| Jeokbyeokga | |
| Hangul | 적벽가 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Jeokbyeokga |
| McCune–Reischauer | Chŏkpyŏkka |
Jeokbyeokga is one of the five surviving stories of the Koreanpansori storytelling tradition. The other stories areSimcheongga,Heungbuga,Chunhyangga andSugungga. It is also known asHwaryongdo.[1] This story is a retelling of the Chinese historical legend of theBattle of Red Cliffs.Jeokbyeokga is a heroic story. Therefore, the expressions are grand, sublime, and strong. Accordingly, female singers rarely sing it.[1]Jeokbyeokga has many scenes depicting conflict between the king, feudal lords and a commander, so the singer must have the capability of making grand vocalizations. A singer with an intense voice is aptly suited forJeokbyeokga.Jeokbyeokga is considered to be the most difficultpansori, even though it is short.
The basic plot ofJeokbyeokga is from the 14th century novelRomance of the Three Kingdoms byLuo Guanzhong.[1] It starts when charactersLiu Bei,Guan Yu, andZhang Fei take anoath by blood to become brothers at Dowon. The last part is Liu Bei and Guan Yu's episode ofRed Cliff. The highlights ofJeokbyeokga include 'the Sorrow of the Military,' 'Fire of Red Cliff,' 'Bird Song,' and 'Jangseung Song' which don't exist in the original version ofRomance of the Three Kingdoms. Those come fromdeoneum which have been slowly made over a long period of time by the singers ofpansori.[2] In theRomance of the Three Kingdoms, the military is only used to redound the glory of the main admiral character and hero; however, inJeokbyeokga, the military part stands out. EspeciallySin Jae-hyo'sJeokbyeokga version made this part more prominent.[3]Pansori is a performance in which a soloist leads a long story. In order to keep audience's interest, the singer should make proper humorous expressions. The humorous aspects of military are found inJeokbyeokga, which are not shown in theRomance of the Three Kingdoms. TheJeokbyeokga altered the consistent grand and sublime atmosphere, adding the humorous expressions.[citation needed]
