Paengi Chigi

Paengi Chigi (Korean: 팽이치기) is a traditional Korean game primarily played during the winter and is enjoyed by people of all ages. Paengi Chigi is played by using a spinning top and a stick with a long string. The spinning tops are wound up with twine and then let go. Players must keep hitting the spinning top with the string tuck with the stick to make it rotate for as long as possible.
One of the popular locations to experience traditional games like Paengi Chigi is Namsangol Hanok Village.
The spinning tops are traditionally made from types of wood that are easy to carve or have a hard and dense grain, such as paulownia, hackberry, birch, and jujube. In some instances, materials like bricks or roof tiles are used as alternatives to wood. More recently, steel components, such as bearings, have also been used to create spinning tops.
Using a sickle and a saw, we cut a cylindrical tree to the appropriate size, then shape it into various forms to create a spinning top. Traditionally, the bottom of the top had a cone shape, but during the Japanese colonial period, nails and small iron balls were introduced at the pointed ends to enhance the spinning performance. The upper part of the top was often decorated with Taegeuk (Korean: 태극) patterns drawn using ink or paint.
It is essential to ensure even balance across the top, bottom, and left and right sides when carving the top. An unbalanced top tends to fall quickly due to severe wobbling, whereas a well-balanced top can spin steadily in one place for an extended period without shaking.
In Paengi Chigi, it is common to spin the top while striking the torso. The string is wrapped around the upper portion of the top a few times and then pulled off while placing the top on the ground to initiate a slow spin. A stick is used to strike the top with increasing strength, gradually accelerating its rotation until it reaches peak speed.
This competitive game, often referred to as a "top fight," includes various techniques and challenges such as long spins, long throws, quick returns, bumps, and stews.
According to the Nihon Shoki ("The Chronicles of Japan"), written in 720 AD (or the 19th year of King Seongdeok of Silla), this game arrived in Japan from China through the Silla Kingdom of Korea. This indicates its popularity during the Three Kingdoms period of Korea. Historical records, having Paengi Chigi in the work of King Sukjong of the Joseon dynasty, and Hancheongmungam (漢淸文鑑) written in the Joseon dynasty.
The term Paengi Chigi derived from the appearance of an object turning Bingbing or Pingping, Bongae, Bangae (Hamgyeongdo), is also known as Pye, Pengdol, Puli, Pengsaeng, and Poae.
The top is a traditional play tool for children to play with a round piece of wood whetted at one end, and the string is wrapped around the body and then rotated while unwinding.
Paengi (top) was spelt Pingi (팽이) before, and the word Pingi appears to be a derivative of Pingping, describing spinning movements. Depending on the region, the top is called Peng (Gyeongsangnam-do), Pingding (Gyeongsangbuk-do), Pengdol (Jeollanam-do), Doraegi (Jeju).
There are several types of Paengi:
This game can be played by two or more players or individually. In a competition, the aim is to keep the top spinning as long as possible, while one participant tries to knock over the other spin top with his own. An ice-covered stretch of a house yard or a neighbourhood alley acts as a venue for the game of Paengi Chigi. A frozen river, pond or rice paddy are good alternatives as well.
There are some methods of playing the game such as:
While hitting the top, it turns at an angle at first, but soon it becomes balanced. When the top is about to stop, after hitting it with the top and giving it a rotational force, it spins again. The reason behind the top not falling and rotating is due to the rotational inertia. The power of the spinning top keeps the top balanced.
The top turned by hand transmits kinetic energy to the top, causing it to rotate. The kinetic energy of the spinning top is converted into thermal energy by bottom friction. The top revolves longer by minimizing the conversion of the rotating force into heat.