Hyangga () were poems written using Chinese characters in a system known as hyangchal during the Unified Silla and early Goryeo periods of Korean history. Only a few have survived: 14 in the Samguk yusa (late 6th to 9th centuries) and 11 by the monk Kyunyeo (10th century).
Features Written using Hanja in a system known as hyangchal the hyangga are believed to have been first written in the Goryeo period, as the style was already beginning to fade. A collection of hyangga known as the Samdaemok () was compiled in the late 9th century by Wihong, the prime minister of Queen Jinseong of Silla, and the monk Taegu-Hwasang, but was since lost. The surviving hyangga consist of 14 recorded in the Samguk Yusa and 11 in the Gyunyeojeon by Kyunyeo.
The name hyangga is formed from the character for "back-country" or "rural village" () – which was often used by the Silla people to describe their nation, specifically to distinguish these distinctly Silla poems from "pure" Chinese literature – and the character for "song" (). These poems are accordingly sometimes known as "Silla songs."
Eighteen of the 25 surviving hyangga reflect Buddhist themes. Another dominant theme was death. Many of the poems are eulogies to monks, to warriors, and to family members — in one case, a sister. The Silla period, especially before unification in 668, was a time of warfare; the hyangga capture the sorrow of mourning for the dead while Buddhism provided answers about where the dead go and the afterlife.
Structure The structure of hyangga is not completely understood. The only contemporaneous reference is a comment by Hyŏngnyŏn Chŏng, the compiler of Gyunyeo's biography that "their poetry is written in Chinese in penta- and heptasyllabic lines, [while] our songs are written in the vernacular in three gu and six myeong". What is meant by "three gu and six myeong" remains unresolved; Peter H. Lee interprets it as "three-line stanzas of six phrases each", while Alexander Vovin translates it more literally as "three stanzas, six names".
Since the work of linguist Shinpei Ogura in the 1920s, surviving hyangga have traditionally been classified into one of three forms: a single-quatrain form used in folk songs; an intermediate two-quatrain form; and a ten-line form of two quatrains and a concluding couplet, the most fully developed form of hyangga. This classification has been questioned in Korean scholarship since the 1980s, and a new hypothesis, proposed by Kim Sung-kyu in 2016, suggests that there were really only two forms of hyangga: a single-quatrain form and a two-tercet form. Kim interprets two consecutive lines of the ten-line form as one long line with a caesura, and the so-called "concluding" couplet of the ten-line hyangga to be a refrain for each of the stanzas, thus forming two tercets with shared final lines. Kim further argues that apparently eight-line forms are the result of a line being lost during transmission.
The two hypotheses are illustrated below with the ten-line work Jemangmaega, written for the funeral of the poet's sister.The translation is from the Korean of Sung 2006: "生死路는 / 이에 있으매 두려워서 / '나는 간다' 말도 / 못다(또는 못) 이르고 간 것이오? / 날가을 이른 바람에 / 여기저기에 떠서 질 잎같이 / 한 가지에 나고도 / 가는 곳 모르는구나! / 아아! 彌陀刹에서 만날 나를 / (그대는) 길 닦아 기다릴 것이오."
+ Jemangmae-ga-10 Ten-line reading Translation(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
(10) The path of life and death
Were [you] so afraid when it was here
(4) That [you] went and could not say
(3) Even the words, "I'm going"?
(6) Like leaves that float and fall hither-thither
(5) By unripe autumn's early winds,
Stemming from one branch
Knowing not where [we] go.
(10) Ah, [you] will clear the road and wait
(9) For me, to meet in the pure land.
+ Jemangmae-ga-6 Six-line reading Translation(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6) Were [you] so afraid when the path of life and death was here
That [you] went and could not say even the words, "I'm going"?
Ah, [you] will clear the road and wait for me, to meet in the pure land.
Like leaves that float and fall hither-thither by unripe autumn's early winds,
Stemming from one branch, knowing not where [we] go.
Ah, [you] will clear the road and wait for me, to meet in the pure land.
Example A typical hyangga is "The Ode for Life Eternal" (or, perhaps, "The Ode for Nirvana"), a song that calls upon the Moon to convey the supplicant's prayer to the Western paradise, the home of Amita (or Amitabha, the Buddha of the Western Pure Land Sukhavati). The poem's authorship is somewhat unclear; it was either written by a monk named Gwangdeok () or, one source says, the monk's wife.Several examples of Hwangga
IduMiddle KoreanModern KoreanTranslationOde to Eternal Life (translation by Mark Peterson, 2006)Oh Moon!As you go to the west this night,I pray thee, go before the eternal Buddha,And tell him that there is one hereWho adores Him of the deep oaths,And chants daily with hands together, sayingOh grant me eternal life,Oh grant me eternal life,But alas, can any of the 48 vows be keptWhile still trapped in this mortal frame?
List
+ in the Samguk yusa Title English Author Date Graphs Lines Location Text Song of a Comet Master Yungcheon 594 83 10 2:228 Song of Seodong King Mu of Baekje 600 25 4 2:98 Ode to Yangji anonymous 635 26 4 4:187–188 Prayer to Amitāyus / Ode for Life Eternal Gwangdeok or his wife 661–681 77 10 5:220 Ode to Knight Jukji Deugo 692–702 60 8 2:76–78 Dedication of the Flower an old herdsman 702–737 34 4 2:79 Regret Sinchung 737 56 8 5:232–233 Ode to Knight Gipa Master Chungdam 742–765 71 10 2:80–81 Song of Tuṣita Heaven Master Weolmyeong 760 37 4 5:222 Requiem for the Dead Sister Master Weolmyeong 762–765 75 10 2:79–80 Hymn to the Thousand-Eyed Sound Observer Huimyeong 762–765 81 10 3:158–159 Statesmanship Master Chungdam 765 98 10 2:79–80 Meeting with Bandits Master Yeonghae 785–798 75 10 5:235 Song of Cheoyong Cheoyong 879 61 8 2:88–89
The 11 composed by Kyunyeo (923–973) are: [Veneration of Buddhas] [In Praise of Tathagata/Buddha] [Abundant Offerings to Buddha] [Repentance of Sins and Retribution] [Rejoice in the Rewards of Virtue] [The Revolving Wheel of Law] [Entreaty to the Coming of Buddha] [Faithful Observance of Buddha's Teachings] [Constant Harmony with Other Beings] [Salvation of All Living Beings] [The Everlasting Conclusion]
See also Sijo Gasa (poetry) Korean literature
Notes
References
Citations
Bibliography
External links
Hyangga — World History Encyclopedia