There are not many public holidays in Korea, Chinese New Year is the biggest and Chuseok is 
the next major festival. This weekend was Chuseok, the best way to describe it is as Korean Thanksgiving. It is held on the 15th day of august on the Lunar calendar - so it's my birthday all over again! From what I have learnt Chuseok started somewhere around the first century there was a month-long weaving contest between two teams. At the end of the month, the team that had woven more cloth had won and was treated to a feast by the losing team. Another thought is that it originates more as a worship festival from ancient shamanistic celebrations of the harvest moon (much like the moon festival). New harvests were offered to the gods and ancestors. In some areas, if there was no harvest, worship rituals were postponed, or in areas with no annual 
harvest, Chuseok was not celebrated. Like many festivals it comes with traditional customs in South Korea there is a mass exodus of Koreans returning to their hometowns to pay respects to the spirits of one's ancestors. They worship the ancestors in the early hours of the morning. If possible they visit the tombs of their immediate ancestors to offer food and drink to their ancestors. The crops are said to be a blessing from the ancestors. Of course food is involved for the living too, one of the major f eaten during the holiday is songpyeon a crescent-shaped rice cake which is steamed over pine needles. Other dishes commonly prepared are japchae, bulgogi and fruit. From what I am told, Chuseok is another word for slavery to the Korean women, they prepare for days in advance and rise early on the actual day. The custom is that the wife of the eldest son works under the instructions of her mother-in-law to make sure everything is in readiness when the men commence the rituals. T
he wives of the younger brothers make sure the house is prepared, they tell me this is the easiest part and no modern Korean women wants to marry a eldest son!
We were not sure what to do on this day, the hotel told us that most things were closed and our best option was to go to one of the five palaces in Seoul. They thought there may be some local festivities but did warn us that most places would be closed. We decided to take our chances and go to a palace or two. After consulting the hotel tourist map we headed off to Gyeongbokgung Palace, more easily pronounced as the "National" Palace. The palace was originally built in 1394 by
the first king of the Joseon Dynasty, King Taejo, but the majority of the palace was burnt down during the various Japanese invasions in the late 16th century. In the latter half of the 19th century the palace buildings were reconstructed and formed a massive complex with over 300 buildings and almost 6000 rooms. But then in 1895 along came the Japanese army again and they assassinated the then Empress, her husband the Emperor then left the palace and the Japanese government later destroyed all but about 10 buildings which they then used for the Governor General. Their aim was to destroy the symbols and heritage of the Joseon Dynasty that had reigned for almost 2000 years.
The government is currently 20 years into a 40 year restoration project to rebuild those structures that were destroyed to date they have over 300 foundations laid and almost 40% of the buildings that were destroyed have been reconstructed,
including the main gate (called Gwanghwamun). The National Folk Museum is also there. We spent the best part of 2 hours going through the various buildings, including the Museum, and the surrounding gardens. As it was Chuseok there were any of the locals were in their national dress, the children were gorgeous and happily posed for photos, of course I took plenty.
We were fortunate to be there for the changing of the guard ceremony also, a chance for more pics.
the next major festival. This weekend was Chuseok, the best way to describe it is as Korean Thanksgiving. It is held on the 15th day of august on the Lunar calendar - so it's my birthday all over again! From what I have learnt Chuseok started somewhere around the first century there was a month-long weaving contest between two teams. At the end of the month, the team that had woven more cloth had won and was treated to a feast by the losing team. Another thought is that it originates more as a worship festival from ancient shamanistic celebrations of the harvest moon (much like the moon festival). New harvests were offered to the gods and ancestors. In some areas, if there was no harvest, worship rituals were postponed, or in areas with no annual 
harvest, Chuseok was not celebrated. Like many festivals it comes with traditional customs in South Korea there is a mass exodus of Koreans returning to their hometowns to pay respects to the spirits of one's ancestors. They worship the ancestors in the early hours of the morning. If possible they visit the tombs of their immediate ancestors to offer food and drink to their ancestors. The crops are said to be a blessing from the ancestors. Of course food is involved for the living too, one of the major f eaten during the holiday is songpyeon a crescent-shaped rice cake which is steamed over pine needles. Other dishes commonly prepared are japchae, bulgogi and fruit. From what I am told, Chuseok is another word for slavery to the Korean women, they prepare for days in advance and rise early on the actual day. The custom is that the wife of the eldest son works under the instructions of her mother-in-law to make sure everything is in readiness when the men commence the rituals. T
he wives of the younger brothers make sure the house is prepared, they tell me this is the easiest part and no modern Korean women wants to marry a eldest son!We were not sure what to do on this day, the hotel told us that most things were closed and our best option was to go to one of the five palaces in Seoul. They thought there may be some local festivities but did warn us that most places would be closed. We decided to take our chances and go to a palace or two. After consulting the hotel tourist map we headed off to Gyeongbokgung Palace, more easily pronounced as the "National" Palace. The palace was originally built in 1394 by
the first king of the Joseon Dynasty, King Taejo, but the majority of the palace was burnt down during the various Japanese invasions in the late 16th century. In the latter half of the 19th century the palace buildings were reconstructed and formed a massive complex with over 300 buildings and almost 6000 rooms. But then in 1895 along came the Japanese army again and they assassinated the then Empress, her husband the Emperor then left the palace and the Japanese government later destroyed all but about 10 buildings which they then used for the Governor General. Their aim was to destroy the symbols and heritage of the Joseon Dynasty that had reigned for almost 2000 years.The government is currently 20 years into a 40 year restoration project to rebuild those structures that were destroyed to date they have over 300 foundations laid and almost 40% of the buildings that were destroyed have been reconstructed,
including the main gate (called Gwanghwamun). The National Folk Museum is also there. We spent the best part of 2 hours going through the various buildings, including the Museum, and the surrounding gardens. As it was Chuseok there were any of the locals were in their national dress, the children were gorgeous and happily posed for photos, of course I took plenty.We were fortunate to be there for the changing of the guard ceremony also, a chance for more pics.
