"Korean chong-ak music is different from Western music in that it does not focus on the "beat" or the "pulse", taken one assumes from the human heartbeat. Instead, it takes its cue from the other fundamental rhythm, the breath. Its tempo is set to a cycle of inhaling and exhaling, and tends to be sedate and contemplative. Wind instruments, the movement of hands over gentle strings, and the attempt to weave harmonies with nature through close listening and slight shifts in resonance to "pick up" nature's responses -- these are what chong-ak is about."
-- adapted from "Korean Music Harmony With Nature", Han Myung-hee (1999).