Music of Taiwan
The music of Taiwan reflects the diverse culture of Taiwanese people. Taiwan has undergone several economic, social, and political changes through its cultural history, and Taiwanese music reflects those issues in its way. The music of the country has adopted a mixed style. As a country rich in Chinese folk culture and with many indigenous tribes with their own distinct artistic identity, various folk music styles are appreciated in Taiwan. In addition, people in Taiwan highly appreciate various style of Western classical music and pop music. Taiwan is a major Mandopop hub.
Background
The Kuomintang-led Republic of China government arrived in Taiwan in 1949, a government that suppressed native Taiwanese culture and implemented Standard Chinese as the official language. This political event has significant effects on the development of music in Taiwan in the 20th century as it resulted in a gap in the transition of the traditional music culture. In 1987, a revival of traditional culture began when the martial law declared by the government was lifted.Instrumental music includes multiple genres, such as beiguan and nanguan. Nanguan originally hails from Quanzhou, while it is now most common in Lukang and is found across much of the island.
Taiwanese puppetry and Taiwanese opera, two genres of spectacle that are strongly related to music, are very popular, while the latter is often considered the only truly indigenous Han form of music still extant today.
Holo folk music is most common today on the Hengchun Peninsula in the southernmost part of the island, where performers sing accompanied by yueqin, which is a type of two-stringed lute. While the Hengchun yueqin plays only five tones, the pentatonic music can become diverse and complex when combined with the seven tones of Taiwanese Hokkien. Famous folk singers include Chen Da and Yang Hsiuching.
Aboriginal music
Of the two broad divisions of Taiwanese aborigines, the plains-dwellers have been largely assimilated into Han culture, while the mountain-dwelling tribes remain distinct. The Amis, Bunun, Paiwan, Rukai and Tsou are known for their polyphonic vocals, of which each has a unique variety.Once dying, aboriginal culture has undergone a renaissance since the late 20th century. A full-time aboriginal radio station, "Ho-hi-yan" was launched in 2005 with the help of the Executive Yuan, to focus on issues of interest to the indigenous community. ''; requires Windows Media Player 9]. This came on the heels of a "New wave of Indigenous Pop," as aboriginal artists such as A-mei, Difang, Pur-dur and Samingad became international pop stars. Later artists include Paiwanese pop star Abao.
The 1991 formation of the Formosa Aboriginal Dance Troupe was another major contributor to this trend, while the surprise mainstream success of "Return to Innocence", the theme song to the 1996 Olympic Games, further popularized native musics. "Return to Innocence" was made by Enigma, a popular musical project and sampled the voices of an elderly Amis couple, Difang and Igay Duana. When the couple found out that their recording had become part of an international hit, they filed suit and, in 1999, settled out of court for an unidentified amount.
Bunun
The Bunun's original home was on Taiwan's west coast, in the central and northern plains, but some have more recently settled in the area around Taitung and Hualien.Unlike the other indigenous peoples of Taiwan, the Bunun have very little dance music. The best-studied element of traditional Bunun music is improvised polyphonic song. Folk instruments include pestles, five-stringed zithers and the jaw harp.
In modern times, David Darling, an American cellist, created a project to combine cello and Bunun traditional music, resulting in an album titled Mudanin Kata. The Bunun Cultural and Educational Foundation, founded in 1995, was the first organization established to help promote and sustain Taiwanese aboriginal culture.
Hakka
Traditional Hakka music is made up of three types: Hakka Bayin, Shan'ge, and Beiguan.Bayin references the eight materials that have traditionally been used to make Chinese instruments: metal, stone, earth, skin, string, wood, gourd, and bamboo. It is believed that Hakka Bayin came from a type of wind and percussion ensemble music known as Chungchunban. Hakka Bayin was thought to have been brought to Taiwan sometime between the end of the Ming Dynasty and the start of the Qing Dynasty. It is often used in Hakka daily life, such as at festivals, weddings, or funerals.
Hakka Shan'ge is the most popular of the three types. It literally means “mountain song” or “hill song.” Shan'ge has traditionally been sung while people work, particularly during tea picking. Because of this, it consists mostly of improvisations and has not been transcribed. Recently, shan'ge has gained popularity as one of the markers of Hakka culture. This type of music includes the well-known Nine Accents and Eighteen Melodies, whose definitions are a point of debate.
Beiguan is not only Hakka music, as it generally references music in the area north of Fujian. Out of the two types, instrumental and vocal, instrumental is more popular, and like Bayin, is often utilized in events like weddings and ceremonies.
These three forms of music have been reutilized in Hakka orchestral music. Hakka orchestral music utilizes a mixture of Western orchestral instruments and Chinese traditional musical instruments, like the Erhu and the Suona. This is in part because the Hakka Affairs Council has encouraged those trained in Western music in Taiwan to compose Hakka orchestral music. The first Hakka piano concerto, “Heavy Rain” was composed by Sung-Jen Hsu in 1985, whereas the first Hakka orchestral work, Hakka Shange Capriccio '','' was finished by Jung-Sung Hsu in 1996.
