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).