The Significance and Musical Features of Modern Korean Buddhist Hymns through Baek Yong-sung’s Buddhist Hymns

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

In this paper, the authors examine the historical background and meaning of Chan-bul-ga ('songs in praise of the Buddha'), modern Korean Buddhist hymns, through a lens focusing on the Buddhist hymns of Baek Yong-sung, one of the representative figures of modern Buddhist history and the independence movement in Korea, alongside the well-known figure, Han Yong-woon.

Throughout the paper, the authors offer a compelling exploration of Chan-bul-ga. They skillfully place Chan-bul-ga in the socio-political context of Korea, from the late Joseon Dynasty through the Japanese occupation, underscoring the emergence of this musical style as not merely a religious or musical phenomenon but a vibrant social movement. By focusing on the hymns of Baek Yong-sung, the paper investigates the intersection of religious practice, national identity, and resistance against colonial oppression, illustrating how Chan-bul-ga served as a vehicle for both spiritual devotion and socio-political engagement.

In general, the analysis of Baek Yong-sung’s hymns seems interesting and successfully reveals how these works encapsulated the spirit of the Korean independence movement, promoted Hangul literacy, and facilitated communal religious participation. The study's attention to the musical features of these hymns, alongside their cultural and historical significance, provides a nuanced understanding of their role in modern Korean Buddhism and their impact on Korean society at large.

Moreover, the comparison with Western and Christian musical influences enriches the discussion by highlighting the dynamic interplay between traditional Korean musical forms and new religious music styles introduced during this period. This aspect of the paper appears to fruitfully underscore the adaptive and innovative responses of Korean Buddhism to the challenges of modernity and colonialism.

As such, it must be said that, given that modern Korean Buddhist hymns have been understudied thus far, this study can contribute to our understanding of  the historical, cultural, and musical dimensions of these Buddhist hymns, not only in Korea but also in East Asian Buddhist countries, in the modern period.

It would be better if the authors improve, or work more on the following points, to be published:

(1) pp. 3-13: How could monks like Baek Yong-sung, Kwon Sang-roh, Ahn Jin-ho, Cho Hak-yu, Kim Tae-heup had the opportunity to acquire advanced cultural education or civilization at that time? 

(2) pp. 3–13: What other musical role models can be found for the development of modern Korean Buddhist hymns besides Christian hymns? 

(3) The causal relationship between Baek Yong-sung's independence movement and Buddhist hymns should to be clarified.

(4) pp. 6-13, second paragraph: Convert 'The Ritual of Dae-gak-gyo' to italics.

(5) pp. 7-13, second paragraph: ‘Wang-seng-ga’, which in English can be translated to mean ‘a song about wishing to be born in the pure-land’, has 29 lyrics, the first and second verses of which are as follows. Change to English accordingly.

(6) pp. 10-13, the last sentence of the first paragraph: Change to "Fourth, the melodies of the first measure are identical in both songs."

Lastly, the following formatting errors should be corrected: (1) give a space before parentheses, e.g., Bum-pae(범패, 梵唄) > Bum-pae (범패, 梵唄).

(2) use an en dash to show certain numbers or dates, e.g., 1864-1940 > 1864–1940, Kim 2006, pp.4-11 > Kim 2006, pp.4–11.

(3) On page 3, regarding Kwon Sang-roh, Ahn Jin-ho, Cho Hak-yu, Kim Tae-heup, it would be better if the authors provide the dates of their birth and death, for the sake of consistency in the paper.

If these points are revised, it seems that the paper could be improved significantly.

The English used in this paper seems generally acceptable, but it is recommended to receive proofreading from a native speaker who understands the topic and the content of the paper for a logical and nuanced flow.

Author Response

First and foremost, the authors of this article would like to sincerely thank reviewer one for their thoughtful and constructive feedback. Please find the detailed responses below and the corresponding revisions and corrections in the resubmitted files. In addition, references and footnotes can be found in the attachment.

(1) pp. 3-13: How could monks like Baek Yong-sung, Kwon Sang-roh, Ahn Jin-ho, Cho Hak-yu, Kim Tae-heup had the opportunity to acquire advanced cultural education or civilization at that time?

- We added the following to page 3

With this background, it can be said that Buddhist hymns of the time were created by monks who had relatively more opportunities to experience advanced culture, such as Baek Yong-sung (1864—1940), Kwon Sang-roh (1879—1965), Ahn Jin-ho (1880—1965), Cho Hak-yu (1894—1933), Kim Tae-heup(1899—1989), and others.

(2) pp. 3–13: What other musical role models can be found for the development of modern Korean Buddhist hymns besides Christian hymns?

- For other role models, we've added the following to page 3, which draws on several previous studies. We've also added several references in the text.

It can also be assumed that most monks, due to their lack of musical skills, simply changed the lyrics of existing foreign songs to create Buddhist hymns, or that they left the writing of the lyrics but the music to professional musicians. For this reason, it is common to find melodies in Buddhist hymns of the time that sound like Christian hymns or Japanese popular songs.

