Music is a very important part of anyone's life. This is still true when they pass away. There is music played at almost every funeral you will find around the world. I decided to research the music of traditional South Korean funerals, specifically that of rural parts of South Korea because with money and technology some tradition has been lost. Rural villages take charge of the funeral when someone in the village dies. The neighbors in the village join in to help and pay respects. These villages are very tight knit. They sing songs called Sangyŏ Sori. Sangyŏ sori are traditional South Korean folk song. The pallbearers are the ones that sing the song.
Korean Pallbearers
The pallbearers practice their call and response the night before moving the body. They practice once at midnight, 2 o'clock and 4 o'clock. This practice is known as Changmaji or Malmaeginun.
The song incorporates ideas from Confucianism , Buddhism, and Shamanism. The song is supposed to instruct enlightenment in the person that has passed away.
The 4 parts of Sangyŏ Sori
The first part is the prologue. This is sung during the departure. It is sung to express grief of the soul leaving the home village. This is very meaningful because the village tends to be small so it is a big impact when someone passes away.
Start at 1:30
The second part is is the processional. The processional is sung on the way to grave.
The second part is is the processional. The processional is sung on the way to grave.
The video is partially the prologue and partially the processional.
The 3rd part is when the tempo starts to increase while climbing the hill and approaching the gravesite.
The final part is the song that is sung as the dirt is stomped into the burial.
Start at 0:45
The song is both ritualistic and and a work song. It helps distract from the hard work that the pallbearers are doing so it is easier to climb up the hill. Showing that music has many different purposes. Like I was saying in the beginning this is specific to rural parts of South Korea. Modern funerals in Korean cities are very similar to those of the US and other developed countries across the globe much of the tradition has disappeared unfortunately. Although there is still music that is played. As music can bring us together in all situations and let us let out emotions.
Cited
Kwon, Oh-sung. “Melodic Structure of Korean Funeral Procession Songs.” Yearbook for Traditional Music, vol. 15, 1983, pp. 59–70. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/768642. Accessed 26 Sep. 2022.
It was interesting to read about how funerals are different within South Korea. It's also interesting that the song has ideas from other religions.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the exposure to a new cultures ritual practices. I really enjoy how you can find some similarities in how even the most different of cultures can have when it involves events like some ones passing. I wonder how exactly different cultures (like the difference in Indonesia and Germany) do their celebrations of life/funerals.
ReplyDeleteHello Caden, I found this very interesting and enjoyed the music in the videos that you posted. I enjoyed the video too.
ReplyDelete