Yecheon Tongmyeong Nongyo (Farmers’ Song of Tongmyeong, Yecheon)

A nongyo is a song sung by farmers to forget the fatigue of hard, busy labour and to raise their efficiency; it is also called a field song (deul-norae) or a farming song. Yecheon Tongmyeong Nongyo is a farmers' song sung every year by the farmers of Tongmyeong-ri, Yecheon-eup, Yecheon-gun, in Gyeongsangbuk-do, when transplanting rice seedlings, to relieve the exhaustion of the demanding labour; it is presumed to have originated in the mid-Joseon period. The repertoire includes "Abureisuna", sung while transplanting seedlings; "Doumso-sori", sung on coming out of the paddy once the transplanting is finished; "Aebeolmaegi-sori" and "Sangsadiya", sung while weeding the paddy; "Bangae-sori" and "Eiyong-sori", sung on coming out after the weeding is done; "Kaengmakungkungnose", sung on the way home; madangnonmaegi (a yard-weeding piece); and "Bongheya", a threshing song. There are also songs sung by women, such as "Samsamgi-norae" (Hemp-Spinning Song), "Beteul-norae" (Loom Song) and "Dohaettagi". A distinctive feature of Yecheon Tongmyeong Nongyo is that the seedling-transplanting and weeding songs are all slow and make heavy use of long, drawn-out notes, and that when the lead and response singers exchange verses, the end of the leading phrase and the beginning of the responding phrase are made to overlap in part, producing a duet-like effect. Yecheon Tongmyeong Nongyo has a rustic charm and an unaffected beauty, its melody and lyrics rooted in local, rural life.

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Where it is

Region

Yecheon, Gyeongbuk

Designation

National Intangible Heritage · 국가무형유산