A traditional singer is teaching the audience how to do chuimsae추임새. Chuimsae is the rhythmic exclamation interjected throughout a song to encourage a pansori singer.

Chuimsae is a way for the audience to show their appreciation and enthusiasm for a performance. Pansori singers usually get more energized when the audience interacts enthusiastically by peppering the singing with lots of chuimsae.

The performance grows merrier as the master singer and the supportive audience generate synergistic effects. Korea’s folk songs called pansori are fun to hear, to watch, and to take part in. But the problem with pansori is that its lyrics are filled with ancient idioms that are difficult for ordinary people to understand. This is why the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation came up with the idea of bringing together pansori and Korean classical literature to help people better appreciate traditional performances. “Deukeumjiseol,” a series of concerts combining pansori and traditional literature, was held at the Folk Theater Pungryu of the Training Center for Important Tangible Cultural Properties from June 23rd through 27th. Here’s Mr. Hong Dae-woong홍대웅 of the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation to tell us more about the concerts.



Deukeumjiseol was planned in order to recognize the value of liberal arts and to bring classical literature and pansori closer to ordinary Koreans. In this series of concerts all five major pansori works are introduced. The five pansori pieces are Sugungga수궁가, which means the song of the underwater palace; Chunghyangga춘향가, the Song of Chunhyang; Jeokbyeokga적벽가, the Song of the Red Cliff; Shimcheongga심청가, the Song of Shimcheong; and Heungboga흥보가, the Song of Heungbo. In the past, there were several attempts to combine literature and arts, but not pansori and Korean classics. Audiences tend to think of pansori as an art for the ears only, and frankly, the ancient idioms, terms and classic references featured in pansori songs are very difficult for ordinary people to understand. So a commentator is there to explain them.

Pansori and Korean classics are quite similar in that they strive to be both entertaining and instructive. People had high expectations for Deukeumjiseol because these performances promised to heighten the enjoyment of Korean traditional literature and music. Sugungga is about a sea turtle that travels to land to obtain a hare’s liver to cure the sea king’s illness. Chunghyangga is a love story between Lee Mongryong, the descendant of a noble family, and Chunhyang, the daughter of a courtesan. The story of the faithful daughter Shimcheong, who sacrifices herself to the sea to restore her father’s sight, is a moral lesson in family love, and the tale of brothers Heungbu흥부 and Nolbu놀부 in Heungboga teaches us to be kind and humble. Jeokbyeokga’s main theme is the battle of the Red Cliff featured in Chinese novel “Romance of the Three Kingdoms.” The plotlines in these classics are not only fun and engaging, but also morally informative, as they teach about good triumphing over evil and the execution of justice. Here’s writer Kim Hong-shin김홍신 for more.

Heungboga shows how different brothers can be – Heungbu is good and Nolbu is bad. This story symbolizes how varied people’s lives can be. Nolbu is greedy and torments his younger brother, Heungbu. Nonetheless, Heungbu treats Nolbu with respect and love. There is no mistake in realizing who the main character is in this story. Chunhyangga emphasizes endless love and represents the desire to escape poverty and improve her lot in life. The lesson of Shimcheongga is being loyal to one’s parents.

Pansori is like a solo opera – a lone singer sings a song with ample gestures and monologues to the beat provided by a drummer. Pansori is Korea’s Important Intangible Cultural Asset No. 5 and recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Heritage of Humanity. Here is writer Kim Hong-shin again.

A story set to a song is what pansori is. It’s sung in the voice of a master singer, who infuses the piece with comments and body language. Each of the five major pansori works contains multiple meanings. Ordinary people can’t really appreciate them fully, because they’re not used to them. But when they study up on them, they come to understand the depth and sublimity of pansori. I am a writer, but I’m amazed how these pansori singers can memorize each and every word of the long lyrics and perform for hours.

Singing pansori is an arduous endeavor, but master pansori singers devote their entire lives to achieve that perfect artistry. When they reach that masterful level, they can effectively communicate the wit, satire, and enlightenment in pansori to the audience. Here’s master traditional singer Shin Young-hee신영희 to tell us more about it.



Buddhist monks strive to achieve spiritual enlightenment. We traditional singers try to achieve that superior voice. Out of 100 master singers in the past, only three have attained that transcendent voice. Pansori singers’ aim is to sound exactly like nature. They need to learn how to exactly mimic the sounds of thunder, birds, water, winds, and rustling leaves. Only when they can do that can they claim to have reached the matchless level. I can’t dare say that I’m at that level. Some singers spend their entire lives trying to reach that level, yet fail to do so in their lifetime. .

