Do you know what day November 11 is?

▲ Garaetteok / Source : Google

 No matter what day is it today, it is a special day. Among all these days, unfortunately, there are many days those are marking for marketing. In the same context, the upcoming 11th is known as Pepero Day in Korea. But did you know that we mark Farmer’s Day on that day?

 Farmer’s Day is a day to promote the continuous development policy of agriculture. But the most important thing intends to reserve the status of agriculture and remind the people importance of agriculture. Plus, to inspire farmers’ pride and to reflect on the importance of agriculture.

 In Korea, agriculture was the greatest and most vital industry. It was the prop of the country. The history of Korea’s agriculture can be found from the Three Kingdoms period which is started from BC 1. And we can see the records even until the Joseon Dynasty. What we can find on these records is the ‘Royal Ploughing Ceremony’ steadily. ‘Royal Ploughing Ceremony’ is to wish for a year of good crops.

 In the Japanese colonial era, Farmer’s Day is designated on June 14. And after liberation, we think about continuing to mark this day. But the ‘Royal Ploughing Ceremony’ is admitted that it is our tradition, so it was designated on June 15. After that, June 1, the perfect day for planting rice, was designated as Royal Ploughing Day. But in 1973, Fishermen's Day, Farmers' Day, and Pasture Day were integrated as Royal Ploughing Day and designated as the fourth Tuesday of May. In 1996, Royal Ploughing Day was abolished and November 11 was designated as a day for farmers and fishermen.

 And finally, we choose to mark Farmer’s Day on November 11. There was a brilliant idea to be solo-designated on November 11. We use the Chinese character ‘土’ which means soil and present this day as Month 土, Day 土. And ‘土’ looks like ‘十’ plus ‘一’ which means 10 plus 1. It was conceived on this. It was also considered that this was a good time for farmers to relax and enjoy their crops after a year’s work.

 Farmer’s Day is also designated in other countries. In Russia, it is October 10 and in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, it is March 2. And on April 17, 1996, a land reform demonstration was held in Brazil. On that day, 19 farmers were killed by police fire. And this day was designated as World Farmer’s Day.

 If you are sad to mark only Farmer’s Day and want to eat something looks like a stick, how about buying some Garaetteok (bar rice cake) instead of Pepero? This symbolizes a long life. And just roasting this and dip it in grain syrup can be a good dessert. Or roasting it with cheese could be a great choice also. Why don’t you remember the legal anniversary of our country, which is deep in tradition, rather than the made for marketing?