Hwatu: The Luck of the Draw

One of the most well-known Korean pastimes is a card game familiar to people in many countries around the world–but it’s not poker, blackjack or anything found in a common card room.

Hwatu is a popular traditional card game Koreans enjoy playing as one of their leisure time activities. It is similar to the western card game of Trump.

Its history is complicated. Around the 16th century, when the Portuguese started trading with Japan, a Portuguese trader introduced his country’s card game to Japan.

The game was combined with the Japanese card game called Karuta, creating what we now know as Japanese Hwatu. This game was introduced to Korea around the 19th century, and has eventually evolved into the Korean version of Hwatu.

Hwatu literally means “flower cards.” There are 48 cards total: 12 suits, each with four cards. Each suit refers to a month of the year, and each month is represented with a flower or plant.  January is, February is plum, March is the cherry blossom, September is the chrysanthemum, October is maple, etc.

Since Hwatu was introduced to Korea, Koreans have created a variety of games using the cards, ranging from simple to complex.

My grandparents’ generation usually played Min-Hwatu, which is a simple card game to enjoy as a pastime. But the most popular game is Go-Stop. The basic rule of the game is to draw one of the cards from one’s hand in order to match one of the cards on the table.

If the player doesn’t have any matching cards, he or she still has to put a card down on the table. Then the player draws the top card from the stack, checks if there is a matching card and takes all the matching cards.

Whoever gets three points or more (the rules vary depending on the region) first can call for “Go” or “Stop.” If “Go” is called, the game continues. If “Stop” is called, the game is finished. 

Today, the Hwatu card games have been developed into computer games, made into movies and even into paintings. Yongnam Cho, a famous Korean singer and painter, has painted using a Hwatu theme. Hwatu has become such a common and popular card game in Korea that people jokingly say that if three Koreans gather in a place, they play Hwatu. But at the same time, it can become a problem if it develops into serious gambling, so some people avoid the games altogether. 

Still, many Koreans enjoy playing the game not only to entertain themselves, but to strengthen the bonds among family members and friends.