Many songs in early Joseon were composed for the multitude of ceremonies, rituals and festive events that took place to celebrate the founding of the new dynasty. Bonghwang-eum, one of the early Joseon songs, dating from the reign of King Sejong, prai...
Many songs in early Joseon were composed for the multitude of ceremonies, rituals and festive events that took place to celebrate the founding of the new dynasty. Bonghwang-eum, one of the early Joseon songs, dating from the reign of King Sejong, praises the glory of the royal house. The song is basically identical to an ancient song titled Cheoyongga, except for the new lyrics. Few early Joseon songs were original compositions. Most of them either add a new set of lyrics to Goryeo songs, performing them otherwise unmodified, or borrowed an extract of them.
This paper on Bonghwang-eum, created in a period where many songs were remakes of Goryeo songs, starts out from the assumption that it was no exception to the rule and was probably based on extracts of existing songs from the Goryeo period. I compare Bonghwang-eum with Goryeo songs in terms of yeoeum (instrumental passages), jongji (final phrases of each verse) and seonyul(melody) to determine any similarities that may exist between them. Bonghwang-eum is also compared with Goryeo songs also in terms of phrase structure (giakdaegang) and the structure of lyrics.
The analysis revealed that Goryeo songs such as Jinjak, Jahadong, Seonghwangban and Naedang have the same yeoeum as Bonghwang-eum.
The analysis of jongjiseonyul (melodic structure of final phrases of each verse), meanwhile, showed that two main melodic structures are used in Bonghwang-eum, for final phrases of verses, namely, hahaeng jongji and jueum jongji, and that melodic structures similar to them are found in three Goryeo songs including Jinjak, Jahadong and Seonghwangban.
For example, the jeon-gang stanza of Bonghwang-eum merges the three stanzas of Jinjak namely, jeon-gang, junggang and hugang, the first, second and the third stanzas. The comparison of the melodic structure of Bonghwang-eum with that of Jinjak, Jahadong, Seonghwangban and Jeong-eup indicated that the jeon-gang stanza of Bonghwang-eum, the three stanzas of Jinjak namely, jeon-gang, jeon-gang and hugang, the first, second and the third stanzas. As for the buyeop of Bonghwang-eum, it is nearly identical to the buyeop of Jinjak, Seonghwangban and Jahadong. The Joseon song’s jungyeop appears to have been borrowed from the daeyeop of Jinjak, and its soyeop from the soyeop of Jinjak, while also borrowing melodic segments from Jahadong. It's hugang stanza appears to draw on the jeon-gang and hugang of Jinjak. The daeyeop of Bonghwang-eum expands on the daeyeop of Jinjak, and also incorporates the latter’s melodic segments.
The tempo 1, 2 and 3 sections of Bonghwang-eum begin with the 1st daegang, and the tempo 1 and 2 sections of Jinjak with the 2nd daegang. Meanwhile, the tempo 3 section of Jinjak and Seonghwangban begin with the 3rd daegang. In this paper, I examined the phrase structure of the three songs and their structure of lyrics, assuming that Jinjak and Seonghwangban were songs starting with the 1st daegang, as does Bonghwang-eum.
The examination of the circumstances surrounding the development of Bonghwang-eum, its comparison with Goryeo songs in terms of melodic structure, and in terms of phrase structure and structure of lyrics, the tempo 1, 2 and 3 sections of this early Joseon song, made from changing the lyrics of Cheoyongga by a new set of lyrics written by Yun Hoe, during the reign of Sejong, are not at all original compositions, but are composed of melodic segments and musical structures borrowed from various Goryeo-era songs, including Jinjak, Seonghwangban, Jahadong and Jeong-eup.