元旦
설날
元 (foremost) + 旦 (morning) — "the foremost morning"
📅 음력 1월 1일
📜 Origin and History
The hanja "元" depicts a dot above a head — the foremost, the beginning. "旦" shows the sun rising above the horizon — morning. 元旦 = "the foremost morning". The oldest hanja for Korean New Year, with celebrations recorded since the Silla period in 「Samguk Yusa」. In Joseon, kings offered ancestral rites while commoners ate tteokguk to gain one year of age.
🏯 Traditions
Ancestral rites, deep bows to elders (sebae), tteokguk soup, kite flying.
"元旦 — the foremost morning. The first beginning sets the whole year."
