Mugo - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Mugo is a jeongjae, Korean court dance performed with drum

Drum

The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...

. It was created in the Goryeo dynasty era. It also practiced in ritual dance of Seungjeonmu

Seungjeonmu

Seungjeonmu is a Korean court dance to wish for and celebrate victory. It is originated 2000 years ago and is composed of a sword dance and drum dance called mugo. Seungjeonmu or Dance of Military Triumph was performed to wish for victory from gods of earth and heaven when the nation was at war...

. Its name comprises the two words, mu (무, 舞) and go (고, 鼓) literally meaning dance and drum in Korean

Korean language

Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...

respectively.

Origins

According to "Akji" (악지, 樂志), two books from "Goryeosa
Goryeosa
The Goryeosa or History of Goryeo is the principal surviving history of Korea's Goryeo Dynasty. It was composed nearly a century after the fall of Goryeo, during the reign of King Sejong...

" (고려사 高麗史) which describe the music of Goryeo dynasty, mugo originated from a government officer, Lee Hon (hangul

Hangul

Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...

:이혼, Hanja

Hanja

Hanja is the Korean name for the Chinese characters hanzi. More specifically, it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation...

:李混) during the reign of King Chungnyeol (reign. 1274 – 1308). While being exiled to Yonghae (영해, 寧海), a coastal region in North Gyeongsang Province, Lee Hon one day made a large drum of a log raft and played it while dancing. Later this dance was transmitted to the Joseon dynasty

Joseon Dynasty

Joseon , was a Korean state founded by Taejo Yi Seong-gye that lasted for approximately five centuries. It was founded in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Goryeo at what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was relocated to modern-day Seoul...

and was performed at various events of the Korean palaces

Noble court

The court of a monarch, or at some periods an important nobleman, is a term for the extended household and all those who regularly attended on the ruler or central figure...

and local government offices.

There has always been changes in the performance of "Mugo" per each time period since the Goryeo dynasty. The performance was played by Gisaeng who was hitting the drum and singing the song of Jeongeupsa (정읍사 井邑詞). As the number of drums changes, the number of Gisaeng also changes. Depending on the number of drums, the name also changed to two-drum dance, four-drum dance and eight-drum dance.

Forms

Eight dancers perform with one large drum placed on the center of the stage. The main dancers called wonmu (원무), and the assisting dancers called hyeopmu (협무). Four dancers hold a drumstick in each hand, surround and play the drum; the others, holding a flower-shaped stick in each hand, form an outer circle. The dancers wear a jacket of which the color represents a certain direction: black-north, red-south, blue-east, and white-west.

Music

Mugo is accompanied with court music Dongdongok (동돈곡) and Muaegok (무애곡) during the Goryeo period.

Origins

Forms

Music

See also