Geomungo

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Geomungo" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Geomungo
Korean name
Hangul	거문고 or 현금
Hanja	(none) or 玄琴
Revised Romanization	geomun(-)go or hyeon(-)geum
McCune–Reischauer	kŏmun'go or hyŏn'gŭm

The geomungo,^[a] alternate name hyeongeum,^[b] is a traditional Korean plucked zither with both bridges and frets. Geomungo is a representative stringed instrument made in Goguryeo before the 5th century.^[1] Scholars believe that the name refers to Goguryeo and translates to "Goguryeo zither" or that it refers to the colour and translates to "black crane zither" (hyeonhakgeum, 현학금 / 玄鶴琴).

The geomungo's place in Korean culture is traditionally that of a scholars' instrument for self-cultivation, much like ancient Chinese had done with the guqin in China.^[2] However, the Koreans never adopted the guqin as a folk instrument but instead inherited the Confucian and literati guqin lore wholesale and applied it onto their own geomungo lore.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).