Jeong Cheol, a poet of the 16th century, is regarded as having perfected the form, which consisted of parallel lines, each broken into two four-syllable units.

Based on relevant records, it is presumed that this form of verse started to be written after the reign of King Yeongjo (r.

During the earlier period, gasa were generally about 100 lines long and dealt with such subjects as female beauty, war, and seclusion.

During the later period, gasas became longer and dealt with moral instruction, travel accounts, banishment, and the writer’s personal misfortunes.

[3] Gasa lyrics tend to be longer and include many Chinese characters, making it difficult to appreciate in modern times.

In its developing stage, gasa borrowed the form of the Chinese tz’u (lyric poetry) or fu (rhymed prose).

Through rigorous training, many young South Koreans sacrifice so much in order to achieve their dreams and passions as singers.