Family traditions,
season by season.
Chuseok (추석) is the autumn harvest holiday on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month; Seollal (설날) is the lunar new year.
Both center on charye, the ancestor rite, and on hanbok for the family, and Christian families often hold chudo yebae instead.
How Eric can help.
Tell Eric how your family keeps Chuseok or Seollal. Together you decide what the day needs, from the charye or chudo yebae table to hanbok for the family, and Eric is there in person on the day.
Your family, your traditions.
Dressed for the day.
Chuseok and Seollal, made understandable.
Read it in order, or go straight to the part you need.
- 01
- 02
- 03
- 04
- 05
- 06
- 07
- 08
- 09
- 10
Same rite, opposite ends of the year.
Chuseok and Seollal are often spoken about together, and their charye rite is largely the same, but the mood and the meaning diverge. Understanding what makes each one distinct is what lets a Korean American family hold both properly.
Chuseok · 추석
- When15th day of the 8th lunar month. Falls in September or October. Aligned with the harvest full moon, called Hangawi (한가위) in older Korean, meaning 'the great middle.'
- RegisterGratitude and remembrance. The harvest is in. The dead are honored. The full moon rises. The family gathers for a meal that carries the year's work.
- Central riteCharye at the family altar, followed traditionally by seongmyo (grave visits) and beolcho (weeding the graves). For families whose graves are in Korea, we adapt with a place of remembrance in your home.
- Signature foodSongpyeon. Half-moon rice cakes folded by the family, filled with sesame, chestnut, or red bean. The shape marks the moon becoming full. Steamed over pine needles for their fragrance.
- Signature momentFolding songpyeon together. Historically the folding is done by children under grandmothers' watch. The old saying: a girl who folds beautiful songpyeon will meet a beautiful spouse.
Seollal · 설날
- When1st day of the 1st lunar month. Falls in late January or February. The Korean lunar new year. Distinct from Chinese New Year in food, dress, and family customs.
- RegisterRenewal and continuity. New clothes, new year, new age. The past year is closed. The new year is welcomed. The elders bless the young.
- Central riteCharye first, then sebae (deep bows) to the living elders in seniority order. Elders return the blessing with sebaetdon (money in a silk pouch called bokjumeoni). The greeting is 새해 복 많이 받으세요.
- Signature foodTteokguk. Sliced rice cake soup. Traditionally, eating a bowl means gaining a year of age. The pale rice cakes represent starting the year clean and unblemished.
- Signature momentThe sebae. Children bow to grandparents. Grandparents bless. The room is quiet. Then the pouches come out and the youngest cousins scatter to compare who got the most.
What Chuseok and Seollal mean.
秋夕
Chuseok · Autumn eveningChuseok is the Sino-Korean reading of 秋 (autumn) and 夕 (evening). The older, purely Korean name is Hangawi (한가위), from han (great) and gawi (middle), because it falls at the middle of the autumn harvest season. Historical records from the Silla dynasty (7th century) describe a month-long weaving contest called gabae (가배), held under King Yuri, the third Silla king. The winning team was hosted to a feast by the losing team. Chuseok as we recognize it grew out of this tradition, and standardized into the modern rite during the Joseon dynasty (1392 to 1910).
Chuseok was banned during Japanese occupation in 1907 as part of the broader suppression of Korean identity. It was fully reinstated as a national holiday in 1989 under President Roh Tae-woo, when the government also formalized the three-day break Korean families still take today.
설날
Seollal · Year-daySeollal is a purely Korean word, without hanja. Seol (설) means 'year of age,' and nal (날) means 'day.' Together, the word marks the day one becomes a year older, because in the Korean traditional age system, every person adds a year on Seollal, regardless of birthday. That is the origin of the tteokguk tradition: eating a bowl marks the year gained.
The lunar new year has been marked on the Korean peninsula since at least the Three Kingdoms period (before 668 CE), with the Book of Sui and Old Book of Tang recording Silla-era new year rites. Like Chuseok, Seollal was suppressed under Japanese occupation and revived in 1989. The traditional customs (sebae bows, seolbim clothing, family games) remain largely intact in modern Korean and Korean American homes.
Seven rules for setting the table correctly.
The charye table is not decorative. It is diagrammatic. Every dish sits in a specific place because Korean Confucian tradition assigns a direction, a color, and a hierarchy to each. Any Korean grandmother would spot a miscalibrated table across the room. Below are the seven placement maxims most families care about, in the classical order.
홍동백서
Red east, white west
Red foods (jujubes, apples, watermelon) sit on the east side of the table. White foods (pears, radish) sit on the west. Colors map to cardinal directions in Korean cosmology.
어동육서
Fish east, meat west
Fish dishes sit east. Meat dishes sit west. In Korean tradition, fish carries the sunrise register and meat carries the sunset one.
두동미서
Head east, tail west
When a whole fish is served, the head points east and the tail points west, so the fish appears to be swimming toward the sunrise. Small detail, immediately noticed.
