Korean Parent's Day in autumn. Holidays in Korea. Korean given names and surnames

Usually Koreans call it simply parental day, but many people know its second, or rather, original name - Hansik, or Cold Food Day. It occurs on the 105th day after winter solstice, that is, falls on the 5th of April, and in a leap year - on the 6th. But the Soviet-post-Soviet Koreans, as a rule, ignore this amendment and celebrate the 5th anyway.

Other memorial days - the summer holiday of Dano and the autumn Chuseok do not have a fixed date, since they are calculated according to lunar calendar moving relative to the sun. Khansik is the main one - not everyone comes to the graves of their relatives in summer and autumn, but in April their visit is obligatory.

Rites of the parent's day

In the morning, a lot of Koreans appear at the Christian cemeteries of Uzbekistan, cleaning up the garbage accumulated over the winter, tinting the fences, laying flowers on the tombstones and right there, nearby, commemorate the deceased family members. Often during the day they manage to visit several churchyards - many relatives are buried in more than one place.

Most of the Korean burials in Uzbekistan are located in the Tashkent region, where several decades ago the main part of this national minority lived in the famous Korean collective farms, as well as on the southern outskirts of Tashkent, where Koreans, as a rule, moved from their collective farms.

Visiting cemeteries starts early - at 8 o'clock. It is considered desirable that it should be completed before lunch. Taking into account the fact that the funeral rite is often repeated near several graves, it usually takes more than one hour.

Having finished with household chores and laying flowers, Koreans spread out a tablecloth or a newspaper and spread treats on it - fruits, pieces of meat, fish, Korean salads, cookies, gingerbread. There are always rice cakes that look like thick pancakes, and boiled chicken - whole, with legs and wings.

One of the women complained that some of them no longer follow the custom - they buy chicken legs in the store, and they think that this will also do. (Personally, I have not seen this - everyone had whole chickens.)

Edible items must be uncut, and in odd numbers. Three apples, five bananas, seven gingerbread, but not two or four.

An indispensable attribute of the funeral ritual is vodka, part of which is drunk, and part is poured into a glass and poured three times on the edges of the grave - an offering to the spirit of the earth, the owner of the cemetery. Usually this is done by the eldest of the men. Walking around the grave with vodka, he takes a chicken with him, which he temporarily places on a newspaper near each corner of the tombstone, but then takes it back - probably enough spirit. Some, as I noticed, for some reason sprinkle vodka and spread out food.

Having laid the “table”, everyone faces the image on the monument and makes three deep “earthly” bows. It should be noted that the inscriptions and portraits on Korean tombstones are not made from the side of the ground plate, as in Russian, but on the opposite, outer side.

After that, everyone is seated around the tablecloth and proceed to the memorial meal.

Since many visitors usually have relatives buried in different parts of the cemetery, then, as a rule, after sitting a little near one grave, people carefully wrap chicken, meat, bananas, oranges and go to another - “to my brother”, “to my mother”, etc. d. There the ceremony is repeated.

It is curious that most of the chickens and other products remain uneaten, and they are taken home, and part of the provisions are neatly folded into a bag and left near the tombstone - a symbolic offering to the deceased family members.

What is left is immediately taken away by the Persian-speaking Lyuli gypsies, for whom the Korean parent's day is a favorite holiday, and who flock to the cemeteries in large groups. The Koreans are not at all offended by them, good-naturedly explaining that the gypsies in this way also join him.

The commemoration is completed again by a deep bow, but this time only once.

At the same time, they do not bow to everyone, but selectively - only to the older ones. So explained to me old man, whose brother was buried in the cemetery in the former collective farm named after Kim Peng Hwa. While the younger members of his family performed the necessary obeisances, he stood aside.

According to him, at the age of 23, he died an absurd death. He told his mother that he would be back soon, and he and the guys went to the river, where they began to kill the fish: they threw a wire on the power line, and put its end into the water. The brother slipped and accidentally fell there and was electrocuted.

In the former collective farm

The collective farm named after Kim Pen Hwa is one of the most famous Korean collective farms in Uzbekistan. Once it bore the beautiful name "Polar Star", then the name of its chairman, and during independence it was renamed Yongochkoli and divided into a number of farms.

The Orthodox cemetery of the former collective farm, and now an ordinary village, located 3-4 kilometers from the Tashkent-Almalyk highway, is popularly called, of course, “Korean”, although there are several Russian graves on it.

Koreans of the CIS countries usually bury the dead in Christian cemeteries, but not mixed with Russians and Ukrainians, but a little apart, forming large "Korean" plots. Such a picture is observed in all or almost all of Uzbekistan.

Formally, the majority of Uzbek Koreans are Orthodox Christians. They carry Russian patronymic names, keeping their surnames, although old people still come across patronymics transformed from Korean names. In the past two decades, many of them have converted to Protestantism under the influence of various preachers from South Korea, who have developed a vigorous activity in the post-Soviet territory.

It is not widely known that in a historically short period of time, literally within half a century, South Korea became strongly Christianized: today, 25-30 percent of its population are considered Christians of one kind or another.

The cemetery in the former Kim Peng Hwa collective farm is a living witness to history. Approximately half of its territory is abandoned. Sometimes there are burials from the 1940s: crosses made of iron strips welded to each other, on which Korean characters and dates are engraved: the year of birth is 1863, or 1876, or some other, and the year of death. The land in the fences with such crosses is overgrown with grass - you can see that there are no relatives left.

The monuments clearly convey the spirit of the time: in the 1960s, the original crosses made of scraps of industrial iron were replaced by openwork, with curls, from the second half of the 1960s monuments made of concrete chips prevail, and from the beginning of the 1990s to the present day there are marble steles and granite.

Hunters for non-ferrous metal did not spare the tombstones - almost all metal portraits made in the 1960-1980s were broken out of them, only oval-shaped depressions remained.

Most of the Korean residents of the once prosperous collective farm have long since left. According to those who remained, about eighty percent left, now no more than a thousand Koreans live there. The bulk moved to Tashkent, some to Russia, some went to work in South Korea. But on April 5, everyone who can gather.

Near one of the graves stood a group of women. It turned out that one of them flew in specially from Spain, the other from St. Petersburg. Many of those with whom I talked that day came to visit the graves of their loved ones from Tashkent.

But mostly visitors to the cemetery were locals. They proudly emphasized: "We are indigenous." They told how their families were brought to these places in 1937 from the Far East. There were swamps around the current village, which they had to drain. Then they planted rice, kenaf, cotton there, having achieved harvests unprecedented at that time.

They tried to perpetuate heroic deeds: in the center of the village there is a bust of Kim Peng Hwa, twice a hero of socialist labor, who headed the collective farm for 34 years, there is also a museum named after him. True, the museum is always locked up, and the center itself looks neglected: you can see the remains of some destroyed monument, empty buildings. There are already few Korean youth - almost all of them in the city. “And when I was little, there were a lot of Korean children here, we ran and played everywhere,” a forty-five-year-old woman said sadly.

Despite this, they try to keep the customs here: the residents of the village answered my questions that in their families they speak not only Russian, but also Korean, trying to make the children also understand Korean could communicate on it.

One of the visitors to the cemetery said that representatives of another deported people, the Meskhetian Turks, used to live next to them. Until the pogroms of 1989. According to him, the Uzbeks arriving from somewhere specially brought alcohol to their people, cheated them in every possible way. But everything worked out - the authorities drove up the armored personnel carriers that guarded the residents of the village. In neighboring places, too, managed to avoid this.

He expressed regret at Gorbachev's softness and his strange decision to resettle the Meskhetians rather than punish the pogromists, as he thereby made their actions effective. He and I agreed that if 15-20 instigators had been imprisoned then, all this aggression would have died out instantly.

Traditions are blurring

Despite the fact that all Uzbek Koreans celebrate Khansik, most of them call this day simply by the date - “April 5th”.

Speaking about it and about subsequent parental days, they do well without their official names, calling them in a popular way: “breakfast”, “lunch” and “dinner”. At the first one, everyone should come to the cemetery, at the rest - "lunch" and "dinner" - if possible.

