Music (樂)樂

The music of Silla is the samjuk (三竹), the samhyeon (三絃), the clapper, the great drum, song and dance. The dancers are two. They wear the banggak bokdu, a purple robe with great sleeves, the gongnan, a waist belt of red leather hung with gilded plaques, and black leather boots.

The samhyeon are, first the hyeongeum (玄琴), second the gayageum (加耶琴), third the bipa (琵琶). The samjuk are, first the daegeum (大笒), second the junggeum (中笒), third the sogeum (小笒).

The hyeongeum was made after the pattern of the geum (琴) of the music office of China.

Look into the Qin cao. It says, "Fuxi made the geum to cultivate the body and order the nature, and to turn them back to the truth of Heaven." It says again, "The length of the geum, three feet six inches and six tenths, is after the pattern of the three hundred and sixty-six days. Its breadth, six inches, is after the pattern of the six directions. The upper part of the pattern is called ji (池) — ji is water, and it speaks of its levelness — and the lower part is called bin (濱) — bin is to submit. It is broad in front and narrow behind, after the pattern of the high and the low. It is round above and square below, taking Heaven and Earth for its rule. The five strings are after the pattern of the five elements, and the great string is the ruler and the small string is the subject. King Wen and King Wu added two strings."

The Fengsu tong says again, "That the length of the geum is four feet five inches takes the four seasons and the five elements for its rule, and the seven strings take the seven stars for their rule."

Of the making of the hyeongeum, the Silla gogi tells it thus. At the first a man of Jin sent a seven-stringed geum to Goguryeo. The men of Goguryeo knew that it was an instrument of music, but they did not know its sounds or the way of playing it, and so they sought out a man of the country who could know its sounds and play it, and promised him a heavy reward.

At that time Wang Sanak, the second chancellor, kept its first shape but greatly altered the way it was made. He also composed more than a hundred pieces and played them. At that time a black crane came and danced, and so it was named the hyeonhakgeum (玄鶴琴). Afterward it was called only the hyeongeum.

A man of Silla, Okbogo, the son of (a character is missing)yeong of the rank of sachan, went into Unsangwon on Jirisan and learned the geum for fifty years. He himself made thirty pieces in a new mode and passed them to Songmyeongdeuk, and Songmyeongdeuk passed them to Master Gwigeum. The master too went into Jirisan and did not come out, and so the king of Silla feared that the way of the geum would be cut off and broken. He told Yunheung of the rank of ichan to find a means and have those sounds passed on to him, and at last he put the public affairs of Namwon in his charge.

When Yunheung had come to his office, he chose two bright young men, Anjang and Cheongjang. He sent them into the mountain to learn, and the master taught them, but what was hidden and fine in it he did not pass on. Yunheung went up with his wife and said, "Our king sent me to Namwon for nothing else than to have the master's art passed on. Three years have now gone by, and the master keeps something hidden and does not pass it on, and I have no way to report back." Yunheung lifted up the wine and his wife took the cup and walked on her knees, and only when they had done the rites fully and given their whole heart did he pass on the three pieces he had hidden, Pyopung and the rest.

Anjang passed them to his sons Geuksang and Geukjong, and Geukjong made seven pieces. After Geukjong those who made the geum their own calling were not one or two.

In the pieces that were made there are two modes. The first is pyeongjo, the second ujo, and together they are a hundred and eighty-seven pieces. Of the other sounds and the pieces left over, those that came down and can be set here are few, and all the rest were scattered and lost and cannot be put down in full.

The thirty pieces made by Okbogo are these. Sangwongok, one; Jungwongok, one; Hawongok, one; Namhaegok, two; Uiamgok, one; Noingok, seven; Jugamgok, two; Hyeonhapgok, one; Chunjogok, one; Chuseokgok, one; Osasikgok, one; Wonanggok, one; Wonhogok, six; Bimokgok, one; Ipsilsanggok, one; Yugokcheongseonggok, one; Gangcheonseonggok, one.

The seven pieces made by Geukjong are now lost.

The gayageum too was made taking for its rule the jaeng (箏) of the music office of China.

The Fengsu tong says, "The jaeng is a sound of Qin." The Shi ming says, "The jaeng has its strings strung high, and it rings out jaeng jaeng. The jaeng of the two provinces of Bing and Liang is shaped like the seul (瑟)." Fu Xuan says, "That it is round above is after the pattern of Heaven, and that it is level below is after the pattern of Earth. That it is hollow within is likened to the six directions, and the bridges of the strings are likened to the twelve months. This then is a vessel of benevolence and wisdom." Ruan Yu says, "The jaeng is six feet long, answering to the number of the pitches. It has twelve strings, after the pattern of the four seasons. The bridges are three inches high, after the pattern of the three powers."

