The music of Taiwan reflects the diverse culture of Taiwanese people. Taiwan has undergone several economic, social, and political changes through its cultural history, and Taiwanese music reflects those issues in its way. The music of the country has adopted a mixed style. As a country rich in Chinese folk culture and with many indigenous tribes with their own distinct artistic identity, various folk music styles are appreciated in Taiwan. In addition, people in Taiwan highly appreciate various style of Western classical music and pop music. Taiwan is a major Mandopop hub.
Background The Kuomintang-led Republic of China government arrived in Taiwan in 1949, a government that suppressed native Taiwanese culture and implemented Standard Chinese (Mandarin) as the official language. This political event has significant effects on the development of music in Taiwan in the 20th century as it resulted in a gap in the transition of the traditional music culture. In 1987, a revival of traditional culture began when the martial law declared by the government was lifted. (See Taiwanese localization movement.)
Instrumental music includes multiple genres, such as beiguan and nanguan. Nanguan originally hails from Quanzhou, while it is now most common in Lukang and is found across much of the island.
Taiwanese puppetry (hand-puppet theater) and Taiwanese opera, two genres of spectacle that are strongly related to music, are very popular, while the latter is often considered the only truly indigenous Han form of music still extant today.
Holo folk music is most common today on the Hengchun Peninsula in the southernmost part of the island, where performers sing accompanied by yueqin (moon lute), which is a type of two-stringed lute. While the Hengchun yueqin plays only five tones, the pentatonic music can become diverse and complex when combined with the seven tones of Taiwanese Hokkien. Famous folk singers include Chen Da and Yang Hsiuching.
Aboriginal music
Of the two broad divisions of Taiwanese aborigines, the plains-dwellers have been largely assimilated into Han culture, while the mountain-dwelling tribes remain distinct. The Amis, Bunun, Paiwan, Rukai and Tsou are known for their polyphonic vocals, of which each has a unique variety.
Once dying, aboriginal culture has undergone a renaissance since the late 20th century. A full-time aboriginal radio station, "Ho-hi-yan" was launched in 2005"Ho Hi Yan Hits the Airwaves". Taipei City Government, May 5, 2005. Accessed 8/19/06. with the help of the Executive Yuan, to focus on issues of interest to the indigenous community. [Listen to Ho-hi-yan; requires Windows Media Player 9]. This came on the heels of a "New wave of Indigenous Pop,""New wave of Indigenous Pop" . Taiwan Headlines, Thursday, August 24, 2000. Accessed 8/19/06. as aboriginal artists such as A-mei (Puyuma tribe), Difang (Amis tribe), Pur-dur and Samingad (Puyuma) became international pop stars. Later artists include Paiwanese pop star Abao.
The 1991 formation of the Formosa Aboriginal Dance Troupe was another major contributor to this trend, while the surprise mainstream success of "Return to Innocence", the theme song to the 1996 Olympic Games, further popularized native musics. "Return to Innocence" was made by Enigma, a popular musical project and sampled the voices of an elderly Amis couple, Difang and Igay Duana. When the couple found out that their recording had become part of an international hit, they filed suit and, in 1999, settled out of court for an unidentified amount.
Bunun The Bunun's original home was on Taiwan's west coast, in the central and northern plains, but some have more recently settled in the area around Taitung and Hualien.
Unlike the other indigenous peoples of Taiwan, the Bunun have very little dance music. The best-studied element of traditional Bunun music is improvised polyphonic song. Folk instruments include pestles, five-stringed zithers and the jaw harp.
In modern times, David Darling, an American cellist, created a project to combine cello and Bunun traditional music, resulting in an album titled Mudanin Kata. The Bunun Cultural and Educational Foundation, founded in 1995, was the first organization established to help promote and sustain Taiwanese aboriginal culture.
Truku Truku people are an Indigenous group primarily located in eastern Taiwan, especially around Hualien. They were officially recognized as separate from the Atayal people in 2004. One important aspect of Truku culture is the traditional instrument known as the tatuk, which was first documented in academic records during the 1980s and may have originated from the Atayal instrument Tatuk, now sometimes called “Lubuw Tcingan khoni.” The tatuk is closely connected to Truku communal traditions and reflects the group’s strong relationship with the mountainous natural environment in which they have historically lived.
The tatuk is a traditional percussion instrument made of four wooden bars of different lengths that are struck with wooden sticks to produce sound.花蓮縣文化局. "木琴." https://abda.hl.gov.tw/Artifact/Detail/41/%E6%9C%A8%E7%90%B4 The bars are typically made from lightweight local wood and are laid directly on the ground or on stones while being played. Tuned to four pitches (Re, Mi, Sol, and La), the instrument emphasizes rhythm and percussive coordination more than complex melody. Its simple construction reflects its practical role in Truku life: the tatuk was never intended to be a specialized performance instrument, but rather something integrated into everyday communal activities.
Traditionally, the tatuk accompanied communal singing during celebrations, shared labor, expressions of gratitude, hunting gatherings, and farewell occasions.Taiwan Music Institute. "Tatuk." Open Museum. Collected by the Taiwan Music Institute, Xilin Village, Wanrong Township, Hualien County. Music among the Truku was closely connected to social interaction and cooperation rather than formal entertainment. Performances were often informal and community-centered, with many people participating together. In this way, the tatuk helped strengthen social bonds and reflected the Truku emphasis on collective life and mutual support.