This custom is no longer observed too strictly: in big cities, people are increasingly transferring visits to the graves of their ancestors on Sunday - before or after the day of remembrance - usually Khansik does not fall on a day off.

Another ancient tradition is also completely forgotten - that on this day one cannot make a fire, cook on it and eat hot food, which, in fact, is associated with its name. Most Russian-speaking Koreans have no idea about this.

In fairness, it must be said that this custom is disappearing not only in the Korean diaspora of the CIS countries. Here is what the author, under the nickname atsman, writes on his blog about how Hansik is celebrated in South Korea:

“Just a few years ago (I caught this time) this day was a national holiday, and the nation went to their native places in order to perform the proper ritual. Now it's not like that. Hansik is no longer a day off, and people, without bothering, forgetting about the old ritual, as if nothing had happened, eat hot.

Thus, the significance of the ancient traditions associated with the day of commemoration is gradually lost, their individual elements are blurred. The origin and meaning of many rituals cannot be explained even by the elderly; young people know even less about them. Despite this, on April 5, every Korean family goes to the graves of their relatives, puts things in order and performs rituals passed down from generation to generation.

The origin of the holiday

In South Korea, Hansik is considered one of the main folk holidays along with Seollal - the Korean New Year, Dano and Chuseok. (That is, this is not just a day of remembrance, but a real holiday.)

The tradition of celebrating Hansik came to Korea from China, where its counterpart is called Qingming - "Pure Light Festival", and is also celebrated on April 5th. On this day, you can not cook hot food, you can only eat cold dishes.

Earlier in China, on the eve of Qingming, another holiday was celebrated - Hanshi, "Cold Food Day" (do you feel the consonance?). His celebration continued until the advent of Qingming, so that gradually both of them merged into one.

The history of the "Pure Light Festival" is rooted in the distant past. As expected, there is a romantic version of its origin, dating back to the legend of the noble Jie Zitui.

According to this story, once the Chinese ruler of the Jin principality, wanting to return the faithful servant Jie Zitui (in Korean, the name sounds Ke Chhazhu), who was disillusioned with the service and decided to retire to the mountains, ordered trees to be set on fire in order to force him out of the forest. But Jie did not come out and died in the fire. Repentant, the ruler forbade the kindling of fire on that day.

Since 2008, All Souls' Day has been celebrated in China public holiday and declared unemployed. It is also celebrated in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Malaysia.

Part 2. History of kore-saram

Koreans have been living in Central Asia since September 1937, when, by order of Stalin, the entire Korean community of the Far East, numbering about 173,000 people, was deported to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

However, the prehistory of their appearance in the region began long before that.

Koreans began to penetrate into the territory of Russia, in Primorye, from 1860, when, after the defeat inflicted on China by the Anglo-French troops in the second opium war, vast sparsely populated territories on the right bank of the Amur, now known as Primorye, went to the Russian Empire. Including the 14-kilometer section of the border with the northern Korean province of Hamgyong Bukdo, dependent on the Chinese emperors.

And already in the near future, Korean peasants, fleeing hunger and poverty, began to massively move to the newly acquired Russian lands. In 1864, the first Korean settlement appeared there, where 14 families lived.

The report of the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia M. Korsakov for 1864 said: “These Koreans sowed and harvested so much bread in the first year that they could do without any benefits from our side ... […] It is known that these people are distinguished by their unusual industriousness and a penchant for agriculture.

In 1905, Japan occupied Korea, and in 2010 annexed it, and political emigrants began to move to the territory of the Russian Empire, including the remnants of defeated partisan detachments, and even entire units of the Korean army.

The newcomers spoke the northeastern Hamgyong dialect of northern Korea and China, which differs from Seoul in much the same way that Russian differs from Ukrainian. At the beginning of the 20th century, the self-name of Russian Koreans - koryo-saram, apparently under the influence of the Russian name of Korea, since it has not been used in this country for a long time. (North Koreans call themselves Joseon Saram, while South Koreans call themselves Hanguk Saram.) This is how a new ethnic subgroup began to take shape.

Settlers from Korea sought to obtain Russian citizenship: this gave great material benefits, for example, it was possible to get land. For the peasants, this was a determining factor, so they were baptized, accepting Orthodoxy, one of the conditions for obtaining a Russian passport. This explains the names common among the older generation of Koreans from church calendars - Athanasius, Terenty, Methodius, etc.

By 1917, there were already 90-100 thousand people from Korea living in the Russian Far East. In Primorye, they made up about a third of the population, and in some areas they were the majority. The tsarist authorities did not particularly favor either the Koreans or the Chinese, considering them a potential "yellow danger" that could populate a new region faster than the Russians themselves - with all the undesirable consequences.

During the civil war, the Koreans actively participated in it on the side of the Bolsheviks, being attracted by their slogans about land, social justice and national equality. Moreover, the main allies and suppliers of the whites were the Japanese, which automatically made the first enemies of the Koreans.

The civil war in Primorye coincided with the Japanese intervention. In 1919, an anti-Japanese uprising began in Korea, which was brutally suppressed. Russian Koreans did not stand aside and Korean detachments began to form in the region. Fighting began, Japanese raids on Korean villages. The Koreans en masse went into the partisans. By the beginning of 1920, there were dozens of Korean partisan units in the Russian Far East, totaling 3,700 people.

Japanese troops remained in the region even after the defeat of the Whites. Between the territory occupied by the troops of Japan and Soviet Russia, a "buffer" state was created - the Far Eastern Republic (FER), controlled by Moscow, but forced to reckon with the demands of the Japanese.

Since the autumn of 1920, Korean detachments began to arrive en masse in the Amur region from the territory of Korea and the regions of Manchuria inhabited by Koreans. In 1921, all Korean partisan formations merged into a single Sakhalin partisan detachment of over 5 thousand people. He was, of course, not on Sakhalin, but near the zone of Japanese occupation. Despite the formal submission to the authorities of the FER, in reality he was not subordinate to anyone. Residents complained that his fighters "create disgrace, rape the population."

One of the leaders of the partisans of Western Siberia, Boris Shumyatsky, resubordinated the detachment to himself and appointed the anarchist Nestor Kalandarishvili as its commander. Shumyatsky planned to put together the Korean Revolutionary Army on the basis of this detachment and move it through Manchuria to Korea.

This seriously agitated the leadership of the FER, since a powerful Japanese offensive could have been the answer. "Liberation Campaign" was banned. But the Koreans, as it turned out, were not going to obey - they had their own plans.

The matter ended with the so-called "Amur incident", when the Reds surrounded and destroyed the Sakhalin detachment, killing, according to some sources, about 150, according to others - 400 of its fighters and capturing about 900 more. This "campaign to Korea" ended.

After the defeat of the white movement, the withdrawal of Japanese troops and the reunification of the Far Eastern Republic with the RSFSR, the resettlement of Koreans to the territory of Russia continued for another eight years - until about 1930, when the border with Korea and China was completely blocked, and its illegal crossing became impossible. Since that time, the Korean community of the USSR was no longer replenished from the outside, and its ties with Korea were cut off.

The exception is the Koreans of Sakhalin - the descendants of immigrants from the southern provinces of Korea, who ended up on the territory of the Soviet Union much later - in 1945, after recapturing part of this island from Japan. They do not identify themselves with kore-saram.

The first Koreans in Uzbekistan

The appearance of the first Koreans on the territory of the republic was recorded back in the 1920s, then, according to the census for 1926, 36 representatives of this people lived in the republic. In 1924, the Turkestan Regional Union of Korean Emigrants was formed in Tashkent. Alisher Ilkhamov in the book "Ethnic Atlas of Uzbekistan" calls it a little differently - "Union of Koreans of the Turkestan Republic", and writes that it united not only representatives of the Korean community of Uzbekistan, but also other republics of Central Asia and Kazakhstan.

