Thanksgiving in Asia
Submitted by Julia Sayco
The universalization of Thanksgiving- its origin, history, and traditions- yield a similar commonality to all: the expression of gratitude towards others and the appreciation of family, food, and life.
Thanksgiving is generalized and seen by many as a day of “giving thanks” for the abundance of blessings and spiritual upbringings from the seasonal harvest. Despite the renown celebration of this holiday, Thanksgiving is not uniquely American.
Many forget that on a global scale, the amount of festivities and events differ with each country. Asia, most especially, incorporates a mesh of cultural practices and customs that vary from the traditional U.S. Thanksgiving. The art of being thankful is widely communicated through the diversity of Asian values, foods, and familial gatherings.
Korea’s Chuseok 추석
The acknowledgement of historical occurrences involving the assimilation of cultures between American colonists and the Indigenous peoples are basically nonexistent when it comes to “Asian” Thanksgivings. Korea, for instance, celebrates a holiday to what is known as Chuseok (Hangawi), which translates as “Autumn Eve”.
Being one of the major Korean holidays, Chuseok is celebrated whenever the harvest moon appears the largest and fullest each year, which is usually around the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. The duration of Chuseok centralizes the importance of giving thanks to the ancestors for a bountiful harvest. Families partake in Charye, which are ancestor memorial services, and Seongmyo, the visiting of family graves.
Chuseok also involves the making of special foods, particularly a certain rice cake called songpyeon. Songpeyeon is the staple food for Chuseok, which consists of finely ground rice and dough filled with sesame seeds, chestnuts, red beans, and a great variety of flavorful ingredients. It’s tradition for Korean families to make songpyeon together, which most definitely illustrates the beauty and strengthening of familial bonds. The holiday period is made joyful with various entertainment, delicious foods, thoughtful prayers, blessings, and memorial solemnities in honor of their ancestors.
Vietnam’s Tết Trung Thu Festival
Vietnam’s Tết Trung Thu Festival, similar to China’s Mid-Autumn Moon festival, is a spirited time integrated with values of thankfulness and gratitude. Also known as the Children’s Festival, Tết Trung Thu is very much like a combination of Halloween and Thanksgiving.
In Vietnam, children are considered the purest and closest existence to nature. To honor this, these festivities are especially designed for children to celebrate as they parade on the streets, while singing and carrying lanterns with countless shapes including fishes, stars, and butterflies.
Carrying fish-shaped lights is a Vietnamese tradition which originates from a story of a young wise man named Cuội. The Vietnamese mythology tells the story of Cuội being pulled away by the roots of a magical tree to the moon where he remains. Children carry these colorful lanterns with them so that during mid-autumn, the light emitted from these lanterns will reach the moon and guide Cuội to find his way back home.
Similar to U.S. trick-or-treating, children and teenagers partake in traditional lion, dragon, and flower-themed dances from door to door and are rewarded with candy and small amounts of money for their performances. Families welcome Tết Trung Thu by placing a five-fruit tray and cakes on ancestral altars as an offering of worship to their ancestors.
India’s Pongal पोंगल
Celebrated in Tamil Nadu during the months of January and February, Pongal is a four-day-long harvest festival, which falls in the month of Thai where the harvesting of crops such as rice, sugarcane, turmeric, and a variety of resources are deeply appreciated.
In Tamil Nadu, the festival’s significance is unfathomably huge. Religion is deeply rooted in their cultural practices, especially seen through families bonding over the spirit and praise of their many gods. This festival is celebrated as a thanksgiving ceremony for the year’s harvest and the nature of its virtues, as emphasized through its name, pongal meaning “to boil”. The first day consists of people discarding old and useless items into a blazing bonfire where families dance and sing as a sign of praise for the Lord Indra.
The burning of the “old” is a transition to the “new”. The second day is devoted solely to the sun god, Surya Pongal. In many households, husbands and wives dispose of the ritual utensils together as a customary practice. The third day is recognized as Mattu Pongal, the pongal of cows and farm animals. People tie colorful garlands, beads, and bells around the neck of the cow and perform puja as a way to show respect for the animals for producing high yield of paddy.
A common tradition is racing each others’ cows, which is one of the most awaited ceremonies in the festival of Pongal. On the fourth day of this celebration, Kaanum Pongal is a time where families generally visit their loved ones and women wake up early in the morning and pray for their husbands.
To recap on the extraordinary festivals and holidays in Asia, family is the prime connector for establishing the cultural identity of these groups of people. The sights, smells, and wonders of these diverse Thanksgiving holidays allow for families to gather and celebrate the beauty of life, along with instilling a stronger sense of unity and gratitude.
So the next time you stuff yourselves with turkey, mashed potatoes, or whatever is placed on the dinner table, don’t forget to acknowledge the abundance of blessings placed upon you and your family. Give thanks to them and give thanks to yourself for the year, and always celebrate the successes you’ve encountered.
