An Investigation into the Point ( • ) in Akjangnyoram

Akjangnyoram is a book of manuscripts which was owned by Kim Hyeong-sik, who worked as a boy dancer at the royal court of King Sunjo. The book contains manuscripts of Jongmyo Jeryeak, Gyeongmogung Jeryeak, Nagyangchun, and all the five jang (sections) of Man notated in yuljabo notation. There are points (•) among notes, however, the distance between each point is erratic. Some points are placed next to a single note, but others after a series of notes. In the sixth book of Sokakwonbo, the points are turned into blank jeonggan, and notes preceding them have been interpreted to take on two beats, while others only one beat until this day. Since the manuscripts of Sokakwonbo and those of Akjangnyoram, which have points, share the same contents and order, some scholars regard the one-beat-for-one-note change as a natural development that occurred during the Joseon dynasty. For them, the music of Akjangnyoram with points serves as the only clue for accepting the de-patterned and erratic rhythmic cycles of current court music as corollaries from the Joseon dynasty. It is thus necessary to establish a definite interpretation of the point (•) in investigating the logicality of the one-beat-per-note change. The original manuscripts of all the pieces in Akjangnyoram, except for Gyeongmogung Jeryeak, have survived, and I have demonstrated that the points are breathing marks for daegeum by comparing Akjangnyoram with the originals. A note followed by a point typically holds a value of six daegang, but if a note is followed by several notes without a point, then they all fit within six daegang. Of course the melodic context determines the length of a breathing phrase: if a melodic fragment is linked to its previous melody, its breathing phrase will be longer than usual, but if it is linked to its following melody, the breathing phrase can be shorter. It is not likely that today’s Daegeum Jeongak has added a breathing mark to each blank jeonggan in the sixth book of Sokakwonbo. The length of the longest breathing phrase of a piece indicates its relative tempo: Huimun, whose longest breathing phrase occupies eight daegang is assumed to be much slower than pieces like Nagyangchun, which has a breathing phrase taking up as many as 18 daegang. But since Yeongsin Huimun, Jeonpye Huimun, and Choheon Huimun all have eight daegang as their longest breathing phrase, it is not reasonable to assume that Jeonpye Huimun is particularly slow.