Old Article: The Popular Music of Taiwan’s Aboriginal Peoples

Since I haven't had time to write anything new for this blog, I'm resorting once again to a republication of old material. This article was originally written for the December 2007 issue of the magazine Fountain (the published version was changed slightly by the magazine's editor). Of course being several years old, the article fails to mention any of the numerous aboriginal artists who have become prominent in the past few years, including Matzka, Suming (one of the lead singers of Totem, which is mentioned at the end), and Ilid Kaolo, among others. I am working on a much longer and more detailed history of Taiwanese aboriginal "popular" music, in Chinese rather than English, though who knows when that will be finished....

When Taiwanese songwriter Baliwakes was a student in Tainan in the late 1920s and early 1930s, he developed an interest in the piano and practiced intensely, eventually winning a school piano competition. When the Japanese emperor's younger brother came to visit the school, the principal chose Lu to perform in the welcoming ceremony and introduced him to the prince by saying "He's not Japanese, he's not Chinese, he's a real Taiwanese! He has exceptional ability; his name is Baliwakes!"

Baliwakes was identified by his principal as a “real Taiwanese” because he was a Puyuma, one of the peoples who had settled in Taiwan thousands of years before Chinese settlers came to the island. These peoples, collectively referred to as Taiwanese aborigines, speak languages belonging to the Austronesian language family, which includes the languages of Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Hawaii, the Maori of New Zealand, the various Polynesian islands, and even Madagascar. The aboriginal groups living in the plains areas of western Taiwan were assimilated, driven out or destroyed in the centuries of large-scale Chinese immigration beginning in the 1600s, so most of the remaining aboriginal population is concentrated in the mountainous areas of central Taiwan and on the east coast. There are 13 aboriginal groups currently recognized by the Taiwanese government: Amis (also called Ami or Pangcah), Atayal (also called Tayan), Bunun, Kavalan, Paiwan, Puyuma, Rukai, Saisiyat, Tao, Thao, Tsou, Truku, and Sakizaya, of which the Amis, Atayal, and Paiwan are the most numerous. Taiwan’s aboriginals today total about 460,000 in number, making up a little over 2% of the total population. Like other aboriginal groups such as the Native Americans in the US or the Australian Aborigines, they tend to suffer much more from poverty and unemployment than the general population.

For many Western listeners, the music of Taiwan’s aboriginal peoples is among the most intriguing genres to be found in the country. Ironically, however, aboriginal music was mostly ignored by the mainstream popular music industry until the past decade or so. Many songs which have achieved massive popularity among the aboriginal population remain almost completely unknown among the Han Chinese, and the same is true of top aboriginal singers. In addition, until recently, mainstream popular singers of aboriginal origin tended to deemphasize their ethnic background due to prejudice against indigenous peoples among the majority population. There have, however, been a number of notable exceptions to these general rules, as we shall see.

The influence of traditional aboriginal songs on Taiwanese music dates back centuries, as many Taiwanese folk songs are believed to have been based on aboriginal melodies (for instance, the melodies of a number of folk songs from Hengchun in southern Taiwan are believed by many scholars to have originated with the aboriginal peoples of the area). Traditional aboriginal songs consist largely of vocables, sounds with no meaning such as "naluwan" or "hohaiyan," equivalent to sounds like "la" and "wo" in English songs. This remains a characteristic of many aboriginal songs to this day, though many modern aboriginal songs have actual lyrics in one of the aboriginal tongues or in another language, such as Japanese or, in recent decades, Mandarin. Aboriginal songs are mostly vocal, though certain tribes used occasional musical accompaniment, such as the nose flute of the Paiwan. Many traditional songs are sung in a call and response style, with one singer leading and the rest answering, regardless of whether the song has any lyrical content or not (such content is usually fairly simply in any case, mostly describing the situation in which it is sung, i.e., songs sung while working describe the working day). Polyphonic singing is common among many groups, such the Amis and the Bunun, the latter being particularly famous in world music circles for their complex eight-part harmonies. Many songs were (and still are) sung at harvest festivals, and most such songs tend to be upbeat, rhythmic, and suitable for dancing. Other songs were traditionally sung while doing chores, when preparing for hunting or warfare, or as part of religious rites. In general, singing permeated every part of life in the past, and this remains true among many aboriginals today, who still sing every time they get together.

