Hallyangmu

Hallyangmu is a dance drama portraying, through dance, a hallyang and a monk vying to seduce a woman. A hallyang refers to a yangban who lived idly without holding any official post. Its origin is not precisely known, but it was performed as a drama by sadangpae (itinerant performing troupes) that emerged in the late Joseon period; since it is recorded in Jeong Hyeon-seok's Gyobang Gayo during the reign of Emperor Gojong (r. 1863–1907), it is presumed to have become popular in the closing years of Joseon. After 1910 it flourished in gibang, kisaeng houses. Hallyangmu features musicians, the hallyang, a monk, a young woman, a tavern keeper, a byeolgam (a minor court official), a sangjwa (a young novice monk) and a servant, each role distinguished by its own dance movements and costume. The hallyang wears a dopo (robe) and a jeongjagwan (a scholar's horsehair cap); the byeolgam wears his official court robe; the young woman wears a kisaeng's court costume—a mongduri overgarment with colourful hansam sleeve extensions—and a jokduri, a small ornamental coronet. The monk wears monastic robes with a gasa (a monk's stole) and a small, wide-brimmed bangat hat. The drama satirises the decadence of Joseon society, punishing a corrupt scholar, a monk who has broken his vows, a woman of loose virtue, and an idle official. Among Korea's mask dramas, Hallyangmu is the earliest dance in dramatic form performed within the kisaeng tradition, and it retains such dynamism and masculinity that it is no exaggeration to call it representative of male dance. It is also significant as a dance drama of the gyobang (court entertainment school) lineage, being neither a court dance nor a purely folk dance. Its tradition is being carried on by Kim Deok-myeong and six other holders of the skill.

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Where it is

Region

Jinju, Gyeongnam

Designation

Provincial Intangible Heritage · 시도무형유산