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KOREAN STUDIES REVIEW
The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Korean Poetry, edited by Peter H. Lee. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002. 304 pp. (ISBN: 0-2311-1113-4. paper)
reviewed by Grace E. Koh
SOAS, University of London[This review first appeared in Acta Koreana, 7.2 (July 2004): 193-201. Acta Koreana is published by Academia Koreana of Keimyung University.]
The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Korean Poetry is a welcome addition to existing anthologies of Korean poetry in English translation. The present volume is one of the most comprehensive collections of its kind, with a wide-ranging selection of traditional poetic forms accompanied by informative notes. The contributors are Chi-gyu Kim, Carolyn So, David R. McCann, Kevin O’Rourke, Peter H. Lee, Pori Park, Richard J. Lynn, Richard Rutt, and Wen Hsia-min. While a number of translations were taken and revised from previous publications by Richard Rutt, David McCann, Peter H. Lee, Kevin O’Rourke, and Kim Jong Gil (Chi-gyu Kim), many, evidently, were commissioned and prepared especially for this volume.
The anthology is divided into four parts: Classical Poetry, Poetry in Chinese, Folk Songs, and Shamanist Narrative Songs. According to the preface, the compilation is based on the first of the five-volume Han’guk munhak ch’ongsŏ (Korean Literature Series) published in 1997. The series in Korean were edited by five scholars at Seoul National University, of which the first volume on classical poetry (Kojŏn siga) was edited by Kwŏn Tuhwan. The Korean edition on classical poetry contains an extensive range of works from the four major genres of native Korean poetry: hyangga, Koryŏ songs, sijo, and kasa. The genres presented in the “Classical Poetry” section are by and large those characterized by one or two of the following features: songs composed in the vernacular, performed, transmitted orally, and recorded long after their creation; verses written or transcribed in Korean, as opposed to literary Chinese. Poems that fall under one or both of these categories are sometimes referred to as ‘vernacular’ or ‘native’ poetry, alluding to the idea that they embody ‘national’ identity in one way or another. While there is a widespread tendency to set this group apart from the corpus of poems composed in classical Chinese (hansi), the present anthology of ‘Traditional Korean Poetry’ includes a section on poetry in literary Chinese: “for poetry in Korea, regardless of the language used, was considered the pinnacle of literary art, especially poetry in Chinese, which every educated member of society studied and wrote” (p. xv). In addition, the book also contains sections on folk songs and shamanist narrative songs.
Each section includes concise introductory notes that discuss the form, style, and popular themes of each genre. They also provide information on the historical background and context surrounding the works, as well as how the works were produced, performed, and transmitted; the occasions for which they were composed and performed; their function and purpose. The poems are arranged chronologically within the sections so that the reader may observe how each genre developed and evolved over time. Where relevant, annotations are inserted to provide details on historical references, and offer alternative readings and translations of passages.
The first part, “Classical Poetry”, is divided into six sections: Hyangga, Koryŏ Songs, Songs of Flying Dragons, Sijo, Sasŏl sijo, and Kasa. There is a short general introduction which discusses the tradition of oral songs in Korea, and the musical and performative nature of classical vernacular poetic forms. It also outlines the types of people who were associated with the performance, distribution, and transmission of vernacular poetry, and concludes with a note alluding to the problematic nature of translating songs from the Silla and Koryŏ periods.
The first genre that is introduced in “Classical Poetry” is the hyangga. The term ‘hyangga’ signifies ‘native songs’, and applies to a group of poems that date from the Silla and Koryŏ periods which were transcribed in the hyangch’al orthographic system — a system which used Chinese ideograms phonetically and semantically in irregular fashion to represent Korean sounds (p. 7). Twenty-five pieces of hyangga survive today, of which fourteen are preserved in the Samguk yusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms, 1285) and eleven in the Kyunyŏ chŏn (Life of Kyunyŏ, 1075) within prose narratives. All of the twenty-five extant works are presented in this anthology.
