A. A.Guryeva.Gasapoem «SangsaByeolgok»...
157
following specific feature of this anthology: a block-print edition type,
as according to theKorean researchers, the collections of this typewere
mostly disseminated in manuscripts
1
. The anthology was published in
a block-print type named
banggak-bong
2
whichwas used for spreading
among wide reader circles. In this relation a conclusion about the
popularity of texts from “Namhun Taepyeong-ga” (NT) may be made.
The collection consists of the poems of the most popular vernacular
poetry genres of the Joseon period:
sijo
short verse, long poems
gasa
,
and one example of a
japka
song. Themain part of the texts is
sijo
and
a special type of
gasa
: musical
gasa
. Musical
gasa
is a group of texts
composed on a givenmelody and having common formal features with
traditional
gasa
. Therefore Koreans attribute musical
gasa
as a part of
simultaneously literal andmusical culture. Singingas awayof spreading
resulted in popularity of musical
gasa
among readers and audience of
wide range. In Korean literature studies it is usually stated that the
repertory of musical
gasa
consisted of 12 songs
3
, due to which a term
Shibi
gasa
(“12
gasa
”) is often used for naming
musical
gasa
. “Sangsa-
byeolgok” poem belongs to
Shibi gasa
.
The topic of this poem is stated in its title which consists of a genre
symbol
⼚ἷ
byeolgok
and a word
㌗㌂
sangsa
meaning “Longing in
separation”.Thisword isused in the text several timesandmaybe regarded
as a leitmotif of the poem.
In many similar
gasa
written on the behalf of a woman a poet in
allegoricalway expresses his love to a ruler. Such texts belong to a certain
type of literature:
yeongun
蔺糗G
poetry (poetry of love to a ruler) the
examples of which we may see, for instance, in famous
gasa
by Jeong
Cheol (Songgang) (1536–1593)
㌂⹎㧎ἷG艙胃蝸簝
and
㏣㌂⹎㧎ἷG荶
艙胃蝸簝
. In such poems the poet who was for some reason sent away
from the throneexpresseshis feelingson thebehalf of awoman left behind
byher beloved
4
.Unlike this kindof poetry according toKorean specialists
“Sangsa-byeolgok” deals with love a woman feels towards aman. In this
1
Shim Jae-wan. Namhun Taepyeong-ga. Encyclopedia of Korean Culture
(
㕂㨂㢚UG⋾䤞䌲䘟ṖUG䞲ῃ⹒㫇ⶎ䢪䌲⺇ὒ㌂㩚
) Seoul. 1993. P. 548.
2
Banggak-bong
脒竩膩ṗ⽎
typeofblock-printhas the following features: the text
isprintedona thingreycolorpaperof abadquality.Due to the illegibilityof someparts
of the text some of the symbolsmaybe hardly told apart.
3
Many scholars, namely large researcher of traditional Korean literature Seong
Mu-gyeongdonot follow this theoryandattributeasMusical
gasa
also those
gasa
which
are known to be sung through historical records.
4
Roske-Cho,W.S. LoveSongs to theRuler//CahiersD”etudesCoréennes, 5.Twenty
PapersonKoreanStudiesoffered toprofessorW.E. Skillend.CentreD”etudesCoréennes.
CollègeDeFrance. 1989. P. 285–299.