For example, Cho Hak-yu wrote a preface to the 28th issue of ‘Buddhism’, published in April 1927, in which he mentioned the need for Buddhist hymns and released a music sheet of Buddhist hymn which was simply paraphrased the lyrics of existing Japanese popular song of the time (Cho 1927, p.31). Another example is the Buddhist hymn ‘Bom-ma-ji’ (Kwon 1924, pp.2-3). The song’s lyric was written by Kwon Sang-roh and the tune was composed by Baek woo-yong (1883-1930), who was the conductor of the ‘Gyung-sung Band’, a Western-style military band at the time, and was composed in the style of a Japanese popular song. (Ahn 2022, pp.63-64). 

However, Buddhist hymns from this period should not be discussed simply in terms of their music, but also in terms of how this new style of Buddhist music created by monks helped lead to Buddhist reforms (Park 2000, pp.400-01).

(3) The causal relationship between Baek Yong-sung's independence movement and Buddhist hymns should to be clarified.

- We've added related contents on page 6 and 8 that complements what you pointed out.

Fifth, a total of 29 lyrics were created with a focus on Hangul through Buddhist hymns. However, while these Hangul lyrics are meaningful from an educational perspective, the significance of these lyrics should also be seen in terms of the independence movement through national enlightenment. (Kim 1998, p.69)

Considering that even modern Buddhist ritual books are still in the form of Chinese characters, the publication of The Ritual of Dae-gak-gyo in Hangul at that time was an expression of enlightenment and independence through the use of the national language’s letter along with the propagation of Buddhism.

Moreover, given that in 1942 the Japanese Government-General of Korea ruled the Korean Language Society's Hangul movement as a violation of the Public Security Act, (Jung 2022, pp.1464-65) Baek Yong-sung's creations of Buddhist hymns can thus be seen as a reflection of his commitment to independence movement. The following chapter will explore the content and musical features of Baek Yong-sung’s Buddhist hymns and consider their significance.

(4) pp. 6-13, second paragraph: Convert 'The Ritual of Dae-gak-gyo' to italics.

- ‘The Ritual of Dae-gak-gyo’ has been edited to italics.

(5) pp. 7-13, second paragraph: ‘Wang-seng-ga’, which in English can be translated to mean ‘a song about wishing to be born in the pure-land’, has 29 lyrics, the first and second verses of which are as follows. Change to English accordingly.

- We've modified it as shown below.

‘Wang-seng-ga’, which in English can be translated to mean ‘a song about wishing to be born in the pure-land’, has 29 lyrics, the first and second verses of which are as follows.

(6) pp. 10-13, the last sentence of the first paragraph: Change to "Fourth, the melodies of the first measure are identical in both songs."

- We've modified it as shown below.

Fourth, the melodies of the first measure are identical in both songs.

Lastly, the following formatting errors should be corrected:

(1) give a space before parentheses, e.g., Bum-pae(범패, 梵唄) > Bum-pae (범패, 梵唄).

- The parentheses part has been edited in red in the text.

(2) use an en dash to show certain numbers or dates, e.g., 1864-1940 > 1864–1940, Kim 2006, pp.4-11 > Kim 2006, pp.4–11.

- Relevant parts have been modified.

(3) On page 3, regarding Kwon Sang-roh, Ahn Jin-ho, Cho Hak-yu, Kim Tae-heup, it would be better if the authors provide the dates of their birth and death, for the sake of consistency in the paper.

- We've filled in the dates of their birth and death as shown below.

With this background, it can be said that Buddhist hymns of the time were created by monks who had relatively more opportunities to experience advanced culture, such as Baek Yong-sung (1864—1940) , Kwon Sang-roh (1879—1965) , Ahn Jin-ho (1880—1965) , Cho Hak-yu (1894—1933) , Kim Tae-heup (1899—1989) , and others.

Please note that the English in this manuscript has been proofread by a native speaker at cost.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

The subject of this article concerns a figure in early modern Korean Buddhism who hasn't gotten much attention in English language scholarship, and the focus on modern Buddhist hymns is a creative way of examining the issue of reform in the context of competition from Christianity. So these elements make the article worthy of consideration. My primary critique is that the article unfolds in the form of a story, which is interesting, but does not articulate a thesis or argument. There should be a larger point to the examination--perhaps by engaging other scholarship on Buddhist reform movements in order to stake a position relative to that work, or perhaps by providing a thesis about the longer term effects and viability of Baek's efforts to make Buddhism more viable. In short, the article needs to be framed in a discussion of why its subject matters.

The English language quality is basically sound, but it need a good edit to rectify various stylistic infelicities.

Author Response

First and foremost, the authors of this article would like to sincerely thank reviewer two for their thoughtful and constructive feedback. Please find the detailed responses below and the corresponding revisions and corrections in the resubmitted files. In addition, references and footnotes can be found in the attachment.

The points made by Reviewer 2, ‘engaging other scholarship on Buddhist reform movements in order to stake a position relative to that work’, ‘providing a thesis about the longer term effects and viability of Baek's efforts to make Buddhism more viable’, and ‘a discussion of why its subject matters’, are similar to those made by Reviewer 1.

We've added the following to the text, and also added a number of previous studies that we've discussed in our revised manuscript to the References section.

