Friday, February 08, 2008 Delen: Luck 3 By Annie Delen Jaded Mind
LAST Saturday, this corner was all about luck and the top 10 ways of attracting good fortune in the year of the Rat. Most of the ideas or shall we say all of it came from Chinese tradition and belief. But since we share this city with a large number of Koreans it is but proper to also talk about their customs when it comes to the New Year. And who better to write it than a true blue Korean. So readers young and old, I give you Lee Cheol Kyu.
In Korea there are two kinds of New Year celebrations. January one is called "Fake New Year" or Shin Jeong because it is only for Magpies and not for humans, because the Hanggul (Korean language) term for fake New Year is pronounced "A Chi" for small which became "Ka Chi" similarly pronounced for Magpie in Korean. February 7, which is based on the Lunar Calendar however is the Real New Year or Seul Lal.
When I was a child, there were a lot of things to do on the Real New Year. We visited every house near my grandfather's to get some money from his neighbors. We bowed each time which meant luck on New Year morning. But before setting out on that "mission" there were requisite steps we needed to do first. These were to take a shower and wear new clothes. It was to insure that we did not infect others with bad luck. Second, we had to learn how to bow in the proper way from our grandfather. The way to bow depends on each family's history. But nowadays we already have only one way to bow though.
It was one of my greatest pleasures to gather some money from each house. Another sign of the Real New Year in Korea is the "dduk guk". This is a kind of soup made from rice cake. It is believed that if someone eats two bowls of this soup, that person has aged twice thus the more "dduk guk" we have the older we get. It was proportioned to the number bowls of "dduk guk" we eat. Don't you think it's unfair?
In Korea, age means a lot. The older person is thought to be wiser than the younger one and thus has more right to do something. Age was related to power. Of course it was just the adults' joke to make their children eat a lot. Once upon a time, when we were suffering from poverty, they couldn't make a good meal except on New Year's Day that's why they wanted their children to eat a lot.
Like the Chinese, we also have our own traditions or practices that we hope will bring us good luck for the whole year. They focus on bringing luck, Korean tradition on the other hand is focused on protecting themselves from misfortune.
Our ancestors attached paintings which included tigers and chickens on their doors. They also burned hair that had fallen out while they combed in order to drive away bad luck. Mind you, they must collect these fallen hairs for a year.
The customs for bringing luck has largely disappeared but a lot of customs for fun still remain. One example is "Yout Nol E," a board game using four wooden sticks. There are two sides, which represent day and night. After tossing the sticks, we decide how many steps we have to go on the map of "Yout Nol E". The team that goes around the board first wins the game. Kite-flying is also one of most exciting games for children.
There you have it readers big and small...a quick peek at New Year the Korean way. I feel guilty that this column was filled with very little effort on my part (I can imagine my editor nodding vigorously) so let me just add my two cents worth.
New Year's Day is important to most people of every creed, race and color. We have a general reason, it probably being a widely celebrated holiday in a year. But aside from that, each person also has given it significance the way it affected his or her own life. One thing is certain, most see it as a new lease on life...a new beginning. A time to right the wrongs; to make peace with sworn enemies; to heal the pain caused etc. In a nutshell as I am fond of saying, it is a second chance so let's not waste it. Whether we wear polka dots on New Year's Eve, eat rice cake soup, light firecrackers or wrap ourselves in red from head to toe ... it really does not matter. It all starts from within.
