VICISSITUDES OF TEXTUAL TRANSMISSION

The difficulty of studying vernacular poetry of the Koryŏ dynasty can be traced to several obstacles. One is the lack of a uniform system of writing during that period. Although hyangch'al was used by King Yejong in 1120 to write a poem (or used by a scribe recording the royal poems) it was not in general use for recording vernacular poetry. Great Master Kyunyŏ wrote his eleven songs in hyangch'al, but his songs are usually discussed under hyangga of the Silla period. In fact, most songs of popular origin were transmitted by word of mouth until they were put down in writing in the Korean alphabet as late as the early sixteenth century.

The intensive study of Chinese classics and the prestige accorded to writing in literary Chinese contributed to the dearth of material. The Koryŏ dynasty, which espoused Buddhism as the state religion, nevertheless imitated fashionable conventions of government that were traditionally Chinese and based on Confucian political and moral philosophy. With the adoption of the civil service examination system, the two-corps system of government – civil and military – became effective in 958 but only the civil officials chosen by this examination were occupied with state affairs. After seventy-five years of peace (1047–1122), Koryŏ was battered by a military coup internally and by successive invasions of the Khitans, Jurchens, Mongols, and Japanese externally.