1. We have added the following to the introduction to reflect the comments made by Reviewer 2: "the viability of Baek's efforts to make Buddhism more viable" and "a discussion of why its subject matters".

- page 2 :

Given that the Buddhist scriptures were mostly written in Chinese characters at the time, translating the Buddhist scriptures into Hangul and disseminating Hangul to the public was significant as a movement to enlighten the masses through education. Also, considering the fact that the Japanese Government-General of Korea at the time designated Japanese as the national language of Korea, while Hangul was referred to as Joseon's letter (Heo 2017, p.130), Baek Yong-sung's Hangul movement reflected his commitment to the independence movement. Furthermore, the founding of the Sunday school and the creations of Buddhist hymns by Baek Yong-sung can be seen as a viable way of propagating Buddhism, which was hardly present at the time, and the aspirations for Buddhist reform. (Han 1993, p.29).

The present study will examine the historical background and meaning of modern Korean Buddhist hymns as seen through Baek Yong-sung's Buddhist hymns, which reflected the will of the mass enlightenment movement and independence movement through the new method of propagation in modern times and the utilization of Hangul. This study will also analyze his works to examine their musical features, while it will additionally discuss the influence of Christian hymns of the time on his creations.

2. We also added some content to the conclusion to make the importance of the topics covered in the paper more apparent.

- page 11 :

In particular, Baek Yong-sung later translated Buddhist scriptures from Chinese characters into Hangul, and he also published a book of Buddhist rituals ‘The Ritual of Dae-gak-gyo’ in Hangul, so that ordinary people could participate in these rituals together. Given the fact that the Japanese Government-General of Korea at the time referred to Hangul as Joseon's letter, while the national language of Korea was designated as Japanese, Baek Yong-sung's Hangul movement can be seen as his commitment to the independence movement.

One of Baek Yong-sung’s creations, Wang-seng-ga, utilized the musical characteristics of Korean Buddhist music and Korean traditional music. This song was intended to be easily learned by the general public by using an element of Korean new folk songs as well as the numbered notation system. Moreover, a total of 29 verses of Korean lyrics were created with a focus on Hangul education and the propagation of Buddhism through Buddhist hymns. Thus, the active utilization of Buddhist hymns and Hangul can be seen as his commitment for independent movement through mass enlightenment.

3. Unlike Baek Yong-sung, who wrote and composed Buddhist hymns himself, other monks at the time simply translated the lyrics of foreign songs or relied on musicians for the music. By doing so, we tried to highlight Baek Yong-sung's achievements. We've added the following to page 3, which draws on several previous studies and also added several references in the manuscript :

It can also be assumed that most monks, due to their lack of musical skills, simply changed the lyrics of existing foreign songs to create Buddhist hymns, or that they left the writing of the lyrics but the music to professional musicians. For this reason, it is common to find melodies in Buddhist hymns of the time that sound like Christian hymns or Japanese popular songs.

For example, Cho Hak-yu wrote a preface to the 28th issue of ‘Buddhism’, published in April 1927, in which he mentioned the need for Buddhist hymns and released a music sheet of Buddhist hymn which was simply paraphrased the lyrics of existing Japanese popular song of the time (Cho 1927, p.31). Another example is the Buddhist hymn ‘Bom-ma-ji’ (Kwon 1924, pp.2-3).  The song’s lyric was written by Kwon Sang-roh and the tune was composed by Baek woo-yong (1883-1930), who was the conductor of the ‘Gyung-sung Band’, a Western-style military band at the time, and was composed in the style of a Japanese popular song. (Ahn 2022, pp.63-64).

However, Buddhist hymns from this period should not be discussed simply in terms of their music, but also in terms of how this new style of Buddhist music created by monks helped lead to Buddhist reforms (Park 2000, pp.400-01).

4. Baek Yong-sung wrote the lyrics of Buddhist hymns in Korean. In addition to the mass enlightenment movement through the spread of Hangeul, it also falls into the ‘category’ of an independence movement in the sense that the Japanese Government-General of Korea suppressed the Hangeul movement at the time. We've added related contents on page 6 and 8 that complements what you pointed out.

Fifth, a total of 29 lyrics were created with a focus on Hangul through Buddhist hymns. However, while these Hangul lyrics are meaningful from an educational perspective, the significance of these lyrics should also be seen in terms of the independence movement through national enlightenment. (Kim 1998, p.69)

Considering that even modern Buddhist ritual books are still in the form of Chinese characters, the publication of The Ritual of Dae-gak-gyo in Hangul at that time was an expression of enlightenment and independence through the use of the national language’s letter along with the propagation of Buddhism.

Moreover, given that in 1942 the Japanese Government-General of Korea ruled the Korean Language Society's Hangul movement as a violation of the Public Security Act, (Jung 2022, pp.1464-65) Baek Yong-sung's creations of Buddhist hymns can thus be seen as a reflection of his commitment to independence movement. The following chapter will explore the content and musical features of Baek Yong-sung’s Buddhist hymns and consider their significance.

Please note that the English in this manuscript has been proofread by a native speaker.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf