Mudang in South KoreaKorean shamans, or mudang, performing a ritual dance in South Korea.(more)The once-dominant Confucian culture—with its emphasis on respect for ancestors, age, and seniority—continues to influence Korean family, work, and social life, albeit to a lesser degree than in the past. In addition to other factors, such as economic status and position in a business hierarchy, age and marital status are among the determinants of relative seniority, and there is some expectation that even between social acquaintances these factors—especially age—will influence relations. Traditional family life is much involved with rituals marking life-cycle milestones and the observation of holidays and ancestral rites. The most important passages in a person’s life are the completion of a baby’s first 100 days, one’s marriage, and one’s 61st birthday. According to traditional Korean belief, the spirits of the departed do not leave the earth for several generations; thus, deceased parents and grandparents are still considered part of the family. Ancestral rites (cherye) are performed to honor them on death anniversaries and on major holidays. Two of the most important holidays are Seollal () and (harvest moon festival, often referred to as the Korean Thanksgiving), both observed according to the . These are marked by the gathering of families in the ancestral hometown or at the home of the head of the family. Traditional elements of holiday celebrations include the formal, respectful greeting of elders, the preparation and eating of special foods such as specific types of cakes (dduk), and the wearing of traditional dress (hanbok). Hanbok was the everyday dress of Koreans for thousands of years before the opening of the to the West. Western dress has supplanted the hanbok almost everywhere, but even urban dwellers commonly still wear it on special occasions such as important family meetings, holidays, weddings, and funerals. Women’s and girls’ formal hanbok consists of several layers of undergarments under a colorful, long billowing skirt and short jacket held closed with a long tie. The men’s and boys’ version consists of full-legged pants and a long, wide-sleeved jacket. There are different hanbok for special occasions, such as weddings, babies’ birthdays, and 61st-birthday celebrations. KimchiBaechu (Chinese cabbage) kimchi and rice.(more)Food is an important part of Korean cultural identity. In the diets of even the most Westernized urban dwellers, traditional Korean cuisine, which emphasizes grains—especially rice—and fresh vegetables, continues to occupy a dominant role even amid the popularity of pizza, hamburgers, sushi, Chinese food, and other foreign dishes. A Korean meal generally consists of rice, soup or , and a number of side dishes, almost invariably among them , or pickled vegetables. Such is the importance of kimchi in the national diet that an estimated 160 or more varieties have been identified, and there is a museum in dedicated to the dish. The most common type is the spicy baechu (Chinese cabbage) kimchi. Although many families today buy most of their kimchi in supermarkets, many others still make their own. The traditional practice of kimjang, in which villages and families devoted several days in the autumn to preparing the winter supply of kimchi, is celebrated in such annual kimjang festivals as that held in the southwestern city of . Other popular Korean dishes are bibimbap (rice mixed with vegetables, egg, a spicy sauce, and sometimes meat), jjajangmyeon (noodles in a black-bean sauce), bulgogi (marinated meat grilled over charcoal), and samgyetang (a soup of stewed whole chicken stuffed with rice and ginseng), which is eaten as a restorative, particularly during hot weather. The arts Traveling troupes that performed shadow or puppet plays, did acrobatics and juggling, danced and sang, and performed versions of court or popular entertainments were long a feature of Korean village and provincial town life. Among the oldest forms of Korean dance and theater performance is the masked dance. In addition to professional groups, villagers in different areas of the country formed folk groups to perform their own local versions of the masked play and dances. Today the sandae is performed by villagers in and provinces as well as in parts of North Korea. Performers are males. Masks cover either the whole head or the face and are made from paper or gourds or, occasionally, are carved from wood. They are boldly painted to represent the stock characters of the play: monks, shaman, noblemen, young dancing girl, and others., The contemporary culture of South Korea developed from the traditional culture of Korea which was prevalent in the early Korean nomadic tribes. By maintaining thousands of years of ancient Korean culture, with influence from ancient Chinese culture, South Korea split on its own path of cultural development away from North Korean culture since , South Korea is a unique culture with influences from China, Japan, and the West. When you visit, you’ll notice some things that feel familiar, like global chain restaurants and international brands..