Yangju Sonorigut (Shamanic Ox Performance of Yangju)

Yangju Sonorigut is a shamanic rite performed at New Year and at Ipchun (the start of spring) to pray for the prosperity of the family and a bountiful harvest; it is also called Sogut, Soegut, Sonoreumgut, or Mabu Taryeonggut. Several accounts exist for its origin: that it arose from Gamaksa, the shrine to the mountain god of the Yangju region; that it began as a farming ritual to pray for a good harvest; that it arose from the wish for prosperous cattle trading; that it originated in a court ritual; or that it developed as an entertainment attached to a shamanic rite. Its true origin has not been established, though it is thought to derive from Someok-nori, a game venerating oxen, horses and heaven, shaped further by the Jeseok-geori (the segment of a shamanic rite honouring the harvest and fertility god Jeseok) and the Mamabaesonggut (a rite sending off the smallpox spirit). It has been performed not only in the Yangju region but also in Seoul and in Gyeonggi, Gangwon, Chungcheong, Hwanghae, and South Pyeongan provinces. Sonorigut is not performed on its own but follows on from the Jeseok-geori, since both share the agricultural character of honouring the ox and praying for the flourishing of descendants and long life. Once the Jeseok-geori ends, beans are heaped in a wooden measure in front of the janggu drum and a dried pollack is stuck into it, its tether serving as the ox's rope. The assistant shaman who plays the janggu sits facing the yard, and when the gutgeori rhythm strikes up, the lead shaman, dressed in a white conical cap and white robe, stands at the end of the floor holding a Jeseok fan in the right hand. A calf enters first and plays about, then goes to the gate to lead in the ox-driver and the ox. A rice scoop wrapped in straw serves as the ox's head, and five or six people get inside a straw mat folded in half to act out the ox's body; the calf is played by a single person wearing an upturned straw mat. The chief ox-driver wears a black felt hat and a blue sleeveless military coat, holding a samsin fan in the right hand and the rope in the left. The stage of the rite shifts from the floor to the yard, and its protagonist changes from the shaman to the ox-driver. The rite unfolds through dialogue between the shaman and the ox-driver, the ox-driver's taryeong (narrative songs) and deokdam (auspicious talk), the ox-driver's dance and gestures, and the movements of the ox; the ox-driver's taryeong, though long in text, is composed in a refined commoner verse style of considerable literary value. The song sequence of Sonorigut runs, in order: "Who Is Looking for Me", "The Ox-Driver's Travelogue", "Song of Treasures", "The Ox-Driver's Greeting", "Adorning the Ox's Head", "Song of Bowing", "Adorning the Ox's Horns", "Adorning the Ox's Ears", "Adorning the Ox's Coat", "Teaching the Ox to Read", "Adorning the Ox-Driver's Dress", "Adorning the Ox's Halter", "Song of the Grains", "Song of Bargaining for the Ox", "Song of the Stake", "Song of the Cattle Trader's Wife", "Seongjupuri" (a song for Seongju, the household guardian god), "Prayers and Good Wishes", and "Salpuri" (a dance to dispel misfortune). Yangju Sonorigut is distinguished by its refined commoner verse and by being the largest in scale among the shamanic rites performed as an accompaniment to another rite.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yangju, Gyeonggi

Designation

National Intangible Heritage · 국가무형유산