Cha Hyung-won (; September 5, 1890 – July 2, 1972), was designated as

Ingan-munhwage A Living National Treasure () is a South Korean popular term for those individuals certified as Holders of Important Intangible Cultural Properties (), also known as ''keepers'', by the Ministry of Education as based on South Korea's ''Law for ...

on 16 January 1967 for the

Gangneung Danoje Gangneung Danoje (), called by locals Danogut (), is a yearly celebration of the Korean holiday Dano, in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, South Korea. The festival is traditionally held for 47 days: in the lunisolar Korean calendar, between the 20t ...

festival, which is one of the

Important Intangible Cultural Properties of Korea National Intangible Cultural Heritage () is a national-level designation within the Heritage preservation in South Korea, heritage preservation system of South Korea for intangible cultural heritage. This and other national-level designations are ...

. He was specialized in Gwanno-Masque playing, a kind of pantomime. It was a satire of the caste system by members of the ''gwanno'' class.

Biography

Cha was born on 5 September 1890 in

Gangneung Gangneung (; ) is a list of cities in South Korea, municipal city in Gangwon, South Korea, Gangwon province, on the east coast of South Korea. It has a population of 213,658 (as of 2017).Gangneung City (2003)Population & Households. Retrieved Ja ...

, Korea. His father, Cha In-sil (), lived in 132 dong Gangneung Seongnamdong. When he was 17 years old, he saw the last gwanno-Masque playing at the

festival in 1907 before it disappeared in the latter era of the Choson Dynasty. As the gwanno-Masque playing was performed by gwanno, a man slave in government employ, Cha denied that he was gwanno. After the Gwanno-Masque playing was designated as the

on 16 January 1967, it was reconstructed by researchers. Cha was one of the masters who participated in organizing all of the information about Gwanno-Masque playing from the appearance of masque to performance. He died on 2 July 1972.

Career

He actually worked as Gwanno at the Gwannocheong in Gangneung province until the latter era of

Joseon Dynasty Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

and he made the masque and had performance in the Gangneung Danohje. He has participated in historical research about Gwanno-Masque playing since 1966 for restoration of the masque and organization of playing.

References

External links

Local culture of Gangneung

Korean Cultural Heritage Association
South Korean male stage actors 1972 deaths 1890 births People from Gangneung {{SouthKorea-actor-stub