Interesting Korean Lunar New Year Superstitions In The 1800’s
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Loading... - Feng Siong
- 20 Jan 2023
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Korean Lunar New Year
To this day the first day of Korean Lunar New Year (Seol) has always been the most important family holiday, but at the end of the Choseon period (the late 1800s) it was largely spent practicing superstitious rituals to chase away evil spirits in the upcoming year.
For several days prior to the New Year the skies were filled with colorful paper kites, their strings treated with pieces of broken glass controlled by boys and young men as they battled with one another. The idea was to cut the line of your opponent sending their kite hurling to ultimate destruction. The smaller children would often battle one another with small wooden tops, as can still be seen to this day on Korean Lunar new year.
In addition to the kites flying in the air during Korean Lunar new year, there are also stones that often whistled overhead. Each village would select a group of boys and young men who would arm themselves with stones that they had spent hours polishing, straw armor, leather caps, slings and wooden clubs.
These battles generally took place just outside the city walls or in vacant lots near the gates. Spectators lined the walls and hills and watched the battle while making wagers, much like we do with our modern sporting events. It was not uncommon for serious injuries and deaths to occur; in fact, it was almost expected, casualties were treated as mere accident victims.
Not only was the air filled with the sounds of “battle,” but also smoke and the rank smell of burning hair. Many Koreans kept the clippings and locks of hair from their combs and brushes and burned them in small iron pots on Korean Lunar new year. They believed that doing this would prevent one of the many demons from causing mischief within their household. Other people drew images on pieces of paper and then wrote whatever calamity had befallen them. These papers were then given to small boys who burned them. Read More…
