Folk Songs & Midterm 2 Flashcards
What song is this? Tell me about it
- “Thinking Back”
- Chen Da (Need to know)
- played on the yueqin (“moon guitar,” a 2 stringed plucked lute)
- from the hungchun region
- hoklo song
- tells the story of people migrating to the area from China. It describes
the dangers presented by typhoons and rough waters
What song is this? Tell me about it
- Jasmine in June
- sung by Liao Chiung-chih (called the “number one kudan” of Taiwanese opera) (NEED TO KNOW)
- accompanied by Chen Kuan-hua
- the song is in strophic form (one melody set to different lines)
- Western Plain region
- hoklo song
What song is this? Tell me about it
- Jasmine in June sung by Yang Lihua
- Sounds clearer than the one by Liao Chiung-chih
What song is this? Tell me about it
- A Bird Crying in the Night
- by Tsai Chen-nan
- its unaccompanied
- Western Plain region
- hoklo song
What song is this? Tell me about it
- Diu Diu Dang
- Chen Kuan-hua
- strophic (one melody set to different lines)
- northern region of taiwan
- describes the sound of rain dripping on a train between passing through a tunnel (think rain, tunnel, train)
- Hoklo song
Tell me about the Western Plain Region. (PS- What songs are from here?)
- where immigrants first settled in Taiwan
- the earliest folk songs of Taiwan’s Hoklo people trace their lives to these immigrants
- songs were used to motivate workers and life their spirits
- “Jasmine in June” by Liao Chiung-chih
- “A Bird Crying in the Night” by Tsai Chen-nan
Tell me about the Northern Region
- Includes Taiepi county and Lanyang areas
- surrounded by mountains on three sides and sea on the other –> area was isolated bc of the mountains
- Diu Diu Dang by Chen Kuan-hua
How do people become part of the Ming Hwa-Yuan Troupe? How are their lifestyles shaped by participation in opera troupes? How are actors traditionally trained?
- Originally focused on singing, grew to involve dance
- Family members were part of the troupe ( “my mom is also my mentor”)
- mentoring relationship
- grew up moving from place to place for performances
- the performance is about zheng zhilong, one of the first asian pirates to defeat a european fleet (learning fucking obscure history ig)
What song is this? Tell me about it [give it a bit to start playing]
- starts with “wo jiao…（我叫）”
- starring Wei Haimin
- Peking Opera
- Guoguang’s performance of The Golden Cangue
What song is this? Tell me about it
- Farewell My Love
- Hakka song
- Known as one of Meinong’s Four Old Songs
- No singer is listed
What song is this? Tell me about it
- Old Mountain Song
- Sung and accompanied on the erxian by Hsu Muchen
What is Yang Lihua most known for? What song does she sing?
- Most known for her portrayal of young male roles
- She sings “Jasmine in June” (the clearer sounding version)
- Yang LiHua is the star singer in the Taiwanese Lu Bu Opera
Hoklo vs Hakka (Is there any beef?)
- Hoklo is bigger than the Hakka
- Hakka people wre a persecuted minority in China
Why is 1987 significant in Taiwan?
- Martial law was lifted
When was Taiwan a colony of Japan?
1895-1945
True or False: Some of the earliest Holko folk songs in Taiwan came from China’s southern province of Fujian
True
True or False: Some of Taiwan’s folk songs were uniquely created in Taiwan
True (like… there’s no way it’s false… right??)
Before the mid-1990s, who sponsored the vast majority of Taiwan’s professional opera troupes and training schools?
Ministry of Defense
Tell me about Chen Da:
- He became famous because of the “Folk song Collection Movement”
- Music was collected by Hsu Tsang-houei, same person that recorded the Difangs
- Died being hit by a bus (damn wtf ?!)
Chen Da accompanied his singing of “Hengchun diao” on what instrument?
- Yueqin (“moon lute”)
Excerpts from Lu Bu and Diao Chan
- Taiwanese Opera
- Yang Lihua is the star (she plays Lu Bu)
- shits sad
- lu bu dies at the end and diao chan says its her fault so she kills herself too
When Taiwanese opera is performed in a ritual/temple setting, who’s the most important part of the audience?
- The gods (probably)
What song is this? Tell me about it
- Old Taiwanese Opera
- Recorded in Japan (think old= japan’s colony)
- Recorded between 1925-1930
Why did the Nationalist government support many Peking opera troupes in Taiwan
(up through the mid 1990s)? What was their rationale? Why did they feel the need?
- Portrays them as “guardians of traditional Chinese culture” aka legitimizing their claims to rule all of China
- Feelings of nostalgia b/c of the popularity of Peking Opera in the mainland -> lost homeland
- Suppression of local Taiwanese culture (re-Sinicize Taiwanese folks that they saw as “tainted” from Japan’s rule)
Why and how did the Nationalist government suppress and discourage the performance of Taiwanese opera (primarily in the period before the lifting of martial law)?
- There was a tax placed on each ritural opera
- Most Taiwanese opera disappeared from tv
- Attempted to eliminate Taiwanese opera from the temple festivals
Peking Opera in Taiwan origin story:
- First Peking Opera performance was during Japan’s colonization
- Strengthening cultural ties with China to affirm their Chinese identity