Having moved to the newly formed Uzbek SSR from the Russian Far East, the members of this union organized a small agricultural commune near Tashkent, which had 109 acres of irrigated land at its disposal. In 1931, on the basis of the subsidiary farms of the commune, the Oktyabr collective farm was created, two years later renamed the Political Department. Information about this is given in the article by Peter Kim “Koreans of the Republic of Uzbekistan. History and Modernity".

In the 1930s, other Korean collective farms already existed in the Uzbek SSR, created by voluntary migrants a few years before the deportation of the entire Korean population from Primorye and Khabarovsk Territory. Basically, they were engaged in rice cultivation. According to A. Ilkhamov, in 1933 only in the Verkhnechirchik district of the Tashkent region there were 22 such farms, and in 1934 there were already 30 farms.

Part 3. When the whales fight

But the bulk of the Koreans ended up in Central Asia as a result of their deportation from the Far East in 1937 - the first experience in the field of forced resettlement of peoples in the USSR.

It is now known that the plans for the resettlement of Koreans from the border regions of Primorye to remote territories of the Khabarovsk Territory were hatched by the authorities of the country since the late 1920s. This possibility was discussed in 1927, 1930, 1932.

The official version of the deportation was set out in a joint resolution of the Council of People's Commissars and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks "On the eviction of the Korean population from the border regions of the Far Eastern Territory" dated August 21, 1937, signed by Molotov and Stalin.

“In order to stop Japanese espionage in the DVK, take the following measures: ... evict the entire Korean population of the border regions of the DVK .... and resettled in the South Kazakhstan region in the areas of the Aral Sea and Balkhash and the Uzbek SSR,” the resolution said.

Traditionally, the reason for the deportation is explained by the fact that in July 1937, Japanese troops invaded China, and Korea at that time was part of the Japanese Empire. That is, the Soviet authorities preferred to resettle a large community away, with whose foreign tribesmen a war could soon begin.

Recently, this version has been questioned. After all, the Koreans were deported not only from the Far East, but also from the central part of the USSR, where they then worked or studied. In addition, it was well known that they were, to put it mildly, not on friendly terms with the Japanese.

Some researchers believe that the eviction was aimed at "propitiating" the Japanese, with whom Stalin tried to get closer in 1937, as well as with Nazi Germany, trying to benefit from this. But for rapprochement, concessions were needed in its favor, one of which was the sale of the rights to the Chinese Eastern Railway for next to nothing. Another concession, according to MSU professor, director of the International Center for Korean Studies M.N.Pak, could be the resettlement of anti-Japanese Koreans.

The expulsion was preceded by mass repressions. In publications on this topic, it is noted that party leaders, almost all Korean officers, the Korean section of the Comintern and most Koreans with higher education were destroyed.

The deportation was carried out as soon as possible. Starting in September 1937, within a few months, the entire Korean community - more than 172 thousand people - was evicted from the Far East. Most of it was sent to Kazakhstan - 95 thousand people, and Uzbekistan - 74.5 thousand. Insignificant groups ended up in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and the Astrakhan region of Russia.

“We have a saying: “When the whales fight, the clams die,” one Korean told me, recalling that time.

In the Uzbek SSR

The Koreans deported to Uzbekistan were placed on the undeveloped lands of the Tashkent region, in the Ferghana Valley, in the Hungry Steppe, in the lower reaches of the Amu Darya River and on the shores of the Aral Sea.

50 Korean collective farms were created here, in addition, newcomers were settled in 222 existing collective farms. There were 27 Korean collective farms in the Tashkent region, 9 in Samarkand, 3 in Khorezm, 6 in Fergana, and 5 in Karakalpakstan.

Basically, the deportees were assigned marshy and saline wastelands overgrown with reeds, so they had to start from scratch. Hastily built housing was not enough - people were settled in schools, barns and even stables, and many had to spend the winter in dugouts. Most families missed one of their relatives by spring. The elderly and children were especially affected - according to later estimates, a third infants did not survive that winter.

Despite the fact that the authorities made efforts to accommodate the new arrivals and issued compensation for property lost in Primorye, the first years were very difficult for them. However, the Koreans not only survived in these conditions, but turned the steppe and swampy lands into prosperous villages and rich agricultural land.

Thus, the famous Korean collective farms "Polar Star", "Political Department", "Northern Lighthouse", "Pravda", "Lenin's Way", named after Al-Khorezmi, Sverdlov, Stalin, Marx, Engels, Mikoyan, Molotov, Dimitrov, " The Dawn of Communism", " New life”, “Communism”, “Giant” and many others, including at least a dozen fishing ones.

These successful farms became the best not only in Uzbekistan, but throughout the Soviet Union. The criterion for recognizing this was the number of collective farmers awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor. In the "Polar Star" there were 26 of them, in the collective farm named after Dimitrov - 22, Sverdlov - 20, Mikoyan - 18, Budyonny - 16, "Pravda" - 12.

In the 1940s-1950s, many Koreans began to independently move to Uzbekistan from Kazakhstan. According to the 1959 census, 44.1 percent of all Soviet Koreans already lived in Uzbekistan, and 23.6 percent in Kazakhstan.

The resettlement was possible because, although before the death of Stalin, the Koreans were subjected to official discrimination (in 1945 they were given the status of "special settlers" - a special category of the repressed population), but still their situation was better than the representatives of other deported peoples - the Germans , Chechens, Kalmyks, Crimean Tatars, etc. In contrast to them, the Koreans could freely move around the territory of Central Asia, and, having received special permission, they could study at universities and hold responsible positions outside of it.

Gradually, their lives began to change. Since the mid-1950s, Korean youth began to enter institutes and universities, including those in Moscow and Leningrad. In subsequent decades, Uzbek Koreans began to move from rural areas to cities, primarily to Tashkent and its southern “sleeping areas” - Kuilyuk and Sergeli.

The number of Koreans no longer grew so rapidly: in urban families there were no more than two or three children. At the same time, Korean collective farms ceased to be actually Korean - Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Karakalpaks moved there from less prosperous places.

By the 1970s, Koreans were leaving the agricultural sector en masse, moving up the social ladder. Korean engineers, doctors, lawyers, teachers, scientists, academicians and professors appeared, some took the positions of republican ministers and deputy ministers of the Union scale.

In the late 1980s, the Korean population of Uzbekistan, according to the census, reached 183,000 people. At the same time, the proportion of people with higher education among them was twice as high as the average for the USSR. According to this indicator, they were second only to the Jews.

In independent Uzbekistan

With the collapse of the USSR and the gradual sliding of the republic into the community of third world countries, many of the Koreans began to leave, primarily to Russia. People also left the Korean collective farms, which, like all other collective farms, were transformed into farms, so that the majority of their population was left “overboard”.

However, many Uzbek Koreans have adapted to the changed living conditions. A significant part of them succeeded in business and took high positions not only in Uzbekistan, but also in Kazakhstan, Russia and other CIS countries.

There are many doctors, entrepreneurs, teachers, ICT and restaurant business figures among Koreans, many serve in the police and the National Security Service, there are famous athletes, journalists, and writers. At the same time, they continue to be the most educated national minority in Central Asia.

How many of them are in Uzbekistan today is not known for certain (the population census has not been conducted since 1989). According to the State Statistics Committee, in 2002 there were 172,000 of them. According to information provided in 2003 by V. Shin, chairman of the Association of Korean Cultural Centers of Uzbekistan, the largest Korean communities were concentrated in Tashkent - about 60 thousand people, Tashkent region - 70 thousand, in the Syrdarya region - 11 thousand, Fergana - 9 thousand, in Karakalpakstan - 8 thousand, in the Samarkand region - 6 thousand, in Khorezm - 5 thousand.

At present, despite the fact that many have left, the Korean community of Uzbekistan still remains the largest in the post-Soviet states, outnumbering both Kazakh and Russian.

(The article uses publications from the Internet.)

On April 5, the half-million community of ethnic Koreans living in the countries of the former USSR celebrated Parents' Day, one of three days a year when, according to ancient beliefs, one should visit cemeteries, clean up the graves of loved ones and perform funeral rites.

