Yangban – (Troupe Korean Pongsan Mask Dance Drama Preservation Society) Previous Next


Artist:

Date: 1900

Size: 5 x 10 cm

Museum: Museu do Oriente (Lisbon, Portugal)

Technique: Textile

Pongsan mask portraying Yangban, the aristocrat.The Yangban belonged to the aristocracy and nobility of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) of Korea. Anyone could ascend to Yangban, as long as they passed the exams of Traditional Chinese and Classical Confucionism. Its status was not inherited at birth.The popular masked dances played by troupes of peasants in Korea perform a series of jokes on social satires. They are religious and comic, even obscene. They tell about corrupted monks, polygamous and arrogant noblemen, concubines, shamanic women’s lusts and poor people’s problems. The aim is to make people laugh because laughter expels evil. There are four regional types of theater: Sande in Yangju region, Pongsan, Hahwe and Yaryu-Okwande. Each region has its own typical masks and different jokes though each represents the same characters. The plays begin with a shamanic ritual to expel bad influences. At the end the masks are burnt since they keep the evil spirits once exorcized.

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