Arirang is arguably the most popular and best known Korean folk song, both inside and outside Korea. Hangul is the native alphabet used to write the Korean language, as opposed to the hanja system borrowed from China. ... Hanja, or hanmun, sometimes translated as Sino-Korean characters, are what Chinese characters (hanzi) are called in Korean. ... The Revised Romanization of Korean is the official Korean language romanization system in South Korea. ... McCune-Reischauer romanization is one of the two most widely used Korean language romanization systems, along with the Revised Romanization of Korean, which replaced (a modified) McCune-Reischauer as the official romanization system in South Korea in 2000. ... Folk music, in the original sense of the term, is music by and of the people. ...

Variations

Literally hundreds of variations of the song exist, and they can be grouped into classes based on the lyrics, when the refrain is sung, the nature of the refrain, the overall melody, and so on. Titles of different versions of the song are usually prefixed by their place of origin or some other kind of signifier.

The original form of Arirang is Jeongseon Arirang, which has been sung in Jeongseon County for more than 600 years. However, the most famous version of Arirang is that of Seoul. It is the so-called Bonjo Arirang, although it isn't actually bonjo(本調; "Standard"). It is usually simply called Arirang, and is of relatively recent origin. It was first made popular by its use as the theme song of the 1926 movie Arirang, Korea's first feature film (1). This version of the song is sometimes called Bonjo Arirang, Sin (Shin; "New") Arirang, or Gyeonggi Arirang, since its provenance is, properly speaking, Seoul, which was formerly part of Gyeonggi Province. (The titles Bonjo Arirang and Sin Arirang are sometimes applied to other versions of the song.) Jeongseon County (Jeongseon-gun) is a county in Gangwon Province, South Korea. ... 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Arirang is a 1926 Korean film, one of the earliest feature films to be made in the country. ... Seoul (서울, (help· info)) is the capital of South Korea (the Republic of Korea) and is one of the most populous cities in the world, located in the northwestern part of the country on the Han River. ... Gyeonggi is the most populous province in South Korea. ...

Particularly famous folk versions of Arirang—all of which long predate the standard version—include:

• Jeongseon Arirang, from Jeongseon County in Gangwon Province;
• Jindo Arirang from Jindo County in South Jeolla Province; and
• Miryang Arirang from Miryang in South Gyeongsang Province.

Paldo Arirang is sometimes used to collectively denote all the many regional versions of the song, as sung in the far-flung regions of Korea's traditional Eight Provinces (Paldo). Jeongseon County (Jeongseon-gun) is a county in Gangwon Province, South Korea. ... Gangwon (Gangwon-do) is a province of South Korea, with its capital at Chuncheon. ... Jindo County (Jindo-gun) is a county in South Jeolla Province, South Korea. ... South Jeolla is a province in the southwest of South Korea. ... Miryang is a city in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. ... South Gyeongsang is a province in the southeast of South Korea. ... During most of the Joseon Dynasty, Korea was divided into eight provinces (do; 도; 道). The eight provinces boundaries remained unchanged for almost five centuries from 1413 to 1895, and formed a geographic paradigm that is still reflected today in the Korean Peninsulas administrative divisions, dialects, and regional distinctions. ...

Origin of the title

Many versions of the song open by describing the travails the subject of the song encounters while crossing a mountain pass. "Arirang" is one name for the pass and hence the title of the song. Some versions of Arirang mention Mungyeong Saejae, which is the main mountain pass on the ancient Joseon Dynasty road between [[Seoul] and southeastern Gyeongsang Province. Mungyeong Saejae is a mountain pass in central South Korea. ... The Joseon Dynasty (also Chosŏn, Hangul: 조선왕조, Hanja: 朝鮮王朝) was the final ruling dynasty of Korea, lasting from 1392 until 1910. ... Gyeongsang (Gyeongsang-do) was one of the eight provinces of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty. ...

