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How Koreans Celebrate Daeboreum

/Newsis

Saturday is the first full moon of the year in the lunar calendar, which is known as Daeboreum, a day when people traditionally wish for good health and a bumper harvest in the New Year.

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In the past, Daeboreum was as important as Lunar New Year's Day because it is the first "boreum" or full moon of the year.

Traditionally, people drink cold, "ear-quickening" wine because they only want to hear good news all year, and they eat nuts in the early morning to make their teeth stronger by cracking the hard shells, and also to ward off boils. 

People also eat ogokbap, a bowl of five grains with an assortment of seasoned vegetables, to get the healthy nutrition their body needs in winter.

A variety of events on the night of Daeboreum also conjure good health and include wishes for the coming year.

Some people play jwibul-nori, a traditional game spinning a can with fire inside to wish for a good harvest, or burn a daljip or "moon house" made of wood and straw heaps wrapped in handwritten wishes for good fortune.

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