1. No category

What is Pansori ?
does not mean that the gosu is more important than the
What is Pansori ?
singer. Rather, it highlights that the gosu is integral to the
overall pansori performance.
In the past, a type of folk art known as pannoreum,
comprised of singing and a variety of entertainments,
including tight-rope walking, dancing, and story-telling,
was performed by itinerant performers. In time, the
singing and story-telling portions became separated from
the rest, creating an independent art form called pansori.
Originally, pansori was performed primarily in the most
southern province of Korea among commoners, though it
eventually came to be enjoyed by a wide range of
Pansori is one of the art forms that represent Korean
audiences, including the middle class, noblemen and even
vocal music. Pansori is a musical drama in which a solo
the king. Although pansori is rooted in the music enjoyed
singer, holding a fan in one hand, delivers a long story by
by the commoners, it later found its major audiences
the means of sori (song), aniri (narration), and ballim
among the nobility and wealthy middle class people. By
(mimetic gestures). In a pansori performance the singer is
the end of the Joseon period (1392-1910), even the king
accompanied only by a gosu.
enjoyed pansori at his palace. With the gamut of the
A full-length pansori performance generally lasts three
audience being so wide, the professional singers had to
to nine hours, with the singer depicting all the roles of the
cater to the whims of their diverse audience and perform
characters in the story. A gosu accompanies the singer on
in various places, including private homes and open
a barrel-shaped drum and enlivens the mood of the
public spaces.
performance
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through
sounds
and
words
of
Even though pansori has been passed down orally by
encouragement, known as chuimsae, including“eolssu”,
highly trained professional singers, considering the
“eu-iee”, or“eolssigu”, or by replying to the singer as if
unique methods of pansori performance, the audiences
s/he was a character of the story, making the performance
also made contributions to its development. This stands
more exciting. The idiom“first gosu, second master
in stark contrast to foreign musical dramas performed in
singer”emphasizes the importance of a gosu. Of course, it
theaters. In pansori, audiences are not just spectators.
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Rather, they, on a same footing with the singer, affect and
The term pansori is composed of two Korean words
participate in the performances, along with the gosu
‘pan’and‘sori’
. Pan refers to ① venues of performance
through their chuimsae responses.
Empathy with the audience is a very important factor
in a pansori performance, because their tastes and reactions
or where things happen; ② the demonstration of a
performers expertise in front of a large audience; or ③ the
entire process of entertaining acts or activities.
affect the lyrics, aniri and even the mood of the singer
Sori, in a narrow sense means song. However,
during the performance. As such, pansori has developed
considering that the definition of music, including pansori,
into a form of folk art that reflects the sorrows and joys of
originally encompassed all sounds of nature, sori cannot
the general public through satire and humor as well as
be limited to only signify a song. Additionally, there is
teaches moral lessons at the same time.
also a view that the term sori derives from‘moksori’,
Pansori, a unique form of performance art,
meaning vocal sound, or voice.
encompasses literature, music and drama and is
As stated above, pan and sori have multiple meanings,
distinguished from Western operas, Jing Ju (Chinese
but from each of these, it can be inferred that pansori
opera) and Noh, Kabuki and Bunraku of Japan. Lately,
means the songs sung in venues for enjoyment where
pansori is becoming more widely known to the
many people gather.
international community, attracting people’s attention in
However, the important fact is that pansori is a form of
famous European carnivals and being selected as a
performing art and that it is a vocal genre. In sum, all the
Masterpiece of Oral Tradition and Intangible Heritage of
various meanings of both pan and sori clearly show the
Humanity by UNESCO.
nature of pansori as a form of musical art, and it explains
why the term pansori is now generally used.
Meaning of Pansori
Until the end of the 19th century, pansori was referred
to by various names such as‘sori’
‘chang’
,
,‘jabga’, or
‘taryeong’. After 1940 when Jeong Nosik, a music
connoisseur and historian, designated the art form as
‘pansori’in his book Joseonchanggeuksa (History of
Singing-drama of Joseon), that appellation became the
most common.
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