Usually Koreans call it simply parental day, but many people know its second, or rather, original name - Hansik, or Cold Food Day. It occurs on the 105th day after the winter solstice, that is, it falls on the 5th of April, and in a leap year on the 6th. But the Soviet-post-Soviet Koreans, as a rule, ignore this amendment and celebrate the 5th anyway.

Other commemoration days - the summer holiday of Dano and the autumn Chuseok - do not have a fixed date, since they are calculated according to the lunar calendar, which shifts relative to the solar one. Khansik is the main one - not everyone comes to the graves of their relatives in summer and autumn, but in April their visit is obligatory.

RITES OF PARENTS' DAY

A visit to the cemeteries starts early - at 8 o'clock. It is considered desirable that it be completed before lunch. Taking into account the fact that the funeral rite is often repeated near several graves, it usually takes more than one hour.

Having finished with chores and laying flowers, Koreans spread out a tablecloth or a newspaper and spread treats on it - fruits, pieces of meat, fish, Korean salads, cookies, gingerbread. There are always rice cakes that look like thick pancakes, and boiled chicken - whole, with legs and wings.

Edible items must be uncut, and in odd numbers. Three apples, five bananas, seven gingerbread, but not two or four.

After that, everyone is seated around the tablecloth and proceed to the memorial meal.

What is left is immediately taken away by the Persian-speaking Lyuli gypsies, for whom Korean Parents' Day is a favorite holiday, and who flock to the cemeteries in large groups. The Koreans are not at all offended by them, good-naturedly explaining that the gypsies in this way also join him.

The commemoration is completed again by a deep bow, but this time only once.

At the same time, they do not bow to everyone, but selectively - only to the older ones. This is how an elderly man explained to me, whose brother was buried in the cemetery in the former collective farm named after Kim Peng Hwa. While the younger members of his family performed the necessary obeisances, he stood aside.

IN THE FORMER COLLECTIVE FARM

Hunters for non-ferrous metal did not spare the tombstones - almost all metal portraits made in the 1960-1980s were broken out of them, only oval-shaped depressions remained.

Despite this, they try to keep the customs here: the residents of the village answered my questions that in their families they speak not only Russian, but also Korean, trying so that the children also understand the Korean language and can communicate in it.

TRADITIONS ARE BLOWING OUT

Despite the fact that all Uzbek Koreans celebrate Hansik, most of them call this day simply by the date - “April 5th”.

This custom is no longer strictly observed: in large cities, people are increasingly transferring visits to the graves of their ancestors on Sunday - before or after the day of remembrance - usually Khansik does not fall on a day off.

ORIGIN OF THE HOLIDAY

In South Korea, Hansik is considered one of the main folk holidays along with Seollal - the Korean New Year, Dano and Chuseok. (That is, this is not just a day of remembrance, but a real holiday.)

The history of the "Pure Light Festival" is rooted in the distant past. As expected, there is a romantic version of its origin, dating back to the legend of the noble Jie Zitui.

Since 2008, All Souls' Day has been a public holiday in China and declared a non-working holiday. It is also celebrated in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Malaysia.

HISTORY OF KORYO-SARAM

However, the prehistory of their appearance in the region began long before that.

The report of the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia M. Korsakov for 1864 said: “These Koreans sowed and harvested so much grain in the first year that they could do without any benefits from our side ... […] It is known that these people are distinguished by their extraordinary industriousness and a penchant for agriculture.

FIRST KOREANS IN UZBEKISTAN

"WHEN THE WHALES FIGHT"

But the bulk of the Koreans ended up in Central Asia as a result of their deportation from the Far East in 1937 - the first experience in the field of forced resettlement of peoples in the USSR.

“We have a saying: “When the whales fight, the clams die,” one Korean told me, recalling that time.

IN THE UZBEK SSR

Thus, the famous Korean collective farms "Polar Star", "Political Department", "Northern Lighthouse", "Pravda", "Lenin's Way", named after Al-Khorezmi, Sverdlov, Stalin, Marx, Engels, Mikoyan, Molotov, Dimitrov, " Dawn of Communism”, “New Life”, “Communism”, “Giant” and many others, including at least a dozen fishing ones.

The resettlement was possible because, although before the death of Stalin, the Koreans were subjected to official discrimination (in 1945 they were given the status of "special settlers" - a special category of repressed population), but still their situation was better than the representatives of other deported peoples - the Germans , Chechens, Kalmyks, Crimean Tatars, etc. In contrast to them, the Koreans could freely move around the territory of Central Asia, and, having received special permission, they could study at universities and hold responsible positions outside of it.

IN INDEPENDENT UZBEKISTAN

At present, despite the fact that many have left, the Korean community of Uzbekistan still remains the largest in the post-Soviet states, outnumbering both Kazakh and Russian.

(The article uses publications from the Internet.)

Alexey Volosevich

"IN Hansik relatives and friends must visit the cemetery. They weed weeds, clean and tidy up the grave, and plant trees. On this day, food is brought to the grave and performed desa - funeral rite. It is believed that laying food on the grave is a kind of sacrifice to the ancestors in order to appease and show respect and attention to former family members.
unofficial day Hansik considered Korean Parent's Day. It is recommended to go to the cemetery in the morning.
Koreans visit the cemetery twice a year - during Chuseok and Hansik - to commemorate the dead. They take food and vodka with them. First, a sacrifice is made to the spirit of the earth - the owner of the grave. One of the older relatives pours vodka into a glass and pours it three times next to the grave. Then do affairs - bow. Only after such a ceremony, the rest of the family begin to clean the grave. Having finished cleaning and cleaning the monument, relatives lay a tablecloth where they put food and vodka.
Everyone must pour vodka into a glass, bow twice, and then pour vodka at the head of the grave. The food brought with them should be tasted by all present."

cold food day hansik ) is celebrated on the 105th day after the winter solstice, and falls on April 5-7 according to the Gregorian calendar. Together with Chuseok and the New Year, as well as with the now forgotten Dano holiday (5th day of the 5th moon), Cold Food Day in old Korea was one of the 4 most important holidays of the calendar cycle - "4 great festivities".
The tradition of celebrating this holiday came to Korea from China. On this day, it is not supposed to make a fire in the house. The fire in the hearth is no exception, so on this day you have to eat only cold food. The name of the holiday is connected with this event. Traditionally, Cold Food Day was a day when people visited the graves of relatives, put them in order after the winter, and performed sacrifices on the graves to the souls of their ancestors. In addition, on this day it was supposed to make chops of rice cakes with wormwood (they were also part of the sacrificial food). Today, this rite, as a rule, continues to be observed. However, since this holiday is not a day off, recently the townspeople associated with it have begun to increasingly conduct rituals not on the Cold Food Day itself, but on the Sunday preceding the holiday or the Sunday immediately following it.

NATIONAL HOLIDAYS

Korean New Year - Sol . This is hardly the most beautiful folk holiday Koreans. He is met on the first of January according to the lunar calendar - common to the East. That's why Sol also called the indefinite phrase "eastern New Year».

When and how the name came about, no one knows. But be that as it may, according to popular belief, on the Lunar New Year, the run of life starts in a new circle, a turn - and everything starts anew. As they say, with clean slate. This is the main meaning of the holiday. Therefore, the day before, they clean the house and the yard, put everything in the house in order. Pay off old debts. Items borrowed or kept by friends are returned home. Send each other congratulations, gifts. Those who are on the road rush home, family members living in different settlements gather together.

They meet in their father's house in order to congratulate their parents on the New Year, to please them with their filial presence, to decorate the life of the elderly with filial attention. Either they meet in the house of the eldest son, or in his absence - the eldest grandson, where a chare is held - a festive commemoration of the deceased ancestors. This is the concept and philosophy of Korean respect for elders. Especially in Solnal (Sol day).

Sebe - New Year's greetings

So it's come Sol . When the sun rises, Koreans put on clean or new clothes. New Year's outfit is called solbim . By the way, sometimes they write: “At eight o'clock in the morning a festive table is laid ... in accordance with a special ritual ...” This is not so. In fact, no special time for New Year's table, the rules for its decoration never existed and do not exist.

