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K-CULTURAL HERITAGE

Everlasting Legacies of Korea

  • 1966.2.15
    designated date
    Eunsan Byeolsinje is a shamanic rite held to honor the guardian deity of Eunsan Village at the village shrine in Eunsan-myeon, Buyeo-gun.

    The rite is connected with a legend about a severe epidemic that led to the loss of many lives and with the strange dream of an elderly village leader. In his dream he met a Baekje general who had been killed during a battle fought to protect Baekje and was asked to bury the general and his men in a sunny place in exchange for a ‘magical intervention’ to repel the epidemic. Upon awakening from the dream, he visited the place mentioned by the general in the dream and found many bones scattered there. The village people collected and buried them in an auspicious site and performed an exorcism to console their spirits. The burial was followed by the end of the epidemic which, in turn, led the villagers to hold rites to honor their heroic deaths.

    The tradition gradually developed into the festival event of Eunsan Byeolsinje, which was initially held for about fifteen days between January and February once every three years.

    As the date of the rite approaches, the village elders select those who will officiate over the event and assign military titles such as General, Colonel, Lieutenant, and Private to the designated officiants. In addition, the chief officiant is requested to use the utmost care in preparing the sacrificial offerings and to preserve the ritual venue from any signs of impurity or evil by, for example, covering the well to be used in the rite with a straw mat, and by encircling the venue with an “evil-repelling rope” and scattering yellow and black grains of sand around it. The villagers then cut down trees to support the village guardian poles and make paper flowers to offer to the village guardian, and hold pieces of white paper in their mouths as they move to the shrine as a symbolic action to repel evil spirits.

    The main part of the rite usually starts in the evening and ends at dawn with the process of erecting the village guardian pole and praying for the safety and prosperity of the village.☆
  • 2010.2.16
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    ☆Daemokjang refers to a carpenter who has traditional Korean wooden architecture, especially traditional woodworking techniques. Their range of activities extends from maintenance, restoration and reconstruction of Hanok(house) or historical wooden buildings such as palaces and temples.

    Daemokjang is responsible for the overall process of planning, designing, and constructing buildings, as well as managing and supervising other carpenters. The wooden structures completed by Daemokjang are all elegant, concise, and simple, which is a unique characteristic of traditional Korean architecture.

    Traditional Korean construction processes require a aesthetic sense to select, cut, and shape wood to be used as building materials, along with the technical ability to design buildings according to their size, location, and use, and to create so-called 'thousand-year joint' without using nails.

    Park Yeong-gon (55, Daemokjang No. 718), a master craftsman of cultural heritage, is designated as an intangible cultural asset and also called Dopyeonsu.

    Dopyeonsu refers to a master craftsman's craftsmanship that includes the basic framework of a building, trims timber, and supervises the overall construction, and includes the scenery of life, the fascination of space, and the spirituality of culture.
  • 1972.2.18
    designated date
    ☆In Suyeong-gu, Busan, a local government called 'Nongcheong' was established to promote production by enhancing the skills and cooperation of farmers. As the farming practices and the following farming practices disappeared due to rapid urbanization, the farmers played nongak(music of farming), sang nongyo(folksongs of farming), and played the farming process.

    In Suyeong Nongcheong Nori, two men and women sing full songs one by one when the farmers gathered by the collective signal, arranged in the order of farming implements, farmers, and wives, and the whole group dances to the Nongak rhythm and enters an amusement park symbolized as a workplace. After planting rice in the order of spading, pulling out of seedling, rice planting, and threshing in accordance with the farming process, male farmers play rice paddies, divide them into east and west, and play cow fights, and leave after a long time.

    In urbanized Suyeong, the reproduction and theatricalization of the work centered on agricultural songs sung by agricultural officials is not only meaningful in that it inherits the folk songs of the Busan area, but also in that it inherits the spiritual legacy of the ancestors' cooperation, unity, and hard work.
  • 1971.2.24
    designated date
    ☆Yaryu(field playing) is a custom of Ogwangdae(mask dance drama) that was first performed in inland areas of Gyeongsangnam-do but spread to Suyeong, Dongnae, and Busanjin.

