Simcheongga

Simcheongga is one of the five surviving stories of the Korean pansori storytelling tradition. The other stories are Chunhyangga, Heungbuga, Jeokbyeokga, and Sugungga.

History

The exact date of when Simcheong story was adapted into a panosori is unknown. According to records, Simcheongga can be found in the Gwanuhui written by Manjae Song in the time of Sunjo of Joseon, and also in The History of Joseon Traditional Opera written by Nosik Hung in the 1900s.

Simcheongga is considered to have been made a great piece of art through the contribution of pansori singers' deoneum.

Simcheongga is the most tragic of the five pansoris. The story is almost wholly one of grief and sadness. Therefore the melody sounds low and gloomy as well. In pansori, the feeling of the voice is more important than its purity or beauty: a beautiful voice can't express the joy and grief of living. To express deep sorrow, the pansori requires "a voice like geuneul (shadows)." In Simcheongga, the mystic geneul is important, so only a master singer of pansori is considered to possess the ability to perform Simcheongga well.

Story

There are five parts in Simcheongga.

From the National Changguk Company of Korea website:

"Simcheongga is a story about a girl named Simcheong and her father, Sim Hak-Gyu, whom people call Sim-Bongsa (Sim the Blind). Sim-Bongsa is blind and has to be cared for by his daughter. The story is filled with sadness, though humor enters occasionally to give balance.

1. "Cheong's mother dies at childbirth and her blind father is left with his daughter, who cares for him with the utmost sincerity and devotion.
2. One day, Sim-Bongsa falls into a ditch but is rescued by a Buddhist monk who tells him that Buddha would restore his sight if he donated three hundred bags of rice to the temple.
3. When Cheong learns that some sailors were offering any price for a virgin sacrifice, she offers herself for three hundred bags of rice. The sailors wanted to sacrifice a virgin to the Yongwang (the Dragon King of the Sea) in order to placate him to guarantee the safety of their merchant ships wherever they sailed.
4. "After being tossed into the sea, she finds herself in the palace of the Dragon King of the Sea who, deeply moved by her filial piety, sends her back to earth wrapped in a lotus flower, which is carried to an emperor's palace. The emperor falls in love with Cheong and makes her his empress.
5. The empress later holds a great banquet for all the blind men of the kingdom with the hope that she would be able to find her father again. When Sim-Bongsa finally appears at the banquet, he is so shocked upon hearing his daughter's voice again that his sight is suddenly regained."

The highlight of this pansori is when Sim-Bongsa regains his eyesight. A realistic expression of Sim-Bongsa sudden use of his eyes requires a master singer of pansori. After Sim-Bongsa regains his eyesight, other blind people also recover. Finally, Simcheongga ends in a festive mood.^[1]

1. ↑ 재미있는 우리국악 이야기,서해문집

References

• National Changguk Company of Korea