Dano – May 5th of the lunar calendar
Dano is one of the traditional Korean holidays
Dano (端午) is a holiday held on May 5 of the lunar calendar in China, Korea, and Japan because it is said to be the most active day of the year. In Korea, it is classified as one of the three major holidays called “Drinking Day” or “Sourit Day” in pure Korean. It is the season of the first summer before the hot summer season, and it is also a wind festival to end planting and pray for a good harvest. Along with choha(初夏), Korean food, and Chuseok, it was also classified as one of the four major holidays in Korea, but its meaning as a holiday has faded a lot as it is now excluded from the holiday.
On this day, basically, men wrestled and women played swing, but in the past, the swing was called Cheonchu, and Dano was called Cheonchujeol in Chinese word. also ate Suritteok, went to their ancestors’ graves, washed women’s hair in Changpo-boiled water, and this day korean used to make fruit punch, and make bracelet called Jangmyeongru.
Dano in Korea
Since the ancient Mahan era (3rd century), there is a record that the crowd gathered in May, when the sowing was over, to perform ancestral rites to the gods, and to play day and night with singing and drinking alcohol. From these records, Dano seems to have had a brief break after the spring farming season, and offered sacrifices to the gods, stayed happy, and prayed for abundance.
On Dano, women were specially dressed, which is called Danojang (端午粧). Danojang begins with washing your hair with boiled water with Changpo. It was believed that the unique scent of Changpo chased bad ghosts and that washing your hair with Changpo water would give your hair a gloss and prevent hair from falling out.
Representative folk games performed during Dano include swing and ssireum. Ssireum, a pure traditional game that naturally occurs in Korea, is practiced not only on Dano but also on various holidays. The reason why Dano ssireum is the best is that it is performed on the day when the energy is the most abundant in the year. While men did ssireum, women did swing.
Dano festivals are held in Cholla and Gangwon-do. In Gangneung, the Gangneung Dano Festival is being held, and Beopseongpo Dano Festival is also held at Beopseong-myeon in Yeonggwang Cholla-do. In the last evening of the Beopseongpo Dano Festival, a sky lantern is raised. While making a wish, a sky lantern lit on the principle similar to a hot air balloon is raised to the sky. In addition, Dano Festival is also held in Yeongdeungpo, Seoul, which is the largest Dano event in the city, attracting not only residents but also residents of other regions
More about dano
Dano – May 5th of the lunar calendar
Dano, It is the most active day of the year, so it is a Korean holiday held on the fifth day of the fifth month of the year according to the lunar calendar.