Chung Chul
정철
Jeong Cheol was a master of the Korean gasa (歌詞 literally “music words,” it describe all vernacular songs) in the sixteenth century during the Joseon dynasty. His works include Gwandong byeolgok (關東別曲 Song of the Northeast), Samiingok (思美人曲 Song of Longing), Songmiingok (續美人曲 Continued Song of Longing) and hundreds of other pieces of sijo (short fixed-form poems). Although Jeong Cheol was regarded as a self-righteous official, the head of the Westerners (西人 seoin) political faction during a period of political strife, he wrote sensually and fluently, giving him reputation as an alchemist of the Korean language. [1] Jeong Cheol’s poems and songs written with the Korean alphabet are contained in Songganggasa (松江歌辭 Music Words of Songgang).
