Intangible Culture ISSN:2799-3868(Print) 무형문화연구

The fact that Hotsori lyric poems are generally composed of seven-word or five-word four-phrase fixed-form verses has long been accepted as an established theory in academia. This paper questions this existing fact, and aims to examine whether Hotsori Beompaes are mostly composed of fixed-form verses and classify and organize the genres of the contained musical pieces. The Hotsori Beompaes sung by professional Beompae monks selected from the sound sources contained in “Sangjugwon-gong,” “Gakbae,” and “Yeongsan” were examined. The literary forms of the lyrics were analyzed by album, and were put together to statistically organize the patterns of Beompaes lyrics. The literary forms of the lyrics were categorized into five types: verse, prose, titles and mantras, names(Buddha’s names) and mixed forms. According to the results of analyses by album, the lyrics contained in “Sangjugwongong” were composed of 50% verse, 20.83% prose, 20.83% mantra, and 8.33% mixed, showing a high proportion of verse. Those contained in “Gakbae” were composed of 9.09% verse, 54.55% prose, 27.27% titles and mantras, and 9.09% names, showing a high proportion of prose, contrary to “Sangjugwongong.” Finally, those contained in “Yeongsan” were composed of 20% verse, 72% prose, 4% titles and mantras, and 4% mixed, showing a much higher proportion of prose than verse. Eventually, it was confirmed that the proportions of verses were high in “Sangjugwongong,” and rather low in “Gakbae” and “Yeongsan.” When all the 18 albums were put together and the Hotsori Beompae lyrics were statistically analyzed, it could be seen that they were composed of 30% verses, 48.33% proses, 15% titles and mantras, 1.67% names, and 5% mixed forms, indicating that the overall proportion of proses is higher than verse in the lyrics of Hotsori Beompaes. Therefore, the existing belief that most of the lyrics of Hotsori songs are composed of fixed-form poetry is different from the reality, and the statistical results for Hotsori Beompaes actually show that the proportion of proses is higher than that of verses. Therefore, the relationship that most Hotsori Beompaes are composed of verses, such as fixed-form poetry, does not hold.