Hakka Culture

As introduced by the Taiwan Yearbook 2006:

A revival of Hakka culture has taken place over recent years, thanks to both private and government initiatives. Since being established in 2001, the Council for Hakka Affairs under the Executive Yuan oversees development of the island's Hakka culture. It also integrates resources to promote the preservation of Hakka language, encourages research on Hakka culture at institutions of higher education, and allocates funds to and helps organize various Hakka cultural activities. Hakka Television was established in 2003, offering news and other programming to Taiwan's Hakka community in their mother tongue.

Music and Drama

The state of Hakka culture can best be illustrated by its music and opera. For more than two decades after the Nationalist government relocated to Taiwan in 1949, these were overshadowed by Beijing opera, which was considered mainstream. It was only from the 1970s onwards, with a growing awareness of the importance of preserving traditional forms of drama by both the government and public, that Hakka music and opera regained vitality. There are more than a dozen Hakka opera troupes today, most of which are located in Taoyuan, Hsinchu, and Miaoli. These are striving to attract new audiences, both old and young, by incorporating modern musical instruments and innovative theatrical concepts into traditional tea-farming folk songs and operas. These new approaches to musical composition and narrative drama have gained attention beyond the linguistic and ethnic community, and have taken Hakka troupes to major venues such as the National Theater.

Hakka folksongs, including "hill songs" and "tea-plucking songs", form the core of Hakka music. In the early pioneering period, most Hakka people lived in mountainous regions where songs were used as a form of communication. The wide variety of melodies used for Hakka hill songs is often called the "nine accents and eighteen tune patterns". Lyrics, which may be traditional but are also frequently impromptu forms of self-expression or communication, may be love ballads, question-and-answer riddles, records of the tribulations endured by the Hakka people in times gone by, or observations about life. "Old hill songs", which tend to have higher pitch so that they can be heard over greater distances, are the original capriccio of Hakka folk songs. From these, "hill tunes" and "tea-picking tunes" evolved to become the more accessible forms performed in and by the public. The latter, in particular, has adapted to the musical aptitude of the general public and is, therefore, used widely in modern Hakka opera performances.

Hakka opera, which was originally brought to Taiwan from China, has transformed from the "tea-farming opera with three major roles" (one buffoon and two prima donnas) of the Ching dynasty into the "grand tea-farming opera" of the 1950s. Main themes include historical events and Hakka anecdotes. The musical style for Hakka opera is commonly beiguan ("northern pipe"), played on shaona (reeded-trumpets), gongs, and drums. In fact, with the exceptions of the "hill songs" and the language sung, Hakka opera has many similarities with other traditional forms of opera.

Performers of Hakka opera include the Rom-shing Hakka Teapicker Opera Troupe which, in keeping with tradition, generally performs out of doors though it has also appeared at major venues such as the National Theater and local cultural centers. The San Geou Tai Band, which was founded in 1997, has focused on infusing new life into Hakka folk songs by including musical elements from rock & roll, blues, jazz, and so forth, as well as by using modern musical instruments along with traditional ones. The band's innovative interpretation of Hakka music has found resonance on student campuses and among young people, adding to the renaissance of Hakka music.

Literature

Hakka literature, as defined by the Council for Hakka Affairs, refers to works that are both literary and Hakka-related. During the 20th century, Taiwan's Hakka people and Hakka culture suffered ethnic persecution under both Japanese colonial rule and, in the 1950s and 1960s, from the KMT-led government's policies of promoting Mandarin Chinese and suppressing other languages as a means to consolidate its power. Nevertheless, a number of brilliant Hakka writers wielded their pens to showcase the unique and diverse qualities of Hakka literature. mong these, Wu Jhuo-liou is perhaps the most accomplished and recognized writer, initially carving his niche in Taiwanese literature with Asia's Orphan. Wu was the first writer to express the idea of Taiwan's "orphan mentality," that is, the lack of a sense of belonging in Taiwan people's collective consciousness as they search for self-identity. Two other novels by Wu, The Fig and Formosan Weeping Forsythia, deal with the period of "white terror" in Taiwan that followed the February 28 Incident, and which had been a taboo subject until the late 1980s. A Small Town with Papaya Tree, the debut novel of Long Ying-zong, another important Hakka writer of the early 20th century, was short-listed in a literature competition organized in 1937 by Reform, a well-known Japanese magazine. This was a rare honor for any Taiwanese writer during the period of Japanese rule.

Unlike Wu and Long, who wrote mainly in Japanese, Chung Li-he, despite only completing primary education, wrote fluently in Chinese. Chung established himself as a well-known Hakka writer because most of his works dealt with poverty-stricken rural lives and Hakka people's optimism and perseverance in the face of Taiwan's postwar adversities. Chung Chau-cheng has written 22 novels capturing themes of Taiwanese consciousness and identity during the Japanese occupation, and has dedicated his life to promoting Taiwanese literature in a broader perspective. He is often cited as the first creator of real, indigenous literature. Other writers also making their mark in Hakka literary development include Li Ciao with his Cold Night Trilogy, an epic historical novel set in Taiwan shortly before and after the Nationalist government took control; and Chung Tie-min, the son of Chung Li-he who, in addition to being a successful writer, has also dedicated his life to promoting Hakka language and literature.

The nativist sentiment of the 1990s was enhanced by Hakka writers. Hakka Magazine was launched in 1990, and was followed by many works and events that focused on Hakka ethnic awareness. These include Taiwanese Literature of Hakka in 1993; the first Hakka film, Regretless Youth, the same year; An Anthology of Taiwanese Literature in 1994, which focused on Hakka writers; a collection of Hakka language poetry in 1995; and the history of Hakka Taiwanese literature in 1998.