Joseon Court Banquet Goes on Stage
Korea Times
05-12-2009 16:30
 A scene from “Hoeryeyeon,” a banquet for court officials held in 1433 during the 15th year of King Sejong’s rule, which will take to stage at the National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts (NCKTPA) from May 21-24. Titled “Sound of Heaven, Music of King Sejong,” about 150 NCKTPA dancers and musicians will reproduce the feast with a modern touch as the 2009 brand performance. / Courtesy of National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts
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By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
“Hoeryeyeon,” a banquet for court officials held in 1433 during the 15th year of King Sejong’s rule, will be re-enacted at the National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts (NCKTPA) from May 21 to 24.
Titled “Sound of Heaven, Music of King Sejong,” the performance is the 2009 national brand of the NCKTPA after being shown as a pilot program last year.
“Hoeryeyeon” is an art form of the banquet originally held in the last and first month of the year and served as an opening/ending to the year. It was designed to provide a chance to enhance the relationship between the sovereign and his subjects through heart-to-heart discussions. In the show, retainers report to King Sejong (1397-1450), presenting newly created dances and music, and they then review and discuss the performances.
“The banquet was held twice a year but the reason why we picked the 1433 banquet as our national brand is that this performance was more perfect than any other banquets. Also, the performance merged all kinds of cultures at that time,” said Lee Sook-hee, a curator at the center.
Park Il-hoon, director general of the NCKTPA, said that the banquet was meaningful not only for its extravagant performance but also for its musicality.
“King Sejong had special attachment in music and ruled the state through arts and morality. He was not only a king but also a scholar who rearranged the musical theories and instruments. He wanted to teach people with easy and enjoyable music about ethics, as, in the Joseon period, music was regarded as one way to realize the ideal Confucian world,” Park said.
The performance will show the highly qualified court music culture of the early Joseon by restoring the costume, dance, music and props on the basis of the records “Hoeryeyeonui” from “Akhakgwebeom (musical canon)” and “Hoeryeonuiju” from “Sejongsillok (Annals of King Sejong).”
Based on documents describing “hoeryeyeon,” about 150 NCKTPA dancers and musicians will reproduce the feast with a modern touch.
Kim Suck-man, artistic director of the performance, said that the feast was the result of nine years of musical research and experiment that was conducted from 1424 to 1432.
“We have thought about whether it would be restoration or creation. But we think the performance is the creation through historical research. We are modernizing the past achievement and history,” Kim said.
For this performance, detailed historical evidence from royal documents was thoroughly investigated, and the banquet was updated to reduce the gap between the present and past.
“One of the most distinguished characteristics from the pilot program last year was more use of `changsa,’ a song in court dances. Changsa in Korean will be recited to connect each scene to describe King Sejong’s ideology and achievements,” Kim said.
The ceremonial event shows that the kingdom improved court music and developed unique instruments as part of its political and cultural efforts. The performance will offer graceful and elegant costumes, dynamic dances and the refined musical style of the early Joseon period, which are still unknown to many modern people, he said.
The show was originally performed for about five to six hours with 500 performers in the past, but the modern interpretation will condense the original event into a 70-minute show by intensifying the costumes, music and rituals to better reduce the cultural gap.
The performance will introduce eight ancient instruments, which have been recreated for the first time. The royal seat will be situated in front of the stage to allow the audience to see the show as the king would have.
Tickets cost from 10,000 to 20,000 won. For more information, call (02) 580-3396 or visit www.ncktpa.go.kr.