Paju Geumsalli Folk Song

Paju lies in the north-western part of Gyeonggi Province, and its proximity to Hwanghae Province has shaped a distinctive local culture influenced by that neighbouring region. In Paju's Geumsalli area, a variety of rice-farming songs and funeral rite songs have been handed down, and these were together designated as intangible heritage under the name Paju Geumsalli Folk Song. Eight types of rice-farming songs and three types of funeral rite songs are preserved in the Geumsalli area. When growing rice, seeds are first sown in a seedbed, and once the seedlings have grown enough they are pulled up and transplanted into the paddy. Because the work of pulling up seedlings from the bed is called 'jjeotda', the singers use the Jjeonnesori, which has the refrain 'jjeonne'. For the transplanting itself, they sing the Hanasori, whose refrain counts out 'hana, dul' (one, two) as the seedlings are planted one by one. Weeding the paddies begins about a month after transplanting: the first weeding, aekkim, was done with a hoe, while the second (dubeol) and third (samdong) weedings were done by hand. In this area, weeders also sang two popular Gyeonggi folk songs, Yangsando and Bangahtaryeong, as weeding songs. The version of Yangsando used here, being the Yangsando sung while weeding the paddy, is called Nongimyangsando. Other songs sung include the Heirisori, with the meaningless vocables 'e ehe eheoi eoheoya ehe ei heoi eoheo eoheoya' as its refrain; the Sangsasori, with the refrain 'nelellel sangsadoya'; and the Momdolsori, with the refrain 'eiyeora momdol' - 'momdol' carrying the meaning of turning one's body to weed the paddy. Once the weeding is finished, they sing the Uyasori to drive away birds, expressing the wish to ward off misfortune and pray for a bountiful harvest. Among the funeral rite songs are the bier-carrying songs Eogeorineomchasori and Eoheosori, and the Dalgusori, sung while tamping down the earth of the grave. During hoedaji (the lime-mixing burial process), weeding songs such as Bangahtaryeong, Sangsasori and Uyasori are also brought in alongside the Dalgusori - a common practice throughout the Gyeonggi region. Today, performance and transmission activities are actively carried out, centred on the Paju Geumsalli Farming Song Preservation Society and Chu Gyo-jeon, the holder of the Paju Geumsalli Folk Song.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Paju, Gyeonggi

Designation

Provincial Intangible Heritage · 시도무형유산