Cheoyongga
Also known as: Song of Cheoyong, Cheoyong-ga, Cheoyong Song
A short Silla-period apotropaic hymn in which Cheoyong, the Dragon King’s son, sings and dances to spare his household from a smallpox spirit, prompting a vow that Cheoyong’s image will ward off disease.
Description
Cheoyongga is among the most famous Korean hyangga: a compact ritual lyric linked to exorcism and protection. In the tale preserved alongside the verses, Cheoyong—son of the East Sea Dragon King—returns at night to find a smallpox spirit with his wife. Rather than attack, he performs a song and dance expressing magnanimity. Moved, the spirit swears to avoid any doorway bearing Cheoyong’s image. The poem’s function became apotropaic: Cheoyong masks and door charms were displayed to repel illness, and a court dance (Cheoyongmu) developed from the narrative. Although the melody is lost, the text survives as a key witness to late Silla vernacular poetics and ritual practice.
Historiography
The poem is transmitted in the Samguk Yusa, which preserves hyangga in vernacular notation (hyangchal/idu) without music; thus, only the text survives. The Cheoyong narrative was integrated into Goryeo court entertainments and later codified in Joseon musical treatises as Cheoyongmu. Iconographic uses of Cheoyong’s visage as a door talisman persisted, reflecting a living ritual tradition. Scholarly debate focuses on hyangga form, diction, and the interaction of shamanic, Buddhist, and courtly layers in the tale.
Date Notes
Set in late Silla (reign of King Heongang, late 9th c.); text preserved in the 13th-century Samguk Yusa; later ritual and dance forms codified in Goryeo/Joseon.
Major Characters
- Cheoyong
- Plague Spirit
- King Heongang
Myths
- Cheoyong’s Dance to Banish Plague
- Appeasement of the Smallpox Demon
- Origin of Masked Processions
Facts
- Classified as a hyangga, a vernacular Silla lyric preserved in later compilations.
- Functions apotropaically; Cheoyong’s image was placed on doors to repel disease spirits.
- Cheoyong is portrayed as the son of the East Sea Dragon King, linking court and maritime divinity.
- Set traditionally in the reign of King Heongang of Silla (late 9th century).
- The melody is lost; only the text survives in mixed-script notation.
- Inspired the court dance Cheoyongmu, later systematized in musical treatises.
- Frequently interpreted as blending shamanic exorcism with courtly performance.
- Serves as a key witness for the language and poetics of late Silla hyangga.