| Chunhyangga | |
| Hangul | 춘향가 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Chunhyangga |
| McCune–Reischauer | Ch'unhyangga |
Chunhyangga (Korean: 춘향가) is a pansori folktale from Korea. Being a pansori, Chunhyangga is a narrative art form, and is traditionally performed by two people: a singer and drummer. There is also a story based on the Chunhyangga pansori[1] called Chunhyangjeon.
It is now one of five surviving Pansoris in Korea,[2] each focusing on one of the Five Confucian virtues. The other remaining stories are Simcheongga, Heungbuga, Jeokbyeokga and Sugungga.[3]
Among these, Chunhyangga is the longest. In 1969, pansori master singer Park Dong-jin sang Chunhyangga for eight hours (surprising his audience). The original version of Chunhyangga was not that long, but has been greatly developed over time.[4] The diverse pansori singers who have performed it have contributed famous deoneum, so it is valuable musically and historically.[5]
There are no records confirming the exact time when Chunhyangga was written. Chunhyangga can be found in Manwhajip written by Yu Jin-han during the Joseon Dynasty, as well as in Mugeukhangrok of the same era written by Juik-Yang. Therefore, it supposed that Chunhyangga has existed since before Sukjong of Joseon (1661–1720).