Korea's Classical Literature
Hyangga from the Silla period
The
Hyangga poetry of the Silla period signaled the beginning of a unique
poetic form in Korean literature. The
Hyangga were recorded in the
hyangchal
script, in which the Korean language was written using sound and meaning of
Chinese characters. Fourteen poems in the Hyangga style from the Silla period
have been preserved in the
Samgungnyusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms).
This poetic form was passed down to the Goryeo Dynasty, and 11 poems from that
period are preserved in the
Gyunyeojeon (Tales of Gyunyeo). Observing
the form of these poems, we see a variety of formal characteristics: 4-line,
8-line, and 10-line poems. The four-line poems have the character of folk ballads
or nursery songs. The 10-line poems, with the most developed poetic structure,
are divided into three sections of 4-4-2.
It is difficult to make general determinations about the personalities of the
Hyangga poets. But it is thought that the four-line poems with their
ballad-like attributes may indicate that the poets came from a broad range of
backgrounds. Most of the 10-line poems were written by priests, while some were also composed by the
Hwarang (flower warriors), the backbone of the Silla aristocracy. The 10-line poems reflect the emotions of the aristocrats and their
religious consciousness. From among the
Hyangga,
Seodong-yo (The
Ballad of Seodong) is characterized by its simple naivete; the
Jemangmaega
(Song Dedicated to a Deceased Sister) and
Chan-giparangga (Song in Praise
of Giparang) boast a superb epic technique, and give fine expression to a sublime
poetic spirit. These examples are accordingly recognized as the most representative
of
Hyangga poetry.
The Goryeo Gayo (Goryeo Songs)
The literature of the Goryeo period is marked by an increased use of Chinese
letters, the disappearance of
Hyangga, and the emergence of
Goryeo
gayo (Goryeo songs), which continued to be transmitted as oral literature
until the Joseon period. The transmission of the
Hyangga literature of
Silla was continued until the early part of Goryeo but, as in the 11 verses
of
Bohyeon sipjong wonwangga (Songs of the Ten Vows of Samantabhadra),
these were mostly religious prayers with no secular or artistic flavor.
The new poetic form introduced by writers of the Goryeo period was the
Goryeo
gayo called
byeolgok. The identities of most of the Goryeo gayo authors
are unknown. The songs were orally transmitted; only later in the Joseon period
were they recorded using the Korean script (
Han-geul). This poetry has
two forms: the short-stanza form (
dallyeonche) in which the entire work
is structured into a single stanza; and the extended form (
yeonjangche)
in which the work is separated into many stanzas.
Jeonggwajeonggok (The
Song of Jeonggwajeong) and
Samogok (Song of Longing for Mother) are examples
of the short-stanza form, but the more representative
Goryeo gayo, including
Cheongsan byeolgok (Song of Green Mountain),
Seogyeong byeolgok (Song
of the Western Capital),
Dongdong and
Ssanghwajeom (Twin Flower
Shops), are all written in the extended form, and divided into anywhere from
four to 13 stanzas.
The
Goryeo gayo are characterized by increased length and a free and
undisciplined form. The bold, direct nature of the songs makes them distinctive.
They deal with the real world of humankind. But because the songs were transmitted
orally over a long period and recorded only after the beginning of the Joseon
period, there is a strong possibility that they have been partially altered.
Sijo and Gasa
The creation of the Korean alphabet in the early Joseon period was one of the
turning points in the history of Korean literature. In the process of creating
the
Han-geul and investigating its practicality, akjang (musical scores)
were written in the Korean script, such as
Yongbi-eocheon-ga (Songs of
Flying Dragons Through the Heavens) which celebrates the foundation of the Joseon
Dynasty (1392-1910), and which is complete with musical notation and instrumentation.
These were written by the Hall of Wise Men (
Jiphyeonjeon) scholars who
served as the court officials. King Sejong also published
Worincheon-gangjigok
(Songs of the Moon Lighting the Rivers), a compilation in song of the life history
of the Sakyamuni Buddha, extolling praise for the Buddha's grace. These series
of poems were written in forms that had not existed in previous ages. They provided
a great stimulus in the development of poetic literature.
The
sijo (current tune) is representative of Joseon period poetry. Its
poetic form was established in the late Goryeo period, but it flourished to
a greater extent under the Joseon period's new leading ideology, Neo-Confucianism.
The fact that a majority of the
sijo poets were well versed in Confucianism,
and that these poems of the late Goryeo and early Joseon periods for the most
part dealt with the theme of loyalty, helps us to understand the historical
function of the
sijo.
The
sijo has a simple, three-stanza structure, which is related to the
structure of its poetic meaning. Each word contains three-to-four syllables,
to make a total of about 12 feet. It is characterized by moderation in form
and a slow, leisurely elegance. Despite its formal simplicity, its expressions
are poetic and the poems achieve an esthetic wholeness. To this end, we may
suppose that the
sijo was widely loved by both the commoners and the
yangban (gentry) class.
Centered around such authors as Maeng Sa-seong, Yi Hyeon-bo, Yi Hwang and Yi
I, the sijo of the early Joseon period represented natural literature, or "
gangho
gayo," in which Confucian ideals were expressed using themes from nature.
Following the style of Jeong Cheol, Yun Seon-do and others, the greatest
sijo
poets of their time, there emerged in the later Joseon period poets like Kim
Cheon-taek and Kim Su-jang who paved the way for the creation of new kind of
poetry which incorporated elements of satire and humor. They published collections
of
sijo such as
Cheonggu yeong-eon (Enduring Poetry of Korea)
by Kim Cheon-taek and
Haedong gayo (Songs of Korea) by Kim Su-jang.
