Seongmyo is the Korean term for visiting and tending ancestral graves during Chuseok.
Families may travel to burial sites, clean the surrounding area, place offerings, and pay their respects. The practice connects Chuseok’s harvest celebration with filial remembrance and the continuing relationship between living family members and ancestors.
A related custom is beolcho, the cutting and clearing of weeds around graves. Beolcho is an activity often performed as part of grave maintenance, while seongmyo refers more broadly to the grave visit itself.
Seongmyo is separate from Charye, the household ancestral rite. Some families carry out both practices during the same holiday, but the location and form of the ceremonies differ: Charye takes place at home, while seongmyo centers on ancestral burial sites.