현전 靖東方曲의 연원

Abstract

Although Chŏngdongbanggok 靖東方曲 was composed in the early years of Chosŏn dynasty and, therefore, is at least 600 years old, this paper questions whether the Chŏngdongbanggok that is known to us and still played today is really the same as the original. The Chŏngdongbanggok of today is characterized by its irregular rhythm and is recognized as instrumental music, derived from tangak 唐樂 and performed in ritual music style. However, this kind of Chŏngdongbanggok hasn't been found in Chosŏn sillok 『朝鮮王朝實錄』(Annals of Chosŏn Dynasty)or in any other literature. This suggests that it did not actually originate from the celebratory or the ritual music of Chosŏn. As it happens the oldest book that has any record of Chŏngdongbanggok is Yiwangjik Aakpu 李王職雅樂部, the music book published in 1931. Therefore, Chŏngdongbanggok as we know it today must only be 78~80 years old and different from the original that was composed back in 1393. The original must have been a vocal piece for ritual, whereas its present version is being performed as an instrumental music. Besides, the ritual music for tukche 纛祭 was traditionally led by a chunggo 中鼓 accompaniment. Today, this accompaniment has a different arrangement of musical instruments, composed of p'yŏnjong 編鐘, py‘ŏn’gyŏong 編磬, panghyang 方響, taegŭm 大笒, tang'piri 唐觱篥, pak 拍, and chŏlgo 節鼓. Further study is required to track down the origin of this new arrangement.