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Kim So-hui House - 김소희 초가 (likely late 19th century)

Kim So-hui (1917-95) was a famous pansori singer who was designated by the Korean government as an Intangible Cultural Treasure in 1963. Her success in the field is highly unusual as traditionally pansori singers were all male. Her exposure to the genre first occurred when she was twelve years old. She had moved with her sister to the city of Kwangju to obtain a better education. One day, she happened to hear a pansori performance by Yi Hwajungseon, one of the few famous pansori singers of her era. Kim tried imitating her voice, and soon began practicing on her own for hours on end. Perhaps recognizing her talent, her maternal aunt bestowed upon her the name "So-hui", which Kim thought to be much more elegant than her birth name "Sun-ok". Later, her brother-in-law introducted her to Song Man-gap, a highly respected male pansori singer from an accomplished line of masters. Song took her under his wing and trained her, and by the mid 1930s she had become highly accomplished at the art.

Kim's reportoire included "The Tale of Shim Cheong" and "The Tale of Chunhyang". In 1934 she went into seclusion at a Buddhist temple and stayed there for two years perfecting her talent. In 1936, she first rose to national prominence with the release of the "Victor Label Tale of Chun-hyang", a recording made with four other pansori singers including Yi Hwajungseon.

Kim's natal home, shown here, was likely constructed in the late 19th century, though it has since been refurbished. The layout is typical of commoner dwellings in Korea's southwest region. In Kim's youth there were probably numerous dwellings of this sort nearby, though all but her own have vanished in the years since.

Address: 전북 고창군 흥덕면 사포리 335