The custom is observed on Daeboreum, the first full moon night of the lunar year. It's nice that these children are having fun and continuing some ancient tradition and their parents would probably approve the new devices which are safer and save more energy. The kids can also delight in the wider variety of coloured lights compared to the traditional lit charcoal pieces in a covered tin-can.
Give me the heat, warmth and incandescence of the original anytime.
I also wonder how many of them were familiar with its cultural roots - the serious practical purpose behind the game?
An excerpt from a source:
"Historically, people played the traditional game named jwibulnori (쥐불놀이) the night before daeboreum. They burned the dry grass on ridges between rice fields while children whirled around cans full of holes, through which charcoal fire blazed. These cans fertilized the fields and got rid of harmful worms that destroyed the new crops."
I'm not sure how much of that custom is based on some old wives' tale and how much of it has any scientific basis. How do the ashes of the charcoal fires help to get rid of harmful worms while sparing the useful or innocuous ones?
It probably means little to urbanites anyway. So many agrarian-based practices are barely observed these days because we don't see the relevance. It would be interesting to see if Koreans living abroad will still have or play jwibulnori.
sources:
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/FU/FU_EN_15.jsp?cid=1200048
http://www.korea.net/detail.do?guid=52832&thiscode=eng010003&mode=popup&TB_iframe=true&height=420&width=700
http://www.lifeinkorea.com/culture/festivals/festivals.cfm?Subject=Jeongwol
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/FU/FU_EN_15.jsp?cid=1197854
http://www.asiarooms.com/en/travel-guide/south-korea/busan/festivals-and-events-in-busan/jeongwol-daeboreum-daljip-(straw-heap)-burning-busan.html
http://www.investkorea.org/InvestKoreaWar/work/ik/eng/nr/nr_01_read.jsp?no=608300001&l_unit=90202&bno=902040007&page=4&sort_num=78
http://www.korea.net/news.do?mode=detail&guid=53151
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daeboreum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Korea-Daeboreumnal-Full_Moon_Festival-05.jpg
http://samedi.livejournal.com/361102.html
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Culture_of_Korea
http://www.freewebs.com/tb2korea/Korean%20Festival/Daeboreum.jpg
