KOREAN COMMUNITY NEWS - JAN. 2025
By Eun Byoul Oh & Sharon Stern
This year, Seollal (설날), Lunar New Year, falls on January 29th. Seollal is one of the biggest national holidays in Korea.
The first written record of celebrating the Lunar New Year appears in the Chinese records of the Three Kingdoms (in China) in the 3rd century CE. The oldest written Korean record appears in the Samguk yusa in the 13th century. As the Japanese inserted more control over the Korean peninsula in the 1890’s, celebration of Seollal was discouraged. It became illegal in 1907. It wasn’t reinstated as an official national holiday until 1989.
The Chinese Zodiac
The Chinese calendar is divided into 12 yearlong parts, each represented by an animal. The story of this tradition says that Buddha invited all of the animals of the world to come visit him, but only 12 came. Another version of the story attributes the specific animals to a contest held by the Jade Emperor. The 12 animals that appear in the Chinese calendar appear in a repeating 12-year cycle. The animal year that you are born in connects you to heavenly or earthly branches, yin and yang energies, etc. The animal year that you are born in reflects in your personality as well as influences events that happen in your life.
Along with Chuseok, Seollal is a big family celebration. Family members travel to spend the holiday together. The holiday is celebrated over a three-day period. Many different traditions are observed by different families and traditions continue to evolve through time. Some of these include:
Saying 세배 to your elders – the act of kneeling to the ground and bowing deeply to honor them and wish them a good new year
Observing 차례 or ancestral rites
Visiting fortune tellers
Watching the first sunrise of the year
Flying kites (연날리기) to let go of worries and send your wishes up to the heavens
Exchanging gifts of fruit and money
Playing 윷놀이 – the stick game
Playing Go Stop or 화투 – the fish card game
Seesaw jumping (kind of an ancient tradition now) – 널뛰기
Wearing 한복
And FOOD!
Food traditions are still alive and well and include eating:
Rice cake soup – tteokguk (떡국) – for good luck. The medallions of rice cake in the soup are supposed to resemble coins
Jeon (전)
Japchae (잡채)
If you live in New York City – The Lincoln Center is holding a Lunar New Year event on February 1st in David Geffen Hall. The event will celebrate the diasporic culture of Korea and China. The event will stage various traditional dances from Korea and China. The event schedule is as follows:
10:00 am: Doors open! Visit arts and craft stations and food vendors throughout the day
11:00 am: Storytime with The ABC Digest (Ashley Chang and Jeffrey Chan) in the Lobby
Noon: Happy Lunar New Year celebration from Beijing Prince Kung's Palace Museum
12:30 pm: Korean Traditional Music & Dance Center performs a traditional drumming set in the Grand Promenade
1:15 pm: Dance to a DJ set by Dominick Alcantara of the Filipino-American creative collective BARANGAY
2:00 pm: Traditional Lion Dance performance on Josie Roberston Plaza
*This FREE event runs until 3:00 pm and is General Admission, first-come first-served. Drop-in throughout the day and stay as long as you'd like!
See more information about the event on Lincoln Center’s website.
We hope that you have a happy and prosperous start to your new year!
새해 복 많이 받으세요!
