Korean Empire Aegukga

대한 제국 애국가
大韓 帝國 愛國歌
English: Korean Empire Aegukga
Daehan Jeguk Aegukga

Flag of the Greater Korean Empire

anthem of
Greater Korean Empire

Also known as
English: Anthem of the Korean Empire
Lyrics Min Young Hwan, 1902[1]
Music Franz Eckert, 1902
Adopted 1902
Relinquished 1910
Music sample
The Anthem of the Greater Korean Empire (Instrumental)
Korean Empire Aegukga
Hangul 대한제국 애국가
Hanja 大韓帝國 愛國歌
Revised Romanization Daehan Jeguk Aegukga
McCune–Reischauer Taehan Cheguk Aegukka

The Anthem of the Greater Korean Empire (or Korean Empire Aegukga; in modern Korean orthography: 대한 제국 애국가; hanja: 大韓 帝國 愛國歌) was the first national anthem of Korea. It was used in the early 20th century Korean Empire.

The anthem was first commissioned by Emperor Gojong in 1901 and presented to the Korean court on 1 July 1902, by German composer Franz Eckert, who happened to be the director of the Korean Empire's military band at the time.[2] It was published in Germany in five different languages (Korean, German, English, Chinese, and French) and performed for the first time on 9 September 1902, during Emperor Gojong's birthday ceremony.[3]

The soon demise of the Korean Empire's independence, however, meant that the anthem did not become widely available. With the signing of the Eulsa Treaty in 1905, the Korean Empire was well on its way towards annexation by the Empire of Japan.

Contents

Alteration of the Lyrics

Although a so-called 'official' version of the Korean Empire's national anthem was made available by the occupying Japanese forces, the original lyrics to the anthem were not rediscovered until after the end of the period of Japanese rule.[2] (See also: Korea under Japanese rule).

Lyrics (Japanese modified version)

Original Korean Romanisation (Yale) English Modern Korean translation

상뎨(上帝)는 우리 황뎨(皇帝)를 도으ᄉᆞ
셩슈무강(聖壽無疆)ᄒᆞᄉᆞ
ᄒᆡ옥듀(海屋籌)를 산(山)갓치 ᄡᆞ으시고
위권(威權)이 환영(環瀛)에 ᄯᅳᆯ치ᄉᆞ
오쳔만셰(於千萬歲)에 복녹(福祿)이 일신(日新)케 ᄒᆞ소셔
상뎨(上帝)는 우리 황뎨(皇帝)를 도으소셔

Sāngtyey nun wuli hwangtyey lul twouso
Syēngswu mwukang hoso
Hōy wok.tywu lul san kaschi psousiko
Wikwen i hwan.yeng ey stulchiso
Wo chenman syēy ey pwok.nwok i ilqsin khey hoswosye
Sāngtyey nun wuli hwangtyey lul twouswosye

God help the emperor
May he live forever
Bestow treasures like mountain-piles
May his influence and power reach across the world
Fifty million times may his blessings be renewed every day
God help the emperor

하늘이시여, 우리 황제를 도우소서
성수무강하사
해옥주를 산같이 쌓으시고
위세와 권력이 천하에 떨치사
오천만 대까지 복이 매일 새롭게 하소서
하늘이시여, 우리 황제를 도우소서

Lyrics (Original version)

The original lyrics were re-discovered on 13 August 2004, by curator Lee Dong-guk of the Seoul Calligraphy Art Museum.[4] The surviving specimen was a copy kept by the Korean-American Club of Honolulu-Wahiawa and published in 1910 under the title Korean old national hymn in English and 죠션국가 in Korean.[4][5][6]

The discovery came as a surprise even in South Korea, where the existence of the original lyrics was unknown until then. The finding was later reported in the mass media and has since then been performed by various K-pop artists. Hawaii has been a source for various pre-Japanese annexation heritage investigations by South Korea since many Korean Empire citizens emigrated to Hawaii before the Japanese annexation. One recent incident involved a Korean Empire émigré descendant donating a very rare 100-plus-year-old original passport issued by the Korean Empire to South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun during his visit to Hawaii.

The original lyrics are:

Original Korean with hanja added Romanisation (Yale) English Modern Korean translation

샹ー뎨(上帝)는 우리 나ー라를 도으ー소셔

영원(永遠) 무궁(無窮)토ー록
나라 태평(太平)ᄒᆞ고 인민(人民)은 안락(安樂)ᄒᆞ야

위권(威權)이 셰상(世上)에 ᄯᅥᆯ치ー여
독립(獨立) 자유(自由) 부강(富强)을 일 신(日新)케 ᄒᆞᆸ소셔

샹뎨(上帝)는 우리 나ー라를 도으ー소ー셔

syā:ngtyeynun wuli na:la lul twou:swosye
yēngwen mwukwung thwo:lwok
nala thayphyeng hokwo inmin un an.lak hoya
wikwen i syēys(y?)ang ey stelchi:ye
twok.lip ca.ywu pwūkang ul ilq sin khyey hopswosye
syā:ngtyeynun wuli na:la lul twou:swo:sye

God help our nation
May our country be peaceful forever
May its people live comfortably
May our influence and power reach across the world
May independence, freedom and prosperity be renewed every day
God help our nation

하늘이시여, 우리 나라를 도우소서
영원 무궁토록 나라 태평하고
인민은 안락하여
위세와 권력이 세상에 떨치여
독립 자유 부강을 매일 새롭게 하소서
하늘이시여, 우리 나라를 도우소서

In the romanisation, ‹:› indicates length marks for singing that appear in the source; ˉ marks vowels that would have been pronounced as long vowels when not singing. While the copy appearing in the source used for this article ([1]) appears markedly newer than the 1900s and calls the anthem “Joseon national anthem” (죠션 국가) instead of “Patriotic song of the Korean Empire” (大韓帝國愛國歌) as one would expect from a 1900s copy, it clearly shows pre-1933 orthography (reproduced in this article) that was not used after the 1940s.

Notable Differences

The Japanese-Protectorate era version was modified to mirror the Japanese anthem Kimigayo ("May your reign last forever"), which is a prayer for the longevity of the Emperor himself. The original version, however, has the word “country; nation” (나라 nara) instead of “emperor” (황뎨/皇帝 hwangje) and incorporates a prayer for independence and freedom – ideas which might have conflicted with Japanese ambitions at the time to annex the Korean Peninsula.

See also

References