Chuseok

Chuseok is a major traditional holiday in Korea, celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month of the year. It is a thanksgiving feast and is also called Harvest Day, Harvest Moon Festival, or Hankawi (from "han" = "great" and "kawi" = "middle", i.e. "a great day in the middle of the month").

People perform traditional rituals, offering crops and fresh fruits to their ancestors; but also sharing these among themselves. Traditional activities include music, dances, wrestling, and archery contests.

Hankawi is known at least since the early period of the kingdom of Silla (57 BC – AD 935), where it originally grew out of a month-long weaving contest between two teams. Come the day of Hankawi, the team that had woven more cloth had won and was treated a feast by the losing team.

See also

• Mid-Autumn Festival
• Public holidays in South Korea
• List of Korea-related topics