Chajon Nori
Nori means "play" or "game" in Korean. Chajon Nori is one of the traditional massive battle games in Korea. This game dates from about 1000 CE, during the latter Three Kingdoms period. The game commemorates victory in battle; nowadays, it celebrates the harvest.
This battle game, also known as the "War of Moving Bodies," is held around the fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar. It is played in most parts of Korea. Villagers make chariots with oak trees after supplicating the Mountain God for his approval. The villagers are divided into two teams, the East and the West, on the festival day. Everyone has his own part to play in this game. The players in the lead, with their arms crossed, push their opponents with their shoulders, or mount an attack against the opponent, pulling down the opponent commander. The game comes to an end when the chariot of either team is pulled down to the ground or the commander falls to the ground. It sometimes lasts until midnight. The players on the winning team celebrate their victory by throwing their straw sandals high up into the air, or throwing away the parts of the enemy chariot. Winning is supposed to portend a good harvest.
Further Reading
Kishino, Yuzo, Yoshio Kuroda, Yuichi Suzuki, and Takeo Fukagawa, eds. (1987) Encyclopedia of Sports. Tokyo: Taishukan.
Obayashi, Taryo, Yuzo Kishino, Tsuneo Sogawa, Shinji Yamashita, eds. (1998) Encyclopedia of Ethnic Play and Games. Tokyo: Taishukan.
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