Gisaeng: Korea’s version of the geisha
Posted by ampontan on Monday, February 19, 2007
Though Korean dramas have faded from Japanese TV screens over the past year or so, one recent show deserves to be aired in Japan. The Japanese would surely find it entertaining, and it certainly would be more educational than the typical melodramas for a female audience in either country. That would be the historical miniseries Hwang Jin-i, which aired in South Korea last fall and became an immediate sensation.
Hwang Jin-I was a famous gisaeng who lived in the early 16th century. Gisaeng were professional female entertainers who sang, danced, recited poetry, or played the geomungo, a traditional Korean instrument, for wealthy male patrons.
If they sound like geisha, that’s because they played a remarkably similar role, though their origins are said to predate the geisha, who became a distinctive group in the 17th century. The geisha were said to be of the flower or willow world, while the gisaeng were known as “flowers who could understand words”. The former were trained at private establishments, while the Korean version were trained at government institutes.
According to art historian Lee Don-soo, who is writing a book on the subject, the original gisaeng weren’t sexual objects but rather “entertainers who had intelligence”. Be that as it may, however, they did indeed become sexual objects, sometimes against their will, and that aspect is shown in the drama.
The show was so popular it inspired a musical, a movie, a comic book, and more TV shows. Reports suggest that some contemporary Korean women have found them to be a role model.
There are plenty of stories on the web about them now; this AP article appeared in the Western press, while this article is from the English-language version of the Choson Ilbo. The latter link will take you to several more features from the same newspaper that focus on the production of the TV show. They’re all worth reading—the actress in the lead role even learned how to walk a tightrope for one of the scenes. And don’t miss the photo in the first article of the modern gisaeng smoking a cigar.
Though there are of course differences between the gisaeng and the geisha, the similarities of the women and their roles highlight yet again the uncanny resemblance between Japan and Korea.
(Note that though the two words sound similar, the underlying Chinese characters are quite different.)
