Inscribed in 2009 (4.COM) on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity Traditionally, the Namsadang troupes didn’t settle in one place but traveled around, performing their repertoire mostly for grassroots audiences. The only extant group today was originally based in a neighborhood near Cheongnyongsa, a Buddhist temple in Seoun-myeon, Anseong City, Gyeonggi-do Province. Until the early 20th century, this group traveled from village to village around the central district of Korea and sometimes farther to Manchuria in northeastern China. Through its active itinerant performances the group influenced folk entertainment, masked dance plays and seasonal games in various regions. The wandering entertainers lived on small earnings from their shows, usually staying in Buddhist temples. They sold amulets made by monks and donated part of their income to host temples. A Namsadang troupe needs some 40-50 male performers to present its full repertoire. Under the kkokdusoe, literally the “head actor”, the troupe has a planner (gombaengisoe), stage manager (ddeunsoe), actors (gayeol), apprentices (ppiri), elderly seniors (jeoseungpae), errand runners (jan simbureumkkun) and porters (deungjimkkun). They have a strict hierarchy and apprenticeship to hand down their skills from generation to generation. The six acts of their program may be explained as follows: • Farmers’ Band Music (Pungmul): The farmers’ music played by the current Namsadang troupe originated in Gyeonggi and Chungcheong provinces in central Korea. It consists of a road parade and individual skill demonstrations. • Mask Dance Play (Deotboegi): Thirteen actors appear in four scenes – the ground purifier, the episode of scabies sufferer, the episode of feeble-minded scholar, and the episode of black monk. • Tightrope Walking (Eoreum): An acrobat performs a variety of feats on a tight rope between humorous exchanges with a clown on the ground. The rope is some 9-10 meters long and 2.5 meters high. Kwon Won-tae of the present Namsadang group can perform 17 kinds of feats. • Puppet Play (Deolmi): A total of 51 puppets in 31 kinds appear in this play with two acts and seven scenes. The stage is set up with black curtains, some 1.2 meters above ground. Puppeteers manipulate the puppets from behind the curtain, exchanging dialogue with a narrator seated in front of the stage along with musicians. The play consists of the Act of Old Man Park and the Act of Pyongyang Governor. The Act of Old Man Park has four scenes -- Old Man Park Goes on Sightseeing; Pijori (Park’s niece); Kkokdu Gaksi (Park’s wife); Isimi (python). The Act of Pyongyang Governor has three scenes -- Falconing, Pallbearing and Temple Building. • Acrobatics (Salpan): This act has a variety of breathtaking feats performed on the ground. • Sieve Frame Spinning (Beona): An acrobat displays intricate skills for spinning and tossing a sieve frame using a wooden stick some 40cm long. Sometimes he uses a tobacco pipe, a knife or a small reel, or an impromptu device combining these tools. Among the six acts of Namsadang Nori, the mask dance and puppet plays are particularly worthy of note for their explicit social messages. Characters in these humorous plays represent typical Koreans from different social classes, such as an aristocratic master and a defiant servant, an old couple and a concubine, Buddhist monks indulging in worldly pleasures, and the masses suffering from unending suppression and exploitation. These dramas were not simply designed to offer entertainment but also raise issues on behalf of the grassroots who had no means to voice their opinion. They were intended to imbue hopes for freedom and equality in the hearts of their commoner audience under yokes of class distinction. Through humorous depiction of women’s lives in a male-dominated society they also manifested the ideal of gender equality and human dignity. The masks and puppets symbolically express the reality faced by each character. The pains and sorrows in their hearts are soothed and even fears of death are overcome with cheerful plays. Namsadang plays thus advocated the ideas of freedom and equality through witty and humorous dialogue and symbolic dances and gestures. They spoke for the desires of Korean grassroots to pursue a beautiful and dignified life even though they had to accept the limitations of reality. These themes will be easily understood and earn sympathy from audiences around the world. The plays feature many silent characters, as well as abundant gestures and dances, facilitating easier communication and active audience participation beyond language barriers. The Namsadang troupes typically were performed in round outdoor spaces surrounded by crowds except the entrance and exit paths. The performing arenas, therefore, were open to everyone. The wandering entertainers held rites to pray for peace and fertility, playing loud and pleasant music, in every village they dropped in. They entertained the villagers with exciting programs of music, drama, dances and acrobatics, offering joyful moments to the oppressed commoners and boosting their morale. Namsadang Nori possesses intrinsic value as a content source for contemporary cultural creation. With a history spanning 1,500 years at the least, this integrated folk repertoire represents traditional Korean performing arts in broad genres. Its content will be actively utilized in various cultural genres in the years ahead. In this context, the recent hit movie “The King and the Clown” (2005) deftly proved such potential. The movie featured tightrope walking, farmers’ band, mask dance drama and puppet play in a number of scenes. Its two lead characters are wandering entertainers who happen to drift into the royal court. The movie’s phenomenal success has inspired many artists to employ motifs from the Namsadang repertory.

