Chuseok: A Korean Tradition in Transition

안녕하세요, 여러분! Hello, everyone. This is Hyunwoo from Talk To Me In Korean.

As 추석(Chuseok), the Korean harvest festival approaches, I’ve been thinking about how this important holiday has been changing over the past couple of decades. 

Do Koreans Still Celebrate Chuseok?

Short answer: Yes, but it’s changing. 

Chuseok has traditionally been a time when families come together to enjoy the fruits of their labor (quite literally) and share delicious meals. Along with 설날(Seollal), the Lunar New Year, it’s one of the two most significant traditional holidays in Korea.

But here’s the thing: more and more people are choosing a “lighter” version of Chuseok celebrations. 

Latest Trends

You can see this change in mainly two aspects: (1) the number of people who travel back to visit their parents or family and (2) the way younger people view the necessity of 차례 [charye], the traditional Chuseok ritual where people prepare a table full of fresh harvests and traditional treats (Look at these images of 차례상 here for a better understanding.) 

Every year, it seems that fewer people are visiting their hometowns or parents for Chuseok, and more and more people would rather go for a trip overseas, using this precious 3-day public holiday period, especially when it falls near a weekend like this year. 

And as for the 차례 rituals, I personally think that the last 차례 rituals that I will participate will the ones my parents prepare. After that, the tradition of 차례 might end with my generation or transform into something simpler. To be fair, preparing all the foods for 차례 (sometimes more than 20 different types!) is A LOT of work, and we now have fresh produce available all around the year, which has lessened the significance of the “harvest” aspect of the festival. 

It’s Still a Very Big Deal.

Despite the trend toward simpler celebrations, the highways around the country are severally congested during this period, and TV channels provide live coverage of travel times between Seoul and other cities. 

And the competition for train tickets during Chuseok? Still pretty intense! There are designated dates and hours for train tickets for this holiday, and just look at the number of people who were waiting ahead of me. I clicked on the “Reserve Tickets” button 0.08 seconds after it became available. More than 7,000 people within 0.08 seconds! 

The Universal Family Experience

If you were wondering, yes, it’s the same in Korea. When families gather, many young people can’t avoid the usual questions and comments from older family members: “When are you getting married?” “Found a job yet?” “Any plans for kids?” 

But once that’s out of the way, it’s overall a really nice time to just relax and enjoy good food with familiy members and take a short break from work or studies. 

Looking Into the Future

We’re definitely in a period of transition right now. Will the Chuseok traditions eventually become something we only experience through textbooks and videos while we are all on long vacations? Or will it evolve into a new form that blends trandition with modern lifestyles? 

Chuseok will always hold a special place in Korean culture. But when the day comes when there is no competition for train tickets or severe traffic jams on the highways, we will know that we’ve entered a completely new era of this tradition. 

Thanks for reading, and happy Chuseok to everyone!