Korean Traditional Game : Mapaenori

🍂 Korean Traditional Game Series 22

Mapaenori

(마패놀이 · Korean Horse Token Game)

🕰️ 1. Introduction

Mapaenori (마패놀이) is a traditional Korean imaginative play inspired by the mapae — a metal horse token used during the Joseon Dynasty to signify official authority and permission to use government horses.

In villages, children would create their own mapae from wood, clay, or paper and pretend to be royal messengers, soldiers, or governors.
This game combined creativity, role-playing, and storytelling, allowing children to act out scenes of travel, command, and exploration.

🪄 2. How to Play

• Children make their own mapae (horse tokens) using small pieces of wood, cardboard, or even folded paper.
• The mapae often includes simple drawings of a horse or the Chinese character “馬” (ma), symbolizing the royal token.
• Players divide into roles — officials, messengers, or gatekeepers — and create imaginary missions such as delivering royal orders or collecting reports from distant provinces.
• Some versions include mock “checkpoints,” where gatekeepers challenge the travelers to show their mapae for passage.
• Creativity and quick thinking determine who plays their role best, and laughter fills the game as children act out dramatic scenes.

👀 3. Example from Life

In old Korean villages, children often mimicked the adults they saw — kings, soldiers, magistrates — turning their imagination into lively stories.
Holding their handmade mapae, they ran through alleyways and fields, shouting, “By royal command!” as they raced to deliver imaginary messages.

Mapaenori reflected a world where play met history, and where learning about authority and responsibility happened naturally through joyful storytelling.

 

🌏 4. Similar Games Around the World

• Western countries: Pretend play games like “cops and robbers” or “messenger missions” that combine imagination and movement.
• Japan: Samurai role play games inspired by feudal history and authority.
• China: Historical re-enactment games involving ancient seals or imperial messengers.

✨ Mapaenori shows how children’s imagination can turn symbols of power into tools of creativity — where history becomes play, and play becomes learning.

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💌 Closing Words

Mapaenori is more than pretend play.
It embodies the curiosity and creativity of Korean children, who reimagined their nation’s heritage through stories and laughter.
Through this game, history came alive — not in books, but in the joyful steps of imagination.

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📌 Note
This is a creative cultural content from the Misojieum Story Blog (kor-telling.com).
Please do not copy without permission.
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