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Korea's Lunar New Year
| Article
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13951 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
Date : |
2 / 1988 |
4,130 Words |
| Author
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Adri de Groot
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"Look, Mama. See what I got," the little girl said as she pulled at her mother's dress for attention. The excited girl had just received money as a New Year's gift from her grandparents. She had known that she might expect such a gift as part of the celebration, but she probably did not know that the bow of respect she had given before receiving the gift was an ancient Confucian tradition showing respect to one's elders. Not until she grows older will she be able to fully appreciate her country's rich cultural tradition.
Korea has many annual celebrations, all of which are based on the lunar calendar and timed to coincide with certain phases of the moon. Sufficient adjustments have been made to the calendar, by adding a leap month every four years, to make it roughly correspond with the solar calendar as well. At the beginning of this century, more than three hundred games and pastimes associated with these lunar holidays were recorded. It is safe to say that most of these traditions are still observed in the countryside.
Historically, Korean culture is related most closely to the culture and religion of China, but it also has cultural ties to Siberia and other surrounding areas. Korea's strongest cultural connection to China came through the importation of Confucianism and Buddhism more than two millennia ago.
It would be wrong to say that Korean culture is basically Chinese in nature, however. Throughout their more than five thousand years of history--and largely due to geography--the inhabitants of the Korean peninsula developed a cultural heritage distinct from that of other Asian countries. Korean culture has its own individual character and its resilience is attested to by the fact that despite--and even as a reaction against--the many invasions by foreign forces, its traditions have basically remained unchanged.
The lunar New Year, one of the major Korean holidays, has many special celebrations. A brief history of this holiday, followed by a description of a few celebrations, illustrates the uniqueness of the Korean culture.
An enduring tradition
During their occupation of South Korea (1905-1945), the Japanese introduced the solar calendar. Following liberation from Japanese control, the South Korean government retained the solar calendar in its effort to bring the country into line with international standards, asking the people to continue observing the solar New Year. This was also done with an eye toward the economy, which needed rebuilding after the war. Although the people were given three free days by the government to celebrate the solar holiday, the lunar New Year traditions persisted. Many private businesses closed down and employees in both the public and private sectors took time off to celebrate this holiday. Despite the government's efforts to "solarize" the country's traditions, the people held to their ancient observance.
Much of the popular resistance to the solar calendar expressed reaction to the oppressive Japanese culture under which Koreans had been forced to live for so many years. With the departure of the Japanese and the reclaiming of their country, Koreans underwent a cultural awakening that gave them new pride in their ancient ways. And as the economy improved, observance of these
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