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| The 15th Day of the First Full Moon |
| The first full moon of the year, falling on the 15th day of the month, is particularly special to Koreans. People consider the moon so special in fact that they used to pray to it. A while back, Korea was an agricultural society, so in reflection of this, they would pray for a bountiful harvest in the coming year. What would you pray for? |
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People in the city usually aren¡¯t praying for healthy looking carrots anymore, but a lot of customs still remain. ¡°Ahopchare¡± (write in Korean script) means doing something nine times on the first full moon the 15th day's Eve during the day. For example, if you wash your clothes, you have to do it nine times, and if children are bad, they are punished nine times. Yikes! People usually eat five kinds of boiled rice (Ohgobab), you guessed it, nine times. Why nine? The number nine is 3 + 3 + 3. And guess what, 3 is a lucky number in Korea.
In the morning of the 15th, wake up early and eat some nuts, especially walnuts, but any hard-shelled nut will do. It was believed that cracking and eating nuts would get rid of the evil spirits that cause skin trouble. Okay, maybe you won¡¯t be cured of that acne, but they are nutritious so parents usually make their children eat them.
Another interesting first full moon day custom is that people sold their heat. So, when you see your friend in the morning of the 15th, call out their name and say, ¡°Buy my heat!¡±
And, if you are able to sell off some of that valuable commodity at this time of year, well, consider yourself ¡°hot¡±. For those less fortunate, they can drink some liquor in the morning so that their ears will be clear to hear good news later in the day.
For dinner, different kinds of food are served like the ¡°five kinds of boiled rice¡± (Ohgokbab), various vegetables including zucchini and eggplant, and other healthy treats. Ohgokbab consists of sticky rice, millet, glutinous rice, red beans, and of course, glutinous millet and it¡¯s actually pretty good.
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| 26-06-2002 |
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