| Description |
[Inscribed in 2012 (7.COM) on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity]
Nearly every Korean knows and enjoys singing Arirang, which is not just one song but a variety of local versions handed down throughout Korea. Experts estimate the total number of folk songs carrying the title ""Arirang"" at some 3,600 variations belonging to about 60 versions. Arirang is essentially a simple song, consisting of the universal refrain Arirang, arirang, arariyo, and lyrics that have developed differently from region to region.
The most typical lines express a universal sentiment:
Arirang, arirang, arariyo; Over the Arirang hill you go. (refrain)
Leaving me, my love, you'd go lame before three miles. (lyrics)
The lyrics were not created by any particular individual, but an outcome of collective contributions made by ordinary Koreans through generations. They convey joys and sorrows of common people arising from love, parting with the beloved, troublesome in-laws, or national struggle against foreign invaders.
Affection for Arirang is evident throughout today's ultra-modern Korean culture, well beyond the realm of traditional music. Arirang has been rearranged into modern ballads, rock 'n roll and hip-hop, as well as symphonic pieces, appealing to a wide array of audiences and striking a chord with Koreans; it is often described as their unofficial national anthem. Olympic champion Kim Yu-na skated to an Arirang theme, ""Homage to Korea,"" at the 2011 World Figure Skating Championships.
Arirang is also one of the most recognized cultural symbols and is widely used as a theme for movies, dramas and soap operas, and names of commodities, restaurants, and broadcasting companies. |
| Social and cultural significance |
Arirang is one of Korea's 100 cultural symbols selected by the government in July 2006, based on public opinion
polls. It was described as ""the most widely sung song of Koreans in terms of time and space.""
Arirang in pre-modern times conveyed the joys and sorrows of commoners in traditional society. During the colonial period, it gave expression to personal and national sufferings of Koreans and fanned hopes for independence in their hearts. Those hopes and aspirations, carried on the wings of a people's song, ensured the transmission of Arirang from generations to generations as a living cultural legacy.
Today, Arirang serves to unite Korean people. The unified team of South and North Korea sang Arirang as they marched together in the opening ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The ""Red Devils,"" passionate supporters of the Korean national football team, sang it day after day during the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup. Arirang has thus been perceived as an evocative hymn with the power to unite the Korean people in moments of vital national significance.
Ethnic Koreans residing abroad affirm their national identity each time they sing Arirang; their compatriots back home believe their local versions help promote their regional identity.
Arirang has been a popular subject and motif in diverse arts and media, including cinema, musicals, drama, dance, and literature. With surging interest in Korean popular music abroad, Arirang today has greater potential for global exposure as Korea's foremost cultural emblem and source of fresh musical inspiration. |
| Transmission method |
Most Koreans learn Arirang from the cradle, but its widespread popularity as the nation's most representative folk song is also due to its consistent presence in their everyday lives and extensive public education programs. Master practitioners, safeguarding societies, professional musicians, elementary and secondary schools, and the National Gugak Center (Centre for Korean Traditional Performing Arts) are all engaged in activities for dissemination and transmission of Arirang. No doubt their activities are energized by corresponding public demand and enthusiasm.
The state-supported education and transmission programs of intangible cultural heritage contribute most to the inter-generational transmission of Arirang. The government-recognized master practitioners conduct classes on a regular basis, once or twice a week, amid enthusiastic participation by local residents. They also reach out to culturally isolated members of society in planning and presenting annual performances.
Arirang is extensively taught at public educational institutions. It is included in the mandatory curriculum for music education and after-school extracurricular activities at elementary and secondary schools. Community cultural centers run by local governments invite local safeguarding societies and professional musicians to teach Arirang, and conduct related cultural experience programs.
The National Gugak Center, home to Korea's top musicians, contributes to the promotion of Arirang through festivals of creative traditional music. The center's branches in Busan and Jindo also play important roles in the promotion of Arirang at home and abroad through their fine performances. |
| Community |
Arirang is a popular folk song beloved by Korean people that even include expatriate Koreans around the world. Koreans can sing Arirang as it inhabits a special place in their culture and community life no matter where they live. Arirang unites Koreans as one community. By keeping it close to their hearts, they are involved in its safeguarding and transmission. A variety of groups and individuals are dedicated to the safeguarding of this national heritage.
Safeguarding societies based in each region of the country are devoted to the transmission and promotion of distinctive local versions of Arirang.
Master practitioners and groups are recognized by the central and local governments as ""living human treasures.""
Many educational institutions, professional musicians, amateur groups and research organizations are also dedicated to the safeguarding and reproduction of Arirang and related cultural content.
As Arirang is universally sung and enjoyed by the Korean nation, an array of practitioners of regional versions, including local communities, private groups and individuals, actively lead efforts for their popularization and transmission, highlighting the general and local characteristics of individual versions.
These efforts in both public and private spheres are simultaneous, energetic and mutually complementary. The central and local governments recognize master performers and performing groups as state or provincial intangible cultural heritage (""living human treasures""), and, in accordance with the Cultural Heritage Protection Act, support their educational activities so their skills are passed to their students. These groups and individuals are thus endowed with the special responsibility to transmit Arirang to future generations.
Many private groups in different regions are dedicated to the safeguarding of their local versions. Mostly led by local professional musicians, these Arirang safeguarding societies consist of expert performers and researchers trained under specialized programs. They are engaged in diverse activities for performance, education and publicity, drawing attention to the distinctive features of their local versions and ensuring their safeguarding and transmission. Notable among these groups are the safeguarding societies for Jeongseon Arirang, Jindo Arirang and Mirang Arirang. |
| Type of UNESCO List |
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity |
| Incribed year in UNESCO List |
2012 |