    Yaryu literally means playing in an open field. This mask play was performed by non-professionals such as villagers. Suyeong Yaryu is performed by villagers when the full moon rises on the night of January 15 on the lunar calendar after holding a sacrificial rite for mountain guardian deities, village spring water, and the spirit of General Choe Yeong.

    Two hundred years ago, a naval commander had a troupe of clowns in Bamma-ri, Chogye (present-day Yulji-ri, Deokgok-myeon, Hapcheon-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do) play a round of merrymaking for his troops in a naval compound. This is said to have been the origin of Suyeong Yaryu.

    The performance is composed of four acts: Nobleman’s Dance, Yeongno Dance, Dance of an Old Couple, and Lion Dance. Prior to the play, the troupe marches, playing music, to entertain spectators along the road to the site of performance. At the end of the performance, they collect the masks used and burn them as a rite of praying for the peace of the village.

    Characters appearing in the performance are 11 in all, four from the noble family, a son of the head of a clan, Malttugi (a servant), Yeongno (a therianthropic character), an old woman, Jedaegaksi(a hierophanic character), a lion and a tiger. The performance includes a satire about nobles and deals with the problem of concubines. In contrast with the other Yaryu, it does not have a leper dance, but it does include a lion dance, which is missing from the other Yaryu.

    Suyeong Yaryu is a play performed by masked performers. It is a ritual and satirical play with artistic quality performed by villagers.
  • 1993.2.25
    designated date
    ☆Andong Songhwaju, a liquor made by the Jeonju Yu Family, was used as a ritual offering for ancestors during ancestral rites, and was used to entertain precious guests. Although it is difficult to know when it began to be made, it was said that Jeongjae (1777-1861) had already used it as a ritual, indicating that it was more than 200 years old.

    Songhwaju is a clear alcoholic drink with an alcohol level of 15° to 18°. The scent of pine needles, pressed chrysanthemums, and lonicer aflower is considered very unique.
  • 2008.2.29
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    ☆Monk Banghyeon was born in Beopryunsa Temple in Yesan, Chungcheongnam-do and has been developing Yeongsan Daejae, a ritual ceremony for traditional Korean Buddhism, for a long time.

    He is a Buddhist monk who is widely passed down in traditional Buddhist rituals, along with panpae and dance, which are unique sounds of the Gulf of Chungcheongnam-do, including being invited to perform in Korea as well as in the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Poland, and China.

    The reason why local sounds and dances are being passed down well around the Chungcheong-do budget is because they have been a protector of Banghyeon (Bomyeong)'s more than 30 years of budget culture.
  • 2013.3.11
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    ☆"Uidang Jipteo Dajigi" is a folk culture that began around the 15th century in Uidang-myeon to strengthen the structure of the house by preventing the collapse of columns on the site where the building will be built.

    In the past, making hard a housing site before building in Gongju was a ritual for worshiping and unifying the earth god, and it was a process of life and faith that emerged as a result of the sound of human beings, earth, and earth becoming one.

    Teo Dajigi, performed by cultural and realistic needs, includes a house site, a graveyard ironing, and a soil ironing used for embankment construction, which is a song sung by several people to keep in tune.
  • 2015.3.16
    designated date
    ☆Dure Nongak is handed down in Samsan-dong, Bupyeong-gu, Incheon.

    In the past, it was succeeded through Durepae Nongak, which used to raise the efficiency of farming by weaving dure(forming a cooperative community).
    It consists of a reenactment of farming, praying for the ceremony and the receiving of the dure before the start of farming, washing and hanging ho-mi(hoe) after the end of the year's farming, and a four madang(chapters) of the dangsanje to go to the ritual in Dangsan.
  • 1997.3.17
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    ☆Cheongsong chuhyeon sangdu-sori is a type of song of Man-ga, which is performed while carrying a bier. It is a ritual song sung at the funeral ceremony, which is a folk song about the wishes of the dead and the hope of the living to live for a long time.

