A Confucian scholar named Jo Su-sam조수삼 wrote about meeting a peculiar haegeum해금 player when he was just a five- or six-year-old boy in the late Joseon period. The haegeum player was actually an old beggar who played his haegeum in return for food. The old musician was conscientious enough to offer his talent instead of begging for free food. What was peculiar about the old man was that when he was about to play a piece, he would ask his instrument, “Hey, haegeum, why don’t you play us a song?” and the haegeum would play as requested. The instrument was able to render into music many different narratives, such as a tale of an old couple getting indigestion from eating too much soybean porridge or a squirrel running under the clay urns or a bandit fleeing from the law enforcement. How magical would the instrument have appeared to the impressionable boy! But the amazement doesn’t end there. When Jo Su-sam turned 60 years old, he met the old beggar once again, looking exactly like the day they had met 55 years ago and playing the haegeum in return for food. Jo Su-sam ended his record marveling that the old man must be over 100 years old. What is more interesting is that there were likely quite a few haegeum-playing beggars as recent as the late 20^th century. Here is a recording of such a song “Aenggeumi Taryeong앵금이타령” taped in Nosan, Chungcheongnam-do Province in 1993. Today’s version is played by haegeum virtuoso Park Byung-ki. 

Aenggeumi Taryeong / Sung and played by Park Byung-ki

MC: Confucian scholar Jo Su-sam wrote a book titled “Chujaegi’I” 추재기이, a collection of stories about common people with special talents. The story about an old beggar who plays the haegeum is an example of an ordinary person with an extraordinary skill. Here is another story from the book, this time about a singer. The main character of the story is a Mr. Sohn who is blind. In the Joseon period, blind people made a living by telling fortunes or reciting the Buddhist scriptures. Mr. Sohn wasn’t a good fortuneteller, but he liked to sing. He sang not ordinary folk songs, but classical gagok pieces usually sung to entertain the nobles. He would sit near a busy street and sing. It was told that whenever he sang, people would mill around him and coins would rain down on him. Once he made 100 coins, he would leave the spot without a moment of hesitation. One of the gagok pieces he sang had the following lyrics. 

A pot that cooks automatically without lighting a fire,

A healthy horse that fattens without eating feed,

A woman who weaves well,

A kettle where wine flows like spring water,

A black cow that bears calves freely.

I would want for nothing more if I had these five things.

That Mr. Sohn sure would have liked such things. Here’s David DQ Lee singing male gagok “Soyong.”

Soyong / Sung by David DQ Lee

MC: There is also a story about a lame young beggar from Tongyong in Jo Su-sam’s book. He had a miserable life. His brother disappeared when he was ten years old and became blind after crying his eyes out for days. After his parents passed away, he traveled all over the country in search of his missing brother. The only way the young blind boy could survive was by begging. But he drew people’s attention by singing a song that nobody had heard before, a song that likened birds to people with different jobs, which became the origin of “Sataryeong새타령” or “Bird Song.” This song was sung until recently, although the words have been modified over the years. It is also better known under the title of “Ddonggrangttaeng똥그랑땡” because that word appears often in the refrain. Today we will listen to master singer Park Han-jong singing “Ddonggrangttaeng” and AUX “Bird Song” before saying goodbye.   

Ddonggrangttaeng / Sung by Park Han-jong

Bird Song / Sung by AUX