by Robert C. Provine

size: B5. publisher: Iljisa.

About this book
The tradition of Korean ritual music, aak, began with a gift of musical instruments from China in 1116, and aak is still performed today in the semi-annual Sacrifice to Confucius held at the Shrine of Confucius (Munmyo) in Seoul. There are numerous historical sources giving information on the origins, development, and modification of aak in Korea, and they are especially rich in the case of the important aak reformation which occurred in the fifteenth century at the instigation of the famous King Sejong.

In the present volume, Robert Provine explores the early sources for aak, examining both Korean writings on the subject and the prior Chinese materials which the Korean scholars themselves had consulted. He discusses the content and reliability of the sources, using their evidence to trace the nature and extent of the Chinese connection. While there have been numerous historical surveys of aak in Korean and Western languages, this is the first extended, critical overview of the historical sources and musical roots of the aak tradition.

Beginning with an introduction describing the historical and ritual context of the music, this book includes both a general survey of the available primary sources for the study of aak and detailed studies of three individual sources. Many sample pages from the sources are reproduced, and all the relevant music is transcribed into Western notation.

Table of contents
¥°. INTRODUCTION
¥±. SELECTED KOREAN SOURCES FOR MUSIC RITES OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY
¥². CHINESE MUSICAL AND RITUAL SOURCES CONSULTED IN FIFTEENTH-CENTURY KOREA
¥³. THE CHOU LI CHING-T"U: A CHINESE SOURCE CONSULTED BY EARLY CHOSON SCHOLARS OF RITES AND MUSIC
¥´. TRACING THE TA-SHENG YUEH-P"U. A PROGENITOR OF KOREAN AAK
¥µ. THE AAK-PO IN THE ANNALS OF KING SEJONG