While there were no doubt many original (i.e., newly composed, as opposed to traditional) aboriginal songs that appeared in the first half of the twentieth century, next to nothing is known of them due to an almost total lack of documentation. However, three important aboriginal songwriters appeared in the 1940s and 1950s, all of them educated under the Japanese. The first of these was Uyongu Yatauyungana, who is now best known by his Mandarin name Gao Yisheng (高一生). Gao, a member of the Tsou group of aborigines, and, as one of the few Tsou to receive higher education, wrote a number of songs in the 1940s and early 1950s before he fell victim to the White Terror and was arrested and subsequently executed by the KMT government. His songs were strongly influenced by Japanese music, and most of them were written in Japanese. The second songwriter was PangTer, a member of the Puyuma tribe from Zhiben, a village near Taidong in southeast Taiwan. PangTer's Mandarin name, by which he is now usually called, was Chen Shi (陳實). He collected many folk songs from the Taidong area as well as composing his own. His songs, in contrast to Gao’s, were more influenced by Western music. One of his notable compositions, “Ocean” (海洋) was later turned into a church hymn and translated into Hoklo and English (as "Let All Nations Come, Praise the Lord").

The third and perhaps the best-known aboriginal songwriter from this era was Baliwakes, the young man who played piano for the Japanese emperor’s brother. As mentioned above, Baliwakes, best known today by his Chinese name Lu Senbao (陸森寶), was, like Chen Shi, a Puyuma. He was from the village also called Puyuma, known as Nanwang (南王) in Mandarin, which is located just outside the city of Taidong. Lu’s compositions were strongly influenced by traditional Puyuma folk songs. Among the better known are "Let's Take A Walk" (散步歌kayta sampu), "Praising The Ancestors" (頌祭祖先miamiami La I nirebuwaan), and "Remembering Yearly Ceremony" (懷念年祭mikiyakarunan ku I sidumayan). Probably the best known of all his songs is "Beautiful Rice Grains" (美麗的稻穗pasalaw bulay naniyam kalalumayan), popularized during the "folk song movement" by aboriginal folk singer Kimbo (Hu Defu [胡德夫] in Chinese) and recorded by the "father of modern Chinese folk songs" Yang Xian (楊弦) on his second album.

Two of the first aboriginal records were made as a set in about 1961 by a group of singers from the village of Nanwang and not surprisingly featured songs by Lu Senbao (and Chen Shi as well). These records were released by Lingling Records (鈴鈴唱片), which went on to release dozens of aboriginal records during the 1960s and 1970s, mostly featuring songs of the Amis (Taiwan’s largest aboriginal group) but occasionally other groups such as the Puyuma, Atayal and Tsou. By far the most prominent singer on these records was Lu Jingzi (盧靜子), an Amis from the village of Malan (馬蘭) near Taidong, who became the aboriginal community’s first star singer. She recorded dozens of albums worth of songs, and records featuring her singing were by far the biggest selling aboriginal records of the 1960s and 1970s, selling not only in Taiwan but also in Japan. She recorded mostly in Amis, but made several records in Japanese as well (including Japanese versions of aboriginal songs, aboriginal songs written in Japanese, and Japanese enka tunes). Though she wasn't well known among Han Chinese listeners, her clear and powerful singing was popular in all the aboriginal communities and influenced virtually all the aboriginal singers who came after her. She popularized numerous songs which are still sung frequently today. Her most famous song was "Malan Romance" (馬蘭之戀), which was turned into a hit song in Mandarin and Hoklo and was covered by many popular Taiwanese singers, thus becoming one of the first aboriginal songs to crossover to a mainstream audience. The melody is upbeat and cheerful, in contrast to the Amis lyrics, in which a girl threatens to commit suicide by lying down in front of a train if her parents don’t let her marry the boy she loves. Needless to say, the Mandarin version of the song, known as "Malan Mountain Song" (馬蘭山歌) or "Malan Girl" (馬蘭姑娘), is much more innocuous. Another song Lu helped popularize was turned into the patriotic song “Good Taiwan” (台灣好).