The materials and sound of the tatuk also carry cultural meaning. Because it is made from locally available wood and played directly on the earth or stone, the instrument reflects the Truku people’s close relationship with nature and the land. Its undecorated design and limited range of pitches highlight practicality and accessibility rather than artistic complexity or status. The tatuk’s rhythmic style suited songs tied to everyday activities, such as organizing communal work or gathering people together to share meals after a hunt. These functional uses show how, for the Truku, music was not separated from daily life or reserved only for ceremonies, but was naturally woven into ordinary social and cultural experience.
Hakka
Traditional Hakka music is made up of three types: Hakka Bayin (客家八音), Shan'ge (山歌, Mountain or Hill song), and Beiguan (北管).Chen, Chun-Ming. “Mountain and Farmland”: A Hakka-Style Suite by Taiwanese Composer Tai-Hsiang Li. May 2015, pp. 69, 70, 79, 80, 88, http://ccl.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/mountain-farmland-hakka-style-suite-taiwanese/docview/1701285233/se-2?accountid=10141.
Bayin references the eight materials that have traditionally been used to make Chinese instruments: metal, stone, earth, skin, string, wood, gourd, and bamboo (金、石、土、革，絲、木、匏、竹). It is believed that Hakka Bayin came from a type of wind and percussion ensemble music known as Chungchunban (中軍班). Hakka Bayin was thought to have been brought to Taiwan sometime between the end of the Ming Dynasty and the start of the Qing Dynasty. It is often used in Hakka daily life, such as at festivals, weddings, or funerals.
Hakka Shan'ge is the most popular of the three types. It literally means “mountain song” or “hill song.” Shan'ge has traditionally been sung while people work, particularly during tea picking. Because of this, it consists mostly of improvisations and has not been transcribed. Recently, shan'ge has gained popularity as one of the markers of Hakka culture. This type of music includes the well-known Nine Accents and Eighteen Melodies (九腔十八調), whose definitions are a point of debate.
Beiguan is not only Hakka music, as it generally references music in the area north of Fujian. Out of the two types, instrumental and vocal, instrumental is more popular, and like Bayin, is often utilized in events like weddings and ceremonies.
These three forms of music have been reutilized in Hakka orchestral music. Hakka orchestral music utilizes a mixture of Western orchestral instruments and Chinese traditional musical instruments, like the Erhu (二胡) and the Suona (嗩吶). This is in part because the Hakka Affairs Council has encouraged those trained in Western music in Taiwan to compose Hakka orchestral music. The first Hakka piano concerto, “Heavy Rain” (落大雨) was composed by Sung-Jen Hsu (徐頌仁) in 1985, whereas the first Hakka orchestral work, Hakka Shange Capriccio (客家山歌隨想曲), was finished by Jung-Sung Hsu (徐榮松) in 1996.
Art music The earliest musical education program in Taiwan was established by Western missionaries during the 17th century, when southern and northern Taiwan was under the colonial rule of the Netherlands and Spain respectively. Missionaries from Europe set up their churches throughout Taiwan for evangelical purposes; this included Protestant missionaries from the Netherlands and the Catholic Dominican Order from Spain. During this period, Western music was first introduced to Taiwan, though church music was the mainstay. It wasn't until the ruling Qing government opened up to trade exchanges with Europe in the mid-19th century that secular Western music began to gain to a foothold in Taiwan. In 1895, Taiwan became occupied by Japan, and formalized Western music education was thus introduced. Under Japanese rule, music was included as part of the core curriculum of Taiwanese academic education and became a compulsory course of study. Notable musicians from this era included Wen-ye Jiang and Chih-yuan Kuo.
Qing dynasty rule Rule by the Qing dynasty began in Taiwan in the 18th century; Taiwan's music scene at the time was still largely dominated by Beiguan and Nanguan music brought over by immigrants from mainland China. However, in the middle of the 19th century, the armies of the Qing dynasty suffered one devastating loss after another against European troops, forcing the Qing government to open up the ports to European traders and missionaries. As trade between Taiwan and Europe flourished, the European Chambers of Commerce and Industry set up branches in Taiwan, setting the stage for strong Western influence and an influx of more Christian missionaries. In 1872, Canadian missionary George Leslie Mackay established Presbyterian churches in Tamsui (formerly known as Huwei), as well as schools and hospitals. He also introduced Western liturgical music and art music education to Taiwan, founding Oxford College (now the Taiwan Graduate School of Theology) and Aletheia University. Su-Ti Chen (1911–1992), one of the first-generation Taiwanese composers, was an alumnus of TamKang High School (now TamKang Senior High School), which was founded by Dr. Mackay's eldest son, George William Mackay. Su-Ti Chen studied piano and Western liturgical music alongside Margaret Gauld, the wife of Rev. William Gauld. After his graduation, he enrolled at the Taipei Seminary School (now the Taiwan Graduate School of Theology), majoring in Western Art Music. Afterwards, he continued his music studies in Japan.