Dongnae Jisinbalbgi

Dongnae Jisinbalbgi is a folk game passed down in the Dongnae area, a form of village rite rooted in folk belief that calms the earth spirit and drives away evil spirits. Jisinbalgi has long been a kind of masked procession performed on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, carrying a religious character that prays for the peace of village and household and, further, for a bountiful harvest in the year ahead. The present-day Dongnae Jisinbalbgi was reconstructed from the form performed in the late Joseon period and refined into its current shape as a folk game from around 1970. In the twelfth lunar month, instruments, costumes and props are prepared, and a cast of around 35 people rehearses the piece, playing characters representing various social classes of the Joseon period, such as the sadaebu (a scholar-official), the posu (hunter), the hadong (a servant boy) and the gaksi (a young bride). The sadaebu acts as overall leader, while the hadong and posu play opposite roles that liven up the performance; the comic dialogue they exchange with the sadaebu carries a satirical edge that mocks the yangban aristocracy. The performance is made up of four madang: the Jusan Jisin-puri, the Dangsan Jisin-puri, the Umulsaem Jisin-puri and the Saengwondaek Jisin-puri (jisin-puri being the rite of placating the earth spirit). A rite is first held at the jusan (guardian mountain) and the dangsan (village shrine site); the performers then come down to the village to hold a rite and perform the puri at the village well, and finally go from house to house performing jisinbalgi. When the earth spirit has been tread down for a household, the owner offers wine, grain or money in thanks, and the grain and money collected are used for the village's communal projects. Unlike other folk games, which centre on pungmul (farmers'-band music) performance, Dongnae Jisinbalbgi is distinctive in centring on deotbaegi dance performed to gutgeori rhythm. Today it is preserved and spread through the efforts of the Busan Folk Arts Preservation Association and its training school.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Dongnae-gu, Busan

Designation

Provincial Intangible Heritage · 시도무형유산