Cornucopia

Thanksgiving Day is the day Canadians and Americans traditionally give thanks to God for a bountiful harvest.  It is celebrated with a very large feast shared with family and relatives.

Some traditional Thanksgiving foods are:

turkey meat
(picture of a turkey to the left)

potatoes
(usually mashed)

corn
(on or off the cob)

cranberry sauce

candied yams

buttered squash

pumpkin pie

apple pie

Please note that Thanksgiving is an American and Canadian Holiday only.

Canadians celebrate it on the second Monday in October.

Americans celebrate it on the 4th Thursday of November.

  Dear Koreans,

By the way, the proper translation for Chu-seok is NOT Thanksgiving, although the two holidays ARE very similar.  Chu-seok is a word composed of two Sino-Korean morphemes:  Chu (which means harvest) and Seok (which means evening).

Since Chu-seok occurs on the night of the full moon, it is perhaps better translated as:

"The Evening of the Harvest Moon"

Thanksgiving is a commemoration of the pilgrims first harvest in America, which was a feast, eaten with the local aborigines of the area.

Note:  Koreans celebrate the festival of the Evening of the Harvest Moon (15th day) of the eighth month of the Chinese Lunar Calendar, which is in late September or early October by the Roman Solar Calendar.

 Dear Chinese,

Your Mid-Autumn Festival occurs on the same day as the Korean Chu-seok.  Perhaps, there is some relationship.  Perhaps the Japanese people have a holiday on the same day.  I wouldn't be surprised if all of the Orient has a festival on that day.  Which people started the custom is unknown, but since it is according to the Chinese Lunar Calendar, it would be a good guess to suggest that you, the Chinese, probably started the custom.  Chinese culture has had a huge impact on all of the Orient.

To learn about the history of Thanksgiving, check out the following site:

http://clipartandthings.tripod.com/thanksgiving.html