Professor Seo Gyeong-deok refutes ‘Chuseok has a different cultural background from the Mid-Autumn Festival’

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Jeong A-ran = While some Chinese netizens have been claiming that Korea's Chuseok is a 'stole' of their country's Mid-Autumn Festival, Professor Seo Gyeong-deok of Sungshin Women's University countered by saying that the cultural backgrounds of the two holidays are different.

On the 24th, ahead of Chuseok, Professor Seo emphasized through social networking services (SNS) that Chinese netizens' claims were unreasonable, saying, "Chuseok and Mid-Autumn Festival are on the same date, August 15th of the lunar calendar, but the cultural background is completely different."

Professor Seo explained, “Chuseok is a culture of giving thanks for the fruits of the year’s farming and paying ancestral rites to ancestors and visiting their graves, while Mid-Autumn Festival is a culture of holding ancestral rites to the moon and praying for family harmony.”

He went on to point out that there is a clear difference in representative foods, saying, "At Chuseok, we eat half-moon shaped songpyeon, while at Mid-Autumn Festival we eat moon cakes in the shape of a full moon."

Professor Seo again mentioned the incident last year when Manchester City, a member of the English Professional Football League (EPL), uploaded a Chuseok commemorative video for Korean fans, and some Chinese netizens protested, saying, "They stole our culture."

Professor Seo said, “When the Lunar New Year approaches, Chinese netizens say they stole the Chinese New Year, and when Chuseok approaches, they make an uproar saying they have stolen their Mid-Autumn Festival,” and argued, “Chinese netizens should stop their cultural hegemony and recognize and respect Korea’s unique holidays.”

He added, “I hope you must keep in mind that you must first be able to acknowledge other countries’ cultures in order for your own culture to be respected as well.”