Go to Taiwan Yueqin Folk Music Festival

Text / 郭慧
Picture provided / 台灣月琴民謠協會

Nakasi (流し), a well-known music form in Beitou, is a Japanese term describing the migratory lifestyle of Nakasi musicians, who travel from one tea parlor to another like water flowing. What is interesting is that one of the musical inspirations of Chen Ming-zhang, a well-known musician in Beitou, was the swirling sound of Nakasi music coming from the hotels when he was a child. Today, he is dedicated to making the fluent sound of Yueqin (known as the moon guitar) a melody that flows through the mountain town of Beitou. Through the annual "Taiwan Yueqin Folk Music Festival", he brings together the life and sounds of the land of Beitou.

“When I was a child, there were more than 300 plays performed every year outdoors the Earth God temples and the local markets.In addition to aboriginal music, Taiwanese opera, Beiguan, and other local music could be heard in these places, which had a deep influence on me. When I was engaged in music work, I would naturally think about how to put these kinds of tunes into modern music,” recalled Chen Ming-zhang. “There were many hotels in Beitou. When I was a kid, I would hear the Nakasi band performing in the hotels as I walked up the Beitou Creek every afternoon. At that time, there was no soundproof equipment or airtight windows, so I could hear the Nakasi band in the hotel playing music coming from all over the world, and the music was spreading throughout Beitou. My elementary school classmate's brother organized a Nakasi band, and I often spent time at their house when I was in junior high school to see how they played. I joined the guitar club in high school, and that's the way I've been going.”

Return to Beitou hometown, let the sound of Yueqin sprout here

If Yetaixi (open-air theater) and Nakasi were Chen Ming-zhang's musical inspiration, then Yueqin was the next chapter in his musical journey. At the age of 26, Chen heard the sound of Chen Da playing Hengchun folk music sound with Yueqin on the Cloud Gate Dance Theater tape. Deeply impressed by Yueqin's music, he began to study with a teacher to learn Yueqin. “At that time, there were not many resources for learning Yueqin. However, I went to Yunlin to learn the southern pipe yueqin with Wu Tianlao, to Yilan to learn the northern pipe yueqin with Chuang Jincai, and to Hengchun to learn Hengchun folk music sound from Zhu Dingshun. When I first learned the northern pipe with Zhuang Jincai, I really had to follow the ancient rituals and take three incense sticks to formally pay tribute to my teacher,” Chen chuckled.

After traveling from place to place to learn the skills, Chen eventually returned to his hometown, Beitou.Chen’s wish is to sow the seeds ofYueqinin this small city full of music. “I hope that in the future, when talking aboutYueqin, people willsay ‘South Hengchun and North Beitou’.”

After traveling from place to place to learn the skills, Chen Ming-zhang finally returned to his hometown of Beitou and decided to sow the seeds of the Yueqin in this small city full of music. (Picture provided:台灣月琴民謠協會)

Open the Taiwan Yueqin Folk Music Festival at the Beitou Hot Spring Museum

However, the promotion of music and culture is a century-long endeavor, and it is always difficult to get started. At first, there were only two or three learners taking Yueqin classes from Chen. "Back then, kids thought Yueqin was an old man's stuff, too vulgar, so they didn't want to learn it," laughed Chen.

Even so, with Chen's persistent efforts, more and more people have felt the beauty of Yueqin. In 2011, a fellow musician offered support for Chen to organize a concert, and Chen recalled his wish to hold a concert in memory of Chen Da during the full moon. The first Taiwan Yueqin Folk Music Festival was held at the Mid-Autumn Festival. The event brought together masters of various musical genres, including Hengchun folk music master Zhu Dingshun, Hakka song giants Xu Muzhen and Wang Yuchuan, Taiwanese chanting singer Yang Xiuqing, Taiwanese opera singers Liao Qiongzhi and Wang Jinzhuo, Beiguan opera singer Chuang Jincai, and the Wu Tianlao family of    tshia-kóo-hì (folk entertainment form). In the past, Chen Ming-zhang traveled around Taiwan to learn the sounds of the island. Today, musicians from different cities and towns gather in the tatami hall on the second floor of the Beitou Hot Spring Museum, where you can hear the sounds of Yueqin and its aftermath.

