Bongsan Talchum (Mask Dance Drama of Bongsan)

A mask dance drama (talchum) is a performance in which one or several people cover the face or the whole head with a mask, disguise themselves as another person, an animal, or a supernatural being, and act out a play through dance and dialogue set to music. Talchum were mask plays performed in various regions until the early Joseon period. By the mid-17th century they had taken the form of sandae dogamgeuk, performed under the supervision of the court on a stage called a sandae; when court performances were abolished in 1634, the twelfth year of King Injong, the tradition passed to the common people and spread throughout the country. Bongsan Talchum has been performed every year on the nights of Dano and the summer solstice for about 200 years. The play is composed of seven scenes: the dance of the four Sangjwa, the dance of the eight Mokjung, the dance of the Sadang, the dance of the Nojang, the lion dance, the dance of the yangban, and the dance of Miyal. Before the play begins, the performers don their masks and costumes and parade to the performance site to music, followed by a ritual offering. There are 36 characters in all - Sangjwa, Mokjung, Geosa, Sadang, Nojang, Sinjangsu (the shoe seller), Wonsungi (the monkey), Chwibari, Saennim, Seobangnim, the young master of the head family, Malttugi, Yeonggam, Miyal, Namgang No In, Mudang, and the lion - and 27 masks are used. The play shows the poverty of the common people's lives, satirises the yangban and monks who break their vows, and depicts men's tyranny towards women under the polygamous system. It centres on dances performed to yeombul chanting, taryeong and gutgeori music played by samhyeon yukgak, an ensemble of piri (oboe), jeotdae (transverse flute), haegeum (fiddle), buk (drum) and janggu. Bongsan Talchum is the best known of the Haeseo mask dances performed throughout Hwanghae Province; compared with other mask dances, its dance movements are more vigorous, unfolding brilliantly with the sweeping, lively movement of the jangsam sleeves and hansam sleeve extensions.

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Where it is

Region

Location not stated, Seoul

Designation

National Intangible Heritage · 국가무형유산