Shamanism is a traditional spiritual belief through which people who rely and commune with nature express their basic instinctive desire. It encapsulates the way they view the world. In other words, they have a simple but adamant belief that the spirit representing nature wouldn’t turn away from their earnest wishes.

Such shamanism continues to have great influence in the region with natural surroundings in perilous conditions. The nation’s indigenous spirituality is mostly found on islands or in coastal villages. So, along the eastern, coastal region of the Korean Peninsula, or Gangwon and Gyeongsang Provinces, eastern seaboard Byeolsingut is held every two to three years, wishing for each village’s large haul of fish and peace.

Most shamans in Korea, who conduct traditional shamanistic ritual services, or gut, are not possessed with but were born to a house that passes down the traditional customs and grew up watching spiritual performances. Since they listened to the sounds and tunes of shamanistic services from an early age, their artistic presentation of the ritual is exceptional. Among them, let’s meet master musician Kim Seok-chul in today’s program.

Let’s listen to some parts of the first section of Sejongut from eastern seaboard Byeolsingut performed by myeongin Kim.

Sejongut of Eastern Seaboard Byeolsingut / Kim Seok-chul and others

Sejon is said to be the spirit that is in charge of production. A shaman would begin a shamanistic service by inviting Sejon first and then praying for the village to be blessed with more children and for good fortune and a bountiful harvest. Unlike the privileged people, it was just a simple and honest wish of have-nots who barely managed to eke out a living day after day.

The traditional musician playing the janggu is myeongin Kim Seok-chul. The sori singer is his wife myeongin Kim Yu-seon. In the family of shaman, the ritual was usually conducted by females, while men were mostly in charge of music. Both Kim and his wife were designated masters of eastern seaboard Byeolsingut, but Kim passed away in 2005 and his wife in 2010.

Master musician Kim Seok-chul was born to a shaman family in Yeongil, North Gyeongsang Province, in 1922. His paternal ancestor was the only son of an affluent family running a traditional paper hanji business. While his ancestor was watching a ritual wishing for a big haul of fish, he was fascinated by the female shaman. It was from that time on that shamanism became the profession of the family.

These days, gut is also designated as an Important Intangible Cultural Heritage of the nation and shamans are also respected as designated masters of the tradition, but the profession used to be despised in the society. In particular, during the 1960s and 70s, traditional shaman customs were oppressed, calling it “superstitious” and “harmful” to society and should be removed as soon as possible. Back then, a lot of shamans left the profession due to social contempt. But thanks to those few who overcame the hard times, these precious cultural heritages were passed down to the present.

For the second piece on the show, we have Mungutsamul taken from eastern seaboard Byeolsingut performed by Kim Seok-chul and others.

Mungutsamul of Eastern Seaboard Byeolsingut / Kim Seok-chul and others

Mungut refers to the performance that is held in front of the gate of a house for the gate spirit by pungmulpae that used to roam from one village to another. The taepyeongso tune in the piece is played by myeongin Kim Seok-chul.

Kim has excellent janggu as well as dance skills. But most of all, he is well-known for his exceptional taepyeongso performance. This Korean double reed wind instrument can produce loud and sonorous sounds, so it is usually in charge of the melodies of farmers’ music or military marches. But due to the rather simple melodies, taepyeongso repertoire runs out in about 10 minutes and usually repeats the same tunes. However, Kim was different. He said that he could play different tunes for even three days once he started to blow the traditional instrument.

Although Kim comes from a renowned shaman family, he didn’t focus only on tradition. He always made efforts to search for new melodies. That’s why he also came together with foreign musicians. The documentary film titled “Thank You Master Kim” portrays how an Australian musician, who fell in love with Kim’s performance, comes to Korea to get lessons from him.

What people should learn from master musicians from the past is not only their melodies, but also their spirit that keeps looking for new challenges. For the final selection of music on the show, we’ll listen to Salpuri presented by Kim’s oral sound and janggu and Japanese musician Saitoh Tetsu’s bass.

Salpuri / Kim Seok-chul’s Oral Sound and Janggu, Saito Tetsu’s Bass