The second section in “Classical Poetry” contains sixteen Koryŏ songs, commonly referred to as Koryŏsogyo or pyŏlgok in Korean. As explained in the preamble, this form is marked by recurrent refrains, often meaningless ones that are likely to be onomatopoeic imitations of instrumental sounds and interludes, which function as a textual element that brings together the independent units (stanzas, parts) in chain verse (p. 29). Deriving from the folk and musical tradition, Koryŏ songs were transmitted orally and later transcribed in Korean in musical notation books from the mid-Chosŏn period. The selection chosen for this volume is diverse in form and theme. There are poems composed by King Yejong (r. 1105–1122, “Dirge for Two Generals”) and King Injong’s courtier, Chŏng Sŏ (1151–1170, “Regret”); popular songs including “Ode to the Seasons”, “Song of P’yŏngyang”, and “Song of Green Mountain;” a choral dance piece performed at harvest festivals and exorcism rites, “Song of Ch’ŏyong;” and shorter folk songs such as “Maternal Love”, “Song of the Pestle”, “Song of the Pigeon”, and “Song of Chŏngŭp.”
The third section is dedicated to the monumental Chosŏn eulogy, Songs of Flying Dragons (Yongbiŏch’ŏn ka, 1445 – 1447), of which 35 of the 125 cantos appear in this anthology. The Songs was compiled by scholars in the Hall of Worthies (Chiphyŏnjŏn, Academy of Confucian scholars) at the order of King Sejong (r. 1418 – 1450). According to the original preface to the Songs, the purpose of its creation was to praise the ancestors of the king and the founding of the Yi dynasty. It also appears that the work was assigned to try out the new Korean writing system (han’gŭl) invented under King Sejong’s direction. The introductory comments to the translations briefly outline the p rocess of the preparation, compilation, completion, and distribution of the work that took place between 1437 and 1447. The themes and content by groups of cantos are summarised, leading to a further discussion on the values and talents associated with kingship and statesmanship during the time of the work’s creation. The Songs represent not only the literary accomplishment of the compilers, but also the court’s stance on maintaining and advocating the importance of public doctrine and virtuous deeds in fifteenth-century Chosŏn society. As the editor points out, “the Songs combine poetry and historiography to present the orthodox view of recent history” (p. 57).
The fourth and fifth sections cover works of the sijo genre: sijo and sasŏl sijo. Sijo is a generic term assigned to a song in three lines, each containing four metric segments of three or four (in some cases, five) syllables. In the case of sasŏl sijo, usually more than two metric segments are added in each line. While the majority of sijo date from the fifteenth century, its derivative form, sasŏl sijo, became popular from the eighteenth century. The selection of sijo by fifty-two poets and twelve anonymous pieces presented in the collection embodies wide-ranging themes and topics that were popularly explored through this Korean poetic form: from the veneration of exalted statesmen and martyrs to the portrayal of humble recluses and Buddhist monks; examples of social virtues and achievements, and the pleasures of rural retirement; love, often expressed through the sorrow of parting and yearning; time, through depictions of nature and retrospection. As the editor well puts it, the genre is “a form evolved to express one’s view of the world in a simple but sensitive way. Indeed, in a well-wrought sijo one never feels that an emotion suffers the constriction of form” (p. 70). The colorful selection of sasŏl sijo by three poets and nineteen anonymous songs attests to the emergence and development of new rhetorical style and patterns derived from colloquial speech (including taboo words and expressions) that characterize this form. Many of the poems portray images of ordinary life and exemplify the spirit of indulgence in humorous fashion: “Bringing a new dimension to the form, sasŏl sijo exude worldliness and the capacity for laughter” (p. 147).
The last section of “Classical Poetry” presents works of kasa which emerged as a poetic genre around the mid-fifteenth century. This group can be described as extended songs or narrative poetry consisting of linked pairs of lines. One of the features that distinguish kasa from earlier or contemporaneous forms is the genre’s narrative element — the songs relate accounts often with a linear time and spatial sequence (p. 161). The subject matters of the works in this volume include paying homage to the Buddha Amitābha (“Song of the Pure Land”); commemoration of the seasons and nature (“In Praise of Spring” and “Little Odes on Mount Star” ); the anguish of longing (“Song of Longing” ) ; battle and peace with reference to the Hideyoshi Invasions of 1592 – 1598 (“Song of Peace” and “Lament on the Water”). Anonymous pieces such as “Song of a Foolish Wife” and “Song of an Old Maid” deride human folly and imprudence, and bemoan established social codes and expectations.
