Charye Duing Chuseok? Korean Jesa Culture

 

Jesa, which is also known as an ancestral rite of Korea, is a ceremony to remember and praise the ancestor by offering foods. There are three different types of jesa, which are gije, charye, and myoje. On Chuseok(Korean Thanksgiving), people conduct charye to commemorate the successful harvest and remember the ancestors.

Charye is a ritual that is mostly conducted during daytime. It is usually held on the first day of every month (according to the lunar calendar), on full moon days, and holidays like Chuseok or Seollal (Lunar New Year). Compared to other types of Jesa, the preparation for Charye is very simplified. Normally, rice and soup must be served on the traditional jesa, but for charye, people can choose to add or replace them with songpyeon(half-moon-shaped rice cakes) and toranguk (taro soup), the main food of Chuseok.

The table for charye is made up of 1 to 5 rows of food starting from the inside. The first row should be consist of liquor glasses, rice, soup, songpyeon and other Chuseok foods. On the second row, fish must be placed on the east and meat should be placed on the west. When placing fish, the head should face the east and the tail should point out the west. In addition, soups like meat soup, tofu soup, fish soup, etc. must be placed on the third row and fourth row should include dried fish on the left side and sikhye (rice punch) on the right side of the table.

Lastly, from left to right on the fifth row, jujube, chestnuts, pears, dried persimmon, etc. should be placed. On the same row, red fruits should be prepared on the east and the white fruits should be set on the opposite side.

When a charye table is fully prepared, you should first burn the incense sticks. Then, pour the liquor in the small glass for once and in the bowl for three times. When the aforementioned procedures are done, you should take bows. You would then place a spoon on the dish with songpyeon or rice and the chopsticks over other side dishes. While doing so, take a moment to think about your ancestors.

After finishing the charye, some families visit their ancestors’ graves or charnel houses together. As you can see, Chuseok is not just a fun holiday to commemorate the harvest, but also a day for the entire family to get together and remember their ancestors!