Chapter 15 The third section is beautiful and moving folk songs and wild tunes

The island of Taiwan has beautiful scenery and a pleasant climate. The mountains, rivers and fields are always surrounded by green onions, and the birds are singing and the flowers are fragrant in all seasons, which is full of life.The Taiwanese compatriots who have lived and recuperated on this land for generations love the homeland that their ancestors worked so hard to cultivate, yearn for a happy life, and like to use folk songs to express their inner feelings, singing about labor, singing about love, and singing about life.No matter it is the daytime when the sun is shining, or the night is full of moonlight, no matter if it is a mountainous area, a plain, a fishing village or a tea garden, people often hear melodious and beautiful folk songs blowing in the wind, but they hear the sound, but do not see it. People are refreshing and intoxicated in the embrace of nature.

Indeed, Taiwan is not only the hometown of drama and the island of music, but also a treasure trove of Chinese folk songs. There are many types of folk songs in Taiwan. In addition to the various mountain folk songs popular in the settlements of the aboriginal compatriots, in the areas where the Han people live, the folk songs of the Hoklo family and the Hakka family are mainly popular. After 1949, folk songs of different styles from all over the mainland were introduced to Taiwan one after another along with immigrants from various provinces.These folk songs have different tunes and flavors, but they all exude a strong and fragrant local flavor.If "Nanguan" belongs to Taiwan's "grace music", then folk songs are Taiwan's "vulgar songs" and "slang songs".

Hoklo folk songs refer to folk songs sung in Hokkien. They originated in Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, Fujian, and were first brought to Taiwan by early immigrants. They are mainly popular in the Western Plains, Lanyang Plains and Hengchun.Most of the Fulo folk songs belong to the minor system, and the singing method belongs to the monophonic tune singing method. Each paragraph has four sentences, and each sentence is mostly seven characters (a few are five-character sentences). The content is mainly about singing love, followed by labor, funny, Narrative or nursery rhyme etc.In addition to the fixed lyrics of traditional folk songs handed down since ancient times, most of them are created by the singers on the spot, with lively forms and natural and relaxed forms. Generally speaking, most love songs and narrative songs use seven-character sentences.As a traditional love song goes:

The young lady made an appointment in the back wall ditch, pretending to tamp (move) the chair to comb her hair; if the sweetheart (sweetheart) came and coughed (cough as a signal), the boy beckoned and the mother nodded. The style of Hoklo folk songs is mainly lyrical and sad melody, and there are also humorous songs with lively rhythm and strong irony. The tunes are mostly composed of pentatonic scales. Most of the folk songs of the Lanyang Plain have been absorbed into the tunes of Gezai Opera, and it has become a Taiwanese local drama that is popular throughout the island and loved by the people.

There have been many masterpieces of Hoklo folk songs in various places, such as "Grass Moth Making a Rooster" and "Field Water in June" in the western plains; "Du Diu Tongzi" in the Lanyang Plain; , "Thinking", etc., they are very popular among Taiwan compatriots from southern Fujian, and they have been sung for a long time. The Hoklo folk songs of Fujian and Taiwan have long been fused with each other, and it is difficult to distinguish them from each other. "Wang Chunfeng" is one of the oldest folk songs in Taiwan. It belongs to Taiwanese customs and folk songs. It has been popular in Fujian and Taiwan for 50 or 60 years. of.And another labor ballad that people are very familiar with, "Day Hei Hei", it is said that it was first spread from Xiamen to Taiwan.However, due to the difference in living environment, the Hoklo folk songs in Fujian and Taiwan also have different artistic styles. Some people think that the folk songs in southern Fujian pay more attention to artistry, while the Hoklo folk songs in Taiwan are more popular and easy to sing.However, regardless of the differences in style between the Hoklo folk songs on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, they are all rooted in the soil of Chinese national culture and together they write a new chapter of national culture.

Hakka folk songs are divided into two types: "Hakka folk songs" and "tea picking songs". They are sung in Hakka. They were introduced to Taiwan by Hakka immigrants from eastern Guangdong and western Fujian. They are generally popular in Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli in the north, Kaohsiung and Pingtung in the south. hilly areas. Hakka folk songs are very different in style from the Hoklo folk songs that belong to the "minor system". "Song", which is sung in hilly areas, has a stronger lyrical color and more "game flavor" (local flavor). Hakka folk songs mainly sing about love, and some reflect collective production and labor. The tune is also a pentatonic scale. When it is sung, the rhythm is soothing and melodious, melodious and lingering. Much the same.Hakka folk songs also have four sentences in each first sentence, and each sentence is mostly seven characters.The most admirable thing is that Hakka folk songs often use puns, metaphors, and allegories to express their inner feelings and express a certain profound meaning. It sounds very subtle and intriguing, and has a strong artistic charm. Literary enjoyment.Therefore, every good Hakka folk song is a good "seven character quatrains".For example, the following Hakka folk song has been widely circulated in the Hakka area since ancient times, and is still sung endlessly by Hakka people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait:

