Gasan Ogwangdae (Mask Dance Drama of Gasan)

Ogwangdae refers to the mask dance dramas of the southern regions, and it is widely held that the name derives from the character for "five" (o) in the theory of the five elements (ohaengseol). The performance was traditionally held on the night of the first full moon of the lunar year, following a cheollyongje (heaven-dragon rite) held on New Year's Day and a subsequent jisinbapgi, a rite treading down the earth spirit. According to the origin story of Gasan Ogwangdae, a wooden chest drifted ashore on the beach at Gasan one spring about a hundred years ago; when the villagers opened it, they found masks along with a document recording the dialogue for a performance. The masks were kept in the chest and brought out only when the play was performed. Gasan Ogwangdae is made up of six madang, or scenes: the Obangsinjang (Five Direction Guardian Generals) Dance, the Yeongno Dance, the Leper's Dance, the Yangban Dance, the Monk's Dance, and the Dance of the Old Woman and Old Man (halmi and yeonggam). It reflects the lives of ordinary people, satirising the yangban aristocracy and monks who have broken their vows, and touching on the tensions between a wife and a concubine. Thirty characters appear in all, including the Five Direction Guardian Generals, Yeongno, a yangban, a lesser yangban, Malttugi, a leper, an old monk, his disciple, Seoul Aegi, a dancing girl, an old woman (halmi), a servant, an old man (yeonggam), Ongsaengwon, and a shaman. Gasan Ogwangdae is the only ogwangdae in the country to retain the choreography of the Obangsinjang Dance, and it is the only one in which the old man, rather than the old woman, dies. It is also unusual in that, while other ogwangdae feature only one or two lepers, Gasan Ogwangdae has five, each dancing individually and performing a peddler's song and a card game.

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Where it is

Region

Sacheon, Gyeongnam

Designation

National Intangible Heritage · 국가무형유산