South Korea 2009

Kỳ Yên Peace Begging Festival at Bình Thủy Communal House, Can Tho city, is held twice a year: Thuong Dien (mid-April lunar calendar) and Ha Dien (mid-December lunar calendar). In which, Ky Yen Thuong Dien is the biggest festival of the year at the communal house, held on April 12-15 of the lunar calendar to pray for favorable weather and a good crop. On the 11th, rituals take place to prepare for the festival, including: Opening ceremony of the three-door gate, land worship ceremony, offering to the ancestors, and presenting the birth ceremony. The festival includes the following rituals: Than Nong worship ceremony, Thay Khăn sắc Thần Ceremony, Xay Chau - Dai Boi Ceremony, Chanh Te Ceremony, Son Quan worship ceremony... Early in the morning of the 12th, the Than Nong worship ceremony takes place at the temple to commemorate the God of Agriculture. The offerings are the three animals in the previous day's presentation ceremony, which have been slaughtered and roasted pig, wine, cakes, fruits, incense, and lamps... Next, the first ritual is the ceremony to invite the divine decree to travel by royal palanquin, after which the procession returns to the communal house for the enthronement ceremony. While the divine decree is traveling, families on both sides of the road set up trays of offerings to welcome the god to pray for health, peace, and prosperity. At noon, at 12 o'clock, is the ceremony to change the divine decree's scarf. The celebrant performs the ceremony to ask for a new scarf for the decree. After that, there is the Xay Chau - Dai Boi ceremony at Binh Thuy communal house, in the form of building a semi-literary and semi-martial art, harmoniously and balancedly combining the literary and martial arts of the Xay Chau. Before starting the Xay Chau ceremony, the celebrant performs the ceremony to invite Thanh Hoang to attend and listen to the opera. After that, the Chau drum beats with 360 drumsticks to begin the ceremony. The Xay Chau ceremony represents the meaning of opening the supreme ultimate, harmonizing the two principles, and praying for peace. The Dai Boi ceremony is performed by the actors and actresses in the opera troupe, materializing the Xay Chau ceremony with the image of the characters combined with costumes, dances and lyrics through the rituals: nhat thai (nhut tru), luong nghi, tam tai, tu tuong, ngu hanh in sequence with the number of performers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5… On the morning of the 13th, there is a ceremony in the main hall. On the morning of the 14th, there is a Tuc yet ceremony to welcome the gods. Special offerings include a shaved pig, 1 cup of blood, 1 cup of hair. After the celebrant reads the Van Te, it is burned. On the morning of the 15th, there is a Chanh Te ceremony, the most important ritual in the temple worship ceremony. This is a ceremony to worship the Gods during the Thuong Dien festival, to thank the Gods, to worship the Ancestors, and to worship the Later Ancestors. The offerings to the Gods are a white pig, a cup of blood and other offerings. After the Chanh Te ceremony is the Ton Vuong ceremony performed by the opera actors of the Ban Te Tu Dinh. Next is the Son Quan worship ceremony at Son Quan temple, also known as Ong Ho temple. In addition to the rituals and performances of traditional opera, Binh Thuy Communal House Festival also organizes activities such as: sticky rice blowing contest, local cuisine performance, traditional opera singing, along with folk games such as: boat racing, tug of war, pot smashing (blindfolded), sack jumping... attracting many participants. The Kỳ Yên Peace Begging Festival at Bình Thủy Communal House with its humanistic rituals is an opportunity to unite the community, people gather to have fun and relax to start the new crop. The Kỳ Yên Peace Begging Festival at Bình Thủy Communal House is an important testament to the history of Vietnamese settlement in this land. The royal decree and the communal house worshiping Thanh Hoang show the recognition of the monarchy in terms of administration and the formation of villages and communes. With its typical value, the Kỳ Yên Peace Begging Festival at Bình Thủy Communal House was included in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2018.

The Festival at Hạ, Thượng and Ỷ La temples was born and has existed for a long time, associated with the Mother Goddess worship, and is held from the 11th to the 16th of the second lunar month every year. The festival started from the legend of the Holy Mothers, who were princesses, the children of the king, who transformed into heaven after traveling to the scenic Lô River. The people took the place where they transformed into Tam Ky Temple (now the Hạ Temple) to worship Princess Ngọc Lân and the Thượng Temple is the place to worship Princess Phương Dung. The two Holy Mothers are worshiped in 3 temples that share the same important Mother Goddess procession day; during the Mother Goddess procession days, the Ỷ La Temple is chosen as the place to start the procession, and the Hạ Temple is the place to worship. When carrying the Mother Goddesses' tablets from the Thượng Temple and Ỷ La Temple to the Hạ Temple, it is a manifestation of the meeting, reunion, and family reunion of the two Holy Mother sisters worshiped in the 3 temples. The festival has promoted and honored the cultural values ​​of the community, especially the worship of Mẫu Thoải - Mother of Water.

