*Editor’s note: K-VIBE invites experts from various K-culture sectors to share their extraordinary discovery about the Korean culture. 

 

[Larger Than Architecture] Chapter 1. This World We Live In 

Ep. 6. Erotic Songs

 

By Kim Won (Master K-architect)

 

The Samguk Yusa includes a story about the monk Wonhyo and his song involving the "molga-bu" (a handle-less axe). One day, Wonhyo appeared on the main street of Seorabeol and sang:

 

"Who will lend me a handle-less axe,

So I can carve a pillar to support the heavens."

 

No one understood the meaning of the song until King Taejong heard it and interpreted it as Wonhyo seeking a noblewoman to bear a wise child who would become a pillar of the nation. He instructed that Wonhyo be taken to Princess Yoseok. Upon meeting the officials sent to escort him, Wonhyo intentionally fell into the water at Muncheon Bridge, using the excuse of drying his soaked monk's robes to stay at Princess Yoseok's palace. Eventually, Princess Yoseok gave birth to Seol Chong. In this context, the handle-less axe symbolizes a woman's sexual organ, and carving the pillar represents sexual union.

 

Another erotic song is the "Seodongyo," a hyangga attributed to the childhood of King Mu of Baekje. If we accept its association with King Jinpyeong of Silla, it dates before 599 AD:

 

"Princess Seonhwa,

secretly adores

Seodong (Sweet Potato Boy),

and goes to embrace him at night."

 

In this song, "eoreodugo" (to adore secretly) implies sexual relations, similar to "eorida" meaning to engage in intercourse.

 

A more explicit erotic hyangga is the "Cheoyongga," familiar to many:

 

"In the bright moonlight of Gyeongju,

strolling late into the night,

I returned to find,

four legs in my bed.

Two are mine, whose are the other two?

Originally mine,

but how can I retrieve what's been taken?"

 

This song dates back to the reign of King Heongang of Silla (875-885 AD).

 

Around the same period, a similar erotic song appeared in Japan's "Manyoshu." The interpretation of one such poem by Lee Young-hee using idu script reads:

 

"Do not rotate or roll the phallus,

know a bit between the large thighs,

oh, the phallus is erect,

let us go back and forth below the female organ."

 

Lee Young-hee’s analysis of songs and texts, such as those found in the "Man'y

Kim Satgat's poetry and other traditional songs provide great examples of the dual meanings. In the anecdote about Kim Satgat, he composes a seemingly innocuous verse when the villagers ignore him:

 

"There are not even ten students,

And the teacher does not come to greet me."

 

When read phonetically in a certain way, this poem carries a hidden vulgar message:

 

“The Students are jaemi X,

And the teacher is my jaemi X.”

 

This cleverly disguised insult reflects Kim Satgat's use of dual codes to express his disdain for the villagers' neglect. Such use of language demonstrates how poets like Kim utilized phonetic readings and wordplay to embed subversive messages within their works.

 

If we consider such dual or multiple codes, there's another example found in a well-known Gyeonggi folk song, "Heungtaryeong":

 

"At Cheonan Samgeori, heung, the willow trees sway heung,

At their leisure heung, they sag and stretch heung,

Eruhwa eruwha heung, passion ablaze heung."

 

What exactly does this mean? Of course, it's singing about the willow trees at Cheonan Samgeori. However, something doesn't quite fit together. The willow trees sagging at their leisure? And yet, passion ablaze? Let's examine the following lines:

 

"At Geumsugangsan heung, no matter how good heung,

Without my beloved heung, it's a desolate mountain heung,

 

In the quiet night heung, the moon brightly shines heung,

Thoughts of my beloved heung, sharing them anew heung,

 

At Gyebyeon, yangryu heung, it's an ancient record heung,

Those willow branches heung, are divine colors heung,

 

With my old classmate heung, when the moonlight shines heung,

Unable to sleep from yearning heung, can't find peace heung,

 

Do you see that moon heung, where my beloved resides heung,

Let's borrow light heung, let's see each other heung.

 

Carefully heung, missing my beloved heung,

No matter how much heung, can't stand it heung."

 

The scene depicts a woman unable to sleep at night, tossing and turning while thinking of her lover. What does "Samgeori" mean at such times, and why does "seonghwa" occur, and what is it that gets longer in its own way? If this interpretation is too excessive, let's look at something else. We also know well the Gyeonggi folk song .

 

"Doraji doraji baekdoraji, the doraji of Simsim Mountain,

Just dig one or two roots, and it overflows in a big basket.

 

Eheyo deheyo eheyo,

Come on, let's dig, I like doraji,

You melt my liver smoothly.

How nice it is, my love."

 

The doraji of Simsim Mountain overflows in a big basket just by digging one or two roots, and it melts my liver smoothly? Isn't this casually mentioning something inappropriate? If this interpretation seems too much, let's look at the next verse.

 

"Doraji doraji doraji, doraji growing in the crevices of Simsan rocks,

Next to the flower basket, softly picking doraji,

Doraji doraji doraji, doraji girls in the village ahead.

Wearing a skirt, walking on a narrow path,

Doraji doraji doraji, doraji girls picking doraji at Geumgangsan in Gangwon Province,

Their hands are beautiful too,

Doraji doraji doraji, picking this doraji,

Seasoning with garlic, sesame, and salt, for the respect of adults."

 

As in the Seodo, "adult" means "to have sex." Therefore, here, "baekdoraji" clearly refers to the male genitalia. Moreover, in Freud's version, the large basket is a symbol of femininity. Looking at it this way and savoring it again, this is a very provocative song.

 

 

While watching a TV broadcast where pretty children came out and sang the last two songs, "Cheonan Samgeori" and "Doraji Taryeong," I wondered if these kids understood the meanings they were singing. In this world, there are people who sometimes need to turn something seemingly ordinary upside down to feel refreshed. Moreover, just as Buddha sees only Buddha in his eyes and a thief sees only a thief, all of this shows that each person sees things according to their own nature, making me feel melancholic thinking that I might be the only one having such thoughts.

 

 

[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]