 This
folk mask play had been handed down in Suyongdong, Namgu,
Pusan . It had been performed on the first full moon day
of the first lunar month and related with the village
ritual of Suyoung. That¡¯s why it includes religious, cultural
and social features of mask play.
¡®Yaryugye¡¯ (open mask play association) visits each
house of the village and plays ¡®Jishinbapgi¡¯ (literally
means step on the divinity of the earth) for the purpose
of collecting the costs to enact mask play and driving
out evil spirits and wishing good fortune and welfare.
 The
First Kowjang ¡°Yangban Madang¡± (Aristocracy scene)
The main contents of this scene is the conversation
between Malttugi and Suyangban. The vituperation and
lampoon of the Malttugi revels the real image of depraved
Yangban. Also, he makes fun of their incompetence and
false show of power.
The
Second Kowjang ¡°Yongno Madang¡± (Yongno scene)
A monster Yongno (it is a kind of imaginary being) from
heaven threatens and tries to eat Suyangban because
of that if he eats ninety nine Yangban, he is able to
return to heaven. And the monster tells a lie like that
¡°it you are real Yangban, I never kill you.¡± The Yangban
who is cheated by it, he shows his pride as Yangban.
But finally he is eaten by the monster.
The Third Kowjang ¡®Yongam and Halmi Madang¡¯
(Yongam and Halmi scene)
This scene shows the home problem due to poor and triangular
love affair i.e. Yongam, Halmi (the wife of Yonggam)
and Jedaegaksi (concubine). The love affair between
Yongam and concubine makes the wife to lose mind. The
Yonggam in panic calls doctor to the wife but he can
not recover her. And then, the Yonggam calls Pongsa
(a kind of fortune teller) and makes him to chant Buddhist
scripture. But also it is useless. Finally, she is passed
away. The bierbearers transport bier.
The
Forth Kowjang ¡®Sajamu Madang¡¯(Lion dance scene)
It is a kind of pantomime. It shows that during the
fighting between a lion and a tiger, the tiger is killed
and eaten by the lion. Specially, this Sajach¡¯um (a
lion dance) is originated from the geographical features
of Suyong area. The Bak mountain shaped like running
away is in the southern east part of the area.
 That¡¯s
why the people said that they have made this play in
order to console the lion deity long time ago. The contents
of this play signify a kind of ritual in which they
offered a tiger as sacrifice to the lion deity. Like
other areas¡¯ lion dances, it seems to be changed from
the shamanic play of Guna to folk performing art. Any
how, this scene is the last of the mask play. After
that, the player offered ritual, burned masks which
were used in the play and wished good fortune. However,
they did not burn masks and kept those in the ¡®Mask
Dance Association¡¯ since 1970. This change represents
that the divine meanings of mask and religious features
of mask play have became disappear time after time.
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