Seollal (설날)
200600056 Junseok Kang
Close your eyes. Imagine the smell of home-made food, the colour of beautiful traditional clothing, Hanbok, and the sound of family conversation. 설날, Seollal is the biggest holiday in Korea. It is a new year day according to lunar calendar. Some people might think that it has just similar holiday customs like Chuseok which is Thanksgiving day of Korea. However there are clear distinct and indigenous traditions make Seollal special from to other festivals.
Unlikely Chuseok people bow to others who are alive but older. This custom is called Sebae(세배). New year's bow has been the way to show respect to elders in New year day. Younger family members do the elders grand-parents including their relatives. During the Sebae, the person who bows wishes the good luck and longevity to the elders. When it is finished, bower receives some cash from elders. It is generous tradition which gives allowance for the younger who are not capable of making money yet. Mostly the money they got is normally used for buying school supplies or books.
Also Seollal has its own a special dish, Ddeokguk(떡국). Ddeokguk is a white coloured soup with white rice cakes, meats and other vegetables. After finishing ancestral rites, every family member gathers around and eats Deokguk as a breakfast. Having this dish means getting an age older in New year. In fact, this soup has a couple of cultural meanings. This white cuisine is believed to symbolize longevity because rice cake used in Ddeokguk is long noodle shaped. Additionally due to its round shape associated money, people considered that eating Ddeokguk may bring a good luck to be a rich.
The last different custom is yutnori(윷놀이). During the day or evening, family sit around and play this yutnori together. It is a traditional board game especially in New year. This game consists of 4 yut which are wooden sticks and one rectangular shaped board. Yut plays the role of a dice. The gamer tosses the yut in the air and the scores are counted by the combination of front or back sides of sticks. It is a game all of family can easily enjoy together, and they enjoy the intimate family moment this game gives.
Many Korean traditions disappears because they are started to replaced with New year holiday from Western culture. Seollal's importance is becoming diluted compared to it used to mean. However Seollal will remain as a the most meaningful holiday for a while due to the family time which its indigenous customs give.
To Junseok Kang from Seung Hyun Kim
ReplyDelete1. The thesis statement of the essay seems to be there are clear distinct and indigenous traditions make Seollal special from to other festivals.
2. The writer provides some background information related to Seollal in the introduction paragraph. Seollal take place on 1th January on lunar calender and it is the biggest holiday in Korea.
3. Though each part of body paragraphs present different information regarding the topic, it does not really present the process of different stages on Seollal.
4. As mentioned above, it does not really follow the sequence of the process but rather shows different traditions of Seollal one by one.
5. The body paragraphs do have various facts and details followed by sufficient supporting details. For instance, in the 2nd body paragraph, the writer introduces Ddeokguk as a Seollal's special dish and supports it by describing what it is, when it is eaten, and what it means.
6. In the conclusion paragraph, the writer ends the essay with an evaluation of the meaningfulness of Seollal.
Junseok Kang 2014/Tuesday 3,4 Holiday 2nd draft
ReplyDeleteSeollal (설날)
200600056 Junseok Kang
Close your eyes. Imagine the smell of home-made food, the colour of beautiful traditional clothing, Hanbok, and the sound of family conversation. 설날, Seollal is the biggest holiday in Korea. It is a newyear day according to lunar calendar. Some people might think that it has just similar holiday customs like Chuseok which is Thanksgiving day of Korea. However there are clear distinct and indigenous traditions make Seollal special from to other festivals.
Unlikely other traditional holidays, people bow to others who are alive but older. This custom is called Sebae(세배). New year's bow has been the way to show respect to elders in New year day. Younger family members do the elders grand-parents including their relatives. During the Sebae, the person who bows wishes the good luck and longevity to the elders. When it is finished, bower receives some cash from elders. It is generous tradition which gives allowance for the younger who are not capable of making money yet. Mostly the money they got is normally used for buying school supplies or books. This custom is only in Seollal.
Also Seollal has its own a special dish, Ddeokguk(떡국). Ddeokguk is a white coloured soup with white rice cakes, meats and other vegetables. After finishing ancestral rites, every family member gathers around and eats Deokguk as a breakfast. Having this dish means getting an age older in New year. In fact, this soup has a couple of cultural meanings. This white cuisine is believed to symbolize longevity because rice cake used in Ddeokguk is long noodle shaped. Additionally due to its round shape associated money, people considered that eating Ddeokguk may bring a good luck to be a rich.
The last different custom is yutnori(윷놀이). During the day or evening, family sit around and play this yutnori together. It is a traditional board game especially in New year. This game consists of 4 yut which are wooden sticks and one rectangular shaped board. Yut plays the role of a dice. The gamer tosses the yut in the air and the scores are counted by the combination of front or back sides of sticks. It is a game all of family can easily enjoy together, and they enjoy the intimate family moment this game gives.
Many Korean traditions disappears because they are started to replaced with New year holiday from Western culture. Seollal's importance is becoming diluted compared to it used to mean. However Seollal will remain as the most meaningful holiday for a while due to the family time which its indigenous customs give.