Public holidays in Menghe
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There are a total of 10 public holidays in the Socialist Republic of Menghe, which collectively add up to 17 days off over the course of a year. On these days, government offices, state-owned enterprises, and Menghean embassies overseas are closed. Private businesses are not required to close, but most recognize public holidays anyway, and some grant extended holidays for Menghean New Year. The four Southwestern Semi-Autonomous Provinces also have two additional public holidays (four days off) for Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.
Menghean public holidays are divided into two types: Holidays (휴일 / 休日, hyuil) and Festivals (명절 / 名節, myŏngjŏl). Holidays are patriotic celebrations honoring events in modern history, and are based on the Gregorian calendar, while Festivals are traditional celebrations based on the Menghean lunisolar calendar. Traditional festivals will not fall on the same Gregorian date every year, and extended holidays may be adapted to better align with weekends. To clarify these policies, the Ministry of Civil Affairs announces the official annual schedule of holidays one year in advance, and publishes projected holiday dates online for the coming twenty years.
National holidays
| English name | Menghean name | Date | Comments | Days off |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lunar New Year | 正朝 / 정조 jŏngjo |
1st day of the 1st lunar month |
A three-day public holiday which includes the days before and after the lunar new year. It usually falls between January 21 and February 20. | 3 |
| Pure Brightness Festival | 清明節 / 청명절 chŏngmyŏngjŏl |
15th day after the spring equinox |
Traditional holiday in which families provide gifts and offerings to departed ancestors. Also known as "tomb-sweeping day." Falls on April 4, 5, or 6. | 1 |
| Labor Day | 勞動日 / 로동일 rodong-il |
first Monday in May |
Holiday dedicated to the achievements of the labor movement and the Menghean socialist movement, as well as the indispensable role of workers in Menghe's economic growth. Originally celebrated on May 1st. | 1 |
| National Day | 建國紀念日 / 건국 기념일 gŏnguk ginyŏm-il |
May 25th | Celebrates the formal establishment of the Socialist Republic of Menghe, which replaced the temporary Interim Council for National Restoration, and the promulgation of the 1988 Constitution. | 1 |
| Dragon Boat Festival | 龍船節 / 룡선절 ryongsŏnjŏl |
5th day of the 5th lunar month |
Traditional festival celebrating loyalty and filial piety, usually falling in late May or early June. Also known as the "Double 5 festival" for the lunisolar date on which it falls. | 1 |
| Memorial Day | 顯忠日 / 현충일 hyŏnjung-il |
2nd Monday in July | Dedicated to Menghean soldiers who lost their lives in recent military conflicts, most notably the Pan-Septentrion War, Menghean War of Liberation, and Innominadan Crisis. | 1 |
| Victory Day | 勝利日 / 승리일 sŭngri-il |
July 27th | Commemorates the end of the Menghean War of Liberation and the restoration of Menghe's independence. Since 1990, Menghe has held its main military parade on National Day, using the holiday as an opportunity to showcase new equipment. | 1 |
| Mid-Autumn Festival | 秋夕 / 추석 chusŏk |
15th day of the 8th lunar month |
Traditional harvest festival celebrated during the full moon of the 8th lunar month, usually around the autumn equinox (mid-September to early October). | 1 |
| Revolution Day | 革命日 / 혁명일 hyŏgmyŏng-il |
December 21st | The anniversary of the Decembrist Revolution. Celebrated with a pre-dawn torchlight parade at Heroes' Square in Donggyŏng, the epicenter of the coup, followed by speeches from political leaders. Combined with Dongji to produce the five-day Yusin Week. | 2 |
| Dongji Festival | 冬至 / 동지 dongji |
Winter solstice | The traditional winter solstice holiday, which falls on December 21st, 22nd, or 23rd. Combined with Revolution Day to produce the five-day Yusin Week. | 2 |
Weekend shifting
One challenge with the list above is that Menghean holidays either fall on a specific date in the Gregorian calendar, or fall on a specific date in the Menghean lunisolar calendar. Thus, depending on the year, they may fall during a weekend, or in the middle of a week. The latter situation was particularly vexing for domestic travelers, as it is customary in Menghe to spend traditional festivals in one's hometown with family, requiring a day before or after for long-distance travel. During the early 2000s, NSCC solicited public input on how to remedy this situation, and determined that setting holidays on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays would not properly honor either national anniversaries or traditional customs. Instead, NSCC delegates proposed the unusual step of moving weekends to fall adjacent to holidats and festivals, not the other way around. The National Assembly drafted a bill on this basis, and passed it into law in 2004, effective January 1st of the following year. It set the following requirements:
- The weekends closest to the Pure Brightness Festival should be rearranged to create a 3-day break, with the festival day in the middle.
