National Intangible Cultural Heritage, Republic of Korea The Grand Jeju Ritual is a comprehensive form of shamanistic performance incorporating music, dance, and games into a single event. The largest in scale among the shamanistic rites held on Jeju Island, this time-old tradition involves more than five shamans and goes on for seven to fifteen days. This longstanding Jeju tradition is believed to demonstrate an original form of shamanistic ritual. The diverse local performance types encompassed by the Grand Jeju Ritual present great potential for academic research. This shamanistic performance is considered to exemplify a complete ritual that starts with the descending of gods, proceeds to rites to welcome and entertain them, and then sends them off. The narrative songs of the Grand Jeju Ritual reflect local beliefs regarding life and death and the creation of the universe. Its dialog is delivered in a pure form of the Jeju dialect, making the tradition a significant material for linguistic studies as well. Considering all these points, the Grand Jeju Ritual has been designated as National Intangible Cultural Heritage.

National Intangible Cultural Heritage, Republic of Korea Taepyeongmu is a dance performed to pray for peace and prosperity of the country. It is said that Han Seong-jun, a famed dancer and drummer of the 1900s, created this dance by reconfiguring a shamanistic dance of Gyeonggi-do. A male and a female dancer disguised as the king and the queen display grand and gorgeous movements. Rhythms of the dance are more complicated and individual than those of other dances. This dance features delicate and graceful movements. The version performed by Yi Dong-an displays harmony between joyousness, chic and grandeur as well as a mixture of folksy plainness and aristocratic quality. The version performed by Gang Seon-yeong is redolent of solemnity and grandeur, displaying expansive steps together with gracious and gorgeous arm movements. Taepyeongmu is said to be the dance with the most gracious footwork among Korean traditional dances. It also features high artistic quality.