One day in the year 750, during the reign of King Gyeongdeok (경덕) of the Silla Dynasty, two suns rose up in the sky and didn’t set for 10 days. The king asked an official in charge of astronomical affairs to find out what can be done to deal with this disaster. The official answered that a highly virtuous Buddhist monk could make one sun go away by holding a ceremony. So the king ventured out of his palace, where he happened to meet a monk named Wolmyeongsa (월명사). Upon hearing the king’s request, the monk wrote a song and sang it while presiding over the ceremony, which made one sun disappear. The title of the song written by Wolmyeongsa was “Dosolga (도솔가),” which went as follows.

Today I sing Sanhwaga (산화가), the flower scattering song
To send up a flower on a blue cloud.
As ordered by a righteous heart,
Worship Maitreya Buddha of the Dosolcheon River

Dosolga/ Written by Lee Yong-tak, Sung by Na Jeong-yun
The “Dosolga” written by Wolmyeongsa was in the form of hyangga (향가), a traditional song of the Silla period. Only its lyrics have survived to which Lee Yong-tak had written the tune. The song you just heard was the modern rendition of “Dosolga” written by Lee Yong-tak and sung by Na Jeong-yun. The sun is the source of all life, a fact even the people of ancient times knew well. Almost everybody worshipped the sun as a god, so imagine how stunned and frightened they must have been to see two suns blazing in the sky. In one Chinese mythical tale, not two or three but ten suns supposedly had risen. But these multiple suns were the result of a parhelion or mock sun, a meteorological phenomenon created by sunlight reflecting off ice crystals in the atmosphere. The light reflection and scattering causes it to appear as if there are several suns in the sky. If there were two or more suns it would have been a disaster for ancient farmers, who had to rely on the heaven’s blessings, such as rain and sunlight, to survive. Today is Haji, the day with the longest period of daylight. Around this time of year, drought and monsoon rain alternate, leaving farmers busy harvesting barley, planting rice and beans, and preventing pests and diseases. Although many farming tasks have become automated, farmers still have to work for hours under the sun in order to reap bountiful harvests. We hope all the farmers around the globe will be rewarded with rich harvests this year.
Farmer’s Song/ Sung by Koh Young-yeol
That was “Farmer’s Song” from pansori Chunhyangga (춘향가), sung by Koh Young-yeol to the accompaniment of fusion gugak band Second Moon. The sun rises and sets, and the moon waxes and wanes – those are the rules of nature. Once we have celebrated the summer solstice, the nights will grow longer. It seems like 2017 just started, but we are already halfway through June. How time flies. It seems time goes much faster as one ages. There are numerous Korean songs that lament the rapid passage of time. But it isn’t the Korean way to just bemoan such sad facts. Those songs end by encouraging people to fully enjoy their time and youth while they have them. Rather than be sad at the fact half of the year is already gone, rejoice in the fact that there are still six more months left to enjoy. Let’s wrap up this week’s Sounds of Korea with “Song of Four Seasons” sung by Kim Su-yeon.
Song of Four Seasons/ Sung by Kim Su-yeon