(Travel Jeju) Beolcho: Cutting grass on the ancestor grave

Today I want to introduce Jeju island's traditon and a grave. People cut grass on ancestor's grave once a year. People believe the ghost on the grave goes up to sky to rest on 'Beolcho day'. And the decendant of the owner of grave cut the grass on the grave. Otherwise the grass will grow like a bush. The grave is surrounded by stone wall to prevent from cattle coming inside the grave.

a grave in Jeju island

This is my family and relatives. We just got together to the grave and started cutting in rain.

Some people use a lawn mower while our family still keep cutting manually. 

cutting grass manually on the grave



After cutting, people prepare a ritual for the ancestor. The ritual is very important in Korean society because people believe we are exist thanks to our ancestor and they still protect us in the heaven. That's why some time old people pray to the ancestor to solve their problems.

preparing a ritual for the ancestor

Then every one bow to the grave. It looks strange to western people but bowing is just common ritual to their ancestors. Every new year day on lunar year, younger people bow to older people.

We take it for granted as a custom.

bowing to the ancestor

This is 'dongja-suk'. They put 'stone child' for protection for a grave from evil spirit. It looks cute rather than scary. 

                                                                   

dongja-suk to protect for a grave

Normally we cut 7~10 graves on the day. After cutting all the graves we come down and have some relax.

relaxing time

Korea is still confucious society and keep the traditional customs. I don't know how long we can keep this custom because young generation don't tend to follow old tradition. Some people might look down on this custom for some kinds of superstitions. However, some customs worth to keep. It remind us the value of our community.