Distinctive music and dance from kingdoms on the Korean peninsula

The proximity of Japan to the Korean peninsula means that they have had close contact since ancient times. From the 4th to mid-7th centuries, there were three kingdoms on the Korean peninsula: Koguryŏ (Jp. Kōkuri), Paekchè (Jp. Kudara), and Silla (Jp. Shiragi). Dance and instrumental music transmitted from these kingdoms, though often referred to separately in the historical records, was also given the rubric sankangaku (‘music of the three Korean kingdoms’).

In addition, the kingdom of Bohai, which from the 8th to 10th centuries ruled the area from the northern Korean peninsula north and west into what is now part of Russia and China, also transmitted dance and instrumental music to Japan, where it was called bokkaigaku (‘music of Bohai’).

Under the influence of the music and dance transmitted from mainland China, these forms deriving from the Korean peninsula were gradually amalgamated into a single form, called komagaku (‘Korean music’). It became one of the important elements of the Japanese gagaku tradition.

Featured columnThe sources of komagaku (‘Korean music’)

Gigaku mask: Kongō Rikishi (Guardian of the Buddhist teachings)

Japan’s connection with the Korean peninsula is strong, and it appears that Korean dance and instrumental music arrived in Japan before any came from China. Japan’s ancient historical text, the Kojiki (‘Record of Ancient Matters’) records the arrival of many musicians from Silla from the mid-5th century, and the dispatch of musicians from Paekchè to relieve those already working at the Japanese court.

Distinctive music instruments were associated with the music of each of the three Korean kingdoms, but none of them are used in the present-day performance practice of komagaku. Little, too, is known about the concrete details of the music transmitted from Bohai (bokkaigaku) somewhat later.

The masked dance-drama gigaku (also known as kuregaku), performed as mime without any texts, was transmitted from Paekchè by Mimaji (or Mimashi) in the early 7th century. It was performed at the consecration of the Great Buddha of the Nara temple Tōdai-ji in 752. Although many gigaku masks survive in the collection of the Shōsō-in, it has not been transmitted to the present.