Rhythm of Revival: Sijo Takes Center Stage in the Modern Rebirth of HIP Confucian Culture

▲ Group photo of Cheonan Central High School students.

[시사일보=최한규 기자] On October 26, the Korea Confucian Culture Promotion Agency ran the first episode of ‘Sijo Learning Lab’, a Confucian culture convergence content program that combines K-POP’s rap and Sijo, a traditional Korean culture, and students from Cheonan Jungang High School participated. participated.

The program started with the idea of ​​’Let’s interpret sijo in a new way through rap,’ and planned a new way to create Confucian culture by fusing sijo, which was found difficult in textbooks, with K-pop rap, which students like. Additionally, we wanted to provide an opportunity for people to write their own stories into lyrics and express them through rap.

The program began with a conversation and discussion about the emotions and thoughts of historical figures Lee Bang-won’s ‘Haega’ and Jeong Mong-ju’s ‘Dansimga’, as well as the similarities and differences between rappers’ rap battles on TV. Next, we learned the components and meaning of sijo, learned about the basic form and technique of rap, and then had time to practice it ourselves. The students had the experience of building their own stories through the process of using their creativity to write their own lyrics and expressing them through rap.

A high school student who participated in the program said, “I usually like K-POP rap, but when I connected it with sijo, I was able to experience the beauty of Confucian culture in a new way, rather than feeling bored.” He added, “I was nervous when rapping in front of my friends with the lyrics I wrote, but it was. “For a moment, I felt like I was standing on stage, and this experience was a great help in relieving the stress I had experienced over the past days.”

Director Yu-jin Han and Jae-geun Jeong said, “Confucian culture is not just a thing of the past, but has infinite potential to integrate with modern times, and a good example of that possibility is the program called ‘Sijo Learning Lab.’” “Beat.” “I hope you look forward to the meeting of K-POP and K-Confucianism above, and what kind of story the students at the center will write in the future with Yujin Han.”

Yujin Han announced that the ‘Sijo Learning Lab’ program will be regularized from 2025 and will continue to expand so that more students can participate, and that it will become established as a new convergence content that combines modern and Confucian culture.