“Poetry in Chinese” presents poems from as early as Silla (Ch’oe Ch’iwŏn’s “On a Rainy Autumn Night”) up to the late Chosŏn period (Hwang Hyŏn’s “On Killing Myself”). While the majority of the thirty-five poets whose works appear in this section are well-known literati officials from Koryŏ and Chosŏn, the collection also includes poems by women ( Lady Sin Saimdang, Hwang Chini, and Hŏ Nansŏrhŏn), Buddhist monks (National Preceptor T’aego; Great Masters Sŏsan, Chŏnggwan, and Chunggwan), and obscure/commoner poets (Nŭngun, Hwang O, and Ch’oe Kinam).
The last two parts of the anthology offer what the editor describes as “examples of orature”: folk songs and shamanist narrative songs. The preamble to “Folk Songs” outlines the features related to their documentation and function that distinguish this group from other forms of extended verse. While some folk song lyrics, like other vernacular lyrical forms, were recorded earlier in music books, the systematic collection and compilation of these songs took place during the twentieth century. Among the three types of folk songs, work songs typically serve to synchronize the rhythm of communal chores, and to alleviate the weariness and tedium arising from daily tasks and labour; play songs function as instructions or accompaniments to recreational activities; and songs without function provide amusement and entertainment (pp. 265 – 266). The rhythmic pace, simple language, and uninhibited expression of commonplace sentiments which characterize this body of lyrics are exemplified in the three works that appear in this volume: “Transplanting Song”, “Wretched Married Life”, and “Chŏngsŏn Arirang.”
In the final part, we are presented with two shamanist narrative songs: “Song of Entertaining the Holy One” and “The Abandoned Princess.” The first song is based on a shamanist myth relating the extraordinary conception and birth of three sons by a young maiden after a strange encounter with a monk of heavenly origins. There are allegedly fifty different versions of this song, all of which share the same central motif. The version recounted in this anthology claims to be from the northeastern region, Kanggye in Northern P’yŏngan province, and the translation is based on the song as it appears in Sŏ Taesŏk and Pak Kyŏngjin, eds, Sŏsa muga (1996). The cited source of the second song, “The Abandoned Princess” (also known as “The Seventh Princess”), is Akamatsu Chijō and Akiba Takashi’s Chōsen fuzoku no kenkyū (1937–1938), narrated by the shaman Pak Kyŏngjae in Osan, Kyŏnggi province. “The Abandoned Princess” recounts the story of a princess who becomes a shamanist deity of healing and consolation after reviving her dead parents. According to the introductory notes, “Song of Entertaining the Holy One” is usually recited to entertain the spirits during a major shamanist ceremony, while “The Abandoned Princess” is performed to send off the soul of the deceased to the netherworld (p. 283–284, 297).
The volume also includes an index of authors with succinct biographical notes, an index of first lines (in English translation), and a bibliography of related sources in English. On a minor note, while the indexes and bibliography are useful, Romanized transcriptions of the Korean verse in the index of first lines and a select bibliography of Korean sources might have been helpful for readers wishing to locate the original works.
The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Korean Poetry is an eclectic and inclusive compilation of vernacular songs, eulogy in Korean, poetry in Chinese, and shamanist narrative verse which attests to the diverse range of Korean poetic forms (both written and spoken, high and low) embodying multifarious themes. The selection offers representative examples of different genres, and the accompanying notes elucidate the distinguishing features of each generic form. Overall, the translations are sensitively rendered and eloquently poetic. The volume is an indispensable textbook for students of Korean literature and essential reading for anyone interested in classical Korean poetry.
Citation:
Koh, Grace E. 2006
Review of The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Korean Poetry, edited by Peter H. Lee (2001)
Korean Studies Review 2006, no. 12
Electronic file: http://koreaweb.ws/ks/ksr/ksr06-12.htm