Geomun-go, or hyeongeum in Chinese character form, is a composite word of:”geomun,” meaning black(or Goguryo); and “go,” meaning stringed instrument. According to the History of Three Kingdoms, Wang San-ak, a high-ranked official of the Goguryo dynasty, revised a Chinese seven-stringed instrument and made a new musical instrument. When he performed some musical pieces with the new instrument, a black crane came to the earth to dance to Wang’s music. From that time this musical instrument had been called hyeonhak-geum, meaning “black crane stringed instrument.” Later it was called hyengeum meaning “black stringed instrument.” The geomun-go has been played by the literati for their moral training.