Happy New Year - the Year of the Sheep

Today is the Lunar New Year, known in Korea as Seollal. Many of us might consider it the "Chinese New Year," but the Chinese are not the only ones celebrating today. In fact, Seollal is one of the most important holidays in Korea, a time when many return to the families to celebrate, preform ancestral rites and spend time together. It is a national holiday and most people are off work for two or three days. 

This year is the Year of the Sheep. Each Lunar Year is represented by one of the 12 zodiac signs, which take the form of twelve guardian animal deities collectively known as Sibijisin.The year 2015 is referred to as Eulminyeon or “The Year of the Sheep.” The sheep is the eighth animal deity among the Sibijisin, which literally means "twelve (sibi) gods of the earth (jisin)."

We are not able to do much in the way of traditional celebration today as it is a busy day (and week) for our family, but we are making an effort -- if takeout thai food and Korean snacks count! We did manage to wrangle Oliver into his traditional hanbok, which is customarily worn on this holiday:

Seollal is actually a rather interesting holiday, though the preparation for the feast sounds like a tremendous amount of work. I pulled some interesting information from the Visit Korea website and dropped it in below (you can read more here if you are interested).

Seollal (Lunar New Year; January 1 of the lunar calendar) is one of the most celebrated national holidays in Korea. This year, Seollal falls on February 19 of the Gregorian calendar. More than just a holiday to mark the beginning of a new year, Seollal is truly a special occasion for Korean people. Not only is it a time for paying respect to ancestors, but it is also an opportunity to catch up with distant family members who travel home to get together for this special occasion. During Seollal, Koreans traditionally wear hanbok (traditional clothes), perform ancestral rites, play folk games, eat traditional foods, listen to stories, and catch up with one another. 

The morning of Seollal begins with an ancestral rite. Family members, each dressed up for the occasion (traditionally in hanbok, but often in Western formal attire), gather in front of the ritual table and set on it an ancestral tablet and dishes of ritual foods, which are according to the laws of ancestral rites. Once set, the rite begins with deep bows as greetings to the ancestor spirits, and proceeds with offerings and prayers before ending with bidding farewell to the spirits. The ritual is conducted to express respect and gratitude to one’s ancestors and to pray for the family’s well-being throughout the year. 

Following the rite, everyone gathers together and eats the ritual food. The main dish of the day is tteokguk, a traditional soup made with sliced rice cakes, beef, egg, vegetables, and other ingredients. In Korea, eating tteokguk on New Year’s Day is believed to add a year to one’s age. People often ask each other, “How many servings of tteokguk have you had?” as a fun way to ask each other’s age.
After the meal, the younger generations of the family pay respect to their elders by taking a deep bow called sebae, and by presenting them with gifts. Then, the elders offer their blessings and wishes for a prosperous year. Children often receive sebaetdon (New Year’s money) as a Seollal gift. For the remainder of the day, family members play traditional folk games, eat food, and share stories.

Happy Lunar New Year! May you enjoy a prosperous year.