Chusok- The Korean Thanksgiving

CHUSOK!!!

"Chusok, also known as the Korean Thanksgiving.. 

 It occurs during the harvest season b.c. the farmers believed that if they would present their first batch of crop harvest or first batch of the farming they do, their year’s produce will be profitable and would not involve any nature’s calamities... So Koreans take this time to thank their ancestors for providing them with rice and fruits.

The celebration starts with a family get-together at which rice cakes called "Songphyun" are served.  Then the family pays respect to ancestors by visiting their tombs and offering them rice and fruits.   In the evening, children wear their favorite hanbok  (traditional Korean clothing)

and dance under the bright moon in a large circle.

They play games and sing songs such as Korean Wrestling,

Archery, singing folk music, and a game called turtle tag. (Turtle Tag is when a person will be dressed in a covering crawling around trying to catch the other people around them.)

When did Chu Suk Start?

According to, "The Three Kingdom" history book, written by Kim Bu Sik, in 32 CE,

the story goes:

... the king of Shilla, King You Ree, took women from 6 local towns and separated them into two groups. A daughter of the king was the leader of each group.

The King requested that the women make clothing to see who was the better at weaving. This grew into a big contest... basically, which daughter was better...

The women from the two groups took Hemp and started to weave...

It became this huge contest that the king then chose the winners..

The winners were then served drinks and dinner by the losers while the losers sang a real sad song.

The title of this song is, "Hoe So, Hoe So..." This song has a very sad and sorrowful meaning-- ( I don't have any clue what the song is about..)

Then.. somehow- this turned into Chusok... I don't know how though...

So Koreans travel home for this holiday- so the roads and all of Korea will be jam-packed with them (even more so than on normal weekends- which I have no idea how!!!) So... for Chusok..  I'm headed to Taiwan!!! wahoo!!! :)