The music of the Joseon Dynasty can be divided into court music (Jeongak) and folk music according to modern classification. As the name suggests, court music refers to music used at royal events, while folk music was aimed at the general public. During the Joseon Dynasty, court music can be divided into three types of music: Tang music(Tang-ak), Song music(A-ak), and Traditional music(Hyang-ak). In this article, we’re going to talk about Tang-ak
Tang-ak refers to music imported from China from the Unified Silla Dynasty to the Goryeo Dynasty. According to the Samguksagi, a history of the Three Kingdoms period compiled in 1145 during the Goryeo Dynasty, in March 664, 28 subjects were sent to Woongjinbu Castle to learn Tang-ak. From this, we can see that Tang-ak was imported and played from the Unified Silla period, long before the Joseon Dynasty.
As the name Tang-ak suggests, Tang-ak was imported from the Tang Dynasty in China, but it actually refers not only to Tang Dynasty music, but also to Song Dynasty music, according to the Goryeo History which is the history book compiled under the royal name about general cultural contents in Goryeo Dynasty. After the Goryeo Dynasty, Tang-ak was still actively played in the Joseon Dynasty as an accompaniment to Jungjae which is dances and songs performed at feasts in the palace.
However, Hyang-ak, which had been defined and developed during the Three Kingdoms period to distinguish Korean traditional music from Tang-ak, came to influence much of the music imported from China during the Joseon Dynasty, and as a result, Tang-ak in the Joseon Dynasty changed as the number of songs and instruments decreased and lost its original appearance. Boheja and Nakyangchun, the only two surviving Tang-ak songs, are also said to have been transformed into style of Hayng-ak.
Boheja is a Tang-ak that was imported from the Song Dynasty and was sung in between dances of the Ouyangsun, a court dance, and was passed down with lyrics. The lyrics describe the paradise of the Taoist hermits and pray for the king’s long life.
The sky at dawn full of blue mist
Lyrics of Boheja
But the waves of the sea are calm and the peaks of the river are cool.
In the sound of the wind chimes, a strange fragrance falls on the human world
But at the end of the five-coloured clouds, the river stops.
They all gathered and pointed to the auspiciousness of the good rice, and laughed red.
Looking at the highest palace among palaces, I wish you three blessings towards the sky
May it stand for thousands of years, facing Namsan Mountain(South mountain).
Nakyangchun is also one of the Tang-ak, but the Sokgak manuscript, which is believed to have been compiled in the late Joseon Dynasty, contains only the score and no lyrics. Because of this, it was passed down as an instrumental piece without lyrics for a long time, but in 1960, in Lee Hye-goo’s Nakyangchungo, the lyrics of Nakyangchun were added to the score, referring to the lyrics of Nakyangchun published in Goryeo history, and it is now performed as a choral piece. Nakyangchun was not used as a dance accompaniment, but was used for three-year funeral for the Queen Munso.
I can hear the chirping of the cockatoo before sunrise
Lyrics of Nakyangchun
The incense stalks are burning in the censer of the soybean grass.
I’m spending the spring chill in a silk tent
And last night it rained at dawn.
As I leaned quietly on embroidered curtain, a light flutter of willow flew by
I furrow my brow, unable to make up my mind.
Catching flowers and stealing tears, I turn to the returning geese
And I ask him if he has not met my love where he left off.
To summarise, Tang-ak like this were imported from the Tang and Song dynasties of China from the Unified Silla period to the Goryeo period and played until the Joseon Dynasty, and although only two songs, Boheja and Nakyangchun, are currently handed down, we can get a glimpse of the lyrics and performance style of that era through these songs.