In the late Joseon period,
saseol sijo (current tunes explained in words)
were developed to give simple form to the unaffected emotions of the commoners.
The saseol
sijo departs from the form of the original three-stanza
pyeong
(flat) sijo, in which the middle and final stanzas are arranged into four feet,
and is characterized by increased length. Hence, the saseol
sijo is also
called the
janghyeong (long form) sijo.
The
saseol sijo is distinct from the moderate from of the
pyeong sijo
in that it pursues a free and undisciplined form, and expresses the joys and
sorrows of the commoners, as well as satirizes reality, making it comical.
It is said that the
gasa and the
sijo make up the two greatest
forms of Joseon period poetry. The
gasa is properly placed in the category
of verse, but its content is not limited to the expression of individual sentiment.
It often includes moral admonitions, and the subjects regarding the weariness
of travel and grief. The
gasa is a simple verse form, with a twin set
of feet of three to four syllables each, which are repeated four times. Because
of the varying nature of its contents, there are some who view the
gasa
as a kind of essay, as in early Joseon period
gasa like Jeong Geuk-in's
Sangchun-gok (Tune in Appreciation of Spring); Song Sun's
Myeonangjeongga
(Song of Myeonangjeong Pavilion); and Jeong Cheol's
Gwandong byeolgok
(Song of Gwandong),
Samiin-gok (Song in Recollections of a Beautiful
Woman) and
Seongsan byeolgok (Song of Mt. Seong-san), and so on. These
gasa have, as their main subject matter, the following themes: contemplation
of nature for spiritual enlightenment; the virtues of the great gentleman who
espouses "
anbin nakdo" (being content in poverty); and the metaphor of
love between a man and a woman to express loyalty between sovereign and subject.
Later, following Bak Il-lo's
Seonsangtan (Lament on Shipboard) and
Nuhangsa
(Words of the Streets), we find in the late Goryeo period
gasa themes
like travel abroad as in Kim In-gyeom's
Ildong jang-yuga (Song of a Glorious
Voyage to the Sun-rising East) and Hong Sun-hak's Yeonhaengga. Also, there were
the naebang
gasa (
gasa of the women's quarters) written by women.
These gained wide popularity. In particular, the
gasa of the latter period
underwent changes in form, becoming both longer and prosaic.
The Classical Fiction
The first appearance of the classical fiction in Korea include Kim Si-seup's
Geumo sinhwa (Tales of Geumo) which was written in Chinese characters
and Heo Gyun's
Honggildongjeon (Tale of Hong Gil-dong) written in
Han-geul.
After the turn of the 17th century, fictions like tale of
Geumo sinhwa
came to be even more actively produced, and a large-scale readership was formed.
Especially popular was
pansori (story-in-song), which appeared in the
late 17th through early 18th century. A performance art,
pansori is rooted
in heightened musical expressiveness. As its contents were fictionalized it
also made great contributions to the development of the classical fiction. In
the 18th and 19th centuries, the quality of these classical fictions increased
in variety as well as in quantity. The book rental business thrived with the
advent of commercial publishing.
The characters appearing in
Geumo sinhwa embody the concept of
jaejagain
(talented young man and beautiful woman). It also employs to an extreme degree
the style of aesthetic expression used in Chinese letters. Along with these
characteristics,
Geumosinhwa also shows aspects of the mysterious fiction
in that its contents are distant from reality. In the mid-Joseon period, works
with parable-like characteristics were published, such as Im Je's
Suseongji
(Record of Grief) and Yun Gye-seon's
Dalcheonmongnyurok (Record of a
Dream Adventure to Dalcheon). But with the coming of the late Joseon period,
authors like Bak Ji-won and Yi Eok wrote realistic fictions in Chinese. Bak
Ji-won's
Heosaeng-jeon (The Tale of Scholar Heo),
Yangban-jeon
(A Yangban Tale),
Hojil (The Tiger's Roar) and Yi's
Simsaengjeon
(Tale of Scholar Sim), for example, all depart from the orthodox conventions
of classical Chinese literary studies and introduce a variety of characters
such as merchants, men of wealth, thieves and
gisaeng (female entertainers).
They are sharply critical of manifold social problems and often satirize various
aspects of daily life. This kind of fiction, together with the novels in
Han-geul
of the later Joseon period, opened up new paths for fiction writing.
After the creation of the Korean alphabet, an abundance of fictions were written
in
Han-geul, beginning with Heo Gyun's
Honggildongjeon and including
works like Kim Man-jung's
Guunmong (Dream of the Nine Clouds) and
Sassi
namjeonggi (Record of Lady Sa's Southward Journey).
Honggildongjeon
strongly opposes the ruling class's discrimination of children born of the union
between a
yangban and a concubine. It shows a high level of social concern
and criticizes the absurd aspects of the everyday reality of the time.
In the late Joseon period,
pansori fiction (pansori gye soseol) emerged,
based on the orally transmitted art form. Pansori fictions like
Chunhyangjeon
(Tale of Chunhyang),
Simcheongjeon (Tale of Simcheong), and
Heungbujeon
(Tale of Heungbu) do not deal with superhuman characters, but make use of human
stereotypes of the period. Most of these fictions center around casual relationships
from real-life experience, rather than coincidence. In addition to being a mixture
of verse and prose, the writing style also combines refined classical language
and the vigorous slang and witticisms of the common people. Throughout these
works, we are given a broad picture of the social life of the late Joseon period.
In addition to these works, other Joseon period fictions record the private
affairs of the court, such as Inhyeon
Wanghujeon (Tale of Queen Inhyeon)
and
Hanjungnok (Record of Leisurely Feelings).