Performing Art, Drum (Buk)

 A drum like a Korean traditional big drum called as "DaeBuk (Dae: big, Buk: drum) or KeunBuk" is assumed to become the oldest musical instrument that has been used from the prehistoric era. In ancient times, this percussion had been played at every ceremony to cheer up the folks in the festival or holy ceremony and also in the battlefield to encourage soldiers’ fighting spirit against the enemies.  

Click to View the Video of a Korean Big Drum (Keunbuk) Play

A Korean traditional style of playing a big drum makes you realize how TaeGeuk (harmony of Eum & Yang) theory can be concretized with various sounds and a player in a drum play. A big drum has a philosophical meaning of reporting the voice of animated lives covered with the skins on the ground to the heavens and making them enlightened by its sound. In addition,

Beating the skin of a drum is said to be a metaphor of encouraging them to realize which illusions they have and then make them eliminate. It’s quite similar to one of the ideas, TahTong (Tah: to beat, Tong: flow) in GiCheon beating trainees not only to help the Gi well circulated in the body but also to make them realize its behind meanings. When one does WonBahnJang in GiCheon simultaneously moving both hands in a clockwise way or vice versa, he should cover all the directions by the hands which will help him circulate the Gi well throughout the body and also exercise martial art. 

  Consider three-dimensional space as four main directions: east, west, north, south, up, and down.The divine spirit, or 'Shin' (for NaeGa ShinJang) in Korean, is understood to perceive all of these directions equally at all times and to their fullest extent. The GiCheon practitioner must therefore focus on conceiving of mind and body in this way, ie. in relation to all directions at infinite distance. Generally, a drum shapes a circle, that of WonBahnJang, and delivers the truth to a human or animals in all regions.

BeopGoh

  The BeopGoh (Beop: principle or the Way or path, Goh: drum) is called a huge drum in the Korean Buddhist temples which is aimed to deliver the ultimate truth or guides the path to people. It is intended to remove the defilements of a human while listening to the sound of a drum, and so make them reach the cosmic reality.  

  Generally, it is made of a well-dried tree for the body and cow skins for both sides to make sounds. The skins on both sides have been regarded to be animated lives with a skin on Earth such as animals and a human. Beating the skins of a drum represents those creatures are urged to destroy their illusions from their innerselves.  

  So, before the chanting hour in the Korean Buddhist temples, it is played first than any other instrument. Especially, cow (Eum) and bull (Yang) skins are used for each side of a drum to produce good sounds by the harmony of Eum and Yang. Hence, this harmonious sounds can move a human so guide them the enlightenment.  

  Usually a dragon is encarved or painted on the body of a drum. The Mahn (卍)-letter or TaeGeuk shape is put on the center of a drum.