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Music in Taiwan |
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Indigenous peoples’ music
When the German pop group Enigma’s international chart-topping single “Return to Innocence” was adopted as the theme song for the 1996 Olympic Games, the liveliness in its male vocal immediately caught the world’s attention. In fact, the song sampled a performance of the “Jubilant Drinking Song” by Kuo Ying-nan—a singer from the Amis tribe of Taiwan’s indigenous peoples. Kuo’s voice enabled the world to rediscover the beauty of Taiwan’s indigenous peoples’ music.
Taiwan’s aborigines are classified as Austronesians. Their music mostly involves singing and dancing, and their musical culture is closely tied to daily life. Singing and dancing are an indispensable part of the rituals and festivals developed by each aboriginal tribe based on its own heritage, living environment and customs. Most indigenous peoples’ songs involve singing improvisation utilizing a call-and-response pattern. The lyrics reflect all aspects of tribal life, from work, worship and love to drinking and ceremonial occasions. Now that the rituals and festivals of Taiwan’s indigenous peoples have become important tourist resources, their dazzling music and dance are “must-see” attractions. Prominent examples of the unique musical characteristics among the various tribes are the Bunun’s eight-part harmony, the Thao’s stamping pestles, the Yami’s hair-swinging dance, the music performed at Amis’ harvest festival and Saisiyat’s Pas-ta’ai ceremonial music.
Distinctive musical instruments used by the indigenous peoples include the nose flute, mouth harp, bamboo marimba and musical bow. Han Chinese music Han Chinese music in Taiwan has its roots in the Chinese mainland’s central plains. During the Japanese colonial era, it evolved into a variety of genres with local characteristics, such as liam kua, beiguan, nanguan, gezaixi (Taiwanese Opera), zhentou (dancing formation), Hakka hill songs and Hakka eight-note music.
Liam kua is a storytelling musical performance half spoken and half sung with simple instrumental accompaniment. Typically performed by a soloist who sings and plays an instrument, spoken narration of the story is interleaved with singing. The text is rendered in either seven-monosyllable lines or unmetered ones of irregular length. Its lyrics early on were arranged from a songbook of stock narrative tales codified in the 18th or 19th century, but in a later period many storylines have become improvised. Its musical melodies are drawn from several common sets of tune matrices, such as kang-o-tiau, chhit-ji-a-koa, to-ma-tiau and chap-liam-a.
Beiguan (meaning “northern wind music”) is a general term applied to many genres of music originating in areas on the Chinese mainland north of Fujian Province, including gong-and-drum music, percussion-and-wind music and music to accompany theatrical performances. Beiguan arrays frequently appear in temple ceremonies in Taiwan, such as the Ceremony to Welcome Ma Zu (the Goddess of the Sea), various worship rituals and funeral processions. A diverse and complex variety of musical and theatrical genres are subsumed under the beiguan label. Typical performances at religious festivals involve temple followers parading the streets in zhentou formation. Such processions feature row after row of people in large numbers, and are often used as opportunities for participants to shoulder poles festooned with “treasured objects” that are representative of the collection of a temple—like embroidered banners, silk plaques and temple lanterns—for prominent display along the way, making the event colorful and boisterous. The lines of verse sung in beiguan music theater arias are mostly seven or 10 syllables in meter; accompanying instruments are a combination of traditional string and woodwind instruments, with the principal accompaniment provided by a yehu (a bowed Chinese fiddle with a coconut-shell body) or jinghu (a two-string fiddle). In contrast to beiguan, nanguan (meaning “southern wind music”) originated in Quanzhou and Xiamen in southern Fujian Province. In Taiwan, the term has come to mean small-scale chamber music played on four principal instruments, namely the
pipa (a four-string handheld zither), sanxian (a three-string fiddle),
dongxiao (a vertical bamboo flute) and erxian (a two-string fiddle), plus clappers. Four additional percussion instruments, dubbed the “four supplementary instruments,” and a small
suona (a Chinese shawm) are sometimes added to the performance to form a “ten-voice” ensemble. When sung music is performed, a singer also operates the clappers.
Gezaixi, which could be termed Taiwan’s local music theater, is the most widespread form of theatrical entertainment in Taiwan. Coalescing in the island’s northeastern county of Yilan at the start of the 20th century, this theatrical form had humble beginning. It first utilized adapted local “hill songs” for its actors to sing and perform stories wearing simple makeup and attire in any flat open area that could be found to stage a performance. The art form subsequently absorbed the characteristics of other types of Chinese music theater, gradually evolving into Taiwanese opera with its unique vocal timbre. It most commonly uses melodies from such traditional tune matrices as chhit-ji-a, khau-tiau, to-ma-tiau and chap-liam-a, but also incorporates folk song and popular music melodies, making it the melting pot of Taiwan’s folk music.
