Skip Navigation

Heritage Search

National Intangible Cultural Heritage

Jultagi (Tightrope Walking)

줄타기 

Heritage Search Detail
Classification National Intangible Cultural Heritage
Name of Cultural Properties Jultagi (Tightrope Walking)
Quantity
Designated Date 1976.06.16
Age
Address Gyeonggi-do

Jultagi was mainly performed on special holidays like April 15, Dano (5th day of the 5th lunar month) and Chuseok (Harvest Moon Festival on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month). Tightrope clowns also performed for payment at private parties. There were two types of Jultagi performance, one for entertaining people of the noble class performed by exceptionally skilled clowns, and the other for commoners with the focus on gags and entertainment.
Jultagi performance was comprised the tightrope clown, jokers, and the players of instruments like piri (flute), jeotdae (bamboo flute), haegeum (two-stringed fiddle), buk (drum), and janggo (hourglass-shaped drum). The rope was about 10m long and 3m high. The feat was performed usually by a well-trained man. A folding fan or a towel held in the clown’s hand was for balancing the body. The instrumental players brightened up the atmosphere. The clown entertained the spectators by displaying ten-plus movements on the rope, in addition to singing or telling jokes about depraved monks or noblemen, displaying foolish acts, or imitating a woman applying facial makeup.