While "Malan Romance" was one of the first actual aboriginal songs to become a crossover hit, mainstream Taiwanese audiences had already become accustomed to hearing similar melodies through what might be called “faux aboriginal songs” – songs written by Han Chinese songwriters in imitation of aboriginal songs. The best known of such songs was "High Green Mountain" (高山青), which became so associated with aboriginals that many aboriginal singers performed it. To this day, many people mistakenly believe it to be a traditional aboriginal song. There were many other such aboriginal-flavored Mandarin songs, including "Bilan Village Girl" (碧蘭村的姑娘) and "Passion Flower Of Li Mountain" (梨山痴情花). In the early 1970s, aboriginal singer Wanshalang (萬沙浪), one of the few popular singers of aboriginal origin in that era to openly advertise his ethnic background, had one of his first big hits with "Nanuwa Love Song" (娜奴娃情歌), written by ethnic Chinese composer Zuo Hongyuan (左宏元). No doubt one reason for the popularity of these aboriginal-style songs (including genuine aboriginal tunes such as "Malan Girl" and “Good Taiwan”) was simply that the melodies were appealing and strikingly different from other pop songs, and another was probably the imagery typical of the lyrics of such songs, featuring the natural beauty of Taiwan and the innocent, happy aboriginal people (though this at the same time served to reinforce Han feelings of superiority by implying that the aboriginals were naïve and unsophisticated).

Even before Wanshalang, many aboriginal singers had been successful among mainstream audiences in Taiwan, though they rarely performed songs with an aboriginal flavor. The first aboriginal singer to become popular in Taiwan was Gao Juhua (高菊花), the eldest daughter of Gao Yisheng, who was a popular live performer in Taiwan in the 1950s under the name Painana (派娜娜). Her cousin Tang Lanhua (湯蘭花) also became a popular singer and actress in the 1960s, and many other singers of the 1960s had aboriginal backgrounds. Wanshalang, however, was the first major singer to have an aboriginal image, though ironically he often dressed in outfits that more closely resembled Native American clothing than actual Taiwanese aboriginal costumes.

Before Wanshalang became a pop singer, he was briefly the lead singer in a “hit music” cover band. Another member of this band was a fellow Puyuma from the Taidong area named Hu Defu (胡德夫), commonly known by his nickname, Kimbo. In the early 1970s, Kimbo began performing Western folk songs, making a number of appearances on television and in folk song concerts. In 1974, he put on a solo concert which helped kick start Taiwan’s folk song movement of the 1970s, in which young Taiwanese wrote and performed original songs in Mandarin in a style influenced by the American folk songs of the 1960s. As one of the founders of the folk song movement, Kimbo performed frequently in the 1970s, becoming one of the top singers of the genre. He frequently performed aboriginal songs such as “Beautiful Rice Grains” and “Ocean”, and his original songs often had an aboriginal flavor, though they were written in Mandarin. In the 1980s, Kimbo became a social and political activist, which resulted in restrictions on his public performances. He often performed at “dangwai” (“outside the party,” a term referring to the political opposition to the ruling KMT) activities, and in the mid-1980s he became involved in the movement for aboriginal rights, becoming the first chairman of the Association for Promotion of Taiwanese Aboriginal Rights (台灣原住民權力促進會). He performed less in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but has returned to music since, finally releasing a critically-acclaimed solo album entitled In a Flash (匆匆) in 2005. For many listeners, Kimbo, with his soulful voice and thoughtful lyrics reflecting on the beauty of Taiwan and the struggles of its aboriginal people, is the most important aboriginal singer still performing regularly today.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, many young aboriginals traveled to Taipei to take jobs as laborers and began writing songs in Mandarin, though most of them differed from Kimbo in that they were influenced less by American folk music and more by traditional melodies and a performance style known as nakashi, which was popular among street musicians and beggars in Taiwan. One such songwriter was Gao Feilong (高飛龍), who now goes by the name Gao Ziyang (高子洋). Perhaps his best-known composition is “We Are All Family” (我們都是一家人), which became something of an aboriginal anthem, and is well known even among non-aborigines. Another very popular song of his was “Pitiful Luckless Man” (可憐的落魄人), recorded and popularized by fellow Puyuma Chen Mingren (陳明仁), the son of songwriter Chen Shi. This song became wildly popular not only in Taiwan but in Southeast Asia as well, and was recorded by numerous singers and performed by countless others, becoming the biggest crossover hit of aboriginal origins since “Malan Romance.” It was also more than a little controversial, thanks to lyrics like “You can tease me / And you can use me…You can play with me / And you can dump me,” which were considered suggestive. Not surprisingly, it was banned by the government, which didn’t prevent it from selling hundreds of thousands of records.

