Just reading the title of the song A Bumper Harvest in the Chongsan Plain (words by Kim Sang O and music by Kim Ok Song), it seems that the thrilling and lovely melody of the song rings in the ears. Hearing the music, all the Korean people, young and old, get excited by themselves.

The song, created in Juche 49 (1960), profoundly represents the boundless delight and happiness of agricultural workers reaping a bumper harvest in the Chongsan Plain thanks to the leadership of President Kim Il Sung .

The Chongsan Plain is called a historic land, and the following is about why it is called so.

When the grand Chollima advance was at its height in the country, the President, who paid close attention to agricultural production, visited the then Chongsan-ri, Kangso County, South Phyongan Province, several times and discussed the way ahead of the farm to increase grain production. It is the home of his famous proposition that spring in Chongsan-ri means spring in the whole country and that a bumper harvest in Chongsan-ri leads to the bumper harvest of the country.

He devoted his all to turn the village into a model farm for communist rural construction. True to his trust and benevolence, the villagers built a reservoir and readjusted the river to complete an irrigation system, and put mechanization and chemicalization onto a high level so as to bring about a rich harvest every year.

An old native of the village recalled as follows:

“It was really great in those days. Our obscure village started to be widely known throughout the country, achieving great success in farming.”

In those days the word Chongsan Plain was not a mere local name but a synonym for bumper harvest to the Korean people.

Renowned musicians Kim Sang O and Kim Ok Song, who came to the plain to assist farming and gain firsthand experience in farmers’ life, got creative inspiration from the pulsating reality and produced the song.

The words of the song, in a simple and vivid poetic depiction, sing of the boundless delight and emotion of agricultural workers busy with harvest in the Chongsan Plain and the true sentiments of the villagers extending their gratitude to Kim Il Sung and the Party for leading them to reap a rich harvest.

The song is sung in chorus to the tune of orchestral music, and the merry and lively music vividly represents the thematic and ideological contents of the song. As the melody is based on the tune of farm music, it is full of national sentiments and optimistic mettle of the Korean people. The echo of orchestral music backed by the playing of saenap (a Korean brass wind instrument) and a small gong enriches the national colouring of the song.

Orchestral music and chorus A Bumper Harvest in the Chongsan Plain have been staged in large numbers in national art performances, winning a standing ovation.

It is a significant masterpiece in the country’s history of music and art development as it wonderfully depicts the beautiful reality of the socialist rural communities of Korea turning into a paradise good to live in with musical representation of national sentiments and aesthetic tastes of the times.

Yang Ryon Hui