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Seollal 2014: How Koreans celebrate the New Year
Part of "Beyond Hallyuwave," a series on Filipinos' fascination with Korean culture beyond KPop and Koreanovelas.
How do our Korean friends celebrate the Lunar New Year? With the increasing number of Koreans visiting our country in the recent years and possibly the Korean troops who are still helping rebuild Yolanda-struck Tacloban, this might be the time to learn how do our chingus (friends) celebrate the beginning of the Lunar Calendar called “Seollal.”
Luckily, the New Year party hosted by the Korean Cultural Center on Thursday, January 30, made for an easy introduction to the workings of this celebration.
What is 'Seollal'?
Seollal is a Korean term for New Year, the celebrations of which last for about three days. It is one of the major national holidays celebrated in Korea aside from Chuseok (Thanksgiving), which is as widely celebrated as Christmas is in the Philippines.
The celebration dates back to the ancient time of the three kingdoms. Workers and employees take time off to return to their hometowns for quality time with their families.
Seollal is also the time Koreans pay homage to their elders both living and no longer with them, but more on this later.
Wandering spirits and lucky charms
The Korean new year is celebrated on the same day as the Chinese New Year. Like the Chinese, they carefully try to avoid bad luck by observing superstitions like bringing in their slippers before going to bed so that the wandering spirits will not take them.
An example of a traditional lucky charm is a bokjori (bamboo strainer) traditionally used to filter and strain rice during washing. It is hung near doors in belief that this will help filter out the bad luck and bring in all the good luck all year long.
That is why when buying lucky charms, they don’t haggle down the price.
Sebae, Tteokguk, and games
But Koreans do more than take a rest from the fast-paced modern lifestyle during their three days off of work. They also pay respects to their elders.
A Seollal gathering is a formal event for families. They usually clothe themselves in new Hanboks (traditional Korean costume) adorned with intricate embroideries of symbolisms that will either bring them prosperity, good fortune or a stronger bond with their loved one.
This three-day event observes the three basic practices which is the Sebae, offering of Tteokguk and playing some folk games.
The first practice is the Sebae or the bowing to the elders. The Sebae must be done properly—even the placing of the hands must be in order or else you will be seen as rude. Once the Sebae is done, the elders offer a gift to the young ones often in form of cash inside an envelope.
After bowing to the elders, rice cakes or Tteokguk is offered to their elders and ancestors up to the fourth generation to bring them guidance and good luck. Tteokguk symbolizes prosperity and purity for Koreans. It is also served during the New Year feast.
The third element of Seollal is the folk games. There are usually three games played: Jegichagi, Tuho, and Yunnori.
Celebrating Seollal with Filipino 'chingus'
With mostly Hallyu fans attending the event, Korean Cultural Center Director Hwang Seong Un said in his opening speech that the Center’s Seollal event will make fans see that Korea is about more than just K-Pop and Korean drama, that it is a country rich in culture and tradition.
The three-day event in South Korea was compressed into four and a half hours of fun-filled activities to give Filipinos a taste of what a traditional Korean New Year is like.
Like the Koreans, some Pinoys reconnected with their old friends and met new ones thanks to the activities.
At the end of the event, everybody could say, “Saehae Bok Mani Baduseyo”—have lots of good luck and happiness. — VC, GMA News
How do our Korean friends celebrate the Lunar New Year? With the increasing number of Koreans visiting our country in the recent years and possibly the Korean troops who are still helping rebuild Yolanda-struck Tacloban, this might be the time to learn how do our chingus (friends) celebrate the beginning of the Lunar Calendar called “Seollal.”
Luckily, the New Year party hosted by the Korean Cultural Center on Thursday, January 30, made for an easy introduction to the workings of this celebration.
What is 'Seollal'?
Seollal is a Korean term for New Year, the celebrations of which last for about three days. It is one of the major national holidays celebrated in Korea aside from Chuseok (Thanksgiving), which is as widely celebrated as Christmas is in the Philippines.
The celebration dates back to the ancient time of the three kingdoms. Workers and employees take time off to return to their hometowns for quality time with their families.
Seollal is also the time Koreans pay homage to their elders both living and no longer with them, but more on this later.
Wandering spirits and lucky charms
The Korean new year is celebrated on the same day as the Chinese New Year. Like the Chinese, they carefully try to avoid bad luck by observing superstitions like bringing in their slippers before going to bed so that the wandering spirits will not take them.
An example of a traditional lucky charm is a bokjori (bamboo strainer) traditionally used to filter and strain rice during washing. It is hung near doors in belief that this will help filter out the bad luck and bring in all the good luck all year long.
That is why when buying lucky charms, they don’t haggle down the price.
Sebae, Tteokguk, and games
But Koreans do more than take a rest from the fast-paced modern lifestyle during their three days off of work. They also pay respects to their elders.
A Seollal gathering is a formal event for families. They usually clothe themselves in new Hanboks (traditional Korean costume) adorned with intricate embroideries of symbolisms that will either bring them prosperity, good fortune or a stronger bond with their loved one.
This three-day event observes the three basic practices which is the Sebae, offering of Tteokguk and playing some folk games.
The first practice is the Sebae or the bowing to the elders. The Sebae must be done properly—even the placing of the hands must be in order or else you will be seen as rude. Once the Sebae is done, the elders offer a gift to the young ones often in form of cash inside an envelope.
After bowing to the elders, rice cakes or Tteokguk is offered to their elders and ancestors up to the fourth generation to bring them guidance and good luck. Tteokguk symbolizes prosperity and purity for Koreans. It is also served during the New Year feast.
The traditional Tteokguk symbolizes prosperity and purity.
The third element of Seollal is the folk games. There are usually three games played: Jegichagi, Tuho, and Yunnori.
Celebrating Seollal with Filipino 'chingus'
With mostly Hallyu fans attending the event, Korean Cultural Center Director Hwang Seong Un said in his opening speech that the Center’s Seollal event will make fans see that Korea is about more than just K-Pop and Korean drama, that it is a country rich in culture and tradition.
The three-day event in South Korea was compressed into four and a half hours of fun-filled activities to give Filipinos a taste of what a traditional Korean New Year is like.
Like the Koreans, some Pinoys reconnected with their old friends and met new ones thanks to the activities.
At the end of the event, everybody could say, “Saehae Bok Mani Baduseyo”—have lots of good luck and happiness. — VC, GMA News
