Hahoe Masks and Byeongsan Masks of Andong

Masks handed down in Hahoe Village, Andong, North Gyeongsang, and in neighbouring Byeongsan, the oldest surviving masks of Korean mask drama. Eleven Hahoe masks survive: two jujis (lion-like creatures), the bride, the monk, the aristocrat, the scholar, the servant Choraengi, the fool Imae, the young woman Bune, the butcher and the old woman. The Byeongsan masks are said to have included the bachelor, Byeolchae and Tteokdari, but these are lost, and two remain. Korean masks were mostly of gourd or paper and rarely lasted, and it was usual to burn them after each year's play. The Hahoe and Byeongsan masks, though, are rare wooden masks, formal and refined. They were used in the village ritual (byeolsin-gut) held every year at the first full moon, each village keeping its own masks, with very strict taboos and restrictions surrounding them. They are carved from willow and coated with two or three layers of lacquer for a subtle colour. The chin is carved separately and hung from the face with cord, so that it moves as though speaking during the play, giving the mask life. Among the Hahoe masks, the aristocrat and the butcher stand out for their depth and carving. Who made them and exactly when is unknown, but the village has a legend that a young man named Heo carved them. Records of the village's residents say that the Heo family lived there, then the An family arrived, and the Ryu family lived there in early Joseon, so they are generally thought to have been made around late Goryeo.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Andong, Gyeongbuk

Designation

National Treasure · 국보