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Ch'usok
//
Harvest Day
- Korea (South)
by
Eileen Carson
24 September
Ch'usok or the Harvest Moon Festival is one of the greatest traditional holidays in Korea. On this day, Koreans offer freshly harvested crops and fruits to ancestors in a traditional ritual; they also share them with neighbors. Even the poorest make rice cakes and share them with others, leading to the proverb: "If only the 365 days of the year were like Hankawi!". Ch'usok, which falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month was also called "hankawi", with "han" meaning "great" and "kawi" "middle" -- a great day in the middle of August. "Kawi" is derived from "kabae", a sort of weaving game played in Shilla (57 B.C.-A.D. 935). In the reign of King Yuri (24 B.C.-57 B.C.) of Shilla, women weavers gathered in the royal palace one month before Hankawi, split into two teams, and spent the entire month weaving. After comparing the quantity of cloth woven by each team a month later on the day of Hankawi, the losing side treated the winning side to a feast, an act described by "kabae", or paying back one's dues. This later changed to "kawi". On Ch'usok, people engage in a variety of traditional games such as "kanggangsuwollae" (women's circle dance), wrestling matches, archery contests. They also perform farmers' band music. On the morning of Ch'usok, people perform memorial rites, offering fresh fruit and grains to their ancestors. They eat breakfast and then visit the graves of ancestors to pay their respects. Ch'usok is a day of excitement, and at the same time, a day of thanksgiving.
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