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Celebrate! Chusuk, which is also called Hangawi or Jungchujeo l, is the biggest national holiday in Korea. Chusuk is similar in origin and tradition to Thanksgiving Day in the United States. Originally , all f amily members would come together on Chusuk to celebrate an abundant harvest and give thanks to their ancestors. Chusuk carries the meanings of harvest and grati- tude as families celebrate, relax and enjoy each other. This national holiday falls on the 15 th day of the eighth month on the lunar calendar and usually falls in September on the solar calendar. Tr affic jams are one of the signs that the Chusuk holiday has arrived, as Koreans all over the country travel to their hometowns to celebrate with friends and family. This migratio n of citizens to their childhood homes has been dubbed the ‘Great Movement of Nation.’ The Chusuk celebration will last for three days. Chusuk Activities Seong-myo: Families visit the tombs of their ances- tors, bringing a variety of prepared traditional food as an offering. Thanks are given to ancestors for the rich harvest as well as for their blessings upon family mem- bers. Tw o deep bows are performed before the tomb of ancestors, and then an offering of delicious food on beautiful dishes is set for them. It is tradition to pre- pare and care for the tomb of ancestors the day before or on the day of Seong-myo; this is called ‘beol-cho,’ and consists of mowing and grooming the resting place. Traditionally this falls on the day before the Chusuk holiday. Cha-rye: On the Chusuk day, t hanks again are offered for ancestors’ blessings, and the celebration of a good harvest continues with more festivities. Traditi onal foods are prepared including s ongpyeon, fruits, soup, pan-fried food, and more. The table is set with food according to the traditional rule and turns are taken for bowing. In some families, only men can attend the Cha-rye ceremony. When both women and men attend Cha-rye, it is customary for the men to position them- selves on the east side, whereas women are on the west side. Regarding bowing, men bow twice and women bow four times. KOREAN CULTURE Songpyeon One of the traditional foods for Chusuk is songpyeon, a crescent-shaped rice cake. It is made by kneading newly harvested rice flour into dumplings and stuffing the dumplings with green beans, beans or sesame seeds. There is a saying about songpyeon: if the songpyeon are pretty-shaped, the woman who made it will have a beautiful daughter; so women always try to make pretty- shaped songpyeon. 78 September 2007 / taekwondotimes.com taekwondotimes.com / September 2007 79 By Soyang Kwon C ooki n g Son g py e on I n g r e di e nt s W at e r : t w o c u ps in a pot f or st e amin g Su g ar : 1 c u p + a pinc h N on g lut i nous r i c e f lour : f iv e c u ps Salt : t w o t e as poons Gr ound se same se e d: one c u p Se same oi l: a lit t le f or c oat in g C i nnamon pow de r : t w o t able s poons 1. Put t w o c u ps of w at e r and one c u p of su g ar in pot and boil. M ix f ine non g lut inous r ic e f lour w it h t he hot su g ar w at e r . K ne ad t he f lour w e ll. K e e p c ov e r in g t he dou g h w it h a w e t w r a p pin g c lot h so it w on’ t dr y out . 2. M ix g r ound se same w it h a pinc h of su g ar and t he salt . T he r at io f or se same and su g ar is 2 t o 1. T his w ill be t he st uf f in g . 3. T ak e a small por t ion f r om t he dou g h and r oll be t w e e n t he palms, mak in g a small ball of dou g h. M ak e a hollow -lik e w e ll w it h y our t humb in t he ball and put t he st uf f in g in t he hollow . C lose t he hollow and mak e t he dou g h int o a she ll- sha pe . W e ’v e made son g py e ons! But t he y ’r e not c ook e d y e t ! K e e p c ov e r in g t he she ll-sha pe d son g py e ons w it h a w e t w r a p pin g c lot h t o pr e v e nt dou g h f r om dr y in g . 4 . F ill a lar g e pot half w ay w it h w at e r and br in g t o a boil. Ov e r t he w at e r , plac e t he son g py e ons on a sc r e e n t o st e am. C ov e r w it h a lid. St e am f or 30 minut e s. 5 . Af t e r t he 30 minut e s of st e amin g , t ur n of f t he st ov e , but k e e p t he son g py e ons c ov e r e d and st e amin g f or anot he r t e n minut e s, t he n c ool t he m quic k ly w it h c old w at e r . F inally , li g ht ly c oat son g py e ons w it h se same oil and s pr ink le w it h c innamon pow de r . En j oy ! Bowing and giving thanks to ancestors is tradition on Chusuk. Ladies preparing songpyeon for Chusuk. Photos provided by the Korean Tourist Organization.
