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Yutjeom (윷점): New Year fortune-telling with yut sticks

At Seollal, the Lunar New Year, many Korean families bring out the yut sticks to play yutnori. But those same four sticks have another, older use: reading the year's fortune. It is called yutjeom (윷점), and it is as simple as throwing three times. Here is how it is played, what the results mean and the festive setting where it happens.

Four sticks, five outcomes

Yut (윷) are four wooden sticks, flat on one side and rounded on the other. When you throw them, you count how many land flat side up. One flat side is do (도), two are gae (개), three are geol (걸) and four are yut (윷). If none land flat side up, you get mo (모). In the game of yutnori, each result tells you how many spaces your pieces move on a board, and games get loud and competitive. The names have their charm: each is linked to a farm animal. Do is the pig, gae the dog, geol the sheep, yut the ox and mo the horse, and the moves are said to follow each animal's size and speed.

Throw three times

For yutjeom, the rules change. You throw the sticks three times in a row and write down each result as a number from 1 to 4: do is worth 1, gae 2, geol 3, and yut and mo together count as 4. The three throws form a three-digit number, from 111 to 444. Since each throw has four possible values, there are 64 combinations in total, each with its own message. The idea recalls the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching, and in fact some combinations carry the name of a hexagram. It is a clever way of turning a family game into an oracle anyone can consult without complicated books.

Messages in pictures

Each result comes with a short phrase, almost a little painting. The combination 111, for example, is tied to the image of a child who finds a kind mother: a year of shelter and kindness. 112 speaks of a mouse getting into the granary, an image of abundance. Others are more serious: 141 is linked to a tree without roots, an invitation to find firm footing before you grow. That is how most Korean folk wisdom works: images from the countryside, the home and nature that each person translates into their own life. More than exact answers, yutjeom gives you a scene to think about the year.

From the village to the family

Traditionally, yutjeom took two forms. One was communal: in some villages, yut matches between groups were used to foretell how the year's harvest would go. The other was personal: each person threw the sticks to learn their own fortune, following the table of 64 messages. Both were done in the first days of the year, the jeongcho (정초) period, when everything feels brand new. That double nature says a lot about Korean culture: luck is not just an individual matter, it is also something shared with the community, amid laughter, small bets and food.

Seollal: yutjeom's stage

Yutjeom is part of a whole bundle of New Year customs. At Seollal there are ancestral rites and sebae (세배), the deep bow to elders to wish them a good year. People eat tteokguk (떡국), rice cake soup, and it is said that eating it adds a year to your age. They play yutnori, jump on the neolttwigi seesaw and fly kites. In the past, a bokjori (복조리), a bamboo strainer to "scoop up" good fortune, was hung in the house. If you want to try yutjeom, get a yut set, gather your people and write the results on a napkin. Conversation will do the rest.

FAQ

Do I need a board to do yutjeom?

No. The board is only used for the game of yutnori. For yutjeom, all you need are the four sticks and a table of the 64 outcomes, which is easy to find today in Korean books and websites.

Why are yut and mo worth the same in yutjeom?

Because the system uses four values per throw to form 64 combinations. In the game, by contrast, yut and mo are different and move your pieces a different number of spaces.

When is yutjeom done?

Traditionally, in the first days of the lunar year, around Seollal. It is a time of family gatherings when people also play yutnori and share special meals.