Masks—East Asia
From prehistoric to present times, masks in China, Korea, and Japan have been used in religious rites and theatrical performances. Made of varying materials and configurations, masks were often believed to have magical powers. The use of masks enabled the wearer to assume another identity, either divine, human, or animal.
Masks in China have been traced to Neolithic times (c. 5000 BCE). Copper masks were in use in the Zhou dynasty (1045–256 BCE) and huge gilt bronze masks with protruding eyes and fantastic brow crests were found at Sanxingdui (thirteenth to tenth centuries BCE). Nuo Xi, ritual exorcisms enacted as masked dance, were performed to frighten away evil and to avoid disasters. Masked stilt dancers in Anhui province brought good fortune. The masks of Di Xi, worn atop the forehead, have stern visages, sharp features, and beards. Beijing opera, traditionally performed without masks, gave rise to renditions of jing (painted face) character masks. Enacting rituals and theater in the outdoors required masks to be brightly colored and exaggerated.
Korean masks owe their origins to shamanism and Buddhism, as well as to Chinese influences. The oldest known mask, from the fifth to sixth century during the Shilla kingdom (57 BCE–935 CE), is of black lacquered wood from Ho'u-chong in Kyongju Province. The Korean masked dance drama (t'al ch'un) was performed at the New Year and Tano Festival, which was on the fifth day of the fifth moon and which was when women washed their hair in iris and swung on swings while men participated in traditional Korean wrestling (ssirum) matches. Dramas were also performed on Chosuk, the seventh day of the seventh moon, a festival when ancestors were honored in order to ensure prosperity for families; women and children performed ceremonies at wells to ensure abundant water for the coming year, and books and clothing were aired in the sun. The often bawdy drama ridicules the yangban (landed aristocrats) and Buddhist monks. The masks, either wood, papier-mâché, or gourd, were often burned after performances, except the wooden masks of Hahoe village, which were kept in a sacred place. Guardian masks also adorned the wooden poles at the village entrances. Funeral masks (pangsangsi) were made of carved wood, paper, or straw, according to the status of the deceased, and were either carried in front or worn by a performer who danced in front of the procession and frightened evil from the burial site.
In Japan, early masks were used for gagaku, elegant ritual music brought to Japan from China or Korea in the early Nara period (710–794 CE), and bugaku, court dance and music also dating from the Nara period. The most renowned Japanese masks, however, are Noh masks representing gods, warriors, beautiful or aged women, and demons. Created by actor, playwright, and critic Zeami (c. 1363–c. 1443), Noh drama incorporated parts of ritual dances to form a slow-moving tragic genre. Noh mask carvers such as the Deme family of Echizen Province carefully guarded their skills, which were passed down for over eight generations.
Drama—China; Drama—Japan; Drama—Korea
Further Reading
Portal, Jane. (2000) Korea: Art and Archaeology. New York: Thames and Hudson.
Tokugawa Yoshinobu and Sadao Okochi. (1977) The Tokugawa Collection: No Robes and Masks. Trans. by Louise Allison Cort and Monica Bethe. New York: Japan Society.
Xue Roulin, ed. (1999) The Art of Chinese Ritual Masks. Taipei, Taiwan: Oriental Book Store.
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