The Christmas holiday celebrated all over the world is just around the corner. Christianity was introduced to the country much longer ago than the period locals generally know. In the 1950s, a stone cross was excavated from the Buddhist temple ground of Bulguksa in Gyeongju, a representative historical site of the Silla Dynasty. Even a statue of bodhisattva embracing a baby like the Virgin Mary was unearthed in the area.

Historical evidence strongly suggests that the religion must have been introduced to the country at least 1,500 years ago. At the time, it was Nestorianism, a denomination of ancient Christianity, which was introduced to the country via China. But the religion had been forgotten by the people for a long time.

The Western religion was reintroduced to the country in the late 1800s, during late Joseon era. Currently, one quarter of the nation’s population believes in Christianity. Nevertheless, despite its long history and the large number of Christians in the country, only a handful of church hymns are based on traditional melodies or played with traditional musical instruments.

There are some gugak musicians who have been making continuous efforts to promote the religious tunes played with traditional instruments. For the first piece of music on the show, we have “Look at Jesus” sung and played by Korean classical musicians Lee Seul-gi and Lee Ha-nui who are sisters.

Look at Jesus / Gayageum, Song Lee Seul-gi, Lee Ha-nui

Korean classical musician Lee Ha-nui is better known to the public as an actress and the titleholder of a South Korean beauty pageant. But she majored in the gayageum at the Gugak National High School and Seoul National University. Her older sister Lee Seul-gi also graduated from the same high school and university and had been a member of the KBS Gugak Orchestra. But these days, she is expanding her scope of activities as a soloist.

The sisters’ mother is master Mun Jae-suk who has been designated as an Important Intangible Cultural Heritage No. 23 and holder of gayageum sanjo and byeongchang. Gayageum sanjo was first founded by master Kim Chang-jo in the late Joseon era. But as time passed, the genre diversified into various schools. As a granddaughter of master Kim Chang-jo, Mun also took lessons from another gayageum sanjo master, Kim Juk-pa.

Since then, Mun has been striving to recover forgotten sanjo or folk pungryu tunes of her masters. That’s why Mun taught her two daughters the Korean zither gayageum and byeongchang. She has been in the forefront of developing Christian melodies based on Korean traditional music, gugak.

Now with her two daughters who have risen to fame, master Mun formed a family group called “Irang” and the three gugak musicians have been staging performances together once in a while. Although they hardly get together due to their hectic schedules, they become one when playing music. For the second piece of music on the show, let’s listen to “Happy Gayageum” played by master Mun and her two daughters - Seul-gi and Ha-hui.

Happy Gayageum / Gayageum Mun Jae-suk, Lee Seul-gi, Lee Ha-nui

Gayageum sanjo master Mun Jae-suk is currently a professor at Ewha Womans’ University and has been contributing to training aspiring gugak musicians. But among the three, Lee Seul-gi is most active with various performances on stage.

She also learned how to play the ongryugeum, a musical instrument from North Korea, and has been devoted to composing songs by reinterpreting old tunes. Her album featured pieces reflecting her love toward God and her faith. Hopefully such love spreads to more people so that Christianity also incorporates traditional melodies and rhythms.

Finally on the show, we have “Dunggeudaedangsil” by Lee Seul-gi.

Dungeudaedangsil / Song Lee Seul-gi