Pansori is a traditional Korean genre of epic musical storytelling in which a sorikkun (single performer) presents a long narrative work comprising sori (singing), aniri (lyrics), and neoreumsae (gestures) to the accompaniment of a gosu (drummer). While its exact origin is unknown, some scholars believe that pansori developed during the reign of King Sukjong of the Joseon Dynasty on the basis of Chunhyangga, which was composed by Yu Jin-han in 1754, while others trace its origin to an entertainment mentioned in a document dating back to the early days of the Joseon Dynasty. Still others argue that it dates back to Silla, where folk entertainments called pannoreum were widely performed. The musical accompaniment of Pansori consists of a variety of rhythms called jinyangjo, jungmori, jungjungmori, and hwimori. The drummer accompanying the singer breaks out into shouts of praise and encouragement, such as “Great!” and “Perfect!”, known as chuimsae, at the appropriate endings. During the reign of King Sunjo (1800-1834) of Joseon, there were eight masters of pansori, including Gwon Sam-deuk, Song Heung-rok, Mo Heung-gap, Yeom Gye-dal, Go Su-gwan, and Sin Man-yeop, each of who played a key role in the development of the musical genre into the form we know today. The current tendency is to divide Pansori into the following three schools: Dongpyeonje, which developed in the northeast area of Jeolla-do; Seopyeonje, which developed in the southwestern region of the peninsula; and Junggoje, which developed in Gyeonggi-do and Chungcheong-do. In its early stage, there were twelve great Pansori works, including Chunhyangga (Song of Chunhyang), Simcheongga (Song of Sim Cheong), Sugungga (Song of the Rabbit and the Turtle), Heungboga (Song of Heungbo), Jeokbyeokga (Song of the Red Cliff), Baebijang taryeong (Song of General Bae), Byeongangsoe taryeong (Song of Byeon Gang-soe), Jangkki taryeong (Song of the Cock-Pheasant), Onggojip taryeong (Song of the Miser Onggojip), Musugi taryeong (Song of Military Officials), and Gangneung maehwa taryeong (Song of Plum Blossoms of Gangneung), which were much shorter than the five works remaining today, namely, Chunhyangga, Simcheongga, Sugungga, Heungboga, and Jeokbyeokga. These five Pansori works have been designated as Important Intangible Cultural Heritages by the Korean government and are performed widely across Korea by various performers, including the following select group of government-acknowledged masters: Kim Yeo-ran, Kim Yeon-su and Kim So-hui (Chunhyangga); Jeong Gwon-jin (Simcheongga); Park Nok-ju (Heungboga); Jeong Yong-hun and Park Cho-wol (Sugungga); Park Dong-jin, Park Bong-sul, and Han Gap-ju (Joeokbyeokga).