Yeongno


The yeongno is a demon from korea. There is little written about it and no folk tails where it appears. Instead the yeongno come from korean theatre, specifically small local plays to entertain the common folk. The type of theatre it appears in is the gamyeongeuk, a type of play where actors wear masks to play stalk characters, and the Kkokdugaksinoreum, a puppet show. These plays with the yeongno were performed to mock the yangban. The yangban were the wealthy elites of past Korea's highly stratified society.

In these plays the yeongno is banished from heaven for some crime which isn't eluded upon. To reenter heaven the yeongno has to eat 100 yangban. The yeongno would creep up on the yangban and play it's willow pipe with a distinct bibibi tune, to strike fear in the yangban who was being stalked. This gives the yeongno it's alternate name of Bibi.

The yeongno costume consists of a mask with a long crocodile like snow, and a long robe or blanket with scale patterns on it. Its face is painted red, to represent the yang part of yin and yang. This red yang color was often used to ward off evil spirits. This critiques the yangban, saying they need to be expelled like an evil spirit. Where as the demon is the one doing the expelling.

There was a way the yangban can escape the yeongno. The yeongno shows great loyalty to its own family, so if the yangban claims to be a relative of the yeongno it won't attack. Of course, lying about your family relations is just as bad as not showing loyalty to your own family, which further shows how corrupt the yangban is. The other way a yangban can escape the yeongno is to not be corrupt. To be generous, truthful and do good for one's community. Although it's said that no yangban has ever achieved this.

The yangban tolerated these plays mocking them because it allowed the lower classes a way to vent their frustrations, so they wouldn't boil over into violence. In this way the plays about the yeongno acted similarly to the court jesters of Europe, who were also allowed to make fun of the nobility.  

  



 Sources

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88ERALF4sg4&ab_channel=TheTeaGarden

https://www.thehumanexception.com/l/the-yeongno-%28%EC%98%81%EB%85%B8%29/


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