• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.78-117
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• 2017

Buddhism, which was subject to repression all over the early Joseon Dynasty, received a certain recognition from the state, because Buddhist monks had participated in the war of the Japanese invasion in 1592. On the other hand, however, one of the results was the destruction of many temples. In the late Joseon Dynasty, the Buddhist monks themselves acted as players of Pungmul(people's percussive band music) for the rebuilding of Buddhist temples. These so-called "the Buddhist monks' Pungmul" is the imitation of former clowns' Pungmul and farmers' one that sometimes request money or rice at houses of villages. In the late Joseon Dynasty, the activities of the Buddhist monks' Pungmul were held all over the country. Today, there are "Bitnae Nongak(farmers'percussive band music)" in Kyeongsangbuk-do, "Beokku-noli(the drum play) in the areas of Yeosu and Gangjin in Jeollanam-do, the song of the Buddhist monks' Pungmul for the people's house spirits in the Gyeonggi-do, Gangwon-do and Chungcheong-do, and Namsadang-pae(the nomadic entertaining groups composed of only men), as clear pictures of it. In these things related to Nongak or Nongak relevant affairs, the shapes of the Buddhist monks' Pungmul in the late Joseon Dynasty remain clear. On the other hand, today the Namsadang-pae, which was formed as a result of Buddhist monks' Pungmul in the late Joseon Dynasty, was left only in the Chungcheong-do and Gyeonggi-do, because the temple construction in the Gyeonggi-do was made especially many in the late Joseon Dynasty. During the late Joseon Dynasty, the Buddhist monks' Pungmul, which had long-lived and had taken place throughout the nation, had a great impact on Pungmul. There are the Buddhist elements, such as Gokkal(the Buddhist monk's peaked hat), paper flowers, the color band, the small drum, and Bara(small cymbals) are often found in the Pungmul of Korea. In the late period of the Joseon Dynasty, it is obviously important place in the Pungmul history of Korea. Research and studies on this subject should be made more in the future.