Hyeoncheonsodongpae Folk Game

Sodongpae is a type of dure, a traditional communal farm-labour organisation formed for cooperative work, centred on the southern provinces. A dure can be divided into a daedongpae, made up of adults aged twenty and above, and a sodongpae, made up of young people under the age of twenty. Sodongpae mainly carried out communal labour such as mowing grass and weeding; the game grew out of making music, dance, and song with nongak (farmers' band music) part of daily life, in order to forget the hardship and tedium of labour and raise its efficiency. Sodongpae Nori is performed over the course of a single day's work, from morning to evening. It proceeds through the jobansogo, a drum signal urging people to hurry through breakfast; the moimsogo, calling people to gather quickly at the worksite; the gilsogo, played on the way to the worksite; and the nonmaegi sori (weeding song) sung while weeding the paddies. On the way back after finishing work, if they meet a daedongpae they perform jeongal ollgi, a formal greeting paid to their seniors, and if they meet another sodongpae they hold a hanpan gyeorugi, a contest of skill, after which they play nongak together in reconciliation regardless of who has won. The folk songs are sung in lively rhythms suited to the movements and games, and include a variety of pieces such as nonmaegi norae, deunghwataryeong, heoryeongtaryeong, gaegoritaryeong, and bangaetaryeong. Hyeoncheon Sodongpae Nori is a comprehensive folk art in which labour, song and dance are combined in harmony, and jeongal ollgi, the greeting paid to elders, embodies the tradition of a farming community that placed great importance on courtesy towards one's seniors.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yeosu, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Provincial Intangible Heritage · 시도무형유산