“Ryonggang Ginari” and its legend

The northwestern provinces of Korea are widely known as one of the places where folk songs have been developed most abundantly in our country since ancient times.

Work songs and lyric folk songs which reflect the social conditions of manners and customs of people account for a large proportion of folk songs of the northwestern provinces of Korea.

The characteristics of these folk songs are that their attractiveness is expressed in gentle grace free and easy.

"Ryonggang Ginari" is one of those typical folk songs.

The folk song, "Ryonggang Ginari" was widely disseminated in the 17th to 19th centuries as a folk music creation in the Ryonggang and Kangso areas of South Phyongan Province. It is a continuous series of fluent and original songs like "Ginari" as well as fluent and inflexible "Tharyong" songs.

"Ryonggang Ginari", which contains the excellent features of folk songs of northwestern provinces of Korea, has been deeply infiltrated into people’s life of the regions and widely disseminated with love among people as a song sung on such holidays like New Year’s Day and the 15th day of the January by the lunar calendar as well as while weeding dry and paddy fields.