Jeongseon Arirang's History

Jeongseon Arirang

• Intangible Cultural Properties number 1
• Established : 1971
• Location : Jeong Seon – gun
• History : Jeong Seon Arirang, also Known as A Ra Ri. This local folk song has been handed down for generations. It gained popularity in Eastern Korea when it first began to be sung 600 years ago. At that time Korea was in a transitional phase, moving a from the GoRyeo Dynasty to the Joseon Dynasty. Many scholars from the old GoRyeo Dynasty swore their allegiance to their former King and went into hiding. At first they hid in Song Do, then they moved to Jeong Su. While in exile they ate wild edible plants and kept reminding themselves to love their former king and remain loyal to him. Naturally they thought about their homes and families that they had left behind. So they began to write Chinese poetry, as a means of expressing their feelings. The scholars knew that their poetry was a good means to mark other people know and understand their ideas. People sung the poems and passed them on. Jeong Seon Arirang was one such poem. Later, other poems were written about such to pics as the massacre of the scholars, war and other unfortunate situations in life. During colonization, the Japanese suppressed all kinds of Korean ideology, but the Korea people were still able to express themselves though songs.