KOREAN FOLK GAMES

Folk games can be categorized by purpose or content games played for entertainment, games played in hopes of promoting an abundant harvest or fish catch, gambling games, competitive games, and games played in hopes of promoting an individual's good luck or the peace and happiness of a village.

The games played in hopes of promoting good luck or the peace and happiness of a village are related to production, and when combined with games aimed at promoting an abundant harvest or fish catch, they account for 23 percent of all games. Clearly the ritualistic significance of Korean games, that is, the promotion of production and abundance, is one of their most important features.

Half of all Korean traditional games are played year-round, regardless of season, but approximately 40 percent of all holiday-oriented games are played during the first month of the lunar yeaf. Why is this? Traditionally Koreans lived by the lunar calendar, and the first month was extremely important because it marked the beginning of the new year. Furthermore the first full moon is significant, almost sacred, as it is the first day the moon fills out. On the day of the first full moon, Koreans prayed for an abundant harvest, good luck free from disease, and the peace and happiness of their villages. Furthermore according to the farmers' almanac, the first full moon marked the time to start farming after the long winter's hibernation.

Two of the most popular games played around the first month of the year are yut nori and kite-flying.

Yut nori is a board game in which four halved round sticks or beans are tossed in the air and the score is calculated according to the position of the sticks or beans when they land Yut nori is usually played from Lunar New Year's Day until the first full moon It is the most common Korean game played in the first lunar month and is not only enjoyed by family members but also neighbors and even whole villages.

This game originated in India and came to Korea via Central Asia the Silk Road and China A similar game is also played by natives of North and South America In the past, this game was used to predict the results of harvests or wars.

In the old days kites were usually flown between the first and the fifteenth days of the first lunar month Sometimes the kite string was cut, symbolizing the expulsion of misfortune in the new year. The oldest extant record of kite flying involves Silla General Kim Yu-shin who, in 647, hung a burning straw scarecrow from a kite and sent it over enemy barracks to win a battle.

Traditionally Koreans were an agriculture-oriented people who considered farming their most important task The fruits of agriculture depended on changes in nature and so people held nature's power in awe It is only natura therefore, that Korean customs are closely related to farming rituals.

Many group games originated in agricultural rituals but some developed as regional games born of the unique natural and human environment of a particular region. Over the course of history some games changed drastically while others disappeared altogether. It was through this historical process that most group games were polished and refined Generally these games retain a strong regional stamp, and, at the same time, are equipped with a sense of universality, artistry and congeniality.

Similarly most folk games originated in farming rite$ and for Koreans farming means tending rice paddies. Rice is generally grown in the south including the middle section of the Korean peninsula, while other grains and vegetables are the main crops in the north Therefore it is easy to see why group games are concentrated in the south and midsection of the peninsula.

One regional game closely linked to life in a rice cultivating society was Ko Fighting. This game used to be played at Yutdol Village South Cholla Province, from the beginning of the first lunar month to the first day of the second month Ko refers to a loose knot shaped like a cloth ribbon coiled at one end It was thought that the winning team would be rewarded a good harvest.

The Yongsan Tug-of-War is very much like Ko Fighting in that it was believed the winning team was guaranteed a good harvest This game has been handed down amongst the people of Yongsan, South Kyongsang Province Villagers are divided into teams by sex, and a victory by the women signals a good harvest This game is closely linked to rice growing culture and thus is most commonly found south of the Yangtze River in China in Kyushu,Japan and in Southeast Asia In Korea it was usually played south of the Han River.

Whether one wins or loses is not important in these regional games. The games promote a spirit of cooperation among the villagers when they work side by side preparing for them, and they also promote village pride and confirm the villagers' love for their village.

The MiryangRaekshung nori played on the seventh full moon is one example of the games aimed at promoting village harmony This game, handed down amongst the people of Miryang in South Kyongsang Province, began as a festival of slaves. In ancient times, slaves were given a day of eating and drinking by their owners around the time of the full moon in the seventh lunar month.

A similar game called "hoe washing," is played in the middle and southern part of Korea Both games are held around the seventh full moon, right after the weeding of the rice paddies, the most backbreaking chore in rice farming.

Farmers' music is the key factor in raising group games to the plane of folk art. Farmers' music is the most effective means of drawing the villagers into a game controlling them, and promoting the game spirit. Nearly one-third of all group games employ farmers' music as an important element, and if games in which farmers' music is played as an accompaniment are counted the number jumps to more than half of all games.

When the game site rings with the exhilarating strains of farmers' music, people begin to move their hands, shoulders and bodies to the rhythm, without even knowing it. The game site invariably turns into a dance floor. Music and dance are inseparable In some games, music precedes dance and in others, dance predominates to the accompaniment of the music.

The Yangiu Pydlsandae nori, a masked dance-play originating in Yangiu, Kyonggi province is performed on Buddha's birthday the sixth day of the sixth lunar month and on the seventh full moon.

The Hahoe Pyolsin kut, a folk drama handed down from generation to generation in the village of Hahoe near Andong in North Kyongsang province also employs farmers' music and other Shamanistic elements as it is said to have originated in a Shamanistic ritual called the pydlsin kut, which was aeated to appease the spirit of a youth who died of a broken heart as he pined for a girl while making a mask under the order of a mountain spirit.

Hahoe masks are Korea's oldest extant masks. Eleven of these masks, made of black alder wood polished with thick layers of lacquer, have been designated national treasures in an effort to presene the art.

The development of Korean folk games was subject to foreign influences from three directions the north, the south, and the west originating in India and passing through Central Asia and China.

Horseback riding, archery ssirum wrestling can be traced to the northern tribes. From the west came the Yut nori stick game, Chinese chess, dice throwing, throwing arrows into a jar, and swinging. From the south came the tug of-war, ox fighting and cock fighting. Koreans embraced these games, adopting them to their own culture and enjoying them as their own This was possible because Korea had an advanced culture These games were later passed on to Japan.

Ssirum wrestling, a men's game appears to have come to Korea by way of China and later was passed ontoJapan where it developed into sumo wrestling. The contents of the Koguryo "$irum Tomb" built at the end of the fourth century indicate that Koreans enjoyed this game from early on.

The tradition of walking or dancing on a highwire came to Korea through Central Asia and China Tightrope walking is usually performed in the day time but in traditional society wandering entertainers sometimes included it in their all-night repertories, together with farmers' dances, bowl-spinning, mask dance-plays, and puppet shows.

The tightrope walker not only walks on the rope but also tells funny stories, sings songs, and even makes sarcastic remarks about the upper classes There are 17 different kinds of tightrope walking.

Korea's only traditional puppet show has been handed down through the centuries by wandering entertainers. The puppet show came to Korea through Central Asia and China and was very popular during the Three Kingdoms period Later it was transmitted to Japan.

The stage staging and puppet handling are similar to those of China Puppet shows were performed by wandering entertainers all over Korea until the 1920s and have been protected by the government since 1964.

As with the mask dance-plays, the major themes for puppet play were satires of sinful Buddhist monks, family discord caused by polygamy and ridicule of the tyranny of the yangban class.