Arirang: The voice of Korean people

– Suvigaya Sharama

It’s a new era now, in a new country named Joseon. And there is no place for loyal Goryeo
officials. He was forced to leave Gaegyong, the capital city, and passed through difficult
mountain trails to arrive in Jongseon Village of Gangwon Province. The pain, resentment for this
cruel fate, and difficulties they are suffering come out of their hearts as a song of people and
their emotions, “Arirang”. Arirang is a song that has been with Korean people throughout their
history until the present. The parting from your beloved ones and the longing for them are
expressed through singing Arirang. It’s a song that moves the hearts of people, swaying their
emotions; it's a song that they sing when their hearts want to cry. Arirang, a traditional folk song,
can be considered a representative of Korean society and the eminent culture of Korea.

The culture of any country is simply the way of life of the people and the customs and traditions
followed by the society and country. Beliefs, customs, and traditions are formed for people to
follow, and as the years pass, they change and evolve and also continuously engraving
themselves in the hearts of the People. The Korean culture is one of the oldest cultures in the
whole world still being continued to follow. The word “Han”, which conveys the emotions such
as sadness and resentment, is dear to the people of Korea. It tells the deep and heart ranching
story of loss of beloveds and suffering the people faced from all the adversities which was faced
by the country in the past. The word Han in the heart and the song Arirang on the mouths of the
Korean people is an incredible belief and tradition of the Korean culture.

To know about a country one can look into its history and present. But to know about its people
one have to learn about its culture, the language, traditions, beliefs, customs, festivals celebrated
and performed by the people. Korea’s culture is one of its own with its unique ways. Korea’s
traditional culture found its way to the Joseon Dynasty and the culture of that time. The
Confucian culture had its deep roots in the Joseon society which tells the way of living and ethic
codes for one to follow. Respecting the elders and the one in higher rank, through the language
using “존댓말”(Formal/Honorific Korean Language) and bowing to show the respect to the
older person or a person of high ranking, which is still followed to the present day. The
traditional Korean culture is unique on its own. I remember the wedding scene I watched in the
Drama “The Great Seer” which showed a wedding during Goryeo Dynasty where they
performed various rituals before the wedding while welcoming the Groom. The songs,
interaction and playfulness of the atmosphere was so joyful to watch. I come northern state of
India and it amazed me the few similarities I found with the Indian wedding rituals! Another one
I remember was scene from drama “Our Blooming Youth” where a poor low class character had
a small wedding but the joyous and cheerful nature of the villagers to came with gifts and food to
their wedding ceremony made it so beautiful and showed a graceful nature of Korean wedding
culture. The tradition of the Jade couple rings given by Groom to her Bride at the wedding,
which bride or wife wears throughout their marriage and she removes the one of the ring if her
husband dies is such a beautiful and sad sentiment.

One of the amazing and interesting aspect of Korean culture is it’s mythology. During Joseon
Dynasty the Buddhism and Confucian remained the main religions followed by the people. The
Korean mythology tells us about the various incredible stories of Gods and their interesting
characters, as an avid Korean drama enthusiastic I was amazed to know about various Korean
mythology gods and customs in the drama “The story of Nine tailed (구미호뎐) and
구미호뎐:1938. Although in ancient times these folklores were enjoyed through the means of
folk songs, traditional dances often performed during the festivals like Seollal(Lunar New Year)
and Chuseok. Gangggan Sullae is on the traditional Korean dance performed by the women
under the bright moonlight on the Chuseok., where they call out the moon to bring abundance to
them and for good harvest. The hip-hop version Of Ganggang Sullae by the “Feel the Rhythm of
Korea” had me listen to it on repeat!
The ancient Joseon culture had many games and activities which the people enjoyed and made
them a inseparable part of their proud culture which people still enjoy. Yutnori, a Korean board
game,Neolttwigi(Jumping game),Jegichagi,Yeonnalligi,Sdireum,Tuho etc are some of the
famous traditional Korean games which make anyone intrigue to want to play them with their
friends and family.

South Korea is a geographically beautiful country filled with amazing hills and mountains and
the coastal areas in the western and southern regions also containing various small islands the
most famous one the Jeju-do.

Because of these mountains the various regions were often cut-off with each other which made a
very significant impact on the Korean language with the origin of various accents called
Satoori(사투리) which is a very unique and interesting part of South Korea’s culture. After
watching various videos of various Satoori pronunciation while learning the Korean language it
was an interesting part to encounter and I still try to learn these various accents which are unique
in their own way and it made learning the language even more interesting! After the
independence from Japan in 1945 Korea started the new journey of reinventing it’s culture and
lifestyle with welcoming the modernization. With the booming economy after overcoming the
shortcomings after independence the South Korea emerged as the One of the “Four Asian
Tigers”! From 1950s to 1990s.Korea still being a conservative society tried to reform itself
slowly and steadily reforming its own culture. In the year 2002 South Korea scripted history as
they became the first-ever Asian Football Confederation (AFC) nation to reach the semifinal of a
FIFA World Cup. But the most incredible thing about it was the enthusiasm of not only the
football team but the whole country which celebrated the success of the team representing their
country. The even still is mentioned in various K-dramas as an historic event of the country at
the same time describing the modern Korean culture. The 1990s mark the era of rise of Hallyu
Wave(한류) which is described as the increase of popularity of Korea’s movies, K-pop,Korean
dramas outside the Korea, started with the neighboring Southeast Asian countries , the wave has
now taken over the whole world! While the companies like Samsung,Hyundai,LG are the
famous brands in the economic aspect the Hallyu wave helped promoting the Korean culture all
over the world. Whether through the means of movies, dramas or K-pop people are falling in
love with the incredible culture of Korea including me! Starting with the mere interest in the
Korean Language and learning it I have now come a long way on this journey to discover the
country Korea. Learning the language, history, culture and people is an amazing journey so far
and I will want to learn more! In the modern and present day Korea’s culture we get to see an
incredible mixture of traditional culture and modernization. Thriving towards the new trends and
culture with still maintaining the traditional values brings out an exotic and incredible touch to
Korea’s unique culture. It’s one of the unique aspect of the incredible Culture of Republic of
Korea. I would like to conclude this essay by saying the Slogan of Korean People 대한민국
만세!