Namdo Field Songs

Namdo Field Songs (hangeul: 남도 들노래; romanisation: Namdo deulnorae) refers to a set of South Korean folk choral songs used by farmers in rice fields, specifically in the region of Jeolla Province. The Namdo Field Songs have been recognised as part of the Intangible Cultural Property of the Republic of Korea in 1973.

Origin and type of field songs

Namdo Field Songs are folk songs (in Korean: minyo) originated and widespread in the Jeolla Province region, more precisely in the Western area of South Jeolla, in the basin of the Yeonsang River: the name Namdo means “South path” and can be also written with the ideograms 南道, whose literal translation is “Southern road”. Although now known all over the country, the words and sounds may vary by region and are sung mainly by the residents of the Jindo Island and Inji-ri. The songs were first discovered and catalogued by the folklorist Ji Chunsang in 1970 while visiting the Jindo Island, and they are generally referred to as part of Labour Songs typical of the whole region, as they were sung and considered essential by farmers while working in the rice fields with the intent of forgetting the tiredness and giving strength to one another. In order to do so, the stanzas that composed the songs have a rhythmic cycle that matched the different phases of the activities in the rice fields and the words were partly improvised to keep the workers attentive and entertained.

The sets of songs that compose the Namdo Field Songs can be divided into:

Songs about steaming rice seeds (also known as Mojjineun Songs – hangeul: 모찌는 노래 – or Sangsa Sori – hangeul: 상사소리);

Songs about planting and transplanting rice plants (also known as Mosimgi Songs – hangeul: 모심기 노래), which have a bright and lively rhythm and are meant to give strength to the farmers and can become faster when used to rush the workers;

Songs about weeding the fields by removing wild seaweeds (also known as Jeollo Sori – hangeul: 절로소리), which have a slower and duller rhythm;

Songs about the ending of the work in the fields when going back to the storehouse (also known as Jangwonjil Sori – hangeul: 장원질 소리) that are sung after the last paddy of rice has dried and therefore have a triumphant rhythm. These last batch of songs can be heard during processions in the neighbourhood, where the rice is put on a cow adorned with vines and directed towards the house of the hardest worker, who will then offer food and alcoholic drinks.

For this reason, Namdo Field Songs can also be divided into wet paddy songs (those used when steaming, planting and weeding) and dry fields songs (Jangwonjil Sori).

In the past, the rhythm was marked by drums played by the band, which stayed at the borders of the rice field during the whole harvesting cycle while the farmers were bent down wearing white or brown clothes and singing the stanzas as a team.