 In addition to inviting musicians from various fields, Chen also placed great importance on the location of the Taiwan Yueqin Folk Festival. "When I first staged the Taiwan Yueqin Folk Music Festival, I thought it should be held at the Beitou Hot Spring Museum. After all, that's the most suitable place for Yueqin in Beitou. When we put the Yueqin in the wooden space of the tatami hall, the whole atmosphere was right," Chen said.

"Beitou Hot Spring Museum is also a very important spiritual symbol of Beitou," added Wang Pei-ying, the president of Taiwan Yueqin Folk Music Association. “In fact, a few years ago, a proposal was made to move the event to Seven Star Park, but Mr. Chen said that the Taiwan Yueqin Folk Festival would not leave the Beitou Hot Spring Museum because once the location changed, the ambiance would never be the same.”

Yueqin, connecting music to the land

As the Taiwan Yueqin Folk Music Festival has been held and the Taiwan Yueqin Folk Music Association has moved into neighboring campuses, more and more people have come to know about the Yueqin. "I still remember when the first Taiwan Yueqin Folk Music Festival was held, many people on the tatami mats confidently pointed out the Yueqin and said it was a pipa (Chinese lute). But now, when we go to the nearby elementary schools to teach Yueqin, the children all know that this instrument is called Yueqin,” said Wang Pei-ying.

“If you stay here for two hours, I guarantee you'll be able to play Bāng Chhun-hong by the time you leave," laughed Wang Pei-ying. "Over the past few years, we've also noticed that quite a few young composers know how to play Yueqin. The song ‘Sayonara’ by the band Won Fu also includes Yueqin, just like Okinawan kids who add pop music with Sanshin (Okinawan musical instrument).”

Promoting not only Yueqin, but also leaving behind cultural industries

Moreover, as more and more people fall in love with the yueqin, the related industries will grow. "As long as people want to play it, those who make Yueqin will be able to make a living from it, and the craft will be left behind. People with flexible brains will also come up with the idea that perhaps Taiwanese wood carvings can be added to the sticks, Taiwanese weaving can be adopted for the straps, and colorful artwork can be painted on the body of the instrument. ...... Chen Ming-zhang started to encourage the use of Yueqin to sing our own songs more than ten years ago, and now he has left behind not only Yueqin music, but also the whole related cultural industry,” said Wang Pei-ying.

For example, the Taiwan Yueqin Folk Music Association has invited Ba Jia Jiang face painter Huang Zhi-wei to draw auspicious face pictures on each Yueqin. The Taiwan Yueqin Folk Music Association, which has been invited to perform at Aomori Nebuta in Japan, also invited Japanese Aomori Nebuta artist Kiyoyo Igarashi to paint the traditional Japanese ritual totems on the Yueqin, and then exhibited the Yueqin at the Taiwan Yueqin Folk Music Festival. With the painting, Yueqin has not only increased in value, but has also become a vehicle for more people to learn about local and exotic cultures.

Last year, the Taiwan Yueqin Folk Music Festival celebrated its tenth year. Looking back on the past ten years, Wang Pei-ying has truly learnt the true meaning of "achieving an ambition takes a century, only one step forward in a decade". A decade is only the beginning of the beginning. After this, Wang Pei-ying also expects that the whole Beitou will be surrounded by the music of Yueqin in the future Taiwan Yueqin Folk Music Festival. Just like when Chen Ming-zhang was a child, walking along the Beitou River, the air was filled with the smell of sulfur and the music of Nakasi. Perhaps, in the future, when walking along the streets of Beitou, the crisp and flowing sound of Yueqin will be added to the musical notes emanating from the Beitou Hot Spring Museum, wandering through the street corners and alleys, and becoming a part of the life of Beitou.