In traditional Khmer belief, "The Medium" refers to ghosts that have spiritual power and often live in seas, rivers, lakes, creeks, streams, and ponds. Others live in trees, bushes, and mountains, and have their own more or less power. When traveling in the forest or crossing the lake, travelers must mind their words and speak carefully because some words may interrupt or annoy the spirits guarding the place, yet it will cause illness or other disasters. Another type of ghost refers to the souls of ancestors who are believed to be dead, but the soul or spirit does not die with the body. They are around to help take care of and protect children, but sometimes those souls are also angry and punish their children if they make a mistake and do something wrong. It is believed that if a person is “Arak Kach” there are weird signs such as the person is sick, trembling with fear, mouth paralysis slurred speech, or inability to walk…etc.) Although today's society is evolving to a more modern level, including modern medicine, Cambodians, especially those living in remote areas, are still seeking traditional treatment such as ghost possession. Therefore, if there are any disasters such as disease, eradication, drought, or lost cattle, and lost property for no reason, the locals will seek help from “Kru Hmor” to predict or use a method called “Bol” or summon a spirit called “Ban Jorn Arak”, each of the methods can tell the locals about a root cause behind the incidents that happened. After they found out the cause, they had to organize a "Leang Arak" ceremony, or “Ban Jorn Roub” and make an offering for Arak spirits to keep a promise. In some areas, when a male or female is possessed by a spirit, people believe that the spirit is an Arak. But in other areas, such as in the north of Siem Reap, Angkor people called a spirit that possesses a male and female body differently. If the spirit possesses a male body is called Arak, whereas a spirit that possesses a female body is called "Memot". That is why sometimes we hear people call "Pithi Leang Arak" and sometimes we hear "Pithi Leang Memot". The ritual is organized by an individual, a family, or a community to pray for a well-being for everyone. As for the date, protocol, and agenda in Pithi “Leang Arak”, we observe that they vary slightly from region to region. As mentioned above, the residents of Angkor (north against Phnom Kulen and south against Tonle Sap Lake), especially the village north of Angkor Thom (Nokor village, Pronit village, Prasatchar village, Phlong village, village Leang Dai, Daun Ov village, Tak village and Samrong village, etc.) call a spirit possesses male body is called Arak, whereas a spirit that possesses a female body called "Memot", but from time to time, we also see one or two Arak spirits to join Leang Memot with Memot spirit too. The locals in this area hold this ritual once a year, during Meak month to commemorate the Memot, who helps to cure the villagers' illnesses and make them happy. The ritual was held with ten to fifteen people who are ready to be possessed by Memot and one Memot Master. Locals believe that each person has her own birth teacher spirit “Kru Komnert” who looks after her life. Therefore, they have to install an altar and prepare offerings or Jorm Komnert for the spirit. Some install the altar on the head of the bed. There are two types of Jorm Komnert, one is made of a ripe coconut and another is made of carved wood with legs in the shape of monkeys and other animals. During the Leang Memot, participants have to bring Jorm Kru Komnert and Jorm Memot to put on a tray together. For those who have just joined or their, Jorm is torn and old, they have to make a new one that day before the ritual begins. The offerings and utensils were also prepared on the day of the ritual, including a basket of rice for storing rice, and on the basket of rice was a tray of offerings such as a banana, orange juice, fruit juice, water perfume, ten incense sticks, five candles, cigarettes, Mlu, Sla, Bay Srey Pak Cham. These items are stacked under the tray of Jorms, which is placed in front of their respective seats. At around 7 pm, the Leang Memot ritual begins. At that time, the Arak music band began to pay homage and then began to play music for Main Memot to possess the body. After playing two or three songs, the Memot spirit begins to possess and make strange gestures, some wearing a scarf on his head or tying his waist, while others wear a skirt (usually a Hol), pulling a sword or carrying a pole to dance rheumatically, the locals realized that the Arak spirit is possessing Memot body, so they shouted and clapped their hands to make the Memot dance happily, it continued until 11 PM which made the ritual very noisy. Until all the bodies are possessed by Memot, they would together joyfully. Finally, Memot Thom prays, then the villagers take the offerings “Pe Sam Neann” (Offering) and throw them away in order to avoid any misfortune or other diseases. In other parts of the region, Leak Arak ritual may be held in private, arranged by relatives of a patient in order to find out the root cause of the sickness. The most common offerings are Bay Sey, Sla Tor, Pe, candles, incense sticks, and flowers. The food offerings include rice, soup, bananas, boiled chicken and pork heads...etc. In addition, there is an Arak music band, and especially there is a messenger called “Snom”, a woman who interrogates and interprets to the spirits that possess the body and she also helps facilitate the ritual. When the ritual begins, Arak music is played to summon the spirit to possess the body. When the spirit possessed the body, the woman start to ask questions and find the root cause of the sickness. What has the patient done wrong? and plead the spirit to cure the patient with a promise to offer a steam chicken and port head to let the demons help heal the sick by promising a rooster, a pig's head, offering music, or whatever the ghost commands.