Kim Cheon-heung


Kim Cheon-heong was designated as the first ingan-munhwage on 21 December 1968 for the jongmyo jerye which is an Important Cultural Property of Korea. He was the master of haegeum and ilmu, which is a kind of Korean traditional dance during jongmyo jerye.

Biography

Kim was born in Seoul, Korea. When he was 13, he started studying Korean traditional dance at the Joseon Dynasty's royal music school in 1922. He was called "the last boy dancer" of the Joseon Dynasty because he performed at the last king, Sunjong of the Korean Empire's 50th birthday celebration in 1923. He also learned haegeum and other Korean traditional musical instruments including the ajaeng from the master Lee Sun-yong. He extended the Joseon Dynasty's royal dances to 40 types from an original 12 types. He died at the age of 98.

Career

In 2002, he donated about 2000 resources on the music of Korea, which he had gathered for 80 years, to the University of Hawaii where he had been a visiting professor.

Awards