And as for the rituals, since for the Korean the veneration of the memory of the deceased ancestors is above all, the day begins with a commemoration - chare. It is carried out early in the morning. The New Year's bowl differs from the Chuseok ceremony in that it is arranged not at the grave, but at home, and instead of bread songpyeon served on the funeral table tokguk.

After the ritual is done sebe older relatives - congratulations on Sol Korean bow affairs . For the same purpose, after breakfast, visit relatives and friends.

According to Korean ethics, for living people, the north is an honorable side. Therefore there

are occupied by the most senior. If the architecture of the room does not allow observing this rule, then any suitable part of the room is symbolically taken as a place of honor, and the opposite is considered a conditional south. And the places for the ritual are occupied according to this convention.

Households stand like this: men - on the east side of the room, women - on the west. (And here the convention of the parties - the east and the west) operates. Their faces are turned against each other. First, each married couple makes New Year's congratulatory deeds to each other. Then the older generation sits on the floor facing south. The daughter-in-law and her son bow to them, saying warm words of congratulations. After that, they also take places. Now it's the grandchildren's turn. The younger of them bows to an older brother or sister (with a significant difference in age).

If circumstances do not allow, then grandchildren can honor older household members in different rooms - first grandparents, then (only after that!) - dad and mom.

But the question is - will the spouses of Koryo saram do sebe each other? Maybe they want to congratulate you in a European way - with warm hugs, gentle kisses and kind words?

Behind sebe it is customary to give sebagap - a symbolic amount of money, or something tasty, or something else as a token of praise.

And in general, with the aksakals you need to be very careful and precautionary. In the company of respectable people, you should have a bright expression on your face. As a sign of respect, the hands are constantly kept in position gongsu . Men do it this way: at the level of their lowered hands, they fold them in front so that the left palm lies on the back of the right. At the same time, the right thumb and forefinger clasp thumb left hand. (In mourning - right hand on top.) Women hold their hands differently: on ordinary days, the right one lies on the left, and vice versa when expressing grief. In the presence of elders, cross your legs, hands behind your back, lie down - these are signs of bad manners. They walk silently. Before affairs you need to see if the clothes fit neatly, if the hairstyle is in order. After sebe you can’t turn your back on the elder right away - they take two or three steps back and stand a little to the side.

They do not bow in front of an aged person lying or sitting on a chair. You can’t say to the elder “sit down, accept the bow” - you need to immediately greet while standing, bending your torso. In this case, the most respected must guess for himself and take the desired position on the floor, which is convenient for congratulations in Korean. Even if, when meeting on the street, they were already honored with a standing bow, in the room you need to do things again, kneeling down.

There is an etiquette that regulates the behavior of the elder at the moment sebe. Korean holidays are better suited hanbok(National clothes). Going out into the street, participating in ceremonies, you need to dögori (outerwear) must wear fools(men's overcoat, raincoat). In no case, even at home, you can not be in one dögori when they bow to you. The elder, who was sitting on a chair, lying down or having a meal, gets up and moves to the floor. If the person bowing is not a direct relative, then even the younger one is answered with a counter bow of deeds.

For each holiday, the lunar calendar has its own "signature" dishes and games. So, on New Year's Eve tokguk - required attribute Sol . It is believed that if someone did not eat it, he did not meet the holiday.

To weld tokguk (soup with radish and beef), boiled glutinous rice is beaten with a grist until it turns into a viscous mass. Then it is rolled up in the shape of a sausage and cut into thin slices. So the dumplings are ready (do not roll them into balls!)

IN Solnal traditionally amuse themselves with the old national game yutnori. To do this, twenty-nine fields - dots - are drawn on the board (silk, paper or plywood). They are located six on each side of the imaginary square evenly and five inside it along conditional diagonals.

Players have four horses (chips). Everyone strives to take them off the board in the shortest way. To determine the number of squares (moves) that the horses can skip, the players alternately throw up four ut (round sticks of the same length, split in half lengthwise - about ten or more centimeters). The one who brings out all the horses first wins.

IN yutnori You can play both individually and in teams. Women also have fun noltwigs.

HANSIK

spring holiday Hansik . Not as loud and cheerful as New Year's Sol or Chuseok . The time of thawing and spreading of the frozen grave ground, the beginning of the growth of plants is the right time to take care of the shelter of the deceased. This is how it happened: Hansik is an important date as the national day of visiting graves. not without reason koryo saram christened him " parent's day" . It is also characterized by a custom: on this day they eat cold food (literally "khan" - cold, "sik" - food ).

Unlike other holidays such as Sol or Chuseok , there are no special games during the Hansik holiday. Koreans drink alcohol sul , which is made with the addition of petals dindale (Korean azalea), eaten faden (breaded in glutinous rice flour and fried in oil with the addition of all the same flowers) or suktok (steamed bread with leaves boughs - wormwood).

When is Hansik coming?

This holiday falls on the one hundred and fifth day after dongdi (winter solstice).

On this day, the whole family visits the cemetery. Those gathered approach the graves in order of seniority, call the deceased three times and say: “It was I (such and such) who came ...” Then they do deeds twice (Korean bow on their knees).

After that, the work of caring for the grave begins.

In Korea, direct male relatives up to the fourth generation wear white (the color of mourning) hyogon (dugon) from hemp canvas - a headdress resembling a cap, and women - a white scarf (if the period of mourning has not yet passed). In general, the set of funeral robes - both male and female, in addition to the listed items, includes many other accessories. Now they are worn less and less.

Chare: the location of dishes and people

Since the main thing in Hansik - visiting the graves and commemoration, we will tell you more about this ceremony.

There are dozens of types of desa (commemoration). The holiday commemoration is called chare . Unlike others, it is carried out in the morning.

Having finished caring for the grave, proceed to chare . If there is no table in front of the grave (it is usually stone), then at least they spread clean paper on which they arrange dishes.

Dinsol (arrangement of dishes) is a complicated matter. What dishes are used in the cemetery according to the classical requirement?

One shot ; myung - Korean noodles without broth; yukthang - thick soup with beef; gethang - thick chicken soup; outhang - thick fish soup; sugar ; suktok - steamed bread with wormwood; yukdong And one - meat and fish rolled in flour and fried in oil; chodyang - soy sauce with vinegar; deok (yukdeok, gedek, odek) (strictly in this order) - striped slices of meat, chicken, fish, strung on thin bamboo sticks and fried in this form over a fire; salt ; pho - thin dried slices, for example, squid; namul - seasoned plants; gandyang - soy sauce (its place is in the center); kimchi - salted Korean cabbage; thick sikhye or gamdu - boiled rice fermented in an extract from malt sprouts with sugar syrup (not to be confused with sikhe ); chestnut ; pear ; yakva - a confection made from puffed-up grains of rice and pressed with a thick sweet syrup; apples ; persimmon , dried without peel; dates ; glass for gangsin (ritual to call the spirit of the deceased); hyangno - incense burner; hyanghap - a box of incense; sul - an alcoholic drink.

Of course, some dish from the list may be missing. But the order of arrangement of available dishes cannot be violated, because each has a special meaning, a purely its own place.

For example, the head of the fish should be directed to the right (when looking at the table from the side of the rug), and its belly should be towards the grave. You must also remember: suktok - attribute Hansik ; on New Year's Sol put instead tokguk (soup with thin slices of glutinous rice flour dough rolled into a sausage shape), and a day Chuseok – songpyeon (steamed dumplings made from non-glutinous rice flour).

Subject to these conditions - unlike other types of commemoration - on days Hansik And Chuseok porridge and soup are not served. Accordingly, only chopsticks are placed, without a spoon. Peach, carp and pepper on the memorial table should not be at all.

The order of the commemoration

Members chare take their places as directed grandfather - Responsible for commemoration.

