Pungmul
Encyclopedia
Pungmul (ˈpʰuːŋmul ) is a Korean folk music tradition that includes drum
ming, dancing
, and singing
. Most performances are outside, with tens of players, all in constant motion. Pungmul is rooted in the dure (collective labor) farm
ing culture. It was originally played as part of farm work, on rural holidays, at other village community-building events, and in shamanistic
rituals. Today it has expanded in meaning and is also used in political protest
and as a performing art form.
Older scholars often describe this tradition as nongak (ˈnoŋak ), a term meaning "farmers' music" whose usage arose during the colonial era
(1910–45). The Cultural Heritage Administration of South Korea
uses this term in designating the folk tradition as an Important Intangible Cultural Property. Opposition from performers and scholars toward its usage grew in the 1980s because colonial authorities attempted to limit the activity to farmers in order to suppress its use and meaning among the colonized. It is also known by many synonymous names throughout the peninsula.
Drumming is the central element of pungmul. Each group is led by a kkwaenggwari
(small handheld gong) player, and includes at least one person playing janggu
(hourglass drum), buk
(barrel drum), and jing
(gong). Wind instrument
s (t'aepyongso, also known as hojeok, senap, or nalari, and nabal) sometimes play along with the drummers.
Following the drummers are dancers, who often play the sogo (a tiny drum that makes almost no sound) and tend to have more elaborate—even acrobatic
—choreography. Finally, japsaek (actors) dressed as caricatures of traditional village roles wander around to engage spectators, blurring the boundary between performers and audience. Minyo (folksongs) and chants are sometimes included in pungmul, and audience members enthusiastically sing and dance along. Most minyo are set to drum beats in one of a few jangdan (rhythmic patterns) that are common to pungmul, sanjo
, p'ansori, and other traditional Korean musical genres
.
Pungmul performers wear a variety of colorful costumes. A flowery version of the Buddhist
kkokkal is the most common head-dress. Advanced performers sometimes wear sangmo, which are hats with long ribbon attached to them that players can spin and flip in intricate patterns by moving their heads.
province (designated in 1966); Pyeongtaek nongak
, from Gyeonggi
province (1985); Iri nongak, from North Jeolla
province (1985); Gangneung nongak, from Gangwon
province (1985); and Imsil Pilbong nongak from North Jeolla province (1988). Each style is unique in its approach toward rhythms, costuming, instrumentation, and performance philosophy: Jinju Samcheonpo for yeongnam , Pyeongtaek for utdari , Iri for honam udo , Gangneung for yeongdong , and Imsil Pilbong for honam jwado .
Most scholarly works on pungmul focus on the two distinct styles present in the Honam
region encompassing the two Jeolla provinces. In this region, the designations jwado (left) for Imsil Pilbong and udo (right) for Iri are determined according to geomantic principles
. Looking southward from the "center" (Seoul
, the capital), udo indicates "west", and jwado indicates "east". Comparative studies between the two styles brought about the development of stereotypes among professional groups. Honam jwado became known for its varying formations and rapid rhythmic patterns, while honam udo was generally seen as having slow but graceful rhythmic patterns.
, this folk tradition was the primary mode of musical expression for a majority of the population. Many scholars and performers today claim that the term nongak was introduced in order to suppress its broad use and meaning among the Korean population.
and popular music
.
In 1977, prominent architect Kim Swoo Geun
designed the Konggansarang , a performance hall for traditional Korean music and dance located in the capital, and invited artists and scholars to organize its events. During the performance center's first recital in February 1978, a group of four men led by Kim Duk-soo and Kim Yong-bae, both descendants of namsadang
troupe members, performed an impromptu arrangement of Pyeongtaek (utdari) pungmul with each of its four core instruments. Unlike traditional pungmul, this performance was conducted in a seated position facing the audience and demonstrated a variety of rhythms with great flexibility. It was well received by audience members, and a second performance was soon held three months later. Folklorist Sim U-seong, who introduced both men to the Konggansarang club, named the group SamulNori , meaning "playing of four objects". Samul nori
eventually came to denote an entire genre as training institutes and ensembles were established throughout South Korea and Japan. Usage of the term nongak was retained in order to distinguish traditional pungmul from this new staged and urbanized form.
