Jeongwol Daeboreum: How Koreans Make a Wish on the First Full Moon
Jeongwol Daeboreum falls on the 15th day of the first lunar month, the night the year's first full moon rises. Traditionally Koreans treated it as a holiday almost as important as Lunar New Year itself. Farming villages prayed for a good harvest, and families made wishes on the round moon for health and good fortune in the year ahead. Many people still step outside that night to look up and quietly make a wish.
When is it?
Because it follows the lunar calendar, the date on the Gregorian calendar changes each year, usually landing between early February and early March. Count 14 days on from Seollal (Lunar New Year's Day) and you'll find it. The night before, the 14th, is called "little full moon", and many customs began then.
How to make a moon-viewing wish
The most famous Daeboreum wishing custom is dalmaji, "greeting the moon". People climbed a hill in the early evening and waited for the moon to rise, then made their wish as it appeared. An old saying held that whoever saw the Daeboreum moon first would have the luckiest year, so villagers hurried uphill to be the first to spot it in the eastern sky.
If you'd like to try it today:
- Check the moonrise time. The full moon rises in the east around sunset. A weather or astronomy app will tell you exactly when.
- Pick a spot with an open view east. A rooftop, riverbank or hilltop works well.
- Boil your wish down to one sentence beforehand. The more specific it is, like "exercise for 30 minutes every day this year", the longer it stays with you.
- When the moon appears, make your wish silently. No need to say it aloud, though sharing wishes with family or friends is lovely too.
Customs that go with the wish
Bureom: cracking nuts
On Daeboreum morning people bite into hard nuts such as peanuts, walnuts and chestnuts. The crack was believed to ward off skin boils for the year and keep teeth strong. The first nut was sometimes tossed into the yard rather than eaten.
Five-grain rice and dried greens
Ogokbap, rice cooked with five grains such as glutinous rice, millet, sorghum, red beans and soybeans, was eaten to wish for a good harvest. It was served with vegetables dried the previous autumn, like squash, bracken and aster greens, said to protect against summer heat.
Gwibalgisul: ear-clearing wine
A cup of cold, unwarmed rice wine on Daeboreum morning was believed to sharpen your hearing so that you'd hear only good news all year. Children just touched it to their lips.
Selling your summer heat
In the morning you'd call a friend's name, and if they answered, you'd shout "Buy my summer heat!" They'd then suffer the summer's heat in your place. So on Daeboreum morning people were careful about answering when called.
Daljip bonfires and field fires
Villagers built a large "moon house" (daljip) of pine branches and straw and set it alight as the moon rose. People tied paper wishes (sowonji) to it so their hopes would rise with the flames and misfortune would burn away. Jwibulnori, setting small fires along the ridges between rice paddies, was meant to drive off pests and help new shoots grow. Because of wildfire risk, today these are best enjoyed at organised local festivals.
How is it different from the Chuseok moon?
Koreans also wish on the full moon at Chuseok, the harvest festival on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. If the Chuseok moon is a moon of gratitude at the end of the farming year, the Daeboreum moon is a moon of resolution at its start. So people tend to make forward-looking wishes at Daeboreum ("this year I want to...") and thankful ones at Chuseok ("may everyone around me stay well").
Can't see the moon? That's fine
Clouds or city lights can hide the moon on Daeboreum night. People in the past wished on clouded moons too. What matters is not the moon itself but taking a moment at the start of the year to look at what you hope for.
At the top of Wishing Stone Cairn there's always a full moon. If you missed it in the sky, write your wish on a stone and add it to the cairn. Then wipe the moss each day to keep the wish fresh. The more days you keep at it, the closer your stone climbs to the moon.