Numerous aboriginal songs with Mandarin lyrics in this vein appeared in the 1970s and 1980s, many becoming popular in aboriginal communities throughout the island, though most of them didn’t become crossover hits like “Pitiful Luckless Man.” Songs like “Goodbye, Lover” (再會吧！心上人), “What Should I Do” (我該怎麼辦), “My Wife Called Me an Old Drunk” (老婆罵我是老酒鬼) and “White Rice Liquor” (白米酒) were recorded many times (often under a variety of names) and remain popular among aboriginal singers to this day. The origins of most of these songs are virtually impossible to trace nowadays, as they have been passed from singer to singer many times, undergoing many alterations along the way, making them true folk songs in the traditional sense. Though most of these songs are not familiar among non-aboriginals, if you spend an evening eating and drinking with a group of aboriginals, you are likely to hear at least one or two of them.

The 1980s also saw the appearance of an aboriginal-oriented music industry centered in Taidong and Pingdong in east and south Taiwan, following in the footsteps of companies like Lingling Records. Most of these releases were on cassette tape only and featured very inexpensive production, usually in a nakashi style with cheap keyboards and mechanical beats. Many tapes were in Mandarin, often featuring the songs discussed above, but more were in aboriginal languages, particularly Amis and Paiwan. Though few ethnic Chinese heard any of this music, some of the singers on these tapes became stars in the aboriginal communities. Some of the aboriginal stars from the last few decades include Wang Qiulan (王秋蘭), Xia Guoxing (夏國星), Lin Xiuying (林秀英), Ma Chunmei (馬春美) and Pan Jinsong (潘金松). Albums of this type are still being released today, though now on CD rather than on tape. Though many are ruined by cheap production values, there are occasional minor gems to be heard, such as Xifu (喜富) and Hawang (哈旺)’s “Denas” (得ㄋㄚㄕ/得那詩). Even today, while ethnic Chinese fans of aboriginal music listen to singers like Kimbo, Purdur, Samingad, and Biung, aborigines living in the east and south of Taiwan are just as likely to buy recordings by Xia Guoxing or Pan Jinsong.

What really made the mainstream Taiwanese pop industry finally take notice of aboriginal music, however, was not these locally-produced aboriginal albums, modern aboriginal folk songs like “White Rice Liquor” (白米酒), or the Western-influenced folk songs of singers like Kimbo, but a recording of a traditional Amis folk song. In early 1994, the European group Enigma released the song “Return to Innocence,” which was chosen as the theme song for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. This song prominently featured a sample of Amis singer Difang, known as Guo Yingnan (郭英男) in Chinese, and his wife singing the traditional “Elders’ Drinking Song” (老人飲酒歌). The Guos, who were in their sixties at the time, had been previously invited to Europe to perform traditional Amis songs. They had recorded the song at a performance in Paris, and Enigma acquired the tape from the French museum which held the master recordings. Since the Guos had not been paid for their contribution, the song started an international copyright battle (in which Difang and his wife were ultimately successful), and its popularity led the Taiwanese music industry to pay more attention to aboriginal music.

