Cheoyongmu

A Korean court mask dance of the royal Joseon tradition, performed by five masked dancers representing the legendary figure Cheoyong to drive away evil spirits.

Cheoyongmu ("Dance of Cheoyong") is rooted in a Unified Silla-era legend preserved in the Samguk yusa. In the tale, Cheoyong — a son of the Dragon King who took human form and served in the Silla capital — responded to a plague spirit menacing his wife not with anger but with song and dance; moved by his forbearance, the spirit vowed never to enter any home displaying Cheoyong's image. This established the use of his likeness, and later the masked dance, as a talisman against disease and evil. The dance was subsequently formalized at court and is documented in the Joseon treatise Akhak gwebeom (1493).

The dance is always performed by five masked dancers arranged by Korea's five-direction color scheme (obangsaek): blue (east), white (west), red (south), black (north) and yellow (center). Each wears a benevolent, smiling wine-colored mask with a black hat decorated with peony blossoms and peaches, elements meant to ward off evil. Movements are slow and stately yet convey "majesty and vigour." Historically it was performed at royal banquets and, importantly, in year-end and New Year's Eve exorcism rites (narye) to secure peace and prosperity, its five colors and directions embodying Confucian cosmology and the Theory of the Five Elements. Korea designated Cheoyongmu as Important Intangible Cultural Property No. 39 in 1971, and UNESCO inscribed it on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009; it is preserved today by institutions such as the National Gugak Center.