Deulmal Communal Labour Song

Deulmal Communal Labour Song is a work song related to rice farming that has been handed down in the Moksang-dong area of Daedeok-gu. Moksang-dong, which lies on broad fields where the Gapcheon Stream meets the Geumgang River, has fertile soil and has long been a centre of farming, so farming songs were widely sung there. Because transplanting rice seedlings and weeding the paddies required intensive labour, communal work teams called dure were organised at the village level in the past. When a dure was formed for the busy farming season, one person from each household usually took part; with around 80 households living in Deulmal, its dure was a large labour organisation of some 80 people. When setting out to work in the paddies, the dure members would all gather first on the village's open ground, then head to the fields led by a farming flag and playing pungjang, a form of percussion music. Once work began, all the dure members sang the response verses in a rousing voice, following the lead singer's call. This rice-farming song rang out across the whole field, and even people listening from afar were said to be stirred to excitement. It was through this very exhilaration in the song that the hardship of the work could be overcome. Farming songs of this kind are a precious cultural asset embodying the collective exhilaration of people in the past. Deulmal Communal Labour Song won the President's Award at the 37th National Folk Arts Competition. Its representative songs include 'Mungchise', sung while bundling seedlings, 'Sangsa Sori', sung while transplanting seedlings, and 'Gin Sangsa Sori' and 'Jajin Sangsa Sori', sung while weeding the paddies, along with others such as Matdure Sori and Dorikkaejil Sori (a flailing song). The holder Go Seok-geun has a voice that is somewhat rough but firm and resonant; he possesses the fine vocal quality and command of the lyrics required of a lead singer, and shows outstanding skill in choosing lyrics and fitting them to the melody.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Daedeok-gu, Daejeon

Designation

Provincial Intangible Heritage · 시도무형유산