조율이시
Jujube, chestnut, pear, persimmon
The four ceremonial fruits sit in this order from east to west. Chosen for their seed counts. Jujube has one seed (the emperor). Chestnut has three (the three ministers). Pear has six (the six officials). Persimmon has eight (the eight regional lords). A whole Confucian court on one row of fruit.
좌포우혜
Dried meat left, sikhye right
The dried meat (pojiv) sits on the left of the table. The sikhye (sweet rice drink) sits on the right. Together they bracket the meal offering.
고서비동
Ancestor west, descendant east
The direction the food is oriented depends on the ancestral hierarchy. Ancestors sit west (the setting sun, the past). Descendants sit east (the rising sun, the future). This governs which way the bowls face.
반서갱동
Rice west, soup east
The rice bowl sits on the west side of the ancestor's setting. The soup bowl sits on the east. This is the reverse of how a living Korean sets a table for a meal, and that reversal is intentional: the charye table is set for the world of the ancestors.
피해
Excluded foods
Certain foods are never placed on the charye table. Fish whose names end in -chi (samchi, kalchi) are considered too low. Red pepper and garlic are believed to repel spirits. Peaches are avoided for the same reason. We check for all of these before setting.
What actually happens, for each holiday.
Both days center on the charye rite in the morning. What surrounds the charye differs. Below is the full sequence, side by side.
Chuseok, the day
- Dawn setupOn the day we can set the charye table before the family gathers, as agreed with you. Byeongpung screen in place. The offerings are arranged in their correct positions. Ceremonial linens laid.
- Family dressed in hanbokChildren, mothers, fathers, grandparents. Palette coordinated. We handle the goreum ties and the norigae placement.
- Charye riteThe eldest present opens. The family bows in seniority order. The offerings are presented. The rite runs about fifteen minutes.
- Seongmyo or remembranceFor families with graves in Korea, we set a remembrance corner. For families with graves accessible in California, we can help plan the visit alongside.
- Songpyeon foldingThe family gathers around a low table. Rice-cake dough already prepared. Grandmothers show grandchildren how to pinch the half-moon shape. This is the memory most children keep.
- The feastThe Chuseok spread. Songpyeon, jeon, toran-guk, seasonal fruit pyramids. Served at your table.
Seollal, the day
- Morning setupCharye table set. Byeongpung screen. Sebae cushion ready in the center of the room for the elders to sit and receive bows.
- Family in seolbimNew year hanbok. Children in vivid saekdong. Boys in kkachi durumagi (the traditional Seollal coat, worn only this day). Family in coordinated palettes.
- Charye riteSame table logic as Chuseok. For families who do not hold charye, we can set a chudo yebae layout with a photograph and prayer instead.
- SebaeThe bows. Children first, to grandparents. Then to parents. Then to uncles and aunts. Deep formal bows, held for a beat. The greeting spoken by the young: 새해 복 많이 받으세요.
- SebaetdonElders hand the bokjumeoni (silk pouches) to the children after the bow. Small envelopes. Big excitement in the room.
- TteokgukThe sliced rice cake soup. One bowl marks one year of age gained. The family eats. The year begins.
- Family gamesYut nori (the four-stick board game). Jegichagi (the feathered kickball).
What's on the table, and what it means.
Every dish carries a specific meaning at Chuseok or Seollal. Each one has a traditional way of being made: songpyeon steamed with real pine needles, tteokguk with the broth simmered from scratch, jeon fried in small batches so the edges hold.
Chuseok foods
- Songpyeon 송편Half-moon rice cakes, filled with sesame and honey, sweet chestnut, or red bean paste. Steamed over pine needles that give the cakes their signature fragrance. Regional variants: osaek (five-color) in Seoul, potato-based in Gangwon, pumpkin in Chungcheong, flower-shaped in Jeolla, pea-filled and pan-fried in Jeju.
- Jeon 전Savory pancakes offered on the charye table and eaten at the family meal. Beef jeon, zucchini jeon, mung bean pancakes (bindaetteok). Small, thin, crisp at the edges.
- Toran-guk 토란국Taro soup. The specific Chuseok soup. Taro (toran) is harvested in early autumn, so the season and the dish align.
- Fresh fruit pyramidsApples, pears, persimmons, jujubes, and chestnuts, arranged in ceremonial pyramids on the charye table and later shared with the family.
Seollal foods
- Tteokguk 떡국Sliced rice cake soup. Broth traditionally simmered from beef brisket or dried anchovies. Rice cakes sliced thin, ovals or coins. Regional: mandu-tteokguk with dumplings in the north, plain garaetteok-guk in the south, jogaengi tteokguk in Gaeseong.
- Galbijjim 갈비찜Braised short ribs. The centerpiece of the family feast. Slow-cooked with soy sauce, pear, and rock sugar until the meat pulls off the bone.
- Mandu 만두Dumplings. Often eaten alongside tteokguk in northern regional tradition. Filled with pork, tofu, and chives. Served either steamed or in the soup.
- Sikhye and yakgwa 식혜, 약과Sweet rice drink and honey-fried cookies. The traditional Seollal desserts. Both are served after the main meal, with tea.
Seolbim, the new year hanbok tradition.
