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Brief News of Members


imgJeongseon, Republic of Korea



Jeongseon is a valley town located in the south-central part of Gangwon-do, South Korea, and is the county seat of Jeongseon County. It is beautiful inspring, hot in summer (albeit cooler than most of Korea), colorful in autumn, and the winter’s dreadfulness stems not necessarily from its low temperatures, but by the length of the season. Even though the town is small, that does not mean it is without the modern amenities you would find throughout Korea. There is no problem accessing internet, cable television, libraries, or restaurants. You may find it difficult to find all of your favorite western brands, but with a monthly or bimonthly trip to nearby big cities (Gangneung in particular), you shouldn’t want for much. The English ability is about what you would expect it to be – meaning rudimentary.



Jeongseon is roughly 40,000 people large, but you would never think that it is actually that big. Jeongseon is famous throughout Korea for two things: Arrirang, and its Five Day Market. Arrirang is a type of folk song (there are different versions), usually depicting a pair of separated lovers. In a famous song, the man goes to find salt and never returns. The fact that you even know that much information about it will impress all you bust it out on! The five day market is something you would grow to know intimately. The fruit is seasonal and there are more pickled vegetables and seafood than you could ever want. In addition, there are also fried Korean pancakes and other festival fare. The market takes place on any day of the month that ends in a two or a seven.



Intangible Cultural Heritage

Jeongseon Arirang (Gangwon Province Intangible Cultural Property No.1)

Arirang, the representative folk song of Korea, includes a number of regional variations among which JeongseonArirang is the paradigmatic one, passed down orally mainly across the overall area of Jeongseon County. The fact that this song was designated as Gangwon Province Intangible Cultural Property No. 1 on December 16, 1971 demonstrates its status as the intangible cultural heritage typifying Gangwon Province. In addition its lofty artistic and scholarly value has led to its designation as a local intangible cultural property in consideration of its systematic transmission and preservation. Such a designation cannot be found among other Arirang variants. In addition, JeongseonArirang has widely been considered the representative Arirang, and its preservation and transmission has continued until the present.
This folk song has its origins in an old tale of seven loyalists to the declining Goryeo Dynasty. Opposed to the founding of Joseon, they composed a Chinese poem to express their feelings that came to be widely distributed in the form of a yulchang, which refers to reciting poems by keeping to a set melody. For centuries, this folk song has been passed down among local residents.

To a tune called a maenaritori, the closest to the primitive traditional melodies of Korea, approximately 8,000 different sets of lyrics are sung, the largest number of lyrics for a single folk song in the world. Such lyrical richness makes this song oral literature of ample value by embracing the joys and sorrows of life while maintaining its simplicity.

JeongseonArirang is made up of long Arirang, Jajin (fast) Arirang, and Yeokkeum (interwoven) Arirang. Long Arirang has more extensive lyrics sung at a leisurely pace and creates an enduring sound, while JajinArirangis sung in a more lively and lifting manner. While the weariness and trouble of life is expressed in long Arirang, whose words contain such feelings, the residual emotion that cannot be fully expressed by long Arirang, humor, and saseol, the tradition of the poetic form, find their own manner of expression in YeokkeumArirang, which voices them through a dense interweaving as if being narrated in the form of a story.

In the process of transmission from one generation to the next, JeongseonArirang also performs the role of forming and reinforcing regional characteristics, assuming a social and cultural role. As it conveys social criticism and the spirit of resistance, this folk song refuses to be treated simply as a folk tune designed for amusement.

Various academic disciplines including the studies of music, folklore, anthropology, and literature are engaged in research on JeongseonArirang and its great potential as a material, enabling a constant stream of new creative efforts in modern arts such as dance, opera, and drama.

Arirang, the lyrical folk song from the Republic of Korea, was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on December 6, 2012. JeongseonArirang has been regarded as the origin of all the subsequent Arirang variations.