In the Deukeumjiseol performances, practitioners of important intangible assets sing the most interesting part of each pansori piece and famed literary figures offer their commentaries about it. Sugungga was scheduled for the first day and writer Kim Hong-shin was there to explain what the song was all about.

Kim explains pansori’s cultural significance and value as a world heritage for humanity. It is an attempt to make pansori more familiar and accessible to the general public. Even Kim had to polish up on his knowledge about pansori so that he could give detailed and helpful comments. He says the more he studies, the more he becomes impressed by how the plot is developed.

Sugungga is one of five major pansori pieces, but it stands apart from the other four in that it features animals as main characters. We know what it looks like under the sea, but people in the old days didn’t. The story begins underwater, where the sea king is gravely ill. The only cure is for him to eat a hare’s liver. The sea creatures discuss who to send up to the land to get a hare’s liver, and they choose a turtle, because he can live both in and out of the water. This story has a lot of irrationalities, exaggerations and personifications. How can there be a sea king and how can a hare breathe underwater? If you combined all the medicinal ingredients introduced in this work, you would have concocted poison. But all the medicinal plants that appear in this story are featured in the ancient medical encyclopedia of Dongeuibogam동의보감.

Modern people are amazed by the imagination and logical thinking of their ancestors. The imagined world of sea creatures, the list of medicinal ingredients, the accurate descriptions of their characteristics… when melodies are added to these elements, the audience cannot help but become more engrossed in the performance.

So the sea king needs a hare’s liver to cure his illness, but which sea creature would risk his life to go up to land to get it? After a long discussion, a turtle is chosen for the task, solely because he can live both under and above water. But the turtle and his mother aren’t all that happy about the upcoming mission. All these events and emotional changes experienced by the characters are explained by a commentator throughout the show. Commentaries accompanying the pansori make the whole performance that much more interesting.

Now Korea’s intangible cultural asset Nam Hae-seong남해성 sings the funniest passage of Sugungga in which land animals fight for the throne. This is the part famous for its biting satire of the human world through the behavior of the animals. When the turtle arrives on land, he witnesses a group of animals – a lion, a giraffe, an elephant, a bear, a squirrel, a raccoon, a boar, a deer and many more – arguing over which one of them is the oldest and who deserves to sit on the throne.

On the third day, Chunhyangga, based on the Koreans’ favorite love story, was presented. Although the main plot centers on the undying love between Lee Mong-ryong and Chunhyang, it also reflects the hope of all common people. Here’s Professor Emeritus Kim Hyeon-lyong김현룡 of Korean Language and Literature at Konkuk University to give us his thoughts.

In the old days people looked up to the king to save them from the greedy, tormenting government officials, who stripped common people of their land and meager belongings to fill their own coffers. Common people’s only hope was the king’s undercover inspector, who would appear just in time to punish the oppressors. By watching this pansori, people live the lives of these characters vicariously and find hope for their own lives. They hope that a royal secret investigator will come and help them.

It is definitely not easy for a single singer, however skilled he or she may be, to act out all the characters and emotional changes that appear in the story. That’s the main concern of the singer, says master singer Shin Young-hee.

Chunhyangga has more characters than any other major pansori piece. It sings of love between two different social classes, the importance of chastity, and swinging emotional states of Chunhyang’s mother. That’s why this pansori has a long intro and many references to classical literature. So it’s very difficult to sing.

To commoners tired of officials’ corruption, the meeting of a young man from a noble family and a girl with a courtesan for a mother would have not only shattered the social norm of the time but also stirred up romantic feelings hidden deep in their hearts. They must have shouted out in joy and excitement as Mongryong reappeared as a royal inspector to punish the town official, who had harassed Chunhyang for her love and tormented the village people.



(Woman 1) The professor’s lecture was very moving and classy. Pansori singers should study Korean literature. Explaining the pansori piece from the perspective of Korean literature added depth and class to it.
(Woman 2) The concert was great. Pansori reflects our lives and helps us in many ways, and makes us happy or sad. It gives us energy to go on living. That’s what I like the most about it.
(Man 1) I’m a student, but had some difficulty enjoying pansori, because I didn’t major in traditional music. But the commentaries helped me understand it better.
(Woman 3) We are on vacation from Guatemala. My children loved it and I hope to expose them to Korean culture more often so that they can feel proud of their Korean heritage.

Those who came to these pansori concerts left with a better understanding of this particular genre of Korean traditional music. Writers and literature professors who provided commentary on the pansori songs, along with the audience relating to the singers through chuimsae, certainly made pansori more accessible and familiar to the general public. Master singers who have strived for excellence all their lives are grateful that the audience recognized their hard work. The Deukeumjiseol concerts have brought pansori and Korean people closer together.