According to Akji of Samguksagi (Historical Record of the Three Kingdoms), “King Gasil of Gayaguk made the Gaya harp after consulting a Chinese musical instrument. He ordered Ureuk, a musician from Seongyeol-hyeon, to compose twelve tunes for the harp so as to unify the different vocal sounds stemming from the dialects of Gaya states.”

In the history book, King Gasil of Gayaguk is generally regarded as the king of Daegaya. There have been two views relating to Ureuk. One is that he was the final king of Daegaya. This is based on the fact that among the kings of Daegaya he is a person who stayed in the state until just before its collapse.

Another fact is that he is King Haji who offered tributes to Namje and received the title of Boguk-janggun-bonguk-wang in 479.

Except for the outcome of those relating to the history of music and the thought of ceremonial music among the existing studies, concerning with the above article the study of the Korean historical circle was largely divided into two directions: One approach has been done in the aspect of cultural history and the other in political history.

The latter links the names of the twelve tunes composed by Ureuk to those of Gaya states which belong to the allied body of Daegaya.

According to this view, the fact that King Gasil ordered Ureuk to compose the twelve tunes is interpreted as a political purpose for the integration of small states in the period when Daegaya was active as a leader of Gaya. Considering the political functions of ancient music, it seems that such an interpretation is persuasive.

The Translation of the original text of the Gaya Harp Article of Historical Record of the Three Kingdoms Vol. 32

加耶琴 亦法中國樂部箏而爲之 -(中略)- 羅古記云 加耶國嘉實王見唐之樂器而造之 王以謂諸國方言各異聲音 豈可一哉 乃命樂師省熱縣人于勒造十二曲 後于勒以其國將亂 ?樂器投新羅眞興王 王受之安置國原 -(中略)- 于勒所製十二曲 一曰下加羅都 二曰上加羅都 三曰寶伎 四曰達已 五曰思勿 六曰勿慧 七曰下奇物 八曰師子伎 九曰居烈 十曰沙八兮 十一曰爾赦 十二曰上奇物 泥文所製三曲 一曰烏 二曰鼠 三曰?.

The Gaya harp was made after the model of Jaeng, which is a kind of 13-stringed musical instrument and was being used by Chinese musicians. . . . Sillagogi (Old Chronicle of Silla) wrote down that King Gasil of Gaya made (the Gaya harp) after consulting a Chinese musical instrument.

King Gasil ordered Ureuk, a musician from Seongyeol-hyeon, to compose twelve tunes to unify the different vocal sounds deriving from the dialects of Gaya states. Later, when Daegaya came to be in disorder, Ureuk submitted to King Jinheung of Silla with his musical instrument. King Jinheung accepted and placed him in Gukwon (nowadays, Chungju).

The twelves tunes composed by Ureuk are as follows: 1. Hagarado 2. Sangarado 3. Bogi 4. Dali 5. Samul 6. Murye 7. Hagimul 8. Sajagi 9. Geoyeol 10. Saparye 11. Yihyeok 12. Sanggimul. The tree tunes composed by Nimun are as follows: 1. Oh (crow) 2. Seo (mouse) 3. Sun (quail).

The Explanation of Content

‘Tang’ in the original text should not be interpreted as the Tang Dynasty (618～907) but just as China. That is, the musical instruments of Tang could not be introduced to Daegaya, for Daegaya had already collapsed in 562. The Tang, in the original text, may be one of the states which belonged to Namjo, an ancient state in China.

Except for the two skill musics, Sajagi and Bogi, among the twelve tunes composed by Ureuk, the rest correspond to the names of those days.

Hence, it is believed that Ureuk did not originally compose the twelve tunes. He arranged the national musics of the states which were under the influence of Daegaya between the fifth and sixth century. He changed these national musics into the tunes suitable for the Gaya harp.

It seems that the twelve tunes are a synthetic court dance music that the Korean harp, song and dance are harmonized.