Seolbim (설빔) means 'Seollal clothing.' Historically, Korean families made or bought new hanbok for every family member for the new year. The tradition carries into modern practice, though many Korean American families now rent for the day. The palette conventions are strict, and reading them correctly is what makes the family photograph feel right.
The children · 아이들
- Saekdong jeogoriStriped sleeves in the five traditional colors (red, blue, yellow, white, black), which map to the five cardinal directions in Korean cosmology (obang saekdong). The visual signature of a Seollal or Chuseok child.
- Kkachi durumagi 까치두루마기The Seollal-only overcoat for boys. Called the 'magpie coat' because magpies are the messenger of good news in Korean folklore. Multicolored, vivid.
- Jobawi or bokgeonThe small ceremonial cap, tied under the chin for girls or at the back for boys.
The adults · 어른
- MothersJeogori and chima in soft coordinated palettes: cream, pale coral, dusty rose, sage, jade. The register is formal but daily-wear, not court.
- FathersJeogori and baji in charcoal, deep indigo, or muted green. A durumagi (long overcoat) worn over for the more formal register.
- GrandparentsThe deepest registers of the family palette. Grandmothers often in dark blue with a coral goreum. Grandfathers in charcoal with a black gat if traditional. Their hanbok is the tonal center of the family photograph.
Chudo yebae, the Christian alternative.
About one-third of Korean Americans identify as Christian, primarily Protestant, and Korean Protestant tradition does not practice charye. The offering of food to ancestors is understood as a form of worship reserved for God alone. But the underlying impulse of Chuseok and Seollal (honoring parents, remembering the dead, gathering the family across generations) is fully Christian.
The standard substitute is chudo yebae (추도예배), a Korean Protestant memorial service. The layout differs from charye in three ways. First, there is no food-offering table. A framed photograph of the deceased sits where the charye altar would. Second, the family gathers, but the sequence is prayer, hymn, scripture, and a short shared reflection, rather than bows. Third, the food is not offered to the dead. It is prepared for the living family meal after the service.
We coordinate chudo yebae for Christian families as fluently as we coordinate charye for traditional ones. The hanbok, the family meal, the sebae bows to living elders, and the emotional weight of the day remain. The theology of the moment shifts. Our approach is to ask what your family actually does, and then to hold that day well.
Four common misconceptions.
Chuseok is basically Korean Thanksgiving.
It is not. The comparison is convenient shorthand for American ears, but Chuseok predates Plymouth Rock by roughly sixteen centuries. Its origin is the Silla-era gabae weaving contest, documented in the 7th-century Book of Sui. Chuseok is a harvest holiday with an ancestral rite at its center. Thanksgiving has neither the ritual weight nor the lunar timing. Explaining Chuseok as 'Korean Thanksgiving' loses the whole thing.
Seollal is the same as Chinese New Year.
Related, distinct. Both fall on the same lunar date (1st day of the 1st lunar month). The rituals, food, and family customs differ meaningfully. Koreans eat tteokguk. The Chinese eat different regional foods. Koreans wear hanbok. The Chinese wear cheongsam or tangzhuang. Korean sebaetdon comes in silk pouches. Chinese hongbao come in red envelopes. Two neighboring cultures marking the same astronomical moment with distinct traditions.
These holidays are optional.
Not culturally. Even secular Korean American families feel the weight of missing Chuseok or Seollal. It is not a Christmas-versus-Chanukah personal-tradition situation. It is a rhythm the year is measured against. Children who do not see grandparents feel it. Grandparents who do not receive bows feel it more.
Charye requires strict Confucian observance.
It does not. Modern Korean and Korean American families adapt widely. Christian families skip charye entirely and hold chudo yebae. Some families skip the food table but keep the sebae. Some families keep the food table but simplify the placement. What holds the day together is the intention, the family, and the meal. The rules give the ceremony its shape. The shape can flex.
The questions every family asks.
Do you coordinate both Chuseok and Seollal, or only one?
How much lead time do you need?
We are a Christian family and don't do charye. Can you still coordinate the day?
How does the day actually work?
Do we need hanbok for the whole family?
What food do you actually prepare?
Can you do this at our house, or do we need a venue?
My grandparents are in Korea. How do we still hold a proper holiday?
What if we don't have any Korean-speaking family?
What can be included, and how is it priced?
Start with what you know.
Your date or season. Your city or venue. Who is celebrating. Questions are welcome, even when your plans are still taking shape.
- 01
What planning can cover
Tell Eric how your family keeps Chuseok or Seollal. Together you decide what the day needs, from the charye or chudo yebae table to hanbok for the family, and Eric is there in person on the day.
- 02
Timing
Plan for 2 to 3 weeks.
- 03
Food for the gathering
Food can be part of the day, prepared by Mrs. Lee and trusted vendors. It is agreed against the date, the menu and the guest count, and priced by guest count, menu and family preference.
- 04
How it is quoted
Every celebration is quoted for your family and your day. Pricing is confirmed in conversation.
From families who celebrated
“I wore my hanbok for Chuseok with my family, and it was the perfect blend of tradition and modern style.”