    Manga is classified by function. It can be divided into a congratulatory song, an appearance song when a bier goes out, and the ingredients used to make a tomb. In the case of Cheongsong Sangdu-sori, there is a rare Daedodum sori instead of a celebration song, a bier sound, and a dulgu-sori, a gatekeeper.

    Cheongsong chuhyeon sangdusori was designated as an intangible cultural asset because it was a folk song that showed the emotions and culture of the people.

    Shin Sang-kyung, the current owner of the entertainment show, is a bier forward singer at Cheongsong Cultural Heritage, which is held every other year.
  • 2014.3.18
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    Suryukjae (Water and Land Ceremony), a ritual in which all the spirits of beings from both land and water are guided to the peaceful other world, was first performed during the early Joseon period. This ancient Buddhist rite has great historical and cultural significance and aesthetic merit, as confirmed by its appearance in numerous ancient texts, including Joseon wangjo sillok (Annals of the Joseon Dynasty). The rite is performed night and day for the peace of all the living and the dead, whereas the Yeongsanjae (Celebration of Buddha's Sermon on Vulture Peak Mountain) was usually performed for the peace of individual beings.

    A ritual ceremony called Araennyeok Suryukjae, currently preserved by Buddhists in the Gyeongsangnam-do area, is characterized by its wonderful integration of Buddhist ceremonial music and solemn ritual proceedings.☆
  • 2011.3.26
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    Busan Ancient Tombs Dori Gulip was a geollip that was performed in the ancient area of Gobundori, Seodaesin-dong, Seo-gu, Busan, and was called Geolipgut because it received a little rice or money in return for wishing good fortune by visiting Gagahho Lake in the hope that there would be only good things at the beginning of the year.

    Busan Ancient Tombs-ri Gulip is a traditional folk religion with a history of more than 150 years, considering that the rite was held in Dangsan, Sijaksan Mountain, a village guardian mountain of Daesin-dong, which was built around 1860.

    Busan Gobundori Gulip consists of a total of 37 people, including jisu, Aksa, and Japsaek. First of all, Goha in Dangsan, visit each family to perform a well-being ritual, and then perform a ritual to pray for a good fish, and then perform a dance performance at the Pangutpan.

    Busan Gobundori Gulip is distinct from other geolip Nori, such as the detailed composition of the Sungjupuri editorial, the insertion of Yongwanggut section chief, and the musical diversity of Buckunnori and Yeonhee among Seollnori. In addition, the musical composition and editorial composition of Yu Sam-ryong, Lee Myeong-cheol, and Jeong Sang-ryeol, who were the best pungmul jabs of the time, are outstanding. It is considered to be a traditional folk who actually perform geolip on the first day of the year in Seo-gu, Busan, and has sufficient folk and cultural value.
  • 2009.3.30
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    The neck piece is a traditional piece that expresses the amount and texture of wood, which is a material of sculpture. Mainly used materials include the beautiful and sound-grained paulownia, pine, fir, ginkgo, zelkova, and painting trees. The wood carving seems to have started with the introduction of Buddhism during the Three Kingdoms Period and the production of Buddhist ritual-related sculptures such as temple architecture and Buddhist statues. However, not much is said to have been lost or lost due to several wars. Yi Bang-ho, a functional holder, mainly manufactures Buddhist statues among wooden sculptures, and the characteristic of the sculptures is that they do not use sandpaper to smooth the surface of the statue, but only use a carving knife.
  • 2004.4.6
    designated date
    The amphibious landing materials that have been passed down in the Incheon area include 49jae, Baekiljae, Gisegi, Damjae, amphibious landing, Jesujae, Baekjongjae, Oewangjae, Sanshinjae, Yongwangjae, Jowangjae, Sinjungjae, and Jeseokjae, all of which are called Cheondojae.

    The difference between the Incheon landing ceremony and other regions is the sound section. While the sounds of other regions use five tones, the Incheon amphibious landing makes six sounds with the sound of Kanseong.