Everyone solemnly stands facing the table. Thoughts reverently addressed to the memory of the deceased. grandfather washes his hands. Sitting on his knees on the rug, he begins to offer pre-prepared dishes (as a sign of respect with both hands) strictly from left to right .

grandfather takes three hyang (incense) and sticks the lower ends in order into hyangno (incense burner). This glass is filled with sand (it can be replaced with cereals). grandfather lights everything hyang . Rises. Does it twice affairs . The ritual is called gangsin (invitation of the spirits of the deceased).

In Kazakhstan, Koryo saram bow before the dead three times. Meanwhile, not a single Korean ceremonial book, even an old one, speaks of three affairs . Apparently, this happened because yp mistaken for a full bow. Usually in Korea, men bow twice, women four.

Kneeling on the carpet grandfather beret goblet for gangsin and fills it with vodka (three portions - optional). Then she pours out its contents in front of the table where hyangno And hyanghap , into the ground, sprinkling it in three parts. The manager puts the glass back. Gets up and does affairs , Then yp . Then he goes to his place. All men bow in chorus twice. Then the women follow. This is a ritual meeting with the ancestors.

Everyone is standing. grandfather brings treats for the third row and arranges from left to right. Then for the second. Takes a glass, pours vodka from the kettle (three portions - optional), makes it rotate from left to right three circles over the smoldering hyangno and puts her in her place.

Everyone is in their place, and grandfather - on the carpet. Wife grandfather by making yp , kneeling, places chopsticks on an empty plate, with the upper ends to the left (away from you). First, he puts them for the deceased man - on the half of the dishes facing the grave, then for the deceased woman - on the part of the plate closest to him. Rises. Takes a seat to the left of her husband. He bows. Then she. Both return to their seats. Everyone stands upright for a few minutes. Lowered hands are folded respectfully, as described above.

Traditionally, every participant chare brings a glass and bows separately, and the spouses - in pairs. If desired, to save time, the commemoration ceremony is now simplified by a collective affairs .

Wife grandfather on his knees he removes the chopsticks, puts them on another clean plate, gets up, respectfully takes a few steps back (without turning his back), takes her away. Men bow collectively. The hostess is back. The men are standing. women do affairs chorus. This is a farewell to the ancestors. Chara took place.

Those present are filming sangbok (mourning clothes). Remove ritual paraphernalia. Everybody commit ymbok (take food from the funeral table). At the same time, pleasant memories of the deceased are exchanged.

Now you can pour a cup and in front of other people's graves: fill a glass, make affairs , pour out sul into the ground at the tombstone.

TANO

summer holiday Tano falls on May 5 in the lunar calendar. Psch-Gregorian - the end of May or June. Another name for the day cheongdyungdeol , which indicates that the holiday comes when the sun is at its zenith - at o-si (in Eastern natural philosophy, this term refers to the time interval from eleven to thirteen hours).

"Fifth month" is translated into Korean as "ovol" , and the "fifth day" - "oil" . If we break the words into syllables, we get: o-ox (the fifth month and the same month O ), o-il (fifth day, day O ), o-si (hour O ). Thus the title "tano" (tan-o) is like a bunch of three "O" . According to Eastern natural philosophy, such days have a positive effect on human life. Therefore, the day is considered especially good. This is one of the most important meanings of the holiday.

Takes place early in the morning chare - a festive funeral ritual for the deceased ancestors up to the fourth generation (the order of its conduct and the arrangement of dishes is described in detail in the section "Hansik" ). In the life of a Korean, for whom the veneration of ancestors is sacred, the funeral rite is common, obligatory for all ethnographic holidays.

Women - permanent recluses of internal, "female" premises go out into the street, visit relatives, friends, compete in gynetwigi (swinging) noltwigs (board jumping). Men compete in national wrestling Sirim and other games.

A significant date arose in the ancient state of Silla even before the unification (7th century AD) of the Three Kingdoms. Initially, it was a day of sacrifice: people prayed that the heavens would send down a rich harvest. Over time, it turned into a mass holiday.

Now celebrate Tano mostly in rural areas. Fortunately, the time is right: spring sowing is over, ahead is weeding, transplanting rice seedlings. And there was a seasonal "window".

For every Korean folklore holiday, as a rule, prepare dishes inherent in it. AND Tano not an exception. On this day, they eat a steamed loaf of rice flour with the addition of crushed calamus roots. They also make round pancakes in butter with azalea petals.

Feast of Tano falls on the season of violent growth of wormwood, which is still widely used in Korean medicine today. Therefore, on this day it is collected for medicine.

With the addition of leaves of this plant, a round loaf of rice flour is steamed - suktok . In the old days, in an agrarian country, the cart played a big role. Hence, apparently, the tradition: on the day Tano suktok not only eat, but also throw it on (under) the wheels as a sign of wishing the wheels to glide happily. No wonder wormwood is also called "surichi" . This word is derived from "surechi" , which translated into Russian means: "what is intended for the cart." Or does it come from the word "suri" - ancient name Tano .

In addition to the traditional ones, they drink a strong alcoholic drink infused with fragrant calamus.

In the old days, on the holiday of Tano, the king was offered dehothang . It is a concentrated soft drink made from smoked plums, cardamom seeds, bluish sandalwood and tropical herbs from the ginger family, powdered and infused with honey. Before taking the extract, it is diluted in cold water. Our ancient ancestors knew: if you drink it, starting with Tano, it prevents sunstroke.

Outfits and beliefs

Well, what a holiday without gifts. Because the Tano - the time is hot, then the Koreans give each other fans.

Women paint their nails with balsam, wash their heads and faces with water in which sweet calamus was boiled. The hairstyle is decorated with a red-colored hairpin from the root of the same plant. There is a belief that such a hairpin a day Tano drives out epidemic diseases.

Women put on new red-green for the holiday chima (skirt) and chogori (jacket with hanging long ribbons instead of buttons). The whole outfit is called tanobim .

In almost every family on this day, spells from evil spirits and misfortunes are drawn on paper in a frighteningly bizarre red font.

These booth attached to the jamb of the front door (gate). According to ancient belief, the evil spirits are afraid of the color red.

In a day Tano in Korea, until the end of the Li dynasty, royal palaces were decorated with such spells every year.

CHUSOK IS OUR FAVORITE HOLIDAY

in the year 2365 of the Tangun era, that is, in the year 32 AD. according to Christian chronology, the king of the country of Silla in the southeast of the peninsula established a new administrative system, the boundaries of the territories of six regions and placed the rulers. It was decided to celebrate the completion of the enormous work to strengthen statehood nationwide. And at the same time to rally the civic spirit for the development of productive forces.

Women from all regions, led by princesses, were divided into two teams. From July 16, they participated in a competition in the ability to weave hemp canvases. August 15 (according to the lunar calendar) - the day the results of the rivalry were announced - the whole country, young and old, had fun until late, eating plentifully at the expense of the losers and admiring the full moon. So born Chuseok . (The word means: "chu" - autumn, "juice" - evening.)

Why is it named like that? The Koreans were mostly peasants: the work in the fields was intense, they had no time for moon walks. And the long-awaited festive sunset acquired a special meaning.

Since that historical time, Chuseok has been celebrated every year on the day of the eighth full moon - August 15 (according to the lunar calendar). Histories also know its other names: hangavi, gabedyol, chusudyol, dyungchuyol etc.

Fortunately, August 15 is the brightest moon of the year. In the farmsteads there are already all kinds of cereals of the new crop - there is something to cook holiday treats from. The intense summer season is behind us, and the final harvesting work is ahead. And in the interval of the temporary “window” that has appeared, festivities are organized with various games, competitions, folk songs and dances. And everywhere the fervent rhythms of the traditional samulnori .

Celebrations include tug-of-war, Korean wrestling Sirim , competition in agility to catch chickens, swing riding, noltwigs (board jumping) ganggang sulle and others.

Sirim is characterized by the fact that each of the wrestlers on one leg at the level of the groin ties the thigh with canvas satpa , and with a long end sticking out of it, it ties the torso at the level of the waist. This device is very convenient for capture by the enemy. The one who falls to the ground first or touches the ground with any part of the body loses.