A zhentou (formation) is usually performed in procession or on an outdoor stage at temple fairs or funerals. The art form embraces a wide variety of types: the Bovine Plowing Formation feigning the actions of water buffalo plowing fields, the Song-Jiang Battle Formation showcasing the skillful manipulation of traditional weaponry, the Formation of Eight Generals featuring performers with colorfully painted visages bearing Taoist implements, the cheguzhen (“cart-drum formation”) comprising burlesque singing and dancing routines between a performer in traditional dan (female) and chou (male clown) character modes, nanguan and beiguan formations mostly constituting musical performances, and even modern Western music band formations and karaoke bandwagons. Each kind of formation with its own particular style of singing, dancing and music imparts a distinct quality to Taiwan’s street-side religious events.
“Hakka hill songs” evolved from melodies sung by Hakka people doing physical labor such as picking tea, carrying heavy loads or working in the fields, as well as from the vocal exchanges across hills between friends. Different lyrics are set to several common tune matrix melodies (such as laoshange, shangezi and pingban), with the melodies based on A-minor triads. When combined with costumes, dancing and story lines, Hakka folksongs became Hakka tea-picking opera requiring actors in one of two combinations of at most three character modes: two dans and one chou, or one dan, one chou and one sheng (male). Western music Western church music was first introduced to Taiwan during the Dutch presence in the 17th century. The Spanish who occupied the north of Taiwan around the same period brought with them Catholic mass music and military band instruments. In the latter half of the 19th century, a number of schools founded by Presbyterian pastors began to offer music lessons, marking the inception of Western music education in Taiwan.
During the subsequent Japanese colonial era, schools in Taiwan founded by the Japanese rulers all had Western music classes, as Japan had already adopted a Westernized educational system. This set the stage for Taiwan’s first generation of musicians who received training in Japan. Among them, Chang Fu-xing set up Taiwan’s first Western music group, the Linglong Society, in 1920. Taiwan’s first public symphony orchestra (today’s National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra) was established in 1945 by the Taiwan Garrison Command. After that, the Taipei Symphony Orchestra and the Taiwan United Experimental Orchestra (today’s National Symphony Orchestra) were founded in 1969 and 1986, respectively. Among all music groups on the island, these three orchestras are uniquely privileged to receive full support from public funding. Today, many community music ensembles and choirs can be found in almost every major city in Taiwan, and school bands and choirs at every level of education are flourishing. Outstanding ones regularly participate in international contests or music festivals, with a number of marvelous results.
Due to certain historical factors, Taiwan’s popular music has been deeply influenced by the United States and Japan. Songs sung in Mandarin Chinese, Holo, English and Japanese comprise the mainstream of the pop music market today. Taiwan’s first popular song was “The Peach Girl” written for an imported 1932 Shanghai silent film of the same title. It marked the beginning of a golden era of Taiwanese pop songs through which the people of Taiwan expressed their feelings while still under colonial rule.
Creation of Holo popular music was cut short by Japan’s imperial subjectification policy in the late 1930s and only resumed after the Second World War ended in 1945. But soon thereafter, following the launch of Mandarin-speaking campaign in Taiwan by the Kuomintang government in 1949, creative output in the Holo language came under pressure and gradually declined as Mandarin Chinese pop songs became the mainstream. Around the same time, Taiwan’s popular music world was massively bombarded with pop songs brought in by American troops stationed in Taiwan. It was only after the break in diplomatic relations with the United States and the occurrence of the Kaohsiung Incident in southern Taiwan (that heralded a domestic movement for democracy) that local culture gradually gained prestige and Holo-language songs once more began to flourish.
Since the outset of the 21st century, various ethnic groups in Taiwan have gradually developed cultural self-awareness. Today, along with Mandarin Chinese and Holo pop music, more and more Hakka and indigenous songwriters are producing songs sung in their mother tongues. Musical styles today in Taiwan display an abundance of cultural diversity by incorporating not only local ethnic elements, but also musical elements from elsewhere in the world, such as rock ’n’ roll, hiphop and jazz. This accumulated cultural dynamism has exerted influence all across Asia in recent years, with many Taiwanese composers and performers, such as A-mei, Jay Chou, Wang Lee-hom, Wu Bai, May Days and F4, gaining prominence with live performances, CD releases and appearances in movies and TV dramas. Taiwan’s unique history and geopolitical situation have led to the development of diverse pop music styles amalgamating many cultural elements. Its popular music has achieved a dominant share of the Chinese-language music market for many years now, and also sets the trends. The success of some outstanding Taiwanese pop artists in recent years in Japan and Korea further demonstrates the influence of Taiwan’s music. (Editor’s note: Taiwan greatly values its popular music industry. Besides offering the Golden Melody Awards and various types of music prizes, it has undertaken a Popular Music Industry Development Flagship Project to assist and guide development of the industry by cultivating talent, encouraging preservation of the repertoire, developing and promoting new works and stars, and marketing Taiwan popular music overseas.) Original Chinese article by Ho Kang-kuo
CULTURAL TAIWAN |
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Taiwan displays remarkable cultural diversity due to unique geographic and historical factors. Its musical culture can be roughly divided into three broad categories based on ethnic heritage: Indigenous, Han Chinese and Western.