Art music
The earliest musical education program in Taiwan was established by Western missionaries during the 17th century, when southern and northern Taiwan was under the colonial rule of the Netherlands and Spain respectively. Missionaries from Europe set up their churches throughout Taiwan for evangelical purposes; this included Protestant missionaries from the Netherlands and the Catholic Dominican Order from Spain. During this period, Western music was first introduced to Taiwan, though church music was the mainstay. It wasn't until the ruling Qing government opened up to trade exchanges with Europe in the mid-19th century that secular Western music began to gain to a foothold in Taiwan. In 1895, Taiwan became occupied by Japan, and formalized Western music education was thus introduced. Under Japanese rule, music was included as part of the core curriculum of Taiwanese academic education and became a compulsory course of study. Notable musicians from this era included Wen-ye Jiang and Chih-yuan Kuo.Qing dynasty rule
Rule by the Qing dynasty began in Taiwan in the 18th century; Taiwan's music scene at the time was still largely dominated by Beiguan and Nanguan music brought over by immigrants from mainland China. However, in the middle of the 19th century, the armies of the Qing dynasty suffered one devastating loss after another against European troops, forcing the Qing government to open up the ports to European traders and missionaries. As trade between Taiwan and Europe flourished, the European Chambers of Commerce and Industry set up branches in Taiwan, setting the stage for strong Western influence and an influx of more Christian missionaries. In 1872, Canadian missionary George Leslie Mackay established Presbyterian churches in Tamsui, as well as schools and hospitals. He also introduced Western liturgical music and art music education to Taiwan, founding Oxford College and Aletheia University. Su-Ti Chen, one of the first-generation Taiwanese composers, was an alumnus of TamKang High School, which was founded by Dr. Mackay's eldest son, George William Mackay. Su-Ti Chen studied piano and Western liturgical music alongside Margaret Gauld, the wife of Rev. William Gauld. After his graduation, he enrolled at the Taipei Seminary School, majoring in Western Art Music. Afterwards, he continued his music studies in Japan.Meanwhile, Dr. James Maxwell, a Presbyterian/Calvinist missionary from England, began preaching in southern Taiwan in 1865. In 1869, he and Rev. Hugh Ritchie together established “The Student’s Class” in Cihou and Taiwan Fu, which were coalesced by Reverend Thomas Barclay in 1876 into the Capital College, the first western-education university in Taiwan and the predecessor of the current Tainan Theological College and Seminary affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan. The seminary not only had the goal of evangelizing and cultivating theological students, but also brought Western liturgical music and art music to southern Taiwan through mandated courses for its students, nurturing many musical talents in southern Taiwan. To this day, “cultivation of musical talent” remains one of the most important goals of the Tainan Theological College and Seminary.
During Qing dynasty rule, Taiwan's churches played a major role in the spread of Western music through congregation members, foreign merchants, and missionaries.
During Japanese rule
In 1894, the First Sino-Japanese War began, during which the army of the Qing dynasty was defeated by the Japanese army. This led to the Qing dynasty government signing the Treaty of Shimonoseki, which ceded Taiwan to Japan. In 1895, Japanese rule of Taiwan began, leading to a formal introduction of a Western music education system in the core curriculum of Taiwanese schooling. From then on, Western art music became a firmly-rooted element in Taiwan's musical scene, with Western art music courses becoming mandatory in Taiwanese schools. Su-Ti Chen, one of the first-generation Taiwanese composers, received his formal music education in Taiwan schooling before traveling to Japan for further study.Tyzen Hsiao, a composer born in Fongshan, Kaohsiung, was taught to play the piano by his mother, who was one of the first-generation pianists to study in Japan. Afterwards, he received further training from Prof. Fu-mei Li, who also studied piano in Japan. Graduating from the Christian Chang Jung High School, Hsiao enrolled in the two-year music program of the Taiwan Provincial Teachers College, before continuing his studies in Japan.
From the life history of these Taiwanese composers, we can clearly trace the development of the culture of Western music in Taiwan through two sources. One is the church system and the other the Western music education introduced during the Japanese rule and musicians returning to Taiwan after studying abroad in Japan. Many of the works by these musicians were liturgical, including those written by Su-Ti Chen; although other musicians such as Chuan-sheng Lu and Chih-yuan Kuo created original folk songs. They also composed large-scale works: Chih-yuan Kuo produced the opera Xu-Xian and Madame White Snake, while Chuan-sheng Lu produced Castrated Chicken, a Taiwanese Hokkien opera that attracted the attention of the Japanese ruling class for its incorporation of Western composition techniques.