Cheoyongmu is the only dance performed at the Royal Court with a human face mask. The performance is based on folklore about Cheoyong, who is said, during the reign of King Heongang (r. 875 – 886) of Unified Silla, to have driven away an epidemic-spreading deity about to touch his sleeping wife by singing a song composed by him and dancing.
Cheoyongmu is danced by five performers wearing clothes of five different colors, blue indicating the east, white the west, red the south, black the north, and yellow the center. The dance is based on the theory of five elements and yin yang, and is intended to drive away evil spirits. The dance movements are gaudy, imposing and lively, and go well with the expressions of the facials masks worn by the performers. Until the late Goryeo Period, the dance was performed by one person but the number of performers had increased to five by the reign of King Sejong (r. 1418 - 1450) of Joseon. By the reign of King Seongjong (r. 1469 – 1494), the dance came to be performed as part of a rite held at the Royal Palace. It continued to develop until the late Joseon Period through changes in the lyric, melody, and dance movements. Following a temporary hiatus in performance upon Japan’s annexation of Korea in 1910, the Yiwangjik Aakbu (Royal Music Institute of the Yi Household) had it performed again in the late 1920s.
Cheoyongmu is a high-level art performance, combining music and dance movements with costumes and facial masks, which depicts the virtuous and humorous minds of the people of olden days.