Custom of Celebrating Chusok

Chusok is celebrated on the 15th of lunar August in our country. It is one of our typical national holidays.

Our people used to celebrate Chusok as a great holiday during the period of Three Kingdoms.

On the occasion of Chusok, the women divided themselves into two teams and organized the handweaving contest for a month and evaluated its result on the day of Chusok. The team which lost in the contest had to make a feast. The women sang songs and danced while eating and drinking.

The main event on Chusok was to hold a memorial service. Our people cooked different kinds of foods with the new crops of the year and went to their ancestors grave. After cutting the grass on the grave and repairing it, they held a memorial service.

Such manners and customs reflect beautiful moral qualities of our people who have been courteous and faithful since the ancient times.

Our people made their specialties on Chusok and enjoyed the day playing folk games.

The typical food and drink were songpyon and nochi made with the crops of the year, chestnut sweet cake, and sindoju brewed with the rice of the year and so on.

Main folk games on this day were womens swinging, mens archery and Korean wrestling.

The other games such as rope pulling contest, cow game and hand weaving contest were played according to the regions.

In the evening on Chusok, our people viewed the moon. They estimated the yield of the year by measuring the brightness of the moon.

From the ancient times, our ancestors started their harvesting after the celebration of Chusok.

Our nation's traditional custom of celebrating Chusok was registered as our national nonmaterial cultural heritage.

The Third of Lunar March

The third of lunar March is called Samjil.

In the historic records, this day was described as Sangsa or Tapchongjol, and people called it Samzitnal.

On this day, our people liked going hunting and on a flower pancake picnic.

During Koguryo dynasty, hunting and military arts contests used to be held on Rangnang hill as a national event on this day. Winners were appointed as military officers.

When Samjil came, our people made flower pancakes, Sumyon (mung-bean noodle in honeyed water) and Hwamyon (petal-mixed mung-bean noodle in honeyed water and omija-juice with pine nuts on top) and shared them together with their family members or neighbors. And they composed poems, sang songs and danced in praise of the beautiful flowers and mountain-river scenic attractions. In particular, women washed their hair, in the belief that hair-washing on this day would make their hair attractive and lubricant.

From the ancient times, our people used to go on a picnic this day. This picnic was called a flower viewing, a flower and willow viewing or a flower pancake picnic, for they ate flower pancakes on that day.

Flower pancake picnic was a folklore enjoyment of our ancestors.

Chonsangryolchabunya Chart

Chonsangryolchabunya Chart is an astronomical chart compiled at the end of the 14th century in our country.

This is one of the valuable cultural heritages created by Korean people, whose original edition was the astronomical chart carved on a stone in Koguryo between the 4th century and early 6th century.

That stone-carved astronomical chart was lost during the anti-aggression struggle at the end of Koguryo dynasty. But an astronomical chart version based on the stone chart was found at the beginning of feudal Joson dynasty and several copies were made from this version in 1395. And Chonsangryolchabunya chart is one of them.

This chart was a little modified and supplemented as compared with the Koguryo astronomical chart carved on the stone.

There is a constellation in a big circle of the center and the different kinds of numeration tables and explanations around it.

The North Pole is placed at the center of the circle and all the stars are projected on the flat slab of stone. 282 constellations and 1467 stars are also marked on it. The vernal equinox point, autumnal equinox point, coordinates of the 28 fundamental stars in each constellation, equatorial circle, zodiacal circle, Arctic circle, longitudinal circle and the Milky Way are also drawn on it.

Chonsangryolchabunya chart is not only our proud astronomical heritage but also a valuable material for the study of the astronomy.

Korean Folk Song, the Basis of the Genres and Moods of the National Music in the Middle Ages

We can see that Korean folk song is the basis of the genres and moods of the national music in the middle ages from the analysis of the music moods of the popular professional music genres such as a Tanga (Korean classical song with short quick notes), Sagori and Ginzapga and of the instrumental music genres such as Tosiryongsan, Minganryongsan, Sinau and Sanjo generated and developed that time.

What was main among our national music genres in the middle ages was popular music and music of the upper classes.

The popular music refers to one created by the working people, and diverse popular professional music genres including the folk song belong to this music.

The music genres created by the popular professional musicians in the middle ages are all based on the melody mood of the folk song.

Not only the vocal music genres but also the popular instrumental music genres are based on the melody mood of Korean folk song.

What is important here is that not only a tone but also rhythm and time are based on the folk song of the locality where the corresponding instrumental music genre was generated.

The music genres enjoyed by the upper classes of the city that time are also based on the folk song in the melody mood.

Application of Korean Tune to the Creation of a Piano Tune of Folk Song Theme

It is one of the important methods to maintain the national coloring of our music to use diversely and effectively the Korean time in the creation of the piano tune of folk song theme.

First, among the piano tunes of folk song theme there are many works where the fundamental time and national melody are combined while maintaining the real character of Korean time.

For example, the piano solo Yangsando (a Korean folk song)clearly shows the emotional tone of Yangsando time and ensures the depictive unification in its musical flow by composing an accompaniment based on the fundamental time mood of Yangsando and permeating it into the whole work as the folk song Yangsando is its theme.

Second, among the piano tunes of folk song theme there are works where the fundamental time and the secondary times are combined together harmoniously.

Since it has its secondary times the Korean time has an advantage that it can emphasize better the emotional characters and features of the fundamental time in diverse aspects.

It helps effectively activate the depictive development by the diverse changes in rhythm and lead the musical depiction without boredom by combining rightly such secondary times with our national melody when creating piano tunes of folk song theme.

Third, among the piano tunes of folk song theme there are also works where the depictive contrast and unification are ensured by the change of the times according to the melody unfolding manner.

In general, in the musical flow the times usually change in the intermediate part since the depictive development by the rhythm of the fundamental time is performed at a certain climax.

Fourth, among the piano tunes of folk song theme there are many works where the Korean time and the foreign rhythm or other modern rhythms are combined together.

Factors Affecting a Longevity of Human Being

Labor: there are a lot of macrobians among the people who have done physical labor for life.

Body weight: the obese or thin people die young.

Speed of metabolism: ensuring the speed of metabolism within the optimum limit of the normal physiology of the human body makes the span of life longer.

Character: 92% of centenarians have optimistic characters.

Intelligence: a person of high intelligence has a long life. The intelligence here refers to the intelligence training by ones own leading role including book-reading rather than a born ability of the brain.

Passion: a passionate person lives a long life.

Speculation: a person who is always given to speculation and goes deep into matters has a long life.

Interest: 81% of centenarians are interested in different kinds of cultural recreation activities.

Confidence: a person who receives an active treatment with a firm confidence and optimism lives much longer.

Waist: a slim-waisted person has a long life and is seldom subject to circulatory diseases.