The gayageum, though it differs a little from the jaeng in its make, is for the most part like it.

The Silla gogi says that King Gasil of the country of Gaya saw an instrument of Tang and made it. The king said, "The speech of the many countries is each different. How can their sounds be one?" And so he commanded Ureuk, a man of Seongnyeol-hyeon and a master of music, to make twelve pieces.

Afterward Ureuk, holding that his country would soon fall into disorder, took his instrument and went over to King Jinheung of Silla. The king received him and settled him at Gugwon, and then sent Juji and Gyego of the rank of daenama and Mandeok of the rank of daesa to have that art passed on to them.

When the three men had received eleven pieces, they said to one another, "These are crowded and licentious too, and they cannot be called elegant and correct." So they cut them down and made them into five pieces.

Ureuk was angry when he first heard of it, but when he had listened to those five kinds of sound he shed tears and sighed and said, "Joyful and yet not loose, sorrowful and yet not mournful. It may be called correct. Play it before the king."

The king heard it and was greatly pleased. An official who remonstrated offered his opinion and said, "This is the sound of Gaya, by which that country was ruined, and it is not fit to be taken up."

The king said, "The king of Gaya was licentious and disordered and destroyed himself. What fault has the music? The sages made music following the feelings of men and making them temperate. The order and disorder of a country do not come from the modes of sound." So he had it performed and made it the great music.

The gayageum has two modes. The first is harimjo, the second nunjukjo, and together they are a hundred and eighty-five pieces.

The twelve pieces made by Ureuk are, first Hagarado, second Sanggarado, third Bogi, fourth Dalgi, fifth Samul, sixth Mulhye, seventh Hagimul, eighth Sajagi, ninth Georyeol, tenth Sapalhye, eleventh Isa, twelfth Sanggimul.

The three pieces made by Imun are, first O (烏), second Seo (鼠), third Sun (鶉). (The character sa 赦 is not clear.)

The Fengsu tong says, "The bipa was made by musicians of a recent age, and where it arose is not known. It is three feet five inches long, taking Heaven and Earth and man and the five elements for its rule, and its four strings are after the pattern of the four seasons." The Shi ming says, "The bipa was first played on horseback among the barbarians. Pushing the hand forward is called bi (琵) and drawing the hand back is called pa (琶), and from this its name was made."

The hyangbipa is much the same as the make of Tang but differs a little, and it too began in Silla. Only, it is not known what man made it. Its sound has three modes. The first is gungjo, the second chilhyeonjo, the third bonghwangjo, and together they are two hundred and twelve pieces.

The samjuk too were made after the pattern of the jeo (笛) of Tang.

The Fengsu tong says, "The jeo was made by Qiu Zhong in the time of Emperor Wu of Han." But consider that Song Yu has the Di fu (笛賦), and Song Yu came before Han, so this saying may be wrong. Ma Rong says, "The double jeo of a recent age arose among the Qiang." He says again, "The jeo (笛) means to wash, for it washes away what is crooked and foul and brings it into what is elegant and correct. It is one foot long and has forty-seven holes."

The hyang samjuk too arose in Silla, but it is not known what man made them. The Gogi says that in the time of King Sinmun there was suddenly a small mountain in the Eastern Sea, shaped like the head of a turtle, and on it was one stalk of bamboo that split into two by day and joined into one by night. The king had it cut and made into a jeo, and named it Manpasik (萬波息). Though there is such a saying, it is strange and cannot be believed.

The jeo of the samjuk have seven modes. The first is pyeongjo, the second hwangjongjo, the third iajo, the fourth woljo, the fifth banseopjo, the sixth chuljo, the seventh junjo. The daegeum has three hundred and twenty-four pieces, the junggeum two hundred and forty-five pieces, the sogeum two hundred and ninety-eight pieces.

Hoe-ak and Sinyeol-ak were made in the time of King Yuri. Dora-ak was made in the time of King Talhae. Jia-ak was made in the time of King Pasa. Sanae-ak (also called Sinoe-ak) was made in the time of King Naehae. Gamu was made in the time of King Naemil. Usik-ak was made in the time of King Nulji. Dae-ak was made by Master Baekgyeol, a man of the time of King Jabi. Ganin was made by Ukgaeja of Cheonsang, a man of the time of King Jidaero. Miji-ak was made in the time of King Beopheung. Doryeongga was made in the time of King Jinheung. Nalhyeonin was made by Damsu, a man of the time of King Jinpyeong. Sanaegimul-ak was made by the band of Wonrang.

