Namhae Seongujulkkeutgi

In Seongu village, jul-kkeutgi, a rope-pulling contest, begins every year on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month (Daeboreum), with the lower village forming the south team and the upper village the north team; it is a seasonal custom and a folk game of this region. For several days before Daeboreum, each household gathers straw to make the go, the looped head of the rope, and children sometimes steal straw from elsewhere for the purpose. On Daeboreum itself, a dangsanje, a ritual for the village guardian spirit, is held first at the lower dangsan (village shrine). This is done to pray, on behalf of Seongu, a village that lives by both farming and fishing, for a good harvest and a good catch through the year, for protection from accidents at sea, and for the village's prosperity. During the Japanese colonial period, Seongujulkkeutgi too disappeared completely. However, moves to restore it began immediately after liberation. Through the efforts of Kim Chan-jung, a local culture researcher living in the village, the discontinued folk game was revived, and it is now carried on by the Seongujulkkeutgi Preservation Society, which also presents it to visitors during the cherry blossom festival. Seongujulkkeutgi proceeds in the order of dangsanje, eobullim (a gathering call), pilseung-gochuk (a rite invoking certain victory), gossaum (a contest in which the loops are pushed against each other), julkkeutgi (the rope-pulling itself), and daljip-taeugi (the burning of the moon house). The rope used is made by attaching four thin strands, like an octopus's legs, to a single go. Before the pulling begins a gossaum is held, and whichever side wins becomes the male go; because becoming the male go greatly improves the odds of winning the pull, both sides fight with all their strength for it. Once the female go and male go are decided, the two loops are joined with a crossbar pin and the pulling begins. At this point, it is said that the women, wanting to make their own side's rope heavier in order to win, would carry round beach pebbles wrapped in their skirts and grip the stones together with the rope as they pulled. It is believed that if the female go wins, there will be a good harvest and a good catch. Once the pulling ends, regardless of the outcome, the moon house is burned and the village pledges harmony. Seongujulkkeutgi won the grand prize at the 25th Gyeongsangnam-do Folk Arts Contest on 13 October 1993, and in 1994 it also performed as the Gyeongsangnam-do representative at the National Folk Arts Contest.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Namhae, Gyeongnam

Designation

Provincial Intangible Heritage · 시도무형유산