발해(渤海) 구금(口琴)에 대한 악기학적 검토 = A Study on the Kugum of Parhae Dynasty from an Instrumentological Perspective

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The oldest kugum 口琴 ― the jaw harp or vargan ― in existence was found in 2015 at the Nikolaevka historic site in Yonhaeju 沿海州 province where Parhae 渤海, the ancient dynasty was located. This paper explains the discovery of kugum and its meaning by examining the origin and history of the instrument. The paper also explores its characteristic and discusses current academic debates on it in Korea holding up a similar instrument called ‘hwang’ 簧 as an example.
In terms of its origin, the kugum has a long history written in old Chinese documents. Referred as ‘hwang,’ the image was described in several books, like the Shih-ching 『詩經』 (Book of Odes, Sigyong in Sino-Korean), and was also called in different names, such as ‘chuk (bamboo) kugum’ 竹口琴, ‘ch'ol (metallic) kugum’ 鐵口琴, ‘chuk hwang’ 竹簧, ‘ahwang’ 雅簧, and ‘ch'ol hwangg’ 鐵簧. It was not used by Han 漢 China, but was very popular among minority ethnic groups.
The metallic kugum was found in the twelfth century in Europe, and therefore it can be inferred that a kind of bamboo kugum invented in Asia was probably spread to Euro Asia regions as it was modified in different materials.
The figure of Parhae kugum is in sickle-like shape, and it is classified as ‘hairpin type,’ an earlier metal version, according to the name used in Europe. Similar kinds were also found in wide range of regions of Central Asia, Kahkass, Gorno Altay, and Siberia. In this regard, the paper proposes a different point of view that the metallic kugum may have spread to Europe from Northern India in diverse routes, proving against the previous hypothesis which claims the earlier spread in Europe and the later delivery to Asia through Eurasian grassland road.
Finally, it seems that the Parhae kugum was used not only for festive music, but also ritualistic or religious music. Also, the folk music of Parhae would have possibly had overtone music because the kugum could produce overtones.