Traditional games of Korea

Examples of popular traditional games include jegichagi, neolttwigi, ssireum, tuho, and yut.

The peninsula has been agrarian since ancient times, and Koreans have believed in gods who protect nature and their lands.

Exorcisms were performed to increase crops and animal well-being; singing and dancing were popular activities.

[4][5] Traditionally practiced as combat and self-defense, ssireum was also part of rituals conducted in the ancient tribal states.

Rules evolved, allowing ssireum to develop into a national sport valued for competition and entertainment.

The best tops (made from birch, jujube or pine) are heavy, with strong tips, and they are often spun in groups.

In a manner similar to horseshoes, tuho players attempt to throw arrows into the top of a narrow-necked wooden jar.

According to Rebecca Lucas, tuho was played on the Korean Peninsula during the Gorguryeo Kingdom (37 BCE–668 CE) and is mentioned in the History of Old Tang (舊唐書) and the Book of Sui (隋書).

The game waned in popularity because King Yejong of Goryeo (c. 1105–1122) received a tuho set from the Song emperor in 1116 and did not know how it was played.

The game was played by both women and men, including Prince Yangnyong (양녕대군, 讓寧大君, 1394–1462) and his sisters, and King Hyeonjong of Joseon (현종, 顯宗.

Unlike Western seesaws where riders sit on the board, neolttwigi participants stand and jump, which launches their partner into the air.

The jegi, similar in appearance to a shuttlecock, is made from a coin and hanji (handmade Korean paper).

[13] Gonggi (공기) is a popular Korean children's game that is traditionally played using five or more small grape-sized pebbles or coloured plastic stones.

[citation needed] Juldarigi (줄다리기) is a traditional Korean sport similar to tug of war.

Goguryeo held an annual national seokjeon (stone battle) attended by the king himself.

In the past, cutting grass and trees was part of the mundane every life of children in farming or mountain villages.

However, this kind of work was not done in a hasty manner and required some breaks, which was when the game was traditionally played.

Typically, the one succeeding in throwing and sticking a sickle in the ground wins a bundle of firewood or grass.

Starting the game, the players cut down a certain amount of grass, gather it into a heap, and fix a stick in the middle of it.

According to the outcome of Gawi Bawi Bo, they decide the order of the turn and throw a sickle towards the stick.

Players must give the whole portion of grass to the winner who succeeds at getting the sickle to hang on the stick, which rarely happens.

Therefore, players were ranked depending on the proximity of their sickle to the stick, which often led to difference in opinions and, ultimately, scuffles in disagreement.

There is a variation of this game where players pile up their bundle of grass or firewood nice and high and throw their sickle from a distance of 3 – 4 m, one by one.

The game with firewood applies different rules as it is played on a mildly inclined slope, rather than on a flat ground.

A skilled player makes the hilt of their sickle shorter so that it can roll further The game eventually disappeared as people no longer cut down trees or long grass, however, it remains as a memorable game for those who spent their childhood in rural communities from the 1950s to the 1970s.