In the Joseon period, there was a government program which selected musically talented people from the blind population and employed them as court musicians. It was a Joseon-era welfare program for the handicapped people. Back in the old days, visually people were largely relegated to fortune-telling or reciting Buddhist scriptures. These jobs were quite popular among the visually impaired people because they were not as strictly etiquette-bound as court musicians and enjoyed better pay. Scholar Park Yeon박연, who was in charge of musical projects during King Sejong’s reign, argued in favor of maintaining this government program. He wrote, “Kings of the old hired all blind men as musicians and instructed them to play music and sing songs. Because, although they are blind, they are extremely sensitive to sound, and no talent should be wasted.” He claimed that the wages for the blind court musicians should be raised so that they didn’t have to worry about making a decent living and focus only on music. Upon hearing this plea, King Sejong ordered pertinent agencies to discuss this matter in detail. Such attention to the welfare of blind court musicians allowed the program to continue until the end of Joseon Dynasty. The first music piece for this week is titled “Gyemyeongarak Dodeuri” with Lee Se-hwan playing the geomungo.

Music 1: Gyemyeongarak Dodeuri/ Geomungo by Lee Se-hwan 

November 4^th is the Day of Braille in Korea, which marks the creation of Korean Braille. As mentioned earlier in the show, blind men in Joseon largely worked as fortune tellers. It was important for them to tell the day’s fortune by interpreting the letters written on bamboo strips, but it was difficult for them to read and write complex Chinese characters engraved on those strips. During the Japanese colonial period, Park Du-seong박두성, a teacher for the blind students at Jesaengwon, the national health institution and forerunner of the Seoul National School for the Blind, proclaimed the Korean Braille system on November 4^th, 1926, after seven years of research. It was followed by the publication of the Korean Braille textbook. Given that such achievements came during the colonial period, when the Japanese banned the use of Korean language and alphabets, his endeavor must have required great courage as well as strenuous effort. The visually impaired people of those years must have been ecstatic to have their own Braille system to read and write Korean. It must have been just as wonderful as when Simcheong’s blind father regained his eyesight after being reunited with his daughter. Park Du-seong’s dedication could be compared to Simchong’s sacrifice that restored vision for all blind people in Joseon. Here’s Kim Yul-hee singing the part from pansori “Simcheongga” where her father is able to see again. It is followed by Jo Ella singing the part where all blind people regain their sight. 

Music 2:  Parts from pansori “Simcheongga”/ Sung by Kim Yul-hee and Jo Ella

There are quite a few notable blind musicians, even among gugak musicians in Korea. Today we will hear master singer Lee Hee-wan이희완 as the show’s last piece. It is said that many of Lee Hee-wan’s ancestors were artists and clowns. His grandfather was the most famous rope walker of his day as well as an accomplished singer and gayageum player, and drummer Lee Jeong-eop이정업 was his uncle. His family environment encouraged him to listen to gramophone or radio to learn folk songs. When Park was young, musicians were disdained and his parents were not musical at all, so he didn’t plan on becoming a professional musician. But his talent was passed down from way up and he started studying music later in his life. Let’s listen to Lee Hee-wan singing Gyeonggi경기 folk song “Cheongchunga청춘가” or “Song of Youth.”

Music 3: Song of Youth/ Sung by Lee Hee-wan