Rice Cakes (Deok)

Samch'il-Il
This is the day to celebrate the 21st (3 times 7) day of new baby's birth. Relatives and family members get together, celebrating the birth of a baby and praising the mother's labor. The foods used for this celebration include miyeok guk (sea-weed soup) and baekseolgi (steamed rice cake). The baekseolgi has the symbolic meaning of holiness, separating a mother and a baby from the mundane world. So people share rice cakes only with their own family members, not with neighbors and friends.

Baek-il (100th day of baby's birth)
This is the day to give congratulations for 100 days after a baby's birth. The number 100 has an inherent meaning of maturity and perfection, signifying a baby passes through perfection period safely as a human being. People bring presents and congratulatory statements and wish for the baby's health and blessing.
The several different types of rice cakes are prepared, including baekseolgi (steamed rice cake), bulkunp'at gomul (red bean rice cake), ch'alsusu gyongdan, and osaek songp'yeon (5-color moon rice cake). Baekseolgi has the symbolic meaning of holiness, bulkunp'at gomul for expelling evil spirits, and ch'alsusu gyongdan for returning a baby which is secured in a holy world to the worldly place on that day. The 5-color moon rice cake is made with 5 pretty colors, signifying the harmony of nature. Unlike the rice cakes of Samchil-Il, the rice cakes for Baek-il are shared with neighbors from the belief of a baby's longevity and blessings.

Tol (One Year Birthday)

The rice cakes for this day are the same as for Baek-il. With these rice cakes and other foods, the parents put rice, thread, book, paper, pencil, and a bow and arrow (or in the case of girl, they put scissors, needle, and ruler) on a table then let the baby pick up one of the items, predicting the child's future. The parents then feed the baby ch'alsusu gyongdan in the belief that it prevents the baby from falling down. (see the Tol Cultural Spotlight for more information about this event.)

Ch'aekryae (Text Completion Party)
This ritual has disappeared these days. In the past, when a child went to a Korean traditional type of school (seodang) and finished studying a book, the mother usually brought rice cakes and other foods that she prepared to celebrate. The teacher and other students shared the foods together. The rice cake used on this occasion was a small sized osaek songp'yeon.

Honryae (Wedding Ceremony)
The wedding ceremony is a very important ceremony to tie a new husband and wife as a married couple. The rice cake used for the wedding ceremony is bongchae deok, prepared by the bride's family. Its major ingredients are 7 jujubes, red beans, and sticky rice. Each material has a symbolic meaning: sticky rice signifies the couple's inseparable love, 7 jujubes represents a hope for 7 sons, and red beans are for dispelling evil spirits. Other rice cakes used at wedding ceremonies include moon rice cake and 2-color rice cakes. Moon rice cakes symbolize the moon shining over each one's life. The 2-color rice cake represents 2 chickens, meaning a couple.

Hwaegap (60th Birthday)
The 6oth birthday has a very special meaning. In the 12-year, 5-cycle lunar calendar, the 60th year indicates a full completion of the 60 combinations, meaning that the person has returned to the original year of birth. Relatives (usually led by the wife of the eldest son) prepare a big birthday table. Rice cakes are is indispensable item of the birthday table. (See the Scenes of Korea for Hwaegap Food.)

Jaeryae (Ancestor Offering)
Every year, family members worship their ancestors on the days of their death. Rice cakes must be prepared for this ceremony. Musokhaenguiwha deokui p'ungsok (Exorcisms) Musokhaengui is an exorcism executed by a shaman to expel ghosts and evils, wish for fortunes, and give blessings. Rice cake plays an important role to appease ghosts. Chungp'yeon, kyemyeondeok, geomyeondeok, and geop'ip'at p'yeon are used in this ceremony.

Cheolshikkwadeok (Special Holidays)
These days were created by cycles of nature and traditional life styles. They include agricultural ceremonies, shamanist rituals, and historical events. On these holidays, people celebrate with special foods, especially rice cakes.

Seolnal (Lunar New Year)
Among the many popular New Years dishes, Korean's favorite is deok-guk (white rice cake soup). The reason to eat this relates to New Year's Day. The first day of a year is supposed to be holy and clean like the white color of rice cakes. According to tradition, you can only get one year older by eating deok-guk. This is why people sometimes ask how many dishes of deok-guk you have ever had in your life (a way of asking a person's age).

Chunghwa-cheol (1st Day of 2nd Lunar Month)
People made moon rice cakes and ate one for each year of their age, especially for slaves. This ritual originated to motivate slaves at the time of starting farming.

Samchit-nal (3rd Day of 3rd Lunar Month)
This day originated from seasonal enjoyment. People ate chindallae hwacheol (azalea pan rice cake) made from azaleas. It was a type of seasonal food to eat outside and enjoy nature in the Spring.

Ch'op'a-il (8th Day of 4th Lunar Month)
This day is Buddha's Birthday. During this time of the year, roses blooming and new buds sprout on a zelkova trees, so people began making siru-deok (steamed rice cake) using these ingredients.

Tano (5th Day of 5th Lunar Month)
Dates with the same number for the month and day (especially odd numbers) were believed to be good days to celebrate life and cheerfulness based on Yin-Yang philosophy. On this day, women washed their hair with changpo water and colored their hair pin red to expel evil spirits. People ate surich'wei cheolp'yeon on this day, made of regular rice power mixed with surich'wei.

Yudo (15th Day of 6th Lunar Month)
Early in the morning on this day, people prepared noodles, rice cakes, and fruits to worship their ancestors. In farming communities, people also had a ceremony to wish for a good harvest. The rice cakes prepared for the ceremony included sanghwabyeong (made with flour mixed with alcohol) and milcheonbyeong (made with flour and wrapped with fried vegetables).

Ch'useok (15th Day of 8th Lunar Month - Harvest Moon Festival)
Also called Hangawei Chungch'ujeol, Korea's version of Thanksgiving in the country's 2nd biggest holiday, lasting 3 days. This time of the year is near harvest time, and this day was used for giving thanks by providing alcohol and diverse foods. The representative food was songp'yeon (moon rice cake). Pines needles are used to preserve it and give it a very special flavor.

Dongji (Winter Solstace)
This night is the longest night of the year. People celebrated this date because the days became shorter in Fall, but began getting longer again from today. People believed that Sun got its life back on this date. People mostly ate rice and p'atjuk (adzuki-bean porridge). People sprinkled it on their front doors, hoping to expel ominous spirits and ghosts. Although there is no special rice cake associated with this date, many people made saealshim (small dumplings in red-bean gruel) which was made with powdered sticky rice and boiled to make it round. Then it was put in rice and adzuki-bean porridge.

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