The
Dongrae Yahru Mask Dance is Important Intangible Cultural
Property Number 18. It has been handed down in Dongrae,
Pusan.
It is Important Intangible Cultural Property Number
Eight. It is performed in the evening of the first full
mon day of every year after a tug of war competition.
It is called yahru because it was played on a wide field.
Considering the time and place that it played, one can
assume that it is to expel the evil and ask for blessings.
About the origin of the mask dance, it is known that
the people in Dongrae learned the mask dance from the
people in Choje which used to be the commercial center
of the region. It consists of four parts. The first
part of Dongrae Yahru Mask Danc is the lepers' dance.
Two lepers, wearing white scarfs, dance with a
small hand drum and a stick.
The second part is the noble's dance. Four noble men and
a servant dance together. At one point, the servant argues
that he used to be a noble man and is rebuked by a noble
man.
The third part is the conversation between a nobleman
and a monster. The monster is half animal and half human.
The monster tries to catch the noble man while the noble
man seeks to escape from the monster. The fourth part
is the interaction between an old man, his wife and
his young lover. The old man's wife has learned that
her husband has a young lover after searching for him
for a long time.
She fights with the old man's young lover which results
in the death of the old man. And she calls for a doctor
and offers a sacrifice to console her husband's soul.
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