HAHOE TAL  |
Hahoe Mask Dance Drama Act Introduce Tal |
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Kakshi T'al(bride mask)has very small eyes to show her shyness and a tiny mouth indicating that she does not often speak. She plays the role of the local goddess in the first act and the bride in the last. |
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Chuji T'al(lion mask)is a highly imaginative creature, bearing a fin-like wing and billed mouth. The fantastic visage comes purely from the minds of Koreans of the day, who wished to depict a lion(the supermale creature in Buddhism) without ever having seen one. |
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Peakchong T'al(butcher mask)has a coarse and well-lined brown face. Depending on how it is seen, the face either appears to be grinning(mad with the pleasure of killing living creatures) or cruel and sinister(the butcher's true nature). |
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Halmi T'al(old widow mask)has a tiny, wizened brown face to show the hard life she led. It has a pathetic expression. The open mouth is always ready to take in food and pour out lamentations. |
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Ch'oraengi T'al(busybody mask)has a tiny, lopsided, brown face with buck teeth that reveal his discontent. His projected forehead means that he does not agree with his master, and his short nose shows that he is impulsive. He simply cannot resist meddling in other people's lives. |
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Imae T'al(fool mask)has a happy-go-lucky face, which instantly shows that he is a simple-minded fool. The crooked nose reveals that he is deformed and the down-slanted eyes show that he is free from malice. He plays Sonbi's foolish servant. This is the only mask without a chin. |
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Pune T'al(flirtatious young woman mask)has a heavily made-up oval face with a smiling mouth, high nose and semi-circular eyebrows. The smiling face is very seductive and flirtatious. She plays the role of a professional entertainer or the concubine of an aristocrat. |
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Chung T'al(depraved Buddhist monk mask)has a greasy, grinning face to show his dissimulating behavior. The crescent-shaped eyes reveal that he is a lecher. He is not a monk who leads an ascetic life, but a depraved man who wanders begging from village to village. |
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Yangban T'al(aristocrat mask)has a long, black beard to show dignity, and an expressive smile that reveals both generosity and smugness. If the performer looks upright, his face appears cheerful and smiling; if he looks downward, his expression is angry and tight-lipped. This mask is believed to represent artistic value of the Hahoe masks. |
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Sonbi T'al(scholar mask)has wide nostrils and well-developed cheek bones to show that he is a scholar, full of discontent and unable to adjust to society. The mask reveals not only the dignity appropriate to a scholar, but also the arrogance that does not befit him. A Sonbi was a scholar who did not hold a government position, so spent his time studying the Chiness classics or writing poetry. In the play, Sonbi is severely satirized. |
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