Seong Hyeok J | HANGAWI

In Korea. Every September, people take time to visit their hometowns to spend the biggest anniversary of the nation, “HANGAWI.” It is said that this is to express gratitude to ancestors with rice cakes and fresh fruits made from undercooked grains before the end of the autumn harvest, in addition to the original meaning of celebrating autumn, it is said to celebrate harvest and victory of the year. In the West, it can act as ‘thanksgiving day’. Wearing hanbok for the first time that year, they set up rice cakes, fruits, and soup made with other grains to pray to their ancestors, and spend the traditional anniversaries while playing with everyone such as “YUT-NORI” and “GANGGANGSULLAE.”
Therefore, you can see that a variety of foods are served on the table on this anniversary than on other days. You can see fruit types such as “CHUSTNUT,” “APPLE,” “PERSIMMON,” and “PEAR,” as well as traditional Korean foods such as “JEO” and “RICECAKE” sharing with neighbors, which show that they pray for health and happiness for the rest of the year and strengthen family harmony.
The man in the picture is celebrating “HANGAWI” by performing “YUT-NORI” with fruits symbolizing “HANGAWI.” It seems to be expressed to remind us of the meaning of the anniversary in modern times, when the traffic between neighbors has now been reduced from the scope of large families to the scope of nuclear families and reduced to the traffic between relatives. In the past, there were words such as common property and neighborhood cousin because of the traffic between neighbors through the walls, although they were playful in picking persimmon trees planted in neighboring houses and trying to look over the walls. Also, looking at the high autumn sky in a row of hanoks, I think that he may be hoping for the abundance of the year toward the sky.
I think it is right for anniversaries passed down in history to be transformed into meaning and customs according to the society. I think it is desirable to continue its meaning and symbolism rather than compromising with the current society rather than being obsessed with the past and keeping the antique customs. It would not be bad to meet families, play only “HANGAWI,” and regain the meaning of the family while watching “events,” which were rarely visited during national holidays such as “HANGAWI.”