Tongyeong Ogwangdae (Mask Dance Drama of Tongyeong)

Ogwangdae refers to the mask dance of the southern region, west of the Nakdonggang River, said to have originated with troupes of performers who played at the market in Bammari village, Chogye. Around the Nakdonggang River, it is known as Yaryu (field play) in the Dongnae and Suyeong areas of Busan, and as Ogwangdae in the Tongyeong, Goseong and Gasan areas. Tongyeong Ogwangdae opens with a street procession and is made up of five acts: the leper mask, the satire mask, the yeongno mask, the nongchang mask and the hunter mask, featuring thirty-one characters including a leper, Malttugi, a yangban, the eight fairies, a yeongno and a lion. It reflects the life of the common people, satirizing the yangban and a monk who has broken his vows, and depicting the conflict between wife and concubine. The most distinctive dance is the leper dance, which, accompanied by music led by the kkwaenggwari (a small gong), expresses the life and sorrow of the leper. Tongyeong Ogwangdae is the only one among Korea's ogwangdae traditions that includes a lion dance. Tongyeong Ogwangdae is a mask dance that well illustrates the mask-dance tradition of Korea's southern region, a traditional open-air performance embodying the joys and sorrows of ordinary life.

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Where it is

Region

Tongyeong, Gyeongnam

Designation

National Intangible Heritage · 국가무형유산