There are apparently a number of passes in Korea called "Arirang Pass." One such is a pass among some hills in central-northeastern Seoul. That Arirang Pass, however, was originally called Jeongneung Pass and was only renamed in 1926, to commemorate the release of the film Arirang (2). Older versions of the song long predate the movie. 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

The refrain

In all versions of the song, the refrain and each verse are of equal length. In some versions—such as the standard version and Jindo Arirang—the first refrain precedes the first verse, while in other versions—including Miryang Arirang—the first refrain follows the first verse. Perhaps the easiest way to classify versions—apart from melody, which can vary widely between different versions—is the lyrics of the refrain. In the standard and some other versions, the first line of the refrain is "Arirang, Arirang, arariyo..." while in both Jindo Arirang and Miryang Arirang (which are otherwise quite different from each other), the first line of the refrain begins with "Ari arirang, seuri seurirang...." ("Arariyo" and "seurirang" are both meaningless words which are simply plays on "Arirang.")

The lyrics

The table below gives the refrain (first two lines; the refrain precedes the first verse) and first verse (third and fourth lines) of the standard version of the song in Hangul, romanized Korean, and a literal translation into English. Hangul is the native alphabet used to write the Korean language, as opposed to the hanja system borrowed from China. ... The Revised Romanization of Korean is the official Korean language romanization system in South Korea. ...

Notes

Li or li may refer to: Lee or Li is a transliteration of several Chinese and Korean family names, see Li (Chinese name) and Lee (Korean name). ... Hanja, or hanmun, sometimes translated as Sino-Korean characters, are what Chinese characters (hanzi) are called in Korean. ... A kilometre (American spelling: kilometer) (symbol: km) is a unit of length equal to 1000 metres (from the Greek words khilia = thousand and metro = count/measure). ... A mile is a unit of distance (or, in physics terminology, length) currently defined as 5,280 feet, 1,760 yards, or 63,360 inches. ...

Additional Verses

The standard version of Arirang has three verses, although the second and third verses are not as frequently sung as the first verse. They are listed below (excluding the refrain):

Verse 2

청청하늘엔 별도 많고
우리네 가슴엔 꿈도 많다

Cheongcheongfukheuren byeoldo manko
Urine gaseumen kkumdo manta

Just as there are many stars in the sky,
There are also many sorrows in my heart.

Verse 3

저기 저 산이 백두산이라지
동지 섣달에도 꽃만 핀다

Jeogi jeo sani Baekdusaniraji
Dongji seotdaredo kkonman pinda

There, over there that mountain is Baekdusan,
Where, even to the last days of winter, flowers bloom. Baitou Mountain, or Paektu Mountain, is a mountain on the border between China and North Korea, located at , . It is commonly called Changbai shan (長白山/长白山) in Chinese and the Manchu name Golmin Šanggiyan Alin corresponds to it. ...

See also

• List of Korea-related topics
• Variations on a Korean Folk Song

This is a list of Wikipedia articles on Korea-related people, places, things, and concepts. ... Variations on a Korean Folk Song is a musical piece written for concert band by John Barnes Chance in 1965. ...

External links

• Arirang - Korean American History (Informative website on the Korean American Experience - Includes the song arirang with lyrics.)
• Another recording of the standard version
• Webpage of MBC Korean Folk song radio program Producer, Mr.choi - various korean folk song is included(Korean only)

please check these links↓. unable to access.

• North Korean versions of various Arirang variations, performed by the Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble (보천보전자악단, 普天堡電子樂團), with Korean lyrics and MP3 files:
  • Arirang (sung by Ri Kyong Suk [리경숙, 李京淑])
  • Miryang Arirang (sung by Jon Hye Yong [전혜영, 全惠英] and Ri Kyong Suk [리경숙, 李京淑])
  • Jindo Arirang (sung by Li Bun Hui [리분희, 李粉姬])
  • Yeongcheon Arirang (unlike the typical Arirang this one is in a five-beat rhythm instead of three)