Case file · Folklore / legend
Hahoe masks and the dead carver
Village legend says a young man named Heo, told by a spirit in a dream to carve the masks in seclusion, died vomiting blood when a girl peeped in, leaving the last mask without a jaw.
1150 CE · 36.54, 128.52 · status: legend
The account
The Goryeo-era masks, a National Treasure, are used in the Hahoe byeolsingut, a shamanic mask play offered to the village guardian goddess every few years.