After spending the afternoon sitting in the sun it was time to re-hydrate before heading back to the Madkdance arena for the evenings entertainment.

First we watched Malayisa, whilst their dancing was mesmerizing and their costumes amazing I feel I should dedicate this post to origins of the second performance of the evening – the Hahoe traditional Korean maskance. This was the basis for the festival and what we had been looking forward to seeing that evening.

There is so much I want to document (for my personal record) about the Hahoe dance and the masks that I will dedicate the next couple of posts to it. So stay tuned to find about the legend behind the Hahoe masks and how our evening went.

The Hahoe Maskdance originated in hahoe-dong folk village (dong meaning town) just outside Andong. Hahoe boosts the Hahoe mask museum where the original Hahoe masks can be found.

The Hahoe maskdance or Hahoe Pyolshin-gut T’al-Nori is one of Koreas most traditional folk plays and is very famous. There is a lot of history behind the play and a legend behind the making of the masks.

According to a website called Click Asia the Hahoe mask dance drama has been performed for centuries and originated as a shamanist village ritual.

Until 1928 ritual was performed at intervals of three, five or even ten years depending on the revelation of the local goddess or on local circumstances. The performance would begin on lunar New Year’s Day and continue at various places around the village until the middle of the first lunar month.

Early in the morning of January 15th the village sacrificial rite was observed at Sonangdang, the village shaman shrine. This village ritual was intended to please the local goddess and exorcise evil spirits. The villagers prayed for an abundant harvest and for peace and prosperity, while enjoying themselves performing the party.

The drama combines shaman rituals and popular entertainment and the whole village would take part in the event and enjoy the satirical story revealed in the drama. It was even said that if you did not have a chance to watch the mask dance performed in your lifetime, you could not go to heaven.

Like most other folk mask dance dramas handed down in rural communities across Korea, Hahoe Pyolshin-gut T’al-Nori features various allegorical characters, such as Yangan (an arrogant aristocrat), Sonbi (a pedantic scholar), Chung (a depraved Buddist monk), Imae (a foolish servant), Paekchong (a coarse butcher) and so on. Each of these characters represents a social class. Conflicts among different classes and individuals were satirized to relieve social tensions among the families in the village.

The Hahoe mask dance differs from others because it has more natural movements and simpler costumes. In addition, the story is satirical and humorous and it does not culminate in the traditional ritual of burning the masks.

On most occasions today, the mask dance is performed simply as an entertainment, losing much of its original splendor and religious and social significance. In 1980 the government, designated the mask dance drama as Important Intangible Cultural Property NO.69, to ensure its preservation and transmission to future generations. The Hahoe Pyolshin-gut T’al-nori Preservation Society, which revived and exclusively presents the mask dance, seeks not only to preserve the drama, but also to introduce one of Korea’s greatest cultural treasures to the rest of the world.

Comming soon….. the legend behind the masks.

* Posted by j150vsc on 07/11/2006.