Korean New Year

With the New Year is called Seollal in North and South Korea. This is determined according to the Chinese lunar calendar and always falls on the new moon between January 21 and February 20 of the Gregorian calendar and thus falls on the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar. Seollal is an official holiday in North and South Korea.

Name Meaning

Seollal is composed of the two Korean syllables 설 ( Seol, dt " the new year " ) and 날 ( Nal, " day "), whereby linguistic summarized the "n " of " Nal " to " l" is. This explains the romanized spelling with the double "l" in the middle.

New Year's greeting

The Korean greeting the New Year is Saehae Bok Manhi Bateuseyo ( 새해 복 많이 받으세요 ). Literally translated, it means 새해 = New year, 복 = Happiness, 많이 = much, get 받으세요 =.

Celebration in the old tradition

Seollal was and still is the most important cultural holiday in the South Korean society. On the eve of this day, the house is cleaned and everything put in order before the House in accordance with the tradition. Incense sticks and bamboo sticks are lit, the latter should produce popping noise while burning off the bamboo nodes and thus drive the demons out of the house. All family members take to the end of the year, a bathroom and stay Light the house on until after midnight.

On the morning of Seollal, all family members dress festively in their traditional costume and commemorate in a fixed ceremony, Chare ( 차례 ), the ancestors. For a variety of dishes and drinks will be built on an altar prepared in a similar table. In memory of the deceased loved all family members bow to the altar, and served from the results presented food and drinks.

After this ceremony, gather the younger ones to pay tribute to the parents and grandparents in a Verneigungszeremonie, Sebae ( 세배 ), respect and to wish good health and long life. The elders in turn give the children their blessing and a small gift of money.

Subsequently, the families spend the rest of the day with traditional games such as Yut and tell stories. Men and boys leave out the kite, Yeonnalligi ( 연 날리기 ), and the women and girls compete in jumping on the seesaw Neolttwigi ( 널뛰기 ). As a traditional dish are tteokguk ( 떡국, a soup of rice cake), Tteok ( 떡 ) and Yakgwa ( 약과 ) served honey cake.

In rural areas, on the first day of the year, depending on the animal names, which carries the new year, performed different rituals. So you go, for example, in the Year of the Rat on the field and burns wild grasses to chase away the rats and to summon a good harvest. In the hour of the rat between 11 und clock 1 clock at night, the women beating on pots in order to drive with the noise of the rats.

South Korea

While in South Korea since the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in 1896, increasingly, the New Year on January 1, is also celebrated with Sunrise Festival - the most famous of which is the in Homigot - so Seollal but still has still greater importance than New Year and continues to be the most important holiday in South Korea. As in many other Asian countries also take many South Koreans freely for several days to visit family and to celebrate Seollal.

Depending on whether you live in a big city or in the countryside, or according to religious affiliation, not all traditional ceremonies and rituals of the New Year's Day are now completed. So no ancestor worship in the form of, for example, among Christians in South Korea, which account for a share of around 26 % of the population, more practiced.

North Korea

Seollal is also celebrated in North Korea. But the holiday was abolished along with the Chuseok in 1967 as an official holiday. Introduced in 1989 as a national holiday again, Seollal was extended to three interrelated public holidays 2003.

Seollal data

  • 2006: January 29 - Year of the Dog
  • 2007: February 18 - Year of the Pig
  • 2008: 07 February - Year of the Rat
  • 2009: January 26 - Year of the Ox
  • 2010: February 14 - Year of the Tiger
  • 2011: February 03 - Year of the Rabbit
  • 2012: January 23 - Year of the Dragon
  • 2013: February 10 - Year of the Snake
  • 2014: January 31 - Year of the Horse
  • 2015: February 19 - Year of the Sheep
  • 2016: February 08 - Year of the Monkey
  • 2017: January 28 - Year of the Rooster
  • 2018: February 16 - Year of the Dog
  • 2019: February 05 - Year of the Pig
Revised Romanization of Korean McCune–Reischauer Korean language Veneration of the dead
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