Intangible Heritage Pansori is a form of traditional Korean performing arts developed in the southern provinces of Jeolla after the middle period of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). It is a dramatic vocal music performed by a solo singer, singing, narrating and acting, to the accompaniment of a drummer, each episode lasting a few hours. The Korean government designated the epic chants as Important Intangible Cultural Property on December 24, 1964. The UNESCO World Heritage Committee named pansori a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity on November 7, 2003, in recognition of its outstanding cultural and technical value. It was the second time that Korea' s intangible cultural asset was proclaimed World Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO following the rites at Jongmyo, the royal ancestral shrine of Joseon, and its ritual music, given the honors in 2001. The Joseon royal ancestral rites and ritual music are Korea' s Important Intangible Cultural Properties respectively. It is not known exactly when this form of performing arts, combining songs (chang), recitatives (aniri) and motions (ballim or neoreumsae) came to be called pansori. It' s a coinage of two words-pan, meaning an "arena" where a crowd is gathered, and sori, meaning "vocal music." This type of music had several different names such as taryeong, chang, changak and gwangdae sori. The earliest source with the term pansori is History of Korean Musical Drama (Joseon changgeuk sa), written by Jeong No-sik and published by Chosun Ilbo in 1940. Evolution of Unique Vocal Music The origin of pansori is not clearly known. Some conjecture that it existed before the reign of King Sukjong (r. 1674-1720) considering that the "Song of Spring Fragrance" (Chunhyang ga), written by Yu Jin-han in 1754, has a very similar story line. Others believe it evolved from the "comic shows of clowns" (gwangdae sohak ji hi), mentioned in early Joseon documents, while still others trace back its origin to the popular variety shows called "pan noreum" of the Silla period (57 B.C. — A.D. 935). Pansori is thus characterized by its deep-seated roots in Korean folk culture and popular sentiment and strong rapport with the audience. The drummer plays a vital role in encouraging the audience participation. Drumming (gobeop) was separately named Important Intangible Cultural Property in 1978. It was integrated into the pansori genre as Important Intangible Cultural Property in 1991. Strength of Well-organized Lyrics In its earlier days, the pansori genre had 12 short pieces (madang), or episodes, all based on popular folk tales. As time passed, they tended to grow too lengthy and tedious, elaboratingon preposterous details. Eventually, five pieces propounding the essential ethical values of Joseon society, such as loyalty, filial piety, justice and fidelity, survived and continued to be refined in style to acquire prominent artistic quality. They are the "Song of Spring Fragrance" (Chunhyang ga), "Song of Filial Daughter" (Sim Cheong ga), "Song of Undersea Palace" (Sugung ga), "Song of Virtuous Brother" (Heungbo ga) and the "Song of Red Cliffs" (Jeokbyeok ga). There are three different styles of pansori, and they are classified in accordance with the vocal technique developed in different geographical districts. The Eastern Style (dongpyeonje), which developed in the northeastern part of Jeolla provinces, has relatively simple and strong tunes with deep resonance in major keys. The Western Style (seopyeonje), from the southwestern part of Jeolla provinces, has a light, flowing sound mostly in minor keys, with long vibration and delicate grace notes. The Central Style (junggoje), from the Gyeonggi and Chungcheong provinces, is close to the Eastern Style but has simple grace notes. Through songs and gestures pansori realistically depicts the joys and sorrows of the masses and expresses hopes for a better society and times. It' s a uniquely valuable genre of performing arts promoting understanding between the ruling and the ruled, thereby contributing to social integration through common enjoyment. It' s also an ingenious form of synthetic arts harmonizing diverse elements adopted from traditional Korean arts and culture, hence enriching the nation' s artistic heritage. With invaluable originality and artistic excellence pansori has gained global recognition as the essence of Korean culture.