Kim So-hee (, sometimes given as Kim Sohŭi; December 1, 1917 – April 17, 1995) was an established South Korean traditional singer, designated officially as a '' human cultural asset'' in the heritage preservation programme for the folk opera genre

pansori ' () is a Korean genre of musical storytelling performed by a singer and a drummer. The term ' is a compounds of the Korean words and , the latter of which means "sound." However, ''pan'' has multiple meanings, and scholars disagree on which ...

, which is fifth on the list of

Important Intangible Cultural Properties of Korea National Intangible Cultural Heritage () is a national-level designation within the Heritage preservation in South Korea, heritage preservation system of South Korea for intangible cultural heritage. This and other national-level designations are ...

. Her real name was Kim Sun-ok (). She specialized in

Chunhyangga ''Chunhyangga'' () 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 on the ''Chunhyangga'' pansori ...

. She used Manjeong () as a pseudonym, given by a physiognomist; it means to become a master of

gugak Korea has produced music () for thousands of years, into the modern day. After the division of Korea in 1945, both North and South Korea have produced their own styles of music. Traditional music () produced by Korea includes court music, folk ...

Biography

Kim Sun-ok was born in Gochang, in

North Jeolla North Jeolla Province, officially Jeonbuk State (), is a Special Self-governing Province of South Korea in the Honam region in the southwest of the Korean Peninsula. Jeonbuk borders the provinces of South Chungcheong to the north, North Gyeo ...

. She had two siblings, Kim Sang-ho and Kim Jung-suk and attended Heungduk Elementary School. She graduated at the age of 12 and went to Jeonnam Public School, while living at her sister's house in

Gwangju Gwangju (; ), formerly romanized as Kwangju, is South Korea's list of cities in South Korea, sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated Special cities of South Korea, metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home ...

. She started to practice pansori after listening to

Simcheongga () is one of the five surviving stories of the Korean ''pansori'' storytelling tradition. The other stories are '' Chunhyangga'', '' Heungbuga'', '' Jeokbyeokga'', and '' Sugungga''. The characteristic of this story is that it deals with the dif ...

in second grade. Her sister's husband introduced her to

Song Man-gab A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a Song structure, structure, such as the common ABA form, ...

who was a master singer of pansori. Song's pupils typically paid five won, he charged Kim only one won. At the age of 14 she competed at Chunhyangje, a local festival in

Namwon Namwon (, ) is a city in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. Namwon is about 50 minutes from the provincial capital of Jeonju, which is almost three hours away from Seoul. The official city flower is Royal Azalea () while the city tree is the ...

province, where she won first prize. After winning, pansori master Lee Hwajeongseon heard her and took her to Namwon to perform together. Kim then quit school and started to concentrate on pansori and

Korean dance Dance in Korea began with shamanistic early rituals five thousand years ago and now ranges from folk dance to newly created and adopted contemporary dance. Overview Korean traditional dance originated in ancient shamanistic rituals thousands o ...

Career

In 1964, she was designated as an Ingan-munhwage and established the Kim So-hee Gugak Institute to teach students. She served as a Korean music instructor in

Ewha Womans University Ewha Womans University () is a private women's research university in Seoul, South Korea. It was originally founded as Ewha Haktang on May 31, 1886, by missionary Mary F. Scranton. Currently, Ewha Womans University is one of the world's largest f ...

Hanyang University Hanyang University (HYU, ) is a Private university, private research university in Seoul and Ansan (ERICA campus), South Korea. ''Hanyang'' () derives from the Names of Seoul, former name of the capital Seoul used during the Joseon period. The u ...

and

Jungang University Chung-Ang University (CAU; ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea. The university operates two campuses: main campus located in Dongjak District, Seoul, and an additional campus in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province. CAU consists of 16 ...

Awards

She won a National Medal for spreading gugak and won the Korean culture and Art prize. She was awarded an Arts, Culture and Arts Promotion Target Achievement, Korea gukak target prize and 2nd Prize sponsored by the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Asia Music Festival.

References

External links

Korean Cultural Heritage AdministrationKorean Culture Information service
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, So-hee 1917 births 1995 deaths Musicians from North Jeolla Province Korean traditional musicians 20th-century South Korean women singers