Chuseok

Chuseok is the second of the two great lunar holidays in Chapter 2's table, falling on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. This chapter looks at what the sources say about its names and origins, the rites at home and at the graves, its food, gifts and games, and the claims people make about its age. As with Seollal, several "origin" statements turn out to be beliefs, not records.

Names and Date

The Chuseok article gives the holiday's names and its timing:

• Chuseok (추석), literally "autumn evening".
• Hangawi (한가위), from Old Korean, "the great middle [of autumn]".
• Date. "The 15th day of the 8th month of the lunisolar calendar, on the full moon." In South Korea, it "lasts for three days, including the days before and after the full moon". In North Korea, the article says it is "a single-day celebration on the full moon only". The three days agree with Chapter 2's table. I have no other source for the North Korean detail.

Where Did It Come From?

The article gives two accounts, and it frames both as belief.

At Home and at the Graves

The article names "two major traditions related to Chuseok":

• Charye (차례). Ancestor memorial services at home, "also known as Jesa" according to this article. Families gather, prepare food by "harvesting, preparation and presentation of special foods as offerings", and many "start the cooking process early in the morning". The article says the rite "embodies the traditional view of spiritual life beyond physical death", with the spirits of the afterlife also serving to protect their descendants. The offerings "vary across provinces", but "commonly feature freshly harvested rice, rice cakes (songpyeon) and fresh meat, fruit and vegetables".
• Seongmyo (성묘). A family visit to the ancestral graves, "usually accompanied by beolcho (벌초), tidying graves, removing weeds around them". People "trim plants, clean the area around the tomb, and offer food, drink, and crops to their ancestors".

The article also notes a custom of preparing "the family's ancestors their favorite meals as an offering". On the table, it says, "traditionally rice and soup are placed on the north and fruits and vegetables are placed on the south; meat dishes are served on the west and in the middle, and rice cake and some drinks ... are placed on the east. These details can vary across regions."

Food

Why a half moon?

Both articles explain songpyeon's shape, and they give different stories:

• The Chuseok article. The rice skin resembles a full moon until it wraps the filling, and then a half moon. A legend says that during the reign of King Uija of Baekje, a phrase found on a turtle's back, "Baekje is full-moon and Silla is half-moon", predicted Baekje's fall and Silla's rise. Koreans have therefore believed a half-moon shape indicates "a bright future or victory". It adds that a single woman who makes a pretty songpyeon will find a good husband, and that a pregnant woman who does so will have a pretty daughter.
• The Songpyeon article. The "most common belief" is that "Korean ancestors thought that a round-shaped full moon could only wane while a half-moon would fill up", a sign of abundance. It then gives the King Uija anecdote as "one explanation".

The two articles therefore disagree on which story is the main one, and both are legends. Neither gives a document. The Songpyeon article's other claim, that offerings placed together of songpyeon, new fruit and taro stand for "the fruit of the heavens, the fruit of the earth, and the fruit of the underground", is a symbolic reading the article does not source.

Gifts and the Travel Rush

The article says "masses of people travel from large cities to their hometowns", and that "airline tickets to South Korea around the festival are usually sold out three months in advance and roads and hotels are overcrowded". It adds that many places, including banks, schools, post offices and shops, are closed. These are the article's statements, with no figures.

It also gives a history of gifts: from the 1960s, daily necessities such as sugar, soap and condiments; in the 1970s, cooking oil, toothpaste, instant coffee sets, cosmetics, televisions and rice cookers; in the 1980s, sets of fruit, meat and cosmetics; in the 1990s, gift vouchers; and in the 21st century, sets of desserts, canned meat, fruit, supplements and skincare. "Chuseok gift sets are big business in Korea and prices are typically inflated around the holiday." It lists a few extravagant examples with prices, which I do not repeat because the article gives no date and no source for them. The gift history is the article's own summary, and it is the sort of statement that a retail study could confirm or correct.

Games and Contests

The article lists a variety of games, which "vary by region". They include sonori, a performance in which villagers dress as a cow or turtle and go from house to house with a nongak band; talchum (mask dance); yutnori (see Chapter 3); archery; ssireum (Korean wrestling); and juldarigi (tug of war). It also names taekkyon, a martial art practised in the Joseon period alongside ssireum at festivals.

• Ssireum. The article calls it "the most popular Korean sport played during Chuseok", says "scholars have found evidence for ssireum dating back to the Goguryeo dynasty", and then says it "is assumed to have 5,000 years of history". The second claim has no evidence given, and the article does not say who assumes it. I do not repeat it as a date.
• The prize. The article says the winner gets "a bull and 1 kg ... of rice", and the title of Cheonha, Baekdu or Halla Jangsa. It does not say where or when this applies.

Hanbok

The article says hanbok is worn on holidays and formal occasions "such as Chuseok, Lunar New Year, and weddings", and that its basic structure consists of the jeogori jacket, baji pants, chima skirt and po coat. It claims the design "remains unchanged to this day", which is an overstatement for a garment with varied colours and a long history. Chapter 10 returns to dress.

Reading Claims About Chuseok

1. Which story? "According to popular belief" and "many scholars believe" are different hedges for different claims.
2. Which "oldest"? A record of a food (Goryeo for songpyeon) is not a record of the holiday.
3. Which translation? "Korean Thanksgiving" is a label, not an equivalence.
4. Which round number? "5,000 years" and similar figures need a source.

Exercises

Next chapter: The Seasonal Days, which covers the first full moon (Daeboreum), Dano, Hansik, the winter solstice and other days in the traditional year, with what is documented about each.