, traditional ways to set up this elaborate table, but rituals and exactitude vary by region and, at the end of the day, how your own family prefers to celebrate.

It really doesn't matter if you have the biggest Korean feast or a simple bowl of Korean soup. Charye is the central ancestral worship rite that Koreans perform on Chuseok. We’ll fill you in on everything you need to know about Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving)! Linked In. Chuseok is referred to as the hangawi, literally known as the “Autumn Eve.” for a plentiful fall harvest. Ordering included food and alcohol, including home-made wine from fresh rice. Even if you perform the charye offering at home, it’s still customary to visit ancestral graves. For example, North Korea didn’t officially recognize Chuseok as a public holiday until the 1980s.

I don't get to travel back home every Chuseok, but I still celebrate by eating these treats and calling my family. Instead of visiting a burial mound, most families perform the charye rite in the ancestral home. The exact day changes each year, but it’s typically in September and October. The holiday of Chuseok is a major holiday in both North and South Korea. Like any good holiday, Chuseok's three-day period is one marked by lots of reflective family time, raucous games, and of course, good, glorious food.

You can make jeon with various ingredients, from kimchi to summer squash and seafood. Together, they share food and stories, and they show gratitude to the ancestors for an abundant autumn harvest. Chuseok celebrations last for three days, including the day before Chuseok’s official date and the day after.

I have early memories of just being able to peer over the kitchen table, watching my mother thread beef, scallion, and imitation crab pieces onto short skewers to make colorful sanjeok jeon (check out a before/after here), among other savory jeon pancakes (incidentally, Koreans are masters of pan-fried foods!).

Stay safe while still coming together to support one another and honor your loved one. Amid the current public health and economic crises, when the world is shifting dramatically and we are all learning and adapting to changes in daily life, people need wikiHow more than ever. To Koreans, this time is called Chuseok, also known as Hangawi. GYST was acquired by Cake in 2019. Your support helps wikiHow to create more in-depth illustrated articles and videos and to share our trusted brand of instructional content with millions of people all over the world. Historically, the women of the family would get together to prepare labor-intensive dishes for a charye, or ancestral memorial, ceremony. It's one of the country's most significant holidays of the year, and could even be called Korean Thanksgiving. She taught me how to create the outer skin and fill the songpyeon with fillings, such as homemade sweet mung bean paste and roasted white sesame and honey. South Koreans consider autumn the best season of t… Following the Gregorian calendar, Chuseok can fall anywhere from mid- to late-September, or even early October. So make yourself stand out. But the division between North and South Korea created some differences in how people celebrate Chuseok.

Keep reading to learn even more about the unique Harvest Moon Festival, and what you’d experience if you joined in the celebration. The word Japchae is a combination of the Korean words “jap,” which means “mix,” and “chae,” which means vegetable. Twitter. This date represents the autumn equinox (when summer ends and fall begins). Now in the United States, I find it is much more nuclear family–oriented. They’re traditionally stuffed with a variety of fillings and steamed over pine needles. Koreans nowadays wear western clothes on Chuseok and not the bim. Like us on Facebook to see similar stories, Raking leaves again this fall? In South Korea, family members tend to return to their ancestral provinces from the larger cities like Seoul, which results in some of the year’s biggest traffic jams in the nation.

The liquor most people drink on the holiday is called baekju, which translates to “white liquor.” It’s often nicknamed sindoju, which translates to “new rice liquor,” referring to newly-harvested rice.

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. This link will open in a new window. Although Chuseok is similar to the North American holiday of Thanksgiving in many ways, it centers around the idea of thanking the ancestors. Chuseok is also sometimes called Hangawai, which translates roughly to “the middle of August.” Korea celebrates Chuseok on the 15th day of the 8th month of every year, according to the lunar calendar.

One day I hope to keep this Chuseok tradition alive by making songpyeon at home. The key point of Chuseok is to show gratitude to all of one’s ancestors for a plentiful fall harvest. If you really can’t stand to see another ad again, then please consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow. What is the history of Chuseok? The ritual includes laying out food and incense for relatives and ancestors who’ve passed away. Just like American Thanksgiving, it's being together that's most important. Most Koreans return to their ancestral homes to celebrate the holiday, even if they’ve since moved far away. Tell us how you welcome autumn below. You can now use Cake to create, store, and share all your end-of-life documents.

She would joke with me and tell me that if I made a beautiful songpyeon, then I would bear a beautiful child. wikiHow is where trusted research and expert knowledge come together. Full of crispy-bottomed, fluffy-topped rice; a rainbow of still-crunchy vegetables; a spicy gochujang-based sauce; and topped with a sunny-side up egg, for good measure, this skillet bibimbap will satisfy every palate. People often think of Chuseok as the Korean version of Thanksgiving, and it’s true that the festival has many similarities to our American autumn holiday. Other scholars believe that Chuseok is a holiday adapted from ancient shamanistic rites which have long existed to celebrate the harvest moon at the autumn equinox. And despite its royal nature, galbi jjim is actually quite simple to put together.

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