By Ji
Korean Thanksgiving Day is called 추석 (chuseok) or 한가위 (hangawi), celebrated on August 15 in the lunar calendar. The literal meaning of 추석 is an autumn evening, and 한가위 means ‘big’ (한) and ‘the middle’ (가위), representing a big day in the middle of August.
This year, the day corresponds to September 8 in the solar/Gregorian calendar. While three days are officially celebrated as public holidays in South Korea, from the 7th to the 9th of September this year, only the Thanksgiving day itself is designated as a holiday in North Korea.
Preparing for a Thanksgiving table remembering ancestors
Along with Korean New Year’s Day (January 1 in the lunar calendar), 추석 is the most important national holiday in Korea, the day on which Koreans visit their ancestral hometowns and give thanks to their ancestors for the year’s harvest. Extended family members gather and enjoy a feast of traditional food such as special rice cake balls called 송편 (songpyeon). Inside rice balls, there are different ingredients, such as beans and honey-coated sesame seeds, and children love to find out what are hidden inside these balls.
Photo Credits: Jens-Olaf via Compfight cc and Thinkstock