communities across the United States
. There are several community-based pungmul groups in many cities, including Oakland
, Los Angeles
, Chicago
, New York City
, Baltimore, etc. College-based groups also exist at the University of California
(Berkeley
, Los Angeles
, Davis
, San Diego
, Santa Barbara
, Irvine
), Stony Brook University, Columbia University
, New York University
(New York University Rhythmic Impulse), Massachusetts Institute of Technology
, Harvard University
, Yale University
, the University of Chicago
, the University of Pennsylvania
, Cornell University
, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
, University of Buffalo
, Binghamton University
, Syracuse University
, Stanford University
, The University of Toronto, and so on.
Even though pungmul has rapidly gained popularity, it is, however, difficult to learn and play in the US. One of the most primary reasons for the difficulty is the lack of resources and teachers. In Korea, there are local centers for preserving and teaching indigenous styles of pungmul, and anyone with an interest can visit those centers to learn pungmul and improve his/her skills. However, most pungmul groups in the US have to rely on a limited number of pungmul players who happen to live in the vicinity of those groups.
Coupled to the difficulty of finding a pungmul teacher or master, the lack of information on pungmul is also a major problem for the pungmul activity in the U.S. It prohibits many people from studying and learning pungmul even for themselves.
Last but not least, obtaining or purchasing the pungmul instruments is also major difficulty for playing pungmul. Currently, most Korean folk instruments are not available in the US, so they have to be purchased directly from Korea. In most cases, a few members of a pungmul group would bring one or two pungmul instruments, after visiting their home or relatives in Korea. pungmul groups so far had to reply on such occasional trips to Korea for the replenishment or purchase of the new instruments. Naturally, through such a method, only a limited number of instruments can be brought in, and sometimes the pungmul group has to go on with broken instruments for a long time, until one of its member makes a trip to Korea.
The lack of teachers/masters and resources and the difficulty of obtaining instruments are some of the most apparent obstacles of the pungmul activity in the U.S. There are also subtle, yet important and unique issues that the pungmul groups in the US have to resolve. As mentioned before, pungmul has been accepted and gained popularity in many Korean-American communities across the US during the past few years. However, playing Pungmul in the U.S. now takes on quite a different meaning from playing Pungmul in Korea or playing it 10 or 5 years ago.
For the second generation of Korean-American pungmul players, who constitute a large fraction of the pungmul group, pungmul is a medium through which they can experience the cultural heritage of their parents' motherland and a way of discovering their identities and the roots. For the 1.5 generation or the recent immigrants from Korea, pungmul is a source of joy and pride about their motherland's culture. For the people from other cultural and ethnic origin, pungmul provides an easy access to learn and experience parts of Korean culture. However, Pungmul's power of bringing people together has not been fully realized yet. Even though pungmul has had much positive influence on the Korean-American community in the past, there are still many gaps that have to be bridged. The cultural and generational gap between the first and the second generations of Korean-Americans is one such example.
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...
ming, dancing
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
, and singing
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
. Most performances are outside, with tens of players, all in constant motion. Pungmul is rooted in the dure (collective labor) farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
ing culture. It was originally played as part of farm work, on rural holidays, at other village community-building events, and in shamanistic
Korean shamanism
Korean shamanism, today known as Muism or sometimes Sinism , encompasses a variety of indigenous religious beliefs and practices of the Korean people and the Korean area...
rituals. Today it has expanded in meaning and is also used in political protest
Protest
A protest is an expression of objection, by words or by actions, to particular events, policies or situations. Protests can take many different forms, from individual statements to mass demonstrations...
and as a performing art form.
Older scholars often describe this tradition as nongak (ˈnoŋak ), a term meaning "farmers' music" whose usage arose during the colonial era
Korea under Japanese rule
Korea was under Japanese rule as part of Japan's 35-year imperialist expansion . Japanese rule ended in 1945 shortly after the Japanese defeat in World War II....