- The weekends closest to the Mid-Autumn Festival should be rearranged to create a 3-day break, with the festival day in the middle.
- Revolution Day and the Dongji Festival get 3 public holidays between them, and the two weekends closest to them should be rearranged to create a 7-day break. There should be at least one off day between Dongji and any day of work.
- The Lunar New Year gets 3 public holidays, and the two weekends closest to it should be rearranged to create a 7-day break. There should be at least one off day between the Lunar New Year and any day of work.
Rearrangement of weekends means that schools and businesses close down or convert to reduced hours on the weekdays converted to weekends, but make up for this by moving work to the weekend converted to a work day. Where public transit runs different weekday and weekend schedules, the schedules of the moved days are also flipped. This creates some confusion for foreign businesses working with Menghean enterprises, as their weekends no longer line up, and requires special effort in scheduling weekly service or billing; on the plus side, however, it does mean that families have adequate time to get together before holidays.
In the years that followed, these extended holidays were also found to generate higher domestic tourism spending, as many newly-minted middle-class consumers spent the long off weeks traveling on domestic vacations. To encourage this practice, the Ministry of Civil Affairs recommended the following changes, which were implemented in 2015 for the following year:
- The national holiday for Labor Day should be moved from May 1st to the first Monday in May. Celebrations may still be held on May 1 outside of work hours.
- Constitution Day is no longer celebrated as a national holiday (its day off is moved to the July-August National Week).
- The two weekends closest to Victory Day (July 27) and National Day (August 2) should be rearranged to create a continuous 8-day holiday, including 2 additional public holidays placed where necessary.
These extended holiday periods exist to allow workers time to travel home and see their extended families, an important tradition in Menghean culture. Over the course of the Menghean economic miracle, millions of rural working-age men and women left their home villages to find work in the cities, and only return home during extended holidays. Menghe's high-speed rail system was specifically designed to handle the elevated volume of travelers before and after important family holidays.
Regional variations
As part of their special status, the four semi-autonomous provinces of Uzeristan, Daristan, Siyadag, and Argentan-in-Menghe are given additional public holidays. These fall on the Shahidic holidays of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, and are celebrated with one and three days off, respectively. Like traditional Menghean holidays, these are based on a lunar calendar, albeit on the distinct Shahidic lunar calendar, and their exact Gregorian dates vary.
Flag raising regulations
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On Hyuil holidays (Liberation Day, Labor Day, National Day, Memorial Day, and Revolution Day), citizens are encouraged to fly the national flag outside their houses as a show of patriotism. The strictness of "encouragement" has varied over the course of the 20th century; during the Pan-Septentrion War, flying the national flag on patriotic holidays was made compulsory, and during the Disciplined Society Campaign of the mid-1990s overzealous Party officials subjected noncompliant households to public criticism.
Today, failure to fly the flag on these days is not punishable by legal action, but may be met with social criticism from one's peers. In rural counties, teams of Youth Vanguard and Joguk Janyŏ still circulate during national holidays to "investigate" any houses not flying the national flag and distribute flags from their own supply, but this is rare in urban areas. As an alternative or supplement to the national flag, especially patriotic citizens may display the portrait of Choe Sŭng-min or the flag of the Greater Menghean Empire, depending on the nature of the holiday.