Of course, prizes are different, but the characteristic and most desirable is a live bull standing not far from the wrestling circle. For a peasant, this is a fortune. After all, in the old days an ox was both a plowman and a reaper. In a word, a breadwinner. The owner of such wealth becomes the one who overturns all rivals.

The swing for the competition is attached very high. Also nearby, at a great distance from the ground, a bell is tied. Having swayed, the woman should touch it with a footboard so that it rang. The prize goes, alas, not to everyone.

And in the moonlight, women whirl in an old dance - ganggang sulle (etymologically its full name is ganggang suwolle ). These folklore dances are reminiscent of a Russian round dance.

Diuldarigi (tug of war) - fixed attribute Chuseok . In the old days, on big holidays, hundreds of people went from each side to the “battle” - a whole village to a village.

For competition in noltwigs under a long, thick, strong board, a tightly bound rice sheaf is placed so that it divides it into two equal parts. Two women stand on the ends of the board and jump alternately. Jumping up, rapidly falling back, as if with its weight throws another into the air. The one that surrenders first loses.

By the way, the wits are punning: de ... men are to blame for the origin of this game. The fact is that our Kazakh Koryo saram is often called a woman, more precisely, a wife. "ankai" . This is a distorted pronunciation of the word "ankan", or "ankhan", which means in direct translation "inner room". Where did it come from? And when?

In Korea, thousands of years ago, there was a postulate - "namye chise budongseok" , i.e. Until the age of seven, members of opposite sexes cannot be together. And the woman was given a back room. Away from the immodest eyes of men ...

When "ankai" went out into the yard on business, then she was strictly forbidden to look out over the high fence ( ladies ), traditionally built around a Korean home. But, oh, how she, especially a young recluse, wants to see the forbidden fruit at least out of the corner of her eye (and he, as usual, is sweet!) - what is there, behind the high fence! And here they are - "insidious" quiet ones decided to tickle the devils, that is, they came up with noltwigs . So that, jumping up for a second, hang in the air and stare ... However, this story can be considered a playful legend, because the reliable origin of the game is unknown.

There are "mandatory" holiday dishes from the new harvest: songpyeong, indeolmi, thorangguk . If the Korean did not eat them, then the holiday came out “undercooked”.

Songpyeong - dumplings, steamed on pine branches, from non-glutinous rice flour.

Indölmi - A confection made from glutinous rice. To prepare it, the grain is boiled, then “beaten” with the pestle of a crouper until ductile. The rice mass is cut into quadrangular briquettes and sprinkled with mung bean, beans or beans.

A thoranguk is a taro soup with soy sauce ( gandyang ) or paste ( dwendyang ).

None of the Korean holidays is complete without a commemoration. And Chuseok is no exception. For a Korean who has absorbed with his mother's milk the spirit of absolute respect for elders, their reverence, observance of ceremonial is a sacred thing.

As a descendant writes confucius in the seventh generation Khungbin In the book "Tunyi Retsvan", the ancient Chinese, who were the first to visit Korea, called our historical homeland "the kingdom of etiquette in the east." And he emphasizes: “My grandfather Khungzi (Confucius) wanted to go there and live there.” He was fascinated by the strict observance of a coherent system of rituals, including funeral ones.

Yes, Korean begins with the fulfillment of ethical precepts. And respect for the ancestors! Therefore, on the day of Chuseok above all - a commemoration for the deceased parents, relatives.

Commemoration is, as is commonly believed, a meeting with the spirits of the departed. So, it is necessary to appear before them pure in soul and body. On the eve, you need to wash up, clean the house, take care of dishes, inventory, mourning clothes - sangbok (who has not yet passed the deadline for expressing grief), change into clean clothes and prepare funeral dishes from the best products. (At the same time, it must be remembered that those who are in mourning cannot eat meat, listen to music and generally have fun, participate in someone else's mourning, etc.) In a word, everything “unclean” must be avoided and guided only by high moral crafts before memory the deceased. If they were sincerely loved and kept in a reverent memory of them, then the observance of such instructions is hardly a burden. The performance of the funeral rite has always been highly valued and appreciated by the people as one of the most important national signs of good breeding, filial and filial devotion and virtue.

It is believed that the dead should not be disturbed by frequent visits to their haunts. That's why they're dead. You can only touch the grave on certain days. One of them is Chuseok.

Getting up early in the morning, they take memorial dishes and go to the cemetery in clean clothes. (Whoever cannot, arranges a ritual at home.) Visitors are headed by the main person responsible for the commemoration - the eldest son of the deceased. In his absence, the eldest grandson. If he is not at all or cannot be present, then the rights and obligations pass to the second son. And if there is none? Then the eldest daughter bears the burden. But, according to custom, this is not a woman's business: having married, she becomes a member of another family and from now on she must faithfully observe the ceremonial, first of all, of the new family. Therefore, the responsibility passes to her husband. Well, what if she's not married? Then - to one of the relatives of the deceased in the male line.

Arriving at the cemetery, you first need to introduce yourself to the ancestors: call the deceased three times, name yourself (“It’s me (such and such) came ...”, bow twice before each of them - in seniority. Then they begin to care for the shelters of the deceased. After that, they spend chare (morning festive commemoration): in front of each sad mound - according to the seniority of the deceased - up to the fourth generation of ancestors.

With completion chare morning ends. Holiday ahead!

KOREAN NAMES AND SURNAMES

WHAT IS IN YOUR NAME?

Since ancient times, Koreans have used various names.

In early childhood they were given an affectionate name (amen) , which was not given much importance.

Every child from the day of birth had an official name (bonman) , i.e. the real name given by the elders in the family (grandfather, uncle, etc.). In all official documents, it was mandatory to fit bonmain .

There were cases when they changed the "real name". For example, the famous philosopher of medieval Korea, Ten Mon Du, changed his official name three times. Mnachala - in the name of Mon Ran, then Mon Ren, until later became Mont Du.

When a young man got married, he was given a nickname - ya . They gave a new one, so as not to be called by the name that his grandfather or father called him. Sometimes one person had two or more nicknames.

The person was given a pseudonym - ho , which was used in an informal setting, everyday life. Such an honorary name was called and how belho (special name).

In the old days, a feudal official, poet, artist could afford to have, in addition to a nickname, a pseudonym. The pseudonym consisted of two syllables and usually the second syllable denoted a river, a gorge, a pond, a mountain top and, often, a house, a door, a floor.

The founder of Soviet Korean literature, Te Myung Hee, had the pseudonym Phosok, which means "a stone that takes on a wave."

The famous playwright, director of the Korean theater Che Ge Do had the pseudonym Tsai Yong, the popular writer Han De Yong was known by most admirers as Han Ding.

The satirist poet Kim Ben Yong is better known by the pseudonyms Kim Sat Kat and Kim Rim (he was one of the favorite poets of Pak Ir P.A.).

There were cases when the pseudonym consisted of three or four syllables. For example, the famous writer of the Middle Ages Kim Si Seung had a three-syllable pseudonym - Mae Wol Dan, and Lee Kyu Bo had a four-syllable pseudonym - Baek Un Go Sa.

Koreans could have several pseudonyms - from four to ten.

The ruler of a feudal state gave a posthumous name (shiho) politicians, scientists, commanders for special services to the fatherland. So, for example, the famous commander of the Imjin War, Lee Sun Sin (he is credited with the invention of the world's first armored ship Kobukson) received the name Chun Mu.

Each Korean name had a semantic meaning. Elders in the family, parents, before giving names to their children, always consulted with literate people.

By the way, Confucian scientists convincingly argued that the name not only affects the fate of a person, but also shapes his psyche and inclinations. The child, without knowing it, receives a very definite psychological orientation associated with his name.

The name of the eldest son was given on the basis of the genealogical book. Pedigree was recorded on hanmuneh , then from the available family hieroglyphs they made up the name for the heir. Having seen what was written, literate people could immediately say where a person comes from, who his ancestors were, etc.

In large families, they usually adhered to the principle of a single first syllable. For example, if the older brother was named Chang Il, then the names younger brothers and sisters began with the syllable Chan: Chan Moon, Chan Yong, Chan Suk, etc.