(1910–45). The Cultural Heritage Administration of South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
uses this term in designating the folk tradition as an Important Intangible Cultural Property. Opposition from performers and scholars toward its usage grew in the 1980s because colonial authorities attempted to limit the activity to farmers in order to suppress its use and meaning among the colonized. It is also known by many synonymous names throughout the peninsula.
Drumming is the central element of pungmul. Each group is led by a kkwaenggwari
Kkwaenggwari
The kkwaenggwari is a small flat gong used primarily in folk music of Korea. It is made of brass and is played with a hard stick. It produces a distinctively high-pitched, metallic tone that breaks into a cymbal-like crashing timbre when struck forcefully.It is particularly important in samul...
(small handheld gong) player, and includes at least one person playing janggu
Janggu
The janggu or sometimes called seyogo is the most widely used drum used in the traditional music of Korea. It is available in most kinds, and consists of an hourglass-shaped body with two heads made from animal skin...
(hourglass drum), buk
Buk (drum)
The buk is a traditional Korean drum. While the term buk is a native Korean word used as a generic term meaning "drum" , it is most often used to refer to a shallow barrel-shaped drum, with a round wooden body that is covered on both ends with animal skin...
(barrel drum), and jing
Jing (instrument)
The jing is a large gong used in traditional Korean music, particularly in samul nori, pungmul, and daechwita. Usually made from brass, it is struck by a hammer that is layered with soft cloth to smoothen the texture of the sound produced. It is typically played at the onset of ceremonies and...
(gong). Wind instrument
Wind instrument
A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator , in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into a mouthpiece set at the end of the resonator. The pitch of the vibration is determined by the length of the tube and by manual modifications of...
s (t'aepyongso, also known as hojeok, senap, or nalari, and nabal) sometimes play along with the drummers.
Following the drummers are dancers, who often play the sogo (a tiny drum that makes almost no sound) and tend to have more elaborate—even acrobatic
Acrobatics
Acrobatics is the performance of extraordinary feats of balance, agility and motor coordination. It can be found in many of the performing arts, as well as many sports...
—choreography. Finally, japsaek (actors) dressed as caricatures of traditional village roles wander around to engage spectators, blurring the boundary between performers and audience. Minyo (folksongs) and chants are sometimes included in pungmul, and audience members enthusiastically sing and dance along. Most minyo are set to drum beats in one of a few jangdan (rhythmic patterns) that are common to pungmul, sanjo
Sanjo (music)
Sanjo, literally meaning 'scattered melodies' and is a style of traditional Korean music, involving an instrumental solo accompanied by drumming on the janggu, an hourglass-shaped drum...
, p'ansori, and other traditional Korean musical genres
Korean music
Traditional Korean music includes both the folk, vocal, religious and ritual music styles of the Korean people. Korean music, along with arts, painting, and sculpture has been practiced since prehistoric times....
.
Pungmul performers wear a variety of colorful costumes. A flowery version of the Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
kkokkal is the most common head-dress. Advanced performers sometimes wear sangmo, which are hats with long ribbon attached to them that players can spin and flip in intricate patterns by moving their heads.
Classification
Pungmul was first recognized as an Important Intangible Cultural Property in 1966 under the title nongak sipicha . The designation was changed to simply nongak in the 1980s in order to accommodate regional variations. The Cultural Heritage Administration currently recognizes five regional styles of the tradition, each named for its center of activity, under Important Intangible Cultural Property no. 11: Jinju Samcheonpo nongak, from South GyeongsangGyeongsangnam-do
Gyeongsangnam-do is a province in the southeast of South Korea. The provincial capital is located at Changwon. It contains the major metropolitan center and port of Busan. Located there is UNESCO World Heritage Site Haeinsa, a Buddhist temple that houses the Tripitaka Koreana and attracts many...
province (designated in 1966); Pyeongtaek nongak
Pyeongtaek nongak
Pyeongtaek nongak is a nongak or Korean farmer's music which has been performed and handed down in the Pyeongtaek region of Gyeonggi Province....
