Sijo is a three-line verse form that was written in the Korean vernacular and sung by Koreans for over five hundred years. Prior to the emergence of male middle-class singers in the eighteenth century, its composition had been the sole preserve of the male Neo-Confucian literati. Whereas Sino-Korean literature was the main genre that the Neo-Confucian literati studied for their education and/or political career, Sijo was the verse form that they wrote and recited during their leisure time to express their philosophy and emotions; in doing so, they praised what they perceived to be the inherent virtue of the natural environment. Sijo were meant to be accompanied by performance, in which women were officially prohibited from participating – with one exception: the Kisaeng. Kisaeng were female entertainers who belonged to the lowest class of Neo-Confucian society during the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1897). They wrote in the vernacular Indigenous Hangeul script, which was created in 1446. Despite their lowly social status, Kisaeng possessed the prerequisite level of literary expertise for contributing to the genre. The Kisaeng revivified what would become the sijo canon, expressing their sentiments, which derived from their unique experience of love and loss.