Iri Nongak (Farmers’ Performance of Iri)

Iri Nongak is a nongak tradition handed down in the Iksan region (formerly called Iri), and belongs to the right-region (udo) tradition of Honam nongak, as distinct from the left-region (jwado) style. Saesil Village in Iksan has long had a thriving village nongak tradition, and by taking in people who had learned professional nongak in places such as Gimje and Jeongeup, it was able to produce a troupe of today's high standard. Iri Nongak is organised with a dragon flag (yonggi), a farming flag (nonggi), a swaenap (a double-reed horn), a trumpet, samul instruments (four kkwaenggwari, two jing, two buk and four janggu), beopgo (a small drum used in Buddhist rites), and japsaek (costumed character roles: a yangban nobleman, a great hunter, a mendicant monk, a singer, a young woman and child dancers). The performers, also called chibae or gunchong, wear white trousers and jeogori with a short-sleeved black outer garment or vest trimmed in multicoloured stripes, wrap a three-coloured sash around themselves, and wear a sangmo (spinning-ribbon hat) or a gokkal (conical hat) on their heads. The kkwaenggwari rhythms include ilchae, ichae, samchae, oemachijilgut, pungnyugut, ochaejilgut, jwajilgut, yangsando-garak, hohogut and obangjin-garak, among others. The sequence of the pan-gut is as follows: insagut (greeting rite), ochejilgut (also called ujilgut, meaning "turning to the right"), jwajilgut, pungnyugut, yangsando, gin-maedoji (mijigi: the kkwaenggwari and janggu players advance and retreat facing each other), sambangjingut, bangulgingut, hohogut, dallachigi, jjalbeun-maedoji, jjakdeureum, ilgwang nori, gujeong nori (solo performances), and gi sseulgi (flag-sweeping). The lead kkwaenggwari player's bupo nori (feather-plume hat dance) is highly varied, the janggu's rhythms and dance movements are well developed, and there is a rich array of sogo (small hand-drum) dance techniques and formation displays. Relatively slow rhythms are frequently used, and each rhythm is intricately varied in performance, giving the music a richly diverse quality. In the pungnyugut and deongdeokgungi (samchaegut), a technique of tying and releasing the rhythm at the end of each musical phrase is used, among other refined rhythmic skills. Iri Nongak is a folk art that has shared its history with the village community, and it plays an important role in helping people forget the hardships of farming while fostering mutual harmony and village solidarity.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Iksan, Jeonbuk

Designation

National Intangible Heritage · 국가무형유산