    Unlike other regions, there is also an earnest syllable that honors the joys and sorrows of common people and fishermen engaged in fishing. This is due to the influence of the song sung by fishermen when they are sad or excited while fishing in the sea, which is reflected in the amphibious landing materials in Incheon, showing different characteristics from other regions.
  • 2010.4.9
    designated date
    Sitting Gut is one of the Korean shamanic rites in which Gyeonggwae sits down and reads Mukyeong and gongs. It is called "Sitting Gut" or "Chungcheongdo Gut" or "Yangban Gut" because it is popular in Chungcheong-do and is especially popular among yangban.

    This seated rite originated from Maengseung of the Goryeo Dynasty, and was formed when Myeongtongsi Prehistory, a Buddhist monk of the Joseon Dynasty, was abolished and served as Dokgyeongsa Temple in the private sector as a means of living. However, at the end of the Joseon Dynasty, a seated ritual was established today as a guest of honor, not a policeman.

    Sitting Gut in Chungcheong-do is the hometown of Cheongju. So, in the past, a guest of honor from Cheongju was called to the nearest South Chungcheong Province as well as to Seoul for a sitting ritual. However, after the Korean War, the local seongut shamans who came to Cheongju were reading the book, and the contents were greatly reduced and transformed.

    Shin Myeong-ho learned sitting ritual from Kim Jong-heon, a student of Yun Chi-seok, who lived in Mochung-dong, Cheongju, and lived in Jangsa-ri, Gadeok-myeon, Cheongwon-gun. However, due to Kim Jong-heon's poor landscape, he went to Hwagwansa Temple in Baekjoksan Mountain, Cheongwon-gun, where he learned Chinese literature and Buddhist scriptures at Mt. Lee Myeong-san, and also learned Seolwisulgyeong and Mukyeong from various senior police officers who were active in Cheongju.

    Shin Myeong-ho was born in 1943 (born 1949 in resident registration) in Hwangcheong-ri, Namil-myeon, Cheongwon-gun, as the only son of Shin Man-sik and Ahn Ui-jun, and served as the head of the Chungcheongbuk-do branch of the Korean Gyeongsin Association for 10 years while living as a shaman.

    As an important activity, he was responsible for 19 years for the performance of the Mokgye Sinje Bummu, Sodumoni Yongshin Gut, and Cheongju Cheonjon Gut, and won the Gut of the Paldo Gut Contest, hosted by the Korean Gyeongsin Association. In addition, the study of Chungbuk dance was found to be one of the representative shamans of Chungbuk.Muak has been introduced to the academic world.

    Shin Myeong-ho is an adviser to the members and their disciples, usually performing ritual and military rites, and advises and instructs them on the great exorcism of the members and disciples, and reads the great scenery that they cannot read.

    Shin Myeong-ho is characterized by the fact that he does not repeat the same scriptures and relatively flexible rhythms in the large gut, as well as the Great Views including Okchugyeong, the An Taek-gyeong to pray for blessings, the congratulatory scriptures to ward off disasters, and various congratulatory texts.
  • 2020.4.9
    designated date
    Mungyeong Mojeon Deul means labor, ritual, and entertainment that have been passed down in Mojeon-dong, Mungyeong. Starting with the sound of scrotum, the sound of woodpecking, and the sound of planting mother's seedlings are composed of 10 different fields. It is preserved by the Mojeon Deul Sori Preservation Society, which was founded in 2010.

    The Mojeon Deul Sori Preservation Society was founded by 'Mojeon Jungsingi Nongak Band', which has been played since 1900 when poor farmers gathered in the area, but has been officially formed in the 1940s and continues to this day. Japanese colonial era's Nongak Band was passed down through the three great somersaults called Yangsubong and is currently being passed down to four out of five singers.

    In terms of music, melody consists mostly of the Manari Tori in Gyeongsang-do, but it has unique regional characteristics as it has unique sounds in Mungyeong, which are different from those of neighboring Sangju and Yecheon areas and different from those of Gangwon-do. In addition, the unique thinking of the local people of Mungyeong, who sublimate the bier into a daily routine of work and play beyond life and death, can also be called the unique locality of the sound.