Safeguard activities by local government

Following the designation of JeongseonArirang as Gangwon Province Intangible Cultural Property No.1 in 1971, there are currently four masters, three instructors, and ten performers (plus 33 general members) found in Jeongseon County. They have embodied a preservation society and engage in transmission activities. Both Gangwon Province and Jeongseon County provide them with aid for their overall transmission activities including expenses for the operation of the preservation society and transmission activities (79.2 million won per year), performance support expenses (11 million won per year), expenses for teaching materials related to transmission education (5 million won per year), and administrative and activity costs (30 million won per year). The two local bodies also provide 730 million won to the JeongseonArirang Festival Committee for hosting the festival, 700 million won to the JeongseonArirang Culture Foundation as an investment, and 600 million won to the JeongseonArirang Art Company for operating expenses.

The task of maintaining and passing down JeongseonArirang began with efforts to seek a way for all people to participate and enjoy through Jeongseon’s own Arirang.
It was in the mid-1950s when concrete steps for the development of JeongseonArirang were first undertaken. The initial effort came in 1955 with the publication of Jeongseon Folk Songs, subtitled “JeongseonArirang.” With both the recognition of its value as an intangible asset to preserve and transmit by winning the first place at a Korea’s folk art performance contest in 1970 and its registration as Gangwon Province Intangible Cultural Property No.1 in 1971, the foundation for the transmission of JeongseonArirangwas solidified.

Transmission activities have been actively underway since the establishment of the Association for Transmitting JeongseonArirang in 1991, centering on masters. Currently, about 50 transmitters, including masters, instructors, and scholarship trainees, are engaged in transmission activities. In particular, with the number of masters and instructors reaching 11, the transmission system is more fully solidified and instruction can be conducted weekly,serving as a beneficial foundation for cultivating trainees.

With the aim of widely promoting JeongseonArirang, the JeongseonArirang Festival has been held every year since 1976, reaching its 37th occurrence in 2012. Currently, among the 12 Arirang-related festivals held across the nation, the festival is recognized as Korea’s representative festival for its history and internal stability. By 2013, the JeongseonArirang Festival had grown to become one of “the Up-and Coming Festivals” identified by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

In addition, an “Arirang Lyrics Stone Monument,” the first of its kind for a Korean folk song, was erected in 1977 with funds collected by county residents. Extensive efforts have been put into a variety of areas such as JeongseonArirang performances, record productions including Arirang LPs, cassette tapes, and CDs, and the publication of lyrics and dance notations to compile extensive content.
Furthermore, in order to cultivate teenagers able to maintain and transmit JeongseonArirang, instruction on the folk song is conducted at 22 elementary, middle, and high schools.

In 2004, Ararichon, a traditional folk village illustrating life as the background of Arirang, was created to allow people to enjoy the intangible subject Arirang as a materialized space. In 2007, mid-to long-term development plans for JeongseonArirang were made so as to transmit, preserve, and creatively inherit JeongseonArirang in a systemic manner. These plans have since been in implementation.

In 2009, the JeongseonArirang Culture Foundation was established to intensively nurture JeongseonArirang and preserve and transmit it in a systemic manner, as well as to support its promotion and utilization. Such efforts to pass on JeongseonArirang became more concrete following the establishment of the JeongseonArirang Art Company in 2009. In addition, Jeongseon County residents are well-aware of the meaningfulness of JeongseonArirang as an intangible heritage, as well as of its cultural function in maintaining local residents’ identity and community. They also acknowledge the significance of this asset and the necessity of its preservation and transmission in the community, leading them to voluntarily participate in the task.

With the inscription of Korea’s Arirangon UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on December 6, 2012, Jeongseon County does its utmost to preserve and transmit JeongseonArirang, the origin of Arirang, as well as to globalize it and widely distribute its excellence by developing a range of content.

A center for the display of JeongseonArirang and related cultural performances is presently under construction and is planned to be completed by December 2014 in order to secure both a specialized performance venue for the folk songs and a display space for valuable data (including records, videos, pictures, and research papers).

Lastly, the local governmental body of Jeongseon County, instructors including masters and private organizations such as the JeongseonArirang Festival Committee and the JeongseonArirang Culture Foundation, all possess a strong will regarding the stable ongoing preservation and transmission of JeongseonArirang. They are willingly placing considerable exertions behind this meaningful task.






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