Sol - Korean Lunar New Year

By Frances Kai-Hwa Wang, AAV Contributing Editor

Korean Lunar New Year, or Sol, is the first day of the first month of the new lunar year, and it marks the first day of spring.  It is celebrated with family, food, drums, and gongs. Many Korean communities celebrate both the Gregorian New Year’s Day on January 1st as well as the Lunar New Year.

Koreans try to return home to celebrate Sol with their families. They wake up early on the morning of the new year, put on their new or best traditional clothes called hanbok, and kneel and bow to their ancestors and elders (sebae). Family members exchange good wishes and gifts. Then they sit down to a breakfast of rice cake soup or ttok kuk, which is a thick beef broth with thinly sliced white rice cakes topped with green onions and bright garnishes. Some people substitute ttok mandu guk, which is ttok kuk with mandu dumplings instead. Tradition says that one cannot become a year older without eating ttok kuk on New Year’s Day.

On the fifteenth day of the new month, the day of the first full moon, the New Year is ushered in with a ritual called Jishin Balpgi, which literally means "Stepping on the Spirit of the Earth." It is a traditional folk festival that grew out of many collective village activities from over 4300 years ago that ritually cleansed the village and chased away evil spirits. The purpose of the festival is to usher in peace, health, and prosperity for the New Year, and give people a chance to renew personal and community ties.

The National Korean American Service and Education Consortium (NAKASEC) describes it: "During the Jishin Balpgi festival, a group of Poongmul (Korean drums) players called the Durepae, first travels around the village playing on the Jang-go (hourglass-shaped drum), Buk (the drum),Kwenggari (small gong) and Jing (large gong). This is followed by visits to private dwellings to wish residents peace and good fortunes for the new year through a mixture of drumming, dance and chants which everyone is encouraged to join in. In return, the hosts offer rice cakes and wine to the group and make a general donation that is used for the betterment of the entire village. In the evening, all the people gather at the Madang (the center of the village), to revel under the first full moon of the lunar New Year. As the villagers eat, drink and play games together, they reaffirm their common bond."

Another part of the Jishin Balpgi festival is the hosting of competitions with neighboring villages of traditional games like tug of war, stone fights, and mock fights with torches. Tradition says that the winning village will be blessed with a bountiful harvest. This custom may have originated when neighboring farming villages shared a water source and had to determine priority for drawing water for the fields.

In America, Korean communities in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and others will host celebrations of Jishin Balpgi.