Late Joseon era philosopher and scientist Hong Dae-yong loved music and enjoyed playing the geomungo. He is known to have developed a new playing technique for a musical instrument called “yanggeum” that was introduced to Korea from China. Writer Park Ji-won, known for his travelogue “Yeolha Ilgi열하일기” and a close friend of Hong, was invited to a small concert held at Hong’s house one summer night. Park was so impressed with the performance that he documented it.

 

When Hong Dae-yong mixed drinks, Kim Eok김억 reciprocated with gold,

And Gugong국옹 took off his hat and sang. 

When the night grew deep and clouds gathered from all sides,

The hot air dissipated for a while and the sound of music became even clearer. 

People to the right and left kept their silence. 

It was as if a trainee was watching the god of all five organs

And as if a dead Buddhist monk understood his past life.

When Gugong sings, he takes off all his clothes and acts as if there’s no one around.

 

His writing describes the silence that falls on the audience as they immerse themselves in the music. Let’s listen to the piece titled “Sangnyeong Mountain상령” with Lee Oh-gyu on the geomungo, Kim Sang-joon on the daegeum, and Kim Gye-hee on the saenghwang.

Music 1: Sangnyeong Mountain/ Geomungo by Lee Oh-gyu, Saenghwang by Kim Gye-hee, Daegeum by Kim Sang-joon

Summer in the old days must have been harder to endure, as there were no fans or air conditioners. It was a scholars’ duty to read books and discuss politics and philosophy even when they’re with friends, but they probably couldn’t have focused on their studies on sweltering summer days and they would have gotten even more frustrated talking about politics. Hong Dae-yong arranged a cozy concert in his home and enjoyed it with his friends. This musical event would have been a pleasant retreat from the heat. Park Ji-won apparently enjoyed the concert so much that he compared the experience to the moment of enlightenment. While the noblemen and scholars relied on music to survive through hot summer days, what would common people have done to overcome the heat? Ordinary Koreans could hardly make ends meet despite working all day long. But even they couldn’t have worked through the heat wave or they would have fallen ill. So, they wisely decided to take a break from work and rest for a while. During the break, women in the southern regions filled water urns and placed a gourd scoop on top of it to turn it into a drum. They would play the makeshift drum and sing to the beat. People would take turns singing a verse or two, giving them a chance to de-stress and recoup enough energy to work again. Let’s listen to “Dungdeonggi Taryeong” performed by Jo Gong-rye and a chorus. 

Music 2: Dungdeonggi Taryeong/ Sung by Jo Gong-rye

One of the summertime pleasures in Korea was catching fish in the river and making porridge or soup. Among the fast-paced songs passed down in the Seoul and Gyeonggi Province regions is titled “Cloudy Days in June and July,” which is about a man out fishing in the river. The song describes the man going fishing all by himself. He wanted to deliver the fish to his family as soon as he caught them, but there was no one to take the catch to his family. But then he saw a child from his village passing by and asked him to take the fish to his wife and tell her to make a spicy and sweet stew with zucchini and peppers. The disheveled child opened his eyes wide and gave the following answer.

Our fates are so unfortunate that we work as servants for other families.

At dawn we wake up and chop cedar trees in the morning twice or thrice.

During the day we farm and in the evening we make ropes 

And late at night we study the alphabet. 

Given this child servant’s busy, hard life, he is not likely to deliver the fish unless he gets a few as a fee. Let’s conclude this episode with “Cloudy Days in June and July” sung by Lee Hee-moon. 

Music 3: Cloudy Days in June and July/ Sung by Lee Hee-moon