Britannica AI Icon

Quick Summary

Hyangga are the oldest form of Korean poetry, originating during the Unified Silla dynasty and continuing into the early Koryŏ dynasty. These "native songs" were transcribed using the hyangch'al writing system, which employed Chinese characters to represent spoken Korean.12

Hyangga typically appeared in four, eight, or ten-line stanzas, with the ten-line form being the most popular. This structure consisted of two four-line stanzas followed by a two-line concluding stanza. The poets were often Buddhist monks or members of the Hwarangdo, a group that trained young men in martial and civil virtues. A significant portion of the surviving hyangga (seventeen out of twenty-five) are inspired by Buddhist themes and content.1

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.