Now let's see what happens to the names of our contemporaries.

Eduard Petrovich Degai

Mikhail Olegovich Dyugay

Elmira Sancherovna Kugai.

We are used to such combinations: Russian names and patronymics, a distorted Korean surname.

The fact is that once our ancestors adopted Russian names along with the way of life.

Many representatives of the older generation of Koryo Saram, like other ethnic groups of the USSR, bore revolutionary names, in the spirit and mood of the time in which they lived. For example, Enmar (Engels, Marx), Mels (Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin), Revmir (revolutionary world), etc. “Calendar” names were also common: May, September, Oktyabrina, Dekabrina, etc.

“... From the 60s, a mass fascination with sonorous European names begins, many of which were not common among other Soviet populations: Apollo, Brutus, Karl, Mars, Octavian, Romuald, Judas, Ludovik, Venus, Astra, Edita, Eddie, Evelina and others. In the documents of Soviet Koreans, one can find the entire pantheon of ancient gods, the names of famous historical figures, and literary heroes. Sometimes parents gave very rare names, for example, Granite, Ocean, Thunder, May, October, Orumbet, etc., ”writes Doctor of Historical Sciences G.N. Kim.

Many famous people having a Korean name (bonman) bore Russian names and patronymics. For example, the outstanding fighter of the anti-Japanese national liberation movement, a major organizer of the Korean national movement in Russia, Choi Jae-hyun, was called Peter Semenovich Tsoi.

An active participant in the Korean movement, the former Deputy Minister of Culture of the DPRK Ten Sang Din in Russian is called Yuri Danilovich (pseudonym Den Yul).

There are many such examples. For others, Korean names are difficult to pronounce and difficult to remember. Therefore, koryo saram, having bonmain , change their names to Russian. Koreans living in the US also have European names such as James, John, Eugene, Mary, etc.

MYTHS ASSOCIATED WITH SOME SURNAMES

Where and how did the most common Korean surnames come from? There are two myths about the origin of the ancestors of surnames: the first - the hero of the myth descended from heaven to earth, the second - like a bird, hatched from an egg.

Pak (Bak) Hyuk Kose - the ancestor of the Pak family

Park Hyuk Kose - progenitor of family name Pak (Buck) - is a typical, one might say, "egg-producing" hero. According to legend, in the year 69 BC. on a hill Alchon six village elders gathered for a council. They discussed two questions: how to provide everything necessary for an ever-growing number of people and how to protect the village from a possible attack from outside? As a result, they came to the conclusion that all six independent villages should unite into a single state and elect a ruler. They argued for a long time, but did not come to a common opinion. For all decided by nature itself. A miracle happened. Suddenly from the sky to the edge of the spring "Nadyeong" , which flowed at the foot of Mount Alchon Yangsan, a stream of bright rays gushed out, illuminating everything around. The elders of the tribes were surprised, they decided to see what was happening there. When they got closer, they saw a shiny white horse kneeling down and bowing to someone. It turned out that her bow was for a large purple egg. Sensing the approach of people, the horse, uttering a loud neigh, galloped into the sky. The elders decided to see what was inside.

Suddenly, the egg itself cracked - and a beautiful, strong child came out of it. Then the same thought came into everyone's mind: it was heaven that sent them a leader. The child was bathed in the Don Chon spring water. His body was shiny and fragrant. After conferring, the elders decided to call him Bak (Pak). Why Is it Buck? The word "bak" means gourd. The baby came out of an egg that looked like a pumpkin. So the future ruler got a surname. Gave him a name Hyuk Kose . Hyuk stands for "brilliant", "wonderful", Kos - he appeared and lives in this world . If you fully decipher the name, you get the following: "A boy born from a gourd lives in this world, illuminating the whole world with rays."

Bak Hyuk Kose grew up and was brought up under the care of six elders. The older he became, the more he showed positive human qualities. At the age of 13, with the consent of the elders, he was crowned to rule the state of Silla. Tek, Hyuk Kose became the first ruler of the Silla states and the ancestor of the Pak family dynasty.

. The deceased are commemorated on the 9th day after it. In 2016, the holiday falls on May 1st. This is the first Sunday after the spring full moon. Therefore, believers will rush to the cemeteries on May 10th. The custom was laid down after the baptism of Rus'. Let's find out how it was.

History of parent's day

The second designation of the parent day is Radonitsa. The name is derived from Radunitsa. So they called one of the pagan gods. He kept the souls of those who had gone to another world. In order to provide peace to their ancestors, the Slavs implored the spirit with sacrificial gifts. From the 9th century they were replaced by Easter attributes - Easter cakes, colored eggs, candles. Sorrow has been replaced by joy for the transition of the departed to eternal life. Therefore, the date was tied to Easter. It symbolizes the victory over death, because Jesus bled to death and resurrected to ascend to Heaven.

Radunitsa was transformed into Radonitsa so that the words “genus” and “joy” could be read in the name of the holiday. By the way, historically Russians called relatives not only blood relatives and in general all ancestors. Therefore, it is not contrary to tradition to bring Easter gifts to the graves of strangers.

Outside Rus', the custom to commemorate the dead existed until the 9th century. Evidence of this is the records of the Monk Sava, dated to the 5th century. The treatises of John Chrysostom also belong to the 4th-5th centuries. The Archbishop of Constantinople explained the essence and meaning of the commemoration of all the departed, not only relatives. Some Christians leave the earthly world, perishing in the seas, impassable mountains, on the battlefields. How and where exactly a person disappeared, often remains a mystery. Therefore, it is the business of the church and believers to count in memorial prayers all kinds of accidental, unexpected deaths. By the way, they do it not only on Radonitsa. IN Orthodox tradition many days are set aside for the veneration of the dead. It's time to get acquainted with them.

List of parenting days

The main Parents' Day - in 2016, as in any other year, falls on Tuesday of the second week after Easter. This is the 9th day from the Resurrection of Christ. However, believers are given the opportunity to remember their relatives every Saturday. The name of this day in Hebrew means "peace". In Israel, the 6th day of the week is a non-working day. Time is devoted to rest and prayers for the dead.

There are 6 special Saturdays in a year. They are also called parental days. The dates on which they will fall in 2016 have already been determined:

Meatfare Saturday is scheduled for March 5th. The date is calculated by subtracting a week from . On this day, believers are allowed to eat meat dishes for the last time. Hence the name. In the Jerusalem Charter, written by Savva the Sanctified, it is not meat-fare, but the Ecumenical Parental Saturday. The same psalms are sung to it in churches as in Radonitsa.
The second parental Saturday in 2016 falls on March 26th. The date falls on the 2nd week of Lent. During its duration, it is not possible to make private commemorations - magpies, for example. Therefore, in order not to deprive those who have left the earthly world of representation before the Lord, Sabbath services and visits to graves are held.
The third parental Saturday is celebrated on the 3rd week of Lent. In 2016, the day falls on April 2nd.
The fourth parental Saturday falls in 2016 on April 9th.
Trinity Saturday is no longer timed for Easter, but for a holiday. In 2016, the memorial day is scheduled for June 18th. The dead are remembered because the descent of the Holy Spirit is the final stage of the salvation of mankind. Angels, that is, the souls of ancestors, also took part in this matter.
Dmitrov Saturday is celebrated on November 5, a week before the day of veneration of the Great Martyr Dmitry of Thessalonica. Dmitry Donskoy was named in his honor. He won the Kulikovo field. After the battle, the prince commemorated all the fallen soldiers by name on the day of his angel. Over time, they began to remember all the departed Christians, and not just those who served.

parent day rules

All parenting days have the same rules. Believers attend temples, in particular, funeral services. Christians take Lenten dishes with them. This is a sacrifice on the requiem table. Its contents are distributed to church employees, those in need, sent to orphanages. In addition to churches, believers also visit cemeteries. However, of all memorial Saturdays, only Radonitsa has been declared a day off in Russia, and even then not in all regions. Therefore, the greatest attendance of cemeteries is fixed exactly on the 9th day after Easter.

About the holiday Radonitsa, video