What ancestral ritual is traditionally performed during Seollal? The answer is charye, a family rite honoring deceased ancestors.
Charye is performed around the Korean Lunar New Year, known as Seollal. Family members prepare a ceremonial table with food and drink, then pay respects before the ancestral altar. The rite expresses filial devotion and keeps family lineage connected across generations.
Charye is easy to confuse with sebae. Sebae is the formal New Year bow that younger people give to living elders, while charye is directed toward ancestors. Hanbok is traditional clothing often worn during Seollal, and tteokguk is the rice-cake soup commonly eaten during the holiday; neither is the ancestral ritual itself.
Practices vary by household, region, religion, and modern lifestyle, so not every Korean family performs the full ceremony. Seollal remains one of Korea’s major family holidays, alongside Chuseok.