Naeji is the music of Ilsang-gun. Baeksil is the music of Amnyang-gun. Deoksanae is the music of Haseo-gun. Seongnamsanaedo is the music of Dongbeol-gun. Sajung is the music of Bugoe-gun. All these were made out of the delight of country people. Yet the sounds, and the number of the instruments, and the shape of the song and the dance, have not come down to later ages.

Only the Gogi tells it thus. In the ninth year of King Jeongmyeong he went to a new village, spread a feast and had music performed. For Gamu there were six gam, two gacheok and one mucheok. For Hasinyeolmu there were four gam, one geumcheok and two mucheok. For Sanaemu there were three gam, one geumcheok, two mucheok and two gacheok. For Hangimu there were three gam, one geumcheok and two mucheok. For Sangsinyeolmu there were three gam, one geumcheok, two mucheok and two gacheok. For Sogyeongmu there were three gam, one geumcheok, one mucheok and three gacheok. For Mijimu there were four gam, one geumcheok and two mucheok.

In the eighth year of King Aejang, when music was performed, Sanaegeum was performed for the first time. The four mucheok wore blue clothes, the one geumcheok wore red clothes, and the five gacheok wore clothes of many colors and held embroidered fans and all wore belts worked with gold thread. Next the Daegeum-mu (碓琴舞) was performed, and the mucheok wore red clothes and the geumcheok blue clothes. It is only so much, and the full of it cannot be told.

In the time of Silla the makers of music were all called cheok (尺).

In the poems of Choe Chiwon there are five pieces of the Hyangak japyeong, and they are set down here.

Geumhwan (金丸) "He turns his body and swings his arms and plays with the golden balls. The moon rolls and the stars float, and the eyes are full of the sight. Though there were Yiliao, how could he do better than this? Now I know that the sea where the whales live would still its waves."

Woljeon (月顚) "The shoulders rise high, the neck draws in, the hair stands up. A crowd of scholars with bared arms fight over the wine cups. The people all laugh when they hear the sound of the song. The banners of early evening hurry on the dawn."

Daemyeon (大面) "The face of golden color is the very man. He holds a beaded whip in his hand and sets the ghosts and spirits to work. With quick steps and slow steps he offers an elegant dance. He is just like a red phoenix dancing in the spring of Emperor Yao."

Sokdok (束毒) "Hair like tangled mugwort, a face of indigo, not like a man. He leads the troop into the courtyard and learns the dance of the luan bird. The drums beat dung dung and the wind is bleak. Running to the south and leaping to the north, there is no end of it."

Sanye (狻猊) "He crosses the flowing sands from far away and comes ten thousand li. His coat of fur is all worn out and he is covered with dust. Shaking his head and swinging his tail, he is tamed to a kindly virtue. How could his mighty spirit be the same as the skill of all the beasts?"

Of the music of Goguryeo the Tong dian tells it thus. The makers of music wear a cap of purple silk trimmed with the feathers of birds, a yellow robe with great sleeves, a belt of purple silk, wide-mouthed trousers, red leather boots, and black cords of five colors.

The dancers are four. They tie the topknot behind, bind the forehead with crimson, and trim it with gold earrings. Two of them wear a yellow skirt and jacket and red and yellow trousers. Two of them wear a red and yellow skirt and jacket and trousers, with the sleeves made very long, and black leather boots. They stand side by side two and two and dance.

For the music they use one tanjaeng, one gukjaeng, one wagonghu, one sugonghu, one bipa, one ohyeon, one uichwijeok, one saeng, one hoengjeok, one so, one sopillyul, one daepillyul, one dopipillyul, one yogo, one jaego, one cheomgo and one pae.

In the time of Empress Wu of the great Tang there were still twenty-five pieces, but now only one piece can be learned, and the clothing too has little by little decayed and fallen away and has lost its first look.

The Cefu yuangui says that in the music there are the five-stringed geum, the jaeng, the pillyul, the hoengchwi, the so, the drum and their kind, and that they blow reeds to go with the tunes.

Of the music of Baekje the Tong dian tells it thus. In the time of Emperor Zhongzong the makers of the music of Baekje died and were scattered, and in the Kaiyuan years Fan, the Prince of Qi, became Minister of Ceremonies and asked that it be set up again. For this reason much of its sound and its art is wanting.

The dancers are two. They wear a purple skirt and jacket with great sleeves, a jangbogwan, and leather shoes. Of the music there remain the jaeng, the jeok, the dopipillyul and the gonghu, and many of their instruments are the same as those of the inner land.

The Bei shi says that they have the music of the go, the gak, the gonghu, the jaeng, the u, the chi and the jeok.