Juche

    Korean flute is a national musical instrument that has a long historical tradition.

    First of all, it is simple in its form and playing and had been widely played by the Korean people from long ago in developing their folk art for its elegant and clear timbre.

    Since the primitive times, Korean people had made and played the flutes, utilizing various materials like animals’ bones, leaves or stems of trees and reed. In the cultural stratum of the Bronze Age, the Sophohang remains in Rason County, a bone flute confirmed to be the one made in 3000B.C. was unearthed. This is the oldest flute in the world.

    In ancient times, the people in Ancient Korea widely made not only a bone-flute with an elegant timbre but also a flute(kwanmok) made by wrapping the leaves of a peach, and ga of a flute kind to utilize them as an musical instrument for signal and a concert.

    In the period of Three Kingdoms, the Koguryo people played different kinds of flute including small and big flutes, and flute made by wrapping the leaves of a peach in their musical presentation and the flute was played well in the lives of Paekje and Silla people.

    People in Palhae and the late Silla introduced diverse kinds of materials including not only the leaves and stems of trees but also gem stones and metals so as to make the flute has louder and clearer timbre. They also played the flute as an instrument for major melody. An old document notes that “The sound of a flute harmonizes all the Koryo music (Palhae music).”

    In the period of Koryo, flute was widely disseminated as a mass musical instrument of greater popularity among not only the folk artists but also among the people of all walks of life including farmers, fishermen, cowboys and literary men. The literatures including “There were no end to the song of fisherman and a woodman’s sound of a flute”, “Cowboy’s sound of a flute echoes far beyond the clouds and singing of a woodman is heard under the moonlight” prove such fact.

    In the period of feudal Joson dynasty, flute was played as an musical instrument for solo and ensemble. In those days, the Six Musical Instruments composed of a flute (se flute, hyang flute), a cross flute, haegum, a Janggu and a drum was prevalent as a form of instrumental musical performance and here, flute played a main melody.

    Next, the Korean flute was the one made of diverse material

    It was told that the yellow bamboo and animals’ bones were used in making flute and a flute made of animals’ bones had clearer sound.

    The Korean flute was simple in its making. Even children made it with ease by utilizing a reed and the barks of a cherry tree and a willow and they called them a willow flute, a grass harp. An old literature tells that “A teacher is needless in playing a grass harp and whoever knows the tones of a song can play the tunes like whistling.”

    Like this, the Korean flute is a proud national instrument with the oldest historical origin in the world, a mass musical instrument played in the life of the Korean people.