Tomorrow is Dano, May 5^th of the lunar calendar. This traditional holiday used to be the day of remembering a loyal minister in ancient China. Qu Yuan, a government official of the ancient state of Chu was framed by his enemies and banished for committing treason. In exile, he tried to prove his innocence by committing suicide in the Milou River. People held memorial services since then to remember his loyalty and death, which happened to fall on the fifth day of the fifth month. One of the events that had originated from this day is dragon boat racing, which symbolized the common people’s effort to recover Qu Yuan’s body from the river. There is also a tradition of throwing zongzi, sticky rice balls wrapped in lotus leaves, in the water to keep the fish from feeding on the minister’s body. 

But Korean Dano is different. Dano is said to be the day with the strongest yang energy. It is also a time when farmers enjoyed a bit of rest after rice planting, a perfect timing to hold a festival to wish for a bountiful harvest. The Gangneung Dano Festival the most famous one of them all is even inscribed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. This iconic festival combines Confucian ceremonies, shamanistic rituals, and folk plays, bringing together people from all walks of life. People start preparing for the holiday by making wine to be used at the Dano festival on April 5^th by the lunar calendar, one month before Dano, and holding a shamanistic ritual at Daegwallyeong대관령 on April 15^th. The song people sing as they come down from the mountain pass is “Yeongsanhong영산홍.” Here’s gugak group Anaya singing “Yeongsanhong.” 

Yeongsanhong / Sung by Anaya

The song you heard was a modernized rendition of traditional “Yeongsanhong.” Yeongsanhong, the royal azalea native to Korea. The song came to have such a title because a long line of red torches coming down the mountain in the dark seemed to resemble the red flowers. 

On Dano, women were allowed to go outside of the confines of their homes and wash their hair in the river or ride the swings. This holiday is said to have made many romantic relationships over the centuries and one of the most well-known couples was Lee Mong-ryong이몽룡 and Seong Chun-hyang성춘향. Lee Mong-ryong was out enjoying a break from his studies on Dano and spotted the lovely Chun-hyang riding a swing. Mong-ryong sent his manservant, Bang-ja방자, to arrange a meeting with Chun-hyang, but she refused and asked Mong-ryong to come himself. The song we’re going to listen next is a Gyeonggi folksong titled “Sochunhyangga소춘향가.”  In pansori “Chunhyangga춘향가,” Chun-hyang rejected Mong-ryong’s invitation but in “Sochunhyangga,” the girl tells him where she lives. Her house is just as beautiful as the girl herself, surrounded by tall bamboo trees with a charming gazebo built next to a pine tree. Let’s listen to Chae Su-hyun singing “Sochunhyangga.” 

Sochunhyangga / Sung by Chae Su-hyun

Coming up next is a song titled “Chucheonsa추천사,” written by gayageum virtuoso Hwang Byung-ki황병기. Meaning a song for riding a swing, “Chucheonsa” was originally a poem by Seo Jeong-ju서정주 which described Chun-hyang’s desire to escape from all the social restrictions and be free. 

Some of the lines from the song go, “Hyang-dan향단, push the swing as if you’re pushing a boat out to the sea. I can’t go like the moon heading toward the west. So, push me like the wind that lifts the waves, Hyang-dan.” Today’s “Chucheonsa” is sung by Kang Kwon-soon accompanied by Lee Ji-young playing the 17-string gayageum.

Chucheonsa / Sung by Kang Kwon-soon, gayageum by Lee Ji-young.