Music of Taiwan

Apo Hsu and the NTNU Symphony Orchestra on stage in the National Concert Hall in Taipei

Taiwan is densely-populated and culturally diverse, including a majority of Bensheng ren (including the Holo and Hakka peoples), a powerful faction (around 15%) waishengren who arrived with Chiang Kai-shek in the middle of the 20th century and the minority of aboriginal peoples.

With the arrival of the KMT led Republic of China government in 1949, native Taiwanese culture was suppressed, and Mandarin was promoted as the official language of the Republic of China. This led to a break in tradition in parts of the island, and ended in 1987, when martial law was lifted and a revival of traditional culture began. (See Taiwanese localization movement.)

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 (hand-puppet theater) 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 (moon lute), which is a type of two-stringed lute. While the Hengchun yuechin plays only five tones, the pentatonic music can become diverse and complex when combined with the nine tones of the Taiwanese Hokkien) speech. Famous folk singers include Chen Da and Yang Hsiuching.

Hakka

Taiwanese opera is popular among the Hakka, and has influenced the tea-picking opera genre. The most distinctive form of Hakka music are mountain songs, or shan'ge, which are similar to Hengchun folk music. Bayin instrumental music is also popular.

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^[1] with the help of the Executive Yuan, to focus on issues of interest to the indigenous community. [Listen to Ho-hi-yan; requires Windows Media Player 9]. This came on the heels of a "New wave of Indigenous Pop,"^[2] as aboriginal artists such as A-mei (Puyuma tribe), Difang (Amis tribe), Pur-dur and Samingad (Puyuma tribe) became international pop stars.

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, Kuo Ying-nan and Kuo Hsiu-chu. 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.[1]

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 Mihumisang. The Bunun Cultural and Educational Foundation, founded in 1995, was the first organization established to help promote and sustain Taiwanese aboriginal culture.

Pop and rock

In the mid 1970's a genre of popular music known as Taiwanese campus folk song (校園民歌) appeared in the music scene of Taiwan. This music consisted of a fusion of elements from American folk rock and Chinese folk music, and was very popular throughout East Asia. Until the 1987 lifting of martial law, Taiwanese pop fell into two distinct categories. Taiwanese pop was sung in a native dialect and was popular among older and working-class listeners; it was strongly influenced by Japanese enka. In contrast, Mandarin pop, due to the assimilation policy of the authoritarian Kuomintang regime (1945-1996) that suppressed Taiwanese languages and culture, appealed to younger listeners. Asian superstar Teresa Teng originated from Taiwan and enjoys immense popularity amongst the sinosphere and beyond.

With the resurgence of interest in native cultural identities starting in the late 1980s, a more distinct and modern form of Taiwanese pop formed. In 1989, a group of musicians called the Blacklist Studio released Song of Madness on Rock Records. Blending hip hop, rock and other styles, the album focused on the issues concerning everyday, modern people. Building on Song of Madness' success, the following year saw Lin Chiang release Marching Forward, which kickstarted what became known as New Taiwanese Song. Pop stars of the 1990s included Wu Bai, Chang Chen-yue, Jimmy Lin, Wakin (Emil) Chau (Choū Huájiàn), Jutoupi (or Jutopi), Chang Hui-mei (A-Mei), and new pop idols like Show Luo, Jay Chou, and Jolin Tsai, while rock group Mayday is said to have pioneered rock music in Taiwan for the generation of youth.

The 1990s and early 2000s also saw the emergence of bands and artists of more diverse genres, such as LTK Commune, Labor Exchange Band, Chairman, Sugar Plum Ferry, Medicine Jar, Backquarter, Ladybug, Feiwu, Sodagreen, Deserts Chang, Fire EX, 8mm Sky, Seraphim, and ChthoniC. The annual Formoz Festival, Spring Scream, and Gung-liao Ho-hai-yan Rock Festival [2] are representative gatherings within Taiwan's indie scene. Of these, Formoz Festival is notable for its international draw, with foreign artists such as Yo La Tengo, Moby, Explosions in the Sky, and Caribou headlining the event, while Spring Scream is the largest local band event, and Hohaiyan draws a mixed crowd of beach side party-goers and music appreciators alike. On a smaller scale, but worthy of note are the Unknown Species which features metal and punk bands, and Beastie Rock which is mostly indie rock bands. The bands at both these festivals are predominantly Taiwanese, but with a few coming from neighboring countries.

Recent Taiwanese popular singers/bands include Cyndi Wang, S.H.E, F4, A.S.O.S., 5566, Rainie Yang, Da Mouth, Fahrenheit and much more. The popular culture of the Taiwanese people had also influenced Chinese-speaking populations in other places such as mainland China, Malaysia and Singapore. For instance, a significant band, May Day has taken these places by storm.

Metal

There are hundreds of metal bands active in Taiwan. The scene is so huge because Taiwanese parents value culture and tend to put their children in music lessons at a very early age, thus, the technical skill level of Taiwanese musicians is very high, even at the local band level. Combined with the fact that many Taiwanese teenagers spend their time practicing their singing skills at KTV's (known as karaoke outside of Taiwan), and some other culture and political factors, the number of Metal Bands of Taiwan is growing. Bands such as Chthonic (band) and Seraphim (band) have drawn more attention to the metal scene in Taiwan.

References

1. ^ "Ho Hi Yan Hits the Airwaves". Taipei City Government, May 5, 2005. Accessed 8/19/06.
2. ^ "New wave of Indigenous Pop". Taiwan Headlines, Thursday, August 24, 2000. Accessed 8/19/06.

• Ying-fen, Wang. "From Innocence to Funny Rap". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 235-240. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0

See also

• Metal Bands of Taiwan
• Mandopop
• Taiwanese pop
• Music of Hong Kong
• Music of China
• J-pop
• Red Envelope Club
• List of best-selling albums in Taiwan

External links

• (French) Audio clips: Traditional music of Taiwan. Musée d'Ethnographie de Genève. Accessed November 25, 2010.
• CHINA DAILY: Hearing the Music
• ISLAND OF SOUND: An Indie Music Resource for Taiwan
• TaipeiMetal "News about Taiwan's Growing Metal Scene"
• GigGuide Taiwan: A Directory of Live Shows and Reviews of Local Independent Music in Taiwan
• Encyclopaedia Metallum- The Metal Archives' directory of metal bands in Taiwan
• A clickable directory of metal bands in Taiwan, click band logos to be taken to band webpages