One of the first non-aboriginal Taiwanese musicians to make serious use of aboriginal sounds following the release of “Return to Innocence” was Zhu Yuezin (朱約信), better known as Jutoupi (豬頭皮), who in 1996 released the album Harmonious Evening OAA (和諧的夜晚OAA), which combined aboriginal music with house and featured numerous aboriginal guest singers (including Kimbo). Kimbo had also done some aboriginal-style singing earlier that same year as a guest on an album by the Blacklist Workshop (黑名單工作室). As for actual aboriginal musicians, thanks largely to the sudden popularity of aboriginal sounds in the wake of the Enigma recording, there was a flurry of releases beginning in 1996, as record companies suddenly began to take an interest in recording and releasing albums by aboriginal singers. Chen Mingren formed a group with Atayal singer Wu Tinghong (吳廷宏) called Beiyuan Shanmao (北原山貓), or “Northern Aboriginal Mountain Cats”, and released a series of albums featuring humorous readings of aboriginal songs, many of which sold quite well. The traditionally-oriented Amis duo Betel Nut Brothers (檳榔兄弟) released their first album in 1996, gaining some attention on the world music scene, and aboriginal rock band Yuanshilin released its first album in late 1997, mixing aboriginal melodies into their rock sound. Also in late 1997, the first release by the alternative music label Taiwan Colors (角頭音樂) included a track by the aboriginal collective Aboriginal Sound Society (原音社), which went on to release a full album in early 1999 featuring a varied mix of songs by different aboriginal singers. The increased profile of aboriginal music is illustrated by the fact that aboriginal singers who emerged in 1996 and 1997 such as Zhang Huimei (張惠妹), also known as A-mei, and Power Station (動力火車) had brief snippets of aboriginal singing added to their songs, which were otherwise pure Mandopop.

Aboriginal music received a further boost in 1999, when Taiwan Colors released the album Ocean (海洋) by aboriginal singer-songwriter Purdur (Chen Jiannian [陳建年] in Chinese), a grandson of Lu Senbao, and Rock Records’ Magic Stone label released an album by his relative Samingad, called Ji Xiaojun (紀曉君) in Chinese. Purdur’s album featured his own folk-influenced compositions (he had been writing and singing since the mid-1980s) and Samingad’s included a mix of songs by Purdur and Lu Senbao with traditional songs. Both of these albums were big winners at the following year’s Golden Melody Awards, putting an additional spotlight on aboriginal music. Samingad in particular has, like Difang and the Betel Nut Brothers before her, become successful on the world music circuit, which had always been open to Taiwanese aboriginal singing (though even here the Enigma song no doubt helped focus attention on Taiwanese aboriginal music).
In the years since, Taiwan’s aboriginal musicians have remained a major force in Taiwanese music, even if they haven’t always attained the massive commercial success of singers like A-mei. The most notable of the musicians performing in recent years, aside from those mentioned above, include Panai (巴奈), whose melancholy aboriginal folk has been characterized by one critic as “Taiwanese blues”; Biung, known as Wang Hongen (王宏恩) in Chinese, who incorporates the eight-part harmonies of the Bunun into his songs; the aboriginal collective Flying Fish, Cloud Leopard (飛魚雲豹), formed to raise money for aboriginal communities devastated by the September 21, 1999 earthquake; and more recently the group Totem (圖騰), who spice up their combination of rock and rap with aboriginal lyrics.

Taiwanese aboriginals are generally stereotyped as being born with great voices (along with other, more negative stereotypes), and if you hear just a few of the aboriginal singers mentioned you will understand why. What’s more, aboriginal music adds a very distinctive element to the music of Taiwan, whether it’s being performed on its own or mixed with more modern musical styles. While there is more to Taiwanese music than just aboriginal music, the latter is a vital element in the former, and aboriginal singers and musicians continue to stand in the forefront of today’s Taiwanese popular music.