, from Gyeonggi
Gyeonggi-do
Gyeonggi-do is the most populous province in South Korea. The provincial capital is located at Suwon. Seoul—South Korea's largest city and national capital—is located in the heart of the province, but has been separately administered as a provincial-level special city since 1946...
province (1985); Iri nongak, from North Jeolla
Jeollabuk-do
Jeollabuk-do is a province in the southwest of South Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Jeolla province, and remained a province of Korea until the country's division in 1945, then became part of South Korea...
province (1985); Gangneung nongak, from Gangwon
Gangwon-do (South Korea)
Gangwon-do is a province of South Korea, with its capital at Chuncheon. Before the division of Korea in 1945, Gangwon and its North Korean neighbour Kangwŏn formed a single province.-History:...
province (1985); and Imsil Pilbong nongak from North Jeolla province (1988). Each style is unique in its approach toward rhythms, costuming, instrumentation, and performance philosophy: Jinju Samcheonpo for yeongnam , Pyeongtaek for utdari , Iri for honam udo , Gangneung for yeongdong , and Imsil Pilbong for honam jwado .
Most scholarly works on pungmul focus on the two distinct styles present in the Honam
Honam
Honam is a region coinciding with the former Jeolla Province in what is now South Korea. Today, the term refers to North and South Jeolla Provinces....
region encompassing the two Jeolla provinces. In this region, the designations jwado (left) for Imsil Pilbong and udo (right) for Iri are determined according to geomantic principles
Geomancy
Geomancy is a method of divination that interprets markings on the ground or the patterns formed by tossed handfuls of soil, rocks, or sand...
. Looking southward from the "center" (Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
, the capital), udo indicates "west", and jwado indicates "east". Comparative studies between the two styles brought about the development of stereotypes among professional groups. Honam jwado became known for its varying formations and rapid rhythmic patterns, while honam udo was generally seen as having slow but graceful rhythmic patterns.
Suppression and unrest
During the Joseon dynastyJoseon 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...
, this folk tradition was the primary mode of musical expression for a majority of the population. Many scholars and performers today claim that the term nongak was introduced in order to suppress its broad use and meaning among the Korean population.
Revival
True public support for pungmul improved little in the decade following its recognition and financial backing from the government. There was a lack of interest among Koreans who abandoned their traditional customs after moving to the cities. This phenomenon was coupled with the introduction of Western-style concert halls and the growing popularity of Western classicalClassical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
and popular music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
.
In 1977, prominent architect Kim Swoo Geun
Kim Swoo Geun
Kim Swoo Geun was a prominent South Korean architect, educator, publisher and patron of artists. Along with architect Kim Joong Up , he is recognised as a significant contributor in the history of Korean architecture...
designed the Konggansarang , a performance hall for traditional Korean music and dance located in the capital, and invited artists and scholars to organize its events. During the performance center's first recital in February 1978, a group of four men led by Kim Duk-soo and Kim Yong-bae, both descendants of namsadang
Namsadang
The namsadang is a Korean itinerant troupe which consists of male performers who present various performing arts such as acrobatics, singing, dancing and playing like a circus....
troupe members, performed an impromptu arrangement of Pyeongtaek (utdari) pungmul with each of its four core instruments. Unlike traditional pungmul, this performance was conducted in a seated position facing the audience and demonstrated a variety of rhythms with great flexibility. It was well received by audience members, and a second performance was soon held three months later. Folklorist Sim U-seong, who introduced both men to the Konggansarang club, named the group SamulNori , meaning "playing of four objects". Samul nori
Samul nori
Samul nori is a genre of traditional percussion music originating in Korea. The word samul means "four objects" and nori means "play"; samul nori is performed with four traditional Korean musical instruments:* Kkwaenggwari...
eventually came to denote an entire genre as training institutes and ensembles were established throughout South Korea and Japan. Usage of the term nongak was retained in order to distinguish traditional pungmul from this new staged and urbanized form.
Instruments
Costuming
Formations
International exposure
Pungmul is played in many Korean AmericanKorean American
Korean Americans are Americans of Korean descent, mostly from South Korea, with a small minority from North Korea...
communities across the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. There are several community-based pungmul groups in many cities, including Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Baltimore, etc. College-based groups also exist at the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
(Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
, Davis
University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis is a public teaching and research university established in 1905 and located in Davis, California, USA. Spanning over , the campus is the largest within the University of California system and third largest by enrollment...
