{{Short description|Korean Buddhist drumming dance}} {{Italic title}}'''''Beopgonori''''' ({{Korean|hangul=법고놀이}}) is a type of traditional Korean performance. In the performance, a drummer plays the ''beopgo'' ({{Korean|hangul=법고|hanja=法鼓|labels=no|lit=Dharma drum}}), a small drum, while dancing. The name ''beopgo'' originally refers to one of the four Buddhist instruments. In the late Joseon period, Buddhist monks often went about asking for alms with a dharma drum set up on the roadside or formed a ''nongak'' (farmers' music) band and begged for rice. These monks were called ''beopgo'' monks (drumming monks) or ''gutjungpae'', meaning a group of monks who played percussion music to raise money.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Lee|first=Kyungyup|title=Beopgonori|url=https://folkency.nfm.go.kr/en/topic/detail/6497|website=Encyclopedia of Korean Culture}}</ref>

== Procedure == According to "''Dongguk sesigi''" ("''A Record of the Seasonal Customs of the Eastern Kingdom"''), ''beopgo'' is the practice of Buddhist monks coming into the city carrying a drum and going from house to house as they beat the drum. It is written in "''Hanyangsesigi''" ("''A Record of the Seasonal Customs of Hanyang''") that ''beopgo'' monks, wearing straw hats and playing the drum and gong, also wearing a flower made of blue feathers and paper like a hair rod and a yellow Buddhist robe, and holding two halves of a seal called ''bujeol'', gather on the streets of a village and dance in a circle like actors or clowns to beg for grains in order to present an offering to Buddha.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kaplan|first=Uri|date=2010|title=Images of Monasticism: The Temple Stay Program and the Re-branding of Korean Buddhist Temples|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23720149|journal=Korean Studies|volume=34|pages=127–146|jstor=23720149|issn=0145-840X}}</ref> The above-described ''geollip'', or fund-raising performance, carried out by ''beopgo'' monks has aspects similar to ''pangut''<ref>{{Cite web|last=Si|first=Jieun|title=Pangut|url=https://folkency.nfm.go.kr/en/topic/detail/6546|website=Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture}}</ref> (entertainment-oriented performance combining music, dance, and acrobatics). Although the Buddhist drum called ''beopgo'' and the drum of the same name used in ''nongak'' are different, and the name was adopted because of the cultural authority of Buddhist musical instruments and hence their easy acceptance by the people. A similar name, ''beokgu'', was also derived from ''beopgo'' in this process.<ref name=":0" />

== In modern culture == On a nationwide basis, ''beopgonori'' is often used as another name for ''sogonori'' (hand-held drum performance). Just as the percussionists (''chibae'') performing ''sogonori'' are called ''sogo'' or ''beopgu'' players in Gochang, North Jeolla Province, the name ''beopgo (beokgu)'' is used interchangeably with ''sogo''. Depending on the attire, the performance is called ''chaesangbeokgu'' if the player wears a ''chaesangmo'' (twirling-streamer hat), and ''gokkalbeokgu'' if the player wears a peaked hat (''gokkal''). In some areas, both the ''beopgo'' and ''sogo'' are included in the composition of ''nongak'', in which case they are distinguished from each other. In ''Gangneung Nongak'' and ''Busan Ami Nongak'', for example, the two drums are used as different instruments. ''Gangneung nongak'' features eight each of the ''sogo'' and ''beopgo'' (''beokgu''), the bigger drums called ''sogo'' and the smaller ones ''beopgo''.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Park|first=Chan E.|date=2011|title=Reclaiming Korea from "Korean Performance Tradition": A Critique of the Contemporization of "Kugak"|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23719450|journal=Korean Studies|volume=35|pages=25–43|jstor=23719450|issn=0145-840X}}</ref>

== Description of the instrument == The ''sogo'' is less than 30 cm in diameter, and the ''beopgo'' less than 20 cm. The ''sogo'' has a wooden handle, and in the past five pieces of thin iron plate were attached to the handle to produce a metallic sound whenever the drum was struck. Unlike the ''sogo'', in Gangneung the ''beopgo'' does not have a handle but is held by winding a string around the hand. It is also known as ''mijigi''. On the southern coast of Korea, ''beokgu'' is used as a term for ''buk'' (barrel drum). One of the remarkable features of ''nongak'' in the southern coastal region is ''bungnori'' (drum performance), also called ''beokkunori'' or ''beokgunori''. Solo ''beokgunori'' has evolved to show greater artistry than collective performance as the drummer can demonstrate his skills unrestricted by other performers.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bender|first=Shawn|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1ppx45|title=Taiko Boom: Japanese Drumming in Place and Motion|date=2012|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-27241-5|edition=1|jstor=10.1525/j.ctt1ppx45}}</ref>

== Popularity == As a performance featuring numerous players, ''beopgonori'' produces representative scenes expressing the collective artistic ecstasy and exhilaration of ''nongak''. ''Chaesangbeopgo'' is a visual feast of technical and artistic skills accompanied by ''witnoreum'' (spinning-streamer hat performance), while ''gokkalbeopgo'' exhibits the appeal of collective performance with many people vigorously moving in unison and keeping time with one another and also performing ''araetnoreum'' (feet-centered play).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Yü|first=Chün-fang|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv105b9zz|title=Chinese Buddhism: A Thematic History|date=2020-06-30|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=978-0-8248-8348-5|doi=10.2307/j.ctv105b9zz.14|jstor=j.ctv105b9zz}}</ref> In some regions ''beopgonori'' is also called ''sogonori'' or ''bungnori''. In some areas, a drum smaller than the ''sogo'' is distinguished as ''beopgo''. As the Buddhist musical instrument called ''beopgo'' has been accepted widely yet on a case-to-case basis, its name has taken on a regional character. ''Beopgonori'' testifies that in as much as ''nongak'' has a history of being passed down in relation to Buddhism its performance has great expandability. (Song, Kue-jin. "The Real Face of Korean Buddhism under Japanese Colonial Rule." Journal of Korean Religions 10, no. 2 (2019): 275–99. Accessed March 13, 2021. doi:10.2307/26894715.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Song|first=Kue-jin|title=The Real Face of Korean Buddhism under Japanese Colonial Rule|journal=Journal of Korean Religions |volume=10 |issue=2 |year=2019|pages=275–299|doi=10.1353/jkr.2019.0006|s2cid=208688519}}</ref>)

== References == {{Reflist}}

Category:Korean games Category:Asian games Category:Culture of Korea Category:Festivals in Korea Category:Festivals in South Korea