Chunhyangga

Chunhyangga (Korean: 춘향가) is a pansori folktale from Korea. Being a pansori, Chunhyangga is a narrative art form, and is traditionally performed by two people: a singer and drummer. There is also a story based off the Chunhyangga pansori called Chunhyangjeon.

It is now one of five surviving Pansoris in Korea, each focusing on one of the 5 Confucian virtues. The other remaining stories are Simcheongga, Heungbuga, Jeokbyeokga and Sugungga.

Among these, Chunhyangga is the longest. In 1969, pansori master singer Park Dong-jin sang Chunhyangga for eight hours (surprising his audience). The original version of Chunhyangga was not that long, but has been greatly developed over time. The diverse pansori singers who have performed it have contributed famous deoneum, so it is valuable musically and historically.

There are no records confirming the exact time when Chunhyangga was written. Chunhyangga can be found in Manwhajip written by Yu Jin-han during the Joseon Dynasty, as well as in Mugeukhangrok of the same era written by Juik-Yang. Therefore, it supposed that Chunhyangga has existed since before Sukjong of Joseon (1661–1720).