, San Diego
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States...
, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...
, Irvine
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine , founded in 1965, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, located in Irvine, California, USA...
), Stony Brook University, Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
(New York University Rhythmic Impulse), Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
, Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
, University of Buffalo
University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, also commonly known as the University at Buffalo or UB, is a public research university and a "University Center" in the State University of New York system. The university was founded by Millard Fillmore in 1846. UB has multiple campuses...
, Binghamton University
Binghamton University
Binghamton University, also formally called State University of New York at Binghamton, , is a public research university in the State of New York. The University is one of the four university centers in the State University of New York system...
, Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
, Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, The University of Toronto, and so on.
Even though pungmul has rapidly gained popularity, it is, however, difficult to learn and play in the US. One of the most primary reasons for the difficulty is the lack of resources and teachers. In Korea, there are local centers for preserving and teaching indigenous styles of pungmul, and anyone with an interest can visit those centers to learn pungmul and improve his/her skills. However, most pungmul groups in the US have to rely on a limited number of pungmul players who happen to live in the vicinity of those groups.
Coupled to the difficulty of finding a pungmul teacher or master, the lack of information on pungmul is also a major problem for the pungmul activity in the U.S. It prohibits many people from studying and learning pungmul even for themselves.
Last but not least, obtaining or purchasing the pungmul instruments is also major difficulty for playing pungmul. Currently, most Korean folk instruments are not available in the US, so they have to be purchased directly from Korea. In most cases, a few members of a pungmul group would bring one or two pungmul instruments, after visiting their home or relatives in Korea. pungmul groups so far had to reply on such occasional trips to Korea for the replenishment or purchase of the new instruments. Naturally, through such a method, only a limited number of instruments can be brought in, and sometimes the pungmul group has to go on with broken instruments for a long time, until one of its member makes a trip to Korea.
The lack of teachers/masters and resources and the difficulty of obtaining instruments are some of the most apparent obstacles of the pungmul activity in the U.S. There are also subtle, yet important and unique issues that the pungmul groups in the US have to resolve. As mentioned before, pungmul has been accepted and gained popularity in many Korean-American communities across the US during the past few years. However, playing Pungmul in the U.S. now takes on quite a different meaning from playing Pungmul in Korea or playing it 10 or 5 years ago.
For the second generation of Korean-American pungmul players, who constitute a large fraction of the pungmul group, pungmul is a medium through which they can experience the cultural heritage of their parents' motherland and a way of discovering their identities and the roots. For the 1.5 generation or the recent immigrants from Korea, pungmul is a source of joy and pride about their motherland's culture. For the people from other cultural and ethnic origin, pungmul provides an easy access to learn and experience parts of Korean culture. However, Pungmul's power of bringing people together has not been fully realized yet. Even though pungmul has had much positive influence on the Korean-American community in the past, there are still many gaps that have to be bridged. The cultural and generational gap between the first and the second generations of Korean-Americans is one such example.
See also
- Important Intangible Cultural Properties of Korea
- Korean danceKorean danceDance in Korea began with shamanistic early rituals five thousand years ago and now ranges from folk dance to newly created and adapted contemporary dance.-Overview:Korean traditional dance originated in ancient shamanistic rituals thousands of years ago...
- Music of Korea
- NamsadangNamsadangThe namsadang is a Korean itinerant troupe which consists of male performers who present various performing arts such as acrobatics, singing, dancing and playing like a circus....
, itinerant performance troupe having pungmul in its repertoire - Samul noriSamul noriSamul nori is a genre of traditional percussion music originating in Korea. The word samul means "four objects" and nori means "play"; samul nori is performed with four traditional Korean musical instruments:* Kkwaenggwari...
, traditional percussion genre derived from multiple pungmul styles
External links
- P'ungmul nori at the Virtual Instrument Museum of Wesleyan UniversityWesleyan UniversityWesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
- Poongmul.com, a network of pungmul groups in the United States
- Pungmul on YouTube, very well made video from Bucheon, Korea