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IckChan Lee from Korea
Like many other Asian countries, Korea has two different New Year's days according to solar and lunar calendars. The more widely preferred one is the lunar New Year's day, called So-nal. Sol-nal is a day for the whole family's reunion and for refreshing everyone's common life at the very beginning of a year. The day has many special meanings and events.
On
New Year's Eve
On
Sol-nal's Eve, people prepare special sieves made
with straw (Bok-jori) and hang them outdoors to protect
their family from evil and bad luck. Often, kids try to keep
awake all that night because they believe that if they
sleep, their eyebrows will turn white.
Clothes
On
the morning of Sol-nal, everyone dresses in specially
prepared, traditional clothes (usually new and fresh).
Generally, these clothes are decorated with five colors.
They are called Sol-bim.
Food
(meal ceremony)
Early
in the morning, every family gathers at their eldest male
member's home to perform Cha-rye, ancestral memorial
rites. Bowls of Ttok-kuk are served. This is a soup
of thinly, sliced white rice cake, boiled in a thick beef
broth topped with bright garnishes and green onions.
Ttok-kuk means "adding age." People believe if they have a bowl of this soup, they will become one year older. Koreans traditionally add one to their age, not after their birthdays but after Sol-nal.
Jol
(bowing)
After
the big, very special breakfast, the younger people bow to
the their elders, wishing them health and long life, good
luck, and prosperity through the whole year. This bowing is
called Se-bae or Jol. To perform Jol, a
man brings his hands together in front of his eyes and sits
on his knees touching the floor. He then bows his head to
his hands, which are touching the floor. For a woman, it is
much harder. She needs assistance to sit with her hands
brought together in front of her eyes, but without her knees
touching the floor. She sits down with her hip to the floor.
Often, kids prepare small, beautifully decorated purses,
called Bok-ju-mo-ny, to hold the money that the
elders give them after the bowwing.
Entertainment
After
the long bowing period, youngsters go outside to fly kites,
spin tops (for boys) and enjoy Korean seesawing (for girls).
Inside, people play Yut-no-ri, a game played with
four wooden sticks and checkers. They eat, talk, and play
all day long and enjoy their large family
reunion—from
great grandfather to great granddaughter.
More New Year's Celebrations: New Year's Page
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