Chusok
Chusok (Chuseok, Ch'usok)
Date of Observation: Late September-early October; fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month
Where Celebrated: Korea
Symbols and Customs: Hemp-Spinning, Merry-Go-Round, Moon Cakes, Tortoise Play
Related Holidays: Mid-Autumn Festival
ORIGINS
Also known as Chuseog or Gawi, Chusok is one of the great national holidays of the year in Korea. Because it is celebrated in late September or early October-for which reason it is sometimes referred to as Autumn Evening -the weather is usually very temperate and the crops ripe or newly harvested. Farmers in particular are eager to celebrate the end of the growing season, which they do by serving wine and other foods made from the season's new grain (see MOON CAKES ). Farmers believe that if it rains on this day, the wheat crop will be poor the following year.
Since ancient times people in all parts of the world have honored the changing of the seasons. Many cultures divided the year into two seasons, summer and winter, and marked these points of the year at or near the summer and winter solstices, during which light and warmth began to increase and decrease, respectively. In pre-industrial times, humans survived through hunting, gathering, and agricultural practices, which depend on the natural cycle of seasons, according to the climate in the region of the world in which they lived. Thus, they created rituals to help ensure enough rain and sun in the spring and summer so crops would grow to fruition at harvest time, which was, in turn, duly celebrated. Vestiges of many of these ancient practices are thought to have survived in festivals still celebrated around seasonal themes.
In addition to being a harvest festival, Chusok is a day for honoring ancestors. Families get up early, change into new clothes, and arrange an offering of food for their ancestors and family god. After a brief ceremony at home, they visit their ancestors' graves, mowing the weeds and wild grasses that may have become tangled and overgrown. Other popular activities on this day include wrestling contests, tugs-of-war, and playing MERRY GO ROUND .
SYMBOLS AND CUSTOMS
Hemp-Spinning
According to an old Korean legend, King Yuri-wang of Silla in southeastern Korea had his princesses lead the ladies of his capital city in a hemp-weaving contest that went on for a full month, ending on the fifteenth day of the eighth moon. There were two groups of weavers, with the king himself serving as judge. The group that lost the contest had to prepare wine and food to entertain the winning group. At this victory celebration, one woman from the defeated group danced and sang a song lamenting her group's defeat. This melancholy but very beautiful melody soon became popular throughout the country, but unfortunately, it has not survived. The joint weaving of cloth from hemp, however, became a tradition that can still be seen in some of the customs associated with Chusok in the southern part of the country.
Merry-Go-Round
The festivities that are held on Chusok often include a singing folk play known as Gang-gang-sullae, in which women dressed in bright colors perform a circular dance to the accompaniment of a single vocalist. The song she sings can be traced back three centuries to the Japanese invasion of Korea. Women gathered in the hills along the coast and sang the song known as Gang-gang-sullae around bonfires to give the enemy the impression that the coast was well-guarded.
Gang-gang is a Korean dialect expression meaning "circumstances" or "round," and sullae is derived from sulla, which means "patrolling." Together, they imply looking out or around, which is exactly what the women were doing as they tried to protect their homeland. Sometimes the pronunciation of sullae is prolonged, sounding more like suweol lae. The custom of playing merry-go-round or kang- kang-soo-wol-lae under the full harvest moon at Chusok is undoubtedly related to this historical attempt to mislead the enemy.
Moon Cakes
The word sok in Chusok means "a moon-bright evening." It is popular during this harvest festival to eat rice cakes shaped like a moon or half-moon, stuffed with beans and flavored with pine needles. The round cakes are symbolic of family unity at a time of year when families honor their ancestors.
Tortoise Play
This play is performed by young men or boys on the evening of the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month. A large tortoise shape is made with corn leaves, and Chusok
two men (one in front and the other in the rear) get inside it and walk around, visiting farmers' homes and performing what is known as the tortoise play or the tortoise dance. At the end, the tortoise collapses on the ground as if exhausted by its efforts. The tortoise-driver then tells the head of the house or the farmer that the tortoise needs to be fed. Not surprisingly, the rice cakes, food, and fruit that are brought out revive the tortoise, who then stands up and plays his final scene before continuing on to the next house.
In Chinese mythology, the tortoise is a symbol of strength, endurance, and longevity that is particularly associated with winter. The Korean tortoise play may have originated from this association of the tortoise with long life and immunity from disease, and from the timing of this festival, which takes place in autumn before the arrival of winter.
FURTHER READING
Crim, Keith R. The Perennial Dictionary of World Religions. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1989. Henderson, Helene, ed. Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations of the World Dictionary. 3rd ed. Detroit: Omnigraphics, 2005. MacDonald, Margaret R., ed. The Folklore of World Holidays. Detroit: Gale Research, 1992. Sang-su, Choe. Annual Customs of Korea. Seoul: Seomun-dang, 1983. Trawicky, Bernard, and Ruth W. Gregory. Anniversaries and Holidays. 5th ed. Chicago: American Library Assocation, 2000.
WEB SITE
Cultural Spotlight www.lifeinkorea.com/culture/festivals/festivals.cfm?Subject=Chuseok