Music
of Taiwan Aborigines
Introduction:
The
aborigines of Taiwan belong to the Austronesian group, geographically located
on the north- eastern tip of this cultural area. Because of its isolation
from the main group and from the outside world in general, the aborigines
in Taiwan still maintain comparatively unadulterated, original, archaic
culture of this group.
The
population of Taiwan aborigines is about 345,000 (1991), only one sixty-sixth
of the total population of Taiwan, but their living area, mostly mountainous,
occupy more than half of this island. Ten tribes are recognized generally,
according to linguistic and cultural difference: Ami,
Atayal, Bunun, Paiwan,
Puyuma, Rukai, Saistat,Tsou,
Yami. Due to the Chinese influence, it is
not possible to investigate Plain Aborigines tribe. |
Map of distribution of Taiwan Aborigines
The music
of Taiwan aborigines is unique. When other tribes of this group in South-east
Asia developed, beside vocal folk songs, a series of percussion instruments
music and a wide range of dance music, Taiwan aborigines devoted themselves
almost exclusively to vocal music- the kind of vocal music most rich and
complicated both in its styles and its contents. Its styles ranges from
the most primitive from to that of the most complicated modern vocal music.
Their contents run the whole gamut from the old worship and magic songs,
through working and recreational songs, to every occasions in the life.
Taiwan aborigines
songs can be divided into the following groups according to their styles
of sing. (Based on Prof. T. Kurozawa's classification)
I. Homophonic singing
a) recitative b) melodic
c) dialogistic d) responsorial ( leads and responses)
II. Polyphonic singing
a) organum style b)
cannon style c) drone-bass style d) free contrapuntal
III. Harmonic singing
a) nature chord style
b) consonance style c) free chorus style d) heterophonic style
Dr. PLu classified these songs according to their contents as the following:
a) Working songs:
war, hunting, farming, fishing, etc.
b) Songs of daily
life: welcomes, farewell, marriage, love, playing, banquet, funeral, yearning,
praying, etc.
c) Songs of ceremony
and worship: for ancestors, head-huntings, harvests, festival, etc.
d) Narrative songs:
ancestral stories, legends, etc.
Among the folk
music of various cultures of archaic strata throughout the world, the music
of Taiwan aborigines is doubtlessly the most advanced and diversified,
forming a marvelous treasury. It is immensely regretted that this national
treasures of aborigines folk music are gradually fading away under the
erosion and blows of our contemporary civilization of the past decades.
The Relationship
Between the Taiwanese Aborigines and Other Speakers of Austronesian Languages
The aborigines
of Taiwan speak languages belonging to the Austronesian language family.
The Austronesian languages are among the most widely distributed of the
world's language families: The area inhabited by Austronesian peoples extends
from Madagascar in the west to Easter Island in the east; and from Taiwan
in the north to New Zealand in the south. Austronesian speakers on Taiwan
can be roughly divided into the "aboriginal" tribes and the "Pingpu" tribes.
Although the "aboriginal" tribes still preserve their languages, customs,
and village social structure, they are now facing the impact of rapid modernization.
The great majority of the Pingpu tribes have already lost their languages
and customs.
The Origin of the Taiwanese Aborigines
There
are currently two major theories concerning the origin of the Taiwanese
aborigines. While the first theory proposes that the aborigines originated
in some other area, the second asserts that Taiwan is the ancestral
homeland of the Austronesian peoples. The first theory has found widespread
acceptance, and its claim that the Austronesian peoples arose on the southeast
coast of mainland China has support from linguistic, archeological, historical,
and mythological evidence. Some scholars have even proposed a chronology
for the arrival of the aboriginal tribes in Taiwan; for example, the Saisiat
and Atayal tribes are thought to have arrived
in Taiwan during the early ceramic period around. 3,000 B.C., whereas the
Paiwan and Puyuma tribes
probably arrived during the heyday of the Megalithic culture of Southeast
Asia. On the other hand, the theory that Taiwan was the cradle of the Austronesian
languages is relatively new, and has found support from many linguists.
Further research will be needed to determine which of these theories is
correct.
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References for all the aborigines' web pages
Text:
Hsu, T.-H., & Ch'iu,
K.-L. (1979). A special album of Chinese folk music. Taipei: First
Record Ltd.
http://www.tacp.gov.tw/english/intro/right.htm
Songs are linked to other websites
Image:
http://www.native.taipei.gov.tw/
Images scanned from
Junior high school textbook of folk arts, (1997, pp.158). Taipei: Taipei
Bureau of Education.
Lu, C.-K. (1996).
Traditional
music of Taiwan, (pp. 59, 68, 150, 151, 155). Taipei, Dung-Hua Book
Store.