One of the significant holidays celebrating the bountiful harvest.

Today is Chuseok, one of the most significant holidays in Korea. How are you spending your day? Like many Korean families, we gathered for a family reunion, sharing meals for both lunch and dinner. We also exchanged gifts—usually supermarket gift sets. This year, I prepared black ginseng as my gift. Our family isn’t large, but we enjoyed the essential Chuseok dishes: Songpyeon (rice cakes filled with sesame or chestnut paste), Japchae (glass noodles with vegetables and mushrooms), and galbijjim (braised beef ribs marinated in a traditional sweet sauce). When I was a child, we used to perform Charye (ancestral rites), but it seems like this tradition has nearly faded away nowadays. 

 Chuseok is a lunar holiday, so the date changes every year. The official day falls on the 15th of the 8th month of the lunar calendar, usually between mid-September and mid-October. Like Seollal (Lunar New Year), Chuseok is a three-day holiday: the day before, the day of, and the day after. In recent years, the holiday rule has changed slightly. If Chuseok falls on a weekend, the government designates an alternative day off. For instance, if Chuseok starts on a Sunday, an extra day off is guaranteed on Wednesday. This year, though, it didn’t overlap with a weekend. 

 In Korea, we commonly call it Chuseok, meaning “Autumn Evening” in Chinese characters. It’s also known as Hangawi, meaning “The Great Middle of Autumn” in pure Korean. While often compared to Thanksgiving due to its focus on family and the harvest, there’s a slight difference. While Thanksgiving celebrates the harvest, Chuseok is about praying for abundance before the harvest season. 

When I was younger, we used to play traditional games like Yutnori (a board game), Hwatu (Go-stop, a card game), and sometimes Baduk (Go) for the elderly. Watching Ssireum (Korean wrestling) on TV was also common. However, many of these games and pastimes have disappeared over the years, and we don’t have enough family members left to play them together. 

Even so, Chuseok still holds great significance for Koreans, offering a chance to reconnect with family. I was able to spend time with my niece, rebuilding our bond and catching up on each other’s lives and emotions. I hope you had a meaningful day as well.