Ttakji-ssaum

A children's contest in which flowers of the violet are hooked together and pulled apart so that the head breaks off one.

How it is played

Each child hooks violets by the stems and tugs; the one whose flower head comes off loses.

Heritage note

Part of the living heritage of South Korea. It is presented as sport and skill, never as real fighting.

Origins

Usually placed in the era of Classical Worlds (about 1000 BCE to 500 CE), although its exact origins are uncertain, within the cultural world of Japan and Korea.