On the Korean peninsula, the Gangneung Danoje Festival takes place every year in the town of Gangneung and its surroundings. The festival includes a shamanic ritual on the Daegwallyeong Ridge, honoring the mountain deity and male and female tutelary deities. It also includes folk songs and Odokddegi folk songs, as well as dances, mask dramas, oral narrative poetry, and various popular pastimes. As an essential element of the festival, the Nanjang market, Korea's largest outdoor market, is a trading center for local goods and handicrafts. It is also a venue where contests, games, and performances by the Korean circus are staged.
While the origin of this story is not fully known, according to Nam-hyowon's account, shamans prayed to God for three days in March, April, and May. Furthermore, Heo-gyun wrote in his book that he personally saw the Gangneung Danoje in 1603. Heo Gyun also wrote that the subject of the memorial service is General Kim Yu-shin. Having unified the three kingdoms, Kim Yu-sin died and became a mountain god in Daegwallyeong. According to legend, God visited Daegwallyeong every year to greet and entertain the gods. To have a prosperous harvest in the year the god was happy, but to cause a natural disaster if he was angry. Because of this, all of Myeongju gathered to sing, dance, and serve God. This is why the first festival occurred in Daegwallyeong
Several rituals are held during the four-week period of the festival, beginning with the production of the sacred liquor and the Dano shamanistic rituals featuring a sacred tree, the sinmok, and the hwagae, an object made of feathers, bells, and bamboo wood. The coexistence of Confucian, shamanistic, and Buddhist rituals is one of the specific features of the festival. Through rituals devoted to its deities, the region is believed to remain free from natural disasters, allowing the region's residents to live in peace and prosperity. There is a large number of visitors to attend the various ritual performances, as well as actively take part in the festivities such as making fans for the Danoje festival, brewing a sacred liquor, drawing masks for the Gwanno Mask Drama, preparing Surichiwi rice crackers and washing their hair with Iris water.
A Gangneung Danoje festival is an exceptional opportunity to learn about traditional culture. During the festival, people are brought into contact with various ethnic rites, including religious ceremonies, Dano Gut (a worship rite for the Shamans), mask drama, Nongak, Nongyo (farmers' songs), and other items of outstanding artistic value. As the cultural prototype of Korean festivals, Gangneung Danoje serves both as a cultural education space and a channel to transmit traditional culture. However, increased media coverage and cultural standardization have resulted in a loss of some of the traditional elements of the festival.
References