Korean New Year, commonly known as Seol-lal (Hangul: 설날; RR: Seollal; MR: Sŏllal),
is the first day of the lunar calendar. It is the most important of the
traditional Korean holidays. It consists of a period of celebrations,
starting on New Year's Day. Koreans also celebrate solar New Year's Day
on January 1 each year, following the Gregorian Calendar. The Korean
New Year holiday lasts three days, and is considered a more important
holiday than the solar New Year's Day.
The term "Seollal" generally refers to Eumnyeok Seollal (음력 설날, lunar new year), also known as Gujeong (Hangul: 구정; Hanja: 舊正). Less commonly, "Seollal" also refers to Yangnyeok Seollal (양력 설날, solar new year), also known as Sinjeong (Hangul: 신정; Hanja: 新正).
Korean New Year generally falls on the day of the second new moon after winter solstice, unless there is a very rare intercalary
eleventh or twelfth month in the lead-up to the New Year. In such a
case, the New Year falls on the day of the third new moon after the
solstice (next occurrence will be 2033).
Customs
Korean new Year is typically a family holiday. The three-day holiday
is used by many to return to their hometowns to visit their parents and
other relatives, where they perform an ancestral ritual. Many Koreans dress up in colorful traditional Korean clothing called hanbok. But nowadays, small families tend to become less formal and wear other formal clothing instead of hanbok. Many Koreans greet the New Year by visiting East-coast locations such as Gangneung and Donghae in Gangwon province, where they are most likely to see the first rays of the New Year's sun.
Tteokguk
Tteokguk (떡국) (soup with sliced rice cakes) is a traditional Korean food that is customarily eaten for the New Year. According to Korean age reckoning, the Korean New Year is similar to a birthday for Koreans, and eating Tteokguk is part of the birthday celebration. Once you finish eating your Tteokguk, you are one year older.
Sebae
Sebae is a traditionally observed activity on Seollal, and is
filial-piety-oriented. Children wish their elders (grandparents, aunts
and uncles, parents) a happy new year by performing one deep traditional
bow (rites with more than one bow involved are usually for the
deceased) and the words saehae bok mani badeuseyo (Hangul: 새해 복 많이 받으세요) which translates to Receive many New Year blessings,
or more loosely, "Have a blessed New Year." Parents typically reward
this gesture by giving their children new year's money, or "pocket
money," (usually in the form of crisp paper money) in luck bags made
with beautiful silk design and offering words of wisdom, deokdam. Historically, parents gave out rice cakes (ddeok) and fruit
to their children instead. Before and during the bowing ceremony,
children wear hanboks as a respectful way to appreciate ancestors and
elders.
Folk games
Many traditional games are associated with the Korean New Year. The traditional family board game yunnori
(윷놀이) is still a popular game nowadays. Yut Nori(Yunnori) is a
traditional board game played in Korea, especially during Korean New
Year. It is played using different types of specially designed sticks.
Traditionally men and boys would fly rectangle kites called yeonnalligi, and play jegi chagi (제기차기), a game in which a light object is wrapped in paper or cloth, and then kicked in a footbag like manner. Korean women and girls would have traditionally played neolttwigi (널뛰기), a game of jumping on a seesaw (시소), and gongginolie, game played with five little gonggi (originally a little stone, but today many buy manufactured gonggi in shops) while children spin paengi (팽이).
