In other words, Jeongwol Daeboreum literally translates to "The January Big Full Moon". Most people associate full moons with the Chuseok holiday, but in East Asian agricultural societies, the day of the first full moon of the lunar year is just as important.
Eating Bureom in the Middle of the Night
As Jeongwol Daeboreum draws near, you'll notice special little corners popping up in all of the markets and supermarkets in Korea specially dedicated to food that is eaten during Jeongwol Daeboreum. You'll generally find three types of foods on display.
① Nuts such as peanuts, walnuts, chestnuts, ginkgo nuts, pine nuts, etc.
② Grains such as barnyard millet, millet, sorghum, etc.
③ Dried vegetables such as eggplant, baby summer squash, etc.
While the food that is prepared and eaten during Seollal is for honoring the ancestors, the food that is prepared and eaten during Jeongwol Daeboreum is for praying for a bountiful harvest and the safety and health of one's family and relatives. As follows, the three different types of food that you see during Jeongwol Daeboreum each carry their own symbolic meanings.
① Nuts eaten during Jeongwol Daeboreum are called "bureom" and are eaten during this holiday for many reasons.
Nuts eaten during Jeongwol Daeboreum are called "bureom". The dictionary defines "bureom" as "Nuts such as chestnuts, walnuts, peanuts, etc. that are eaten by children during the first full moon of the new lunar year in order to prevent boils and infections."
While this definition is true, it doesn't tell the whole story. Preventing boils and infections is just one of the reasons why nuts are eaten during Jeongwol Daeboreum, and nuts are not only eaten by children but by people of any age. They are also believed to bring about good fortune and good health for the new year, and in particular, strong healthy teeth. Anything of the nut variety can be considered a bureom because the significance of the bureom comes from cracking its hard shell with your teeth and eating it. Bureom are usually eaten at midnight, at the same time a new day begins. It is said that evil spirits come at about this time, but the sounds of cracking nut shells ward them off, dispeling any ill fortune from happening the rest of the year.
There is also a tradition of drinking a chilled rice wine called gwibalgisul during this holiday. Gwibalgisul literally translates to "ear-sharpening alcohol". Consuming gwibalgisul is believed to sharpen one's hearing and therefore increase one's chances of hearing good news in the new year.
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Traditional Jeongwol Daeboreum Events
There were several bonfire traditions that were practiced on Jeongwol Daeboreum, one of which was called Deulbulnoki. "Deulbulnoki" literally translates to "setting fire to the field", and was a custom where farmers would burn their dry grass fields in controlled fires. This tradition was both symbolic and practical; practically speaking, the fire would get rid of pests and weeds, and the ashes from the fire would fertilize the fields, symbolically speaking, this practice was a symbolic preparation for the new year — the removal of all harmful things before the hard work of farming and the harvest.
Children would also help set fires to the fields in the form of a game called Jwibulnori. On the eve of Daeboreum, children would burn the grass and weeds on the banks of dry fields and paddies by whirling around perforated cans attached to strings containing blazing lumps of charcoal.
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Best full moon viewing spot is Seoul Tower.
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