Fire Blossoms Over Hahoe Village as Voices Cry "Nak-hwaya"

Scenes from Seonyu Julbulnori. Photo by Hahoe Seonyu Julbulnori Preservation Society website.

Hahoe Seonyu Julbulnori is a traditional Korean fire play in which charcoal-filled paper pouches are hung along suspended ropes and ignited, scattering sparks like falling rain across the night sky. In Hahoe Village of Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, the spectacle was traditionally held on the 16th night of the seventh lunar month. Beneath the full moon, boats drifted across the river as poetry, music, dance, rope fireworks, falling embers, and floating lantern lights merged into a night of refined aristocratic entertainment.

The performance unfolded against the natural scenery of Buyongdae Cliff, the Flower Stream curving around Hahoe Village, and the pine forest of Mansongjeong. Multiple ropes were stretched high across the air between Buyongdae and Mansongjeong, densely lined with charcoal pouches wrapped in traditional Korean paper. Inside the pouches were powdered charcoal made from mulberry tree roots and dried mugwort wicks. When fire was lit from the Mansongjeong side and the ropes were pulled, the glowing charcoal bags slowly ascended toward Buyongdae, scattering sparks across the darkness.

On the river below, scholars floated aboard lantern-lit boats. Aristocrats, poets, and literati from Hahoe and neighboring regions gathered together, sharing wine, reciting poetry, and enjoying music and dance performances. Across the Flower Stream drifted “egg lanterns,” lights made by placing oil and wicks inside emptied eggshells or hollowed gourds. Rope fireworks filled the sky, lantern lights floated on the water, and blazing embers waited atop the cliffs.

Nakhwa, the falling fire display, marked the climax of Seonyu Julbulnori. When word spread that a poem had been completed aboard one of the boats, people gathered along the riverside shouted, “Nak-hwaya!” From atop Buyongdae, burning bundles of pinewood were hurled toward the stream below. The glowing masses crashed against the rocks beneath the cliffs before scattering into countless sparks between the river and the night sky. Julbulnori was more than a fire spectacle. It was a ritual of poetry, nature, music, and communal excitement gathered into a single night.

Scenes from Seonyu Julbulnori. Photo by Hahoe Seonyu Julbulnori Preservation Society website.

The Hahoe Julbulnori tradition was interrupted during the Japanese colonial era. After Korea’s liberation, simplified versions were presented several times in 1945, 1968, and 1975. Following restoration efforts in 1981, the tradition was revived in a more complete form in 1991. With the launch of the Andong International Mask Dance Festival in 1997, Julbulnori expanded its foundation as part of the festival’s official cultural programs. Today, performances are typically held between late September and early October during the festival period.

Jindong Julbulnori in Masan carries a different cultural character. In Jindong-ri, South Gyeongsang Province, rope fire performances were traditionally held during Buddha’s Birthday celebrations and major village festivities. In the past, ropes were stretched from Bongnaesan Mountain to rows of willow trees along the village road, with falling embers suspended across them. At the harbor, boats connected their masts together to support additional ropes while sparks illuminated the waterfront and mountainsides. Though the tradition disappeared after 1936, local residents and the Jindong Youth Association began restoration efforts in 1995. Today, it continues under the name “Jindong Fireworks Nakhwa Festival” at the Taebongcheon Cultural Plaza.

Unlike Hahoe’s scholar-centered Seonyu culture, Jindong’s rope fire play developed more strongly from Buddhist fire rituals and communal village festivities connected to Buddha’s Birthday traditions.

President Lee Jae-myung and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi watch Seonyu Julbulnori in Andong Hahoe Village on May 19, 2026. Photo by Yonhap News.

Recently, Hahoe Seonyu Julbulnori also illuminated the stage of diplomacy. After holding a summit meeting and official dinner in Andong on May 19, President Lee Jae-myung and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attended a performance of Seonyu Julbulnori and a creative pansori presentation at the Hahoe Village ferry site.

Alongside Hahoe Byeolsingut Mask Dance, which reflects the culture of commoners, Hahoe Seonyu Julbulnori remains one of Andong’s representative traditional arts embodying the refined culture of the Korean aristocratic class.

Reported by News Culture M.J._mj94070777@nc.press

* This article was manually prepared as a translated piece and later proofread and reviewed with the assistance of AI.