This folk song uses the natural phenomenon of wild vines entwining trees to describe the inseparable love between men and women, which will never change until death. It is extremely vivid, and its pure and passionate love is really exciting!This is a "metaphor".Another example: This is a "pun" technique, "pear" and "li" are puns, and "fen pear" means "separation".The following Hakka folk song expressing the sorrow and hatred of men and women is also very old and is still sung by Hakka people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait: Most of the Hakka people live in mountainous areas. When singing folk songs, they often sing to the other party across a mountain or a river. There is no notice when they sing, fearing that others will not hear clearly. Therefore, in order to attract the attention of the other party, most of the Hakka folk songs are the first. The second sentence adopts the method of "Xing" in the middle, that is, using other things as the beginning of the folk song, which plays a role of "passing through" and "prelude", and the key content is in the next two sentences.As the following two songs:

Moss grows on the pebbles by the river, thinking my sister can't come; The newly made sleeping bed is square and square, and the sleeping area is deserted; Hakka folk songs can be sung solo or duet. In addition to traditional folk songs with fixed lyrics, singing Hakka folk songs requires the superb skills of adapting to the situation, expressing emotions on the spot, compiling and singing now.Therefore, it is impossible to become a good Hakka mountain singer without profound life experience, high literary quality and quick thinking.Especially during the folk song competition, both sides sing and answer, one song after another, sentence after sentence, without pausing "stuck" in the middle. people.The following is a group of love songs sung by men and women:

Man: If Lang is sincere, sister is sincere, don't be afraid of high mountains and deep waters; if the mountains are rough, someone will open the way, and if the water is deep, someone will come to find it. Female: I have come to look for it from thousands of miles away, just like a lover who has fallen in love; on the night of Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15th, the two are in love with each other. Male: The two of them are affectionate and passionate, waiting for their sister Bogong Pavilion; waiting for as many cold benches as possible, asking as many passersby as possible. Female: Ask as many passers-by as possible, who are you afraid of when you two fall in love?

Although Hakka folk songs belong to "vulgar songs" and "slang songs", they contain rich essence of national culture. They are a wonderful flower in the garden of folk songs in China. In the history of Chinese literature, they have inspired many accomplished poets. too much influence.For example, Huang Zunxian, a famous new Hakka poet in modern times, and Qiu Fengjia, a patriotic Hakka poet in Taiwan, were influenced and influenced by Hakka folk songs since childhood. They all attached great importance to absorbing beneficial nutrition from Hakka folk songs in their poetry creation activities.Qiu Fengjia once wrote a poem "On Folk Songs", which spoke highly of Hakka folk songs. The poem said:

. Qiu Fengjia believes that Hakka folk songs are much more valuable ("Zi Zi Zhu") than many shoddy "oil cavity pens" made by literati.Many of Qiu Fengjia's poems are fluent and simple in language, easy to understand, and are obviously influenced by Hakka folk songs, nursery rhymes and proverbs.Please look at the following poem titled "You Jiangshe [she She] Inscribed Mountains and Human Walls": . This poem is derived from a Hakka proverb: "Livestock and sheep, planting ginger, the interest is hard to pay" and a nursery rhyme: "Moonlight, good ginger", it is catchy for women and children, easy to recite, and full of life interest.In the poetry anthologies of Huang Zunxian and Qiu Fengjia, such poems abound. At present, Hakka folk songs have attracted the attention of many folklorists and popular writers.They worked tirelessly and went deep into the mountainous areas where the Hakka people lived to collect and study Hakka folk songs.In Zhudong Township, Hsinchu County, and Miaoli Township, Miaoli County, Taiwan, every year around the Lantern Festival, a Hakka folk song competition is held on a day. Newspapers and broadcasts have reports and recordings.Meizhou, Guangdong is the birthplace of Hakka folk songs. In recent years, many Taiwanese Hakka compatriots who love folk songs have organized groups to visit relatives in Meizhou, Guangdong, and participated in Hakka folk song competitions.The Hakka families on both sides of the strait gathered together to observe and learn from each other, and work together to preserve and discover this excellent heritage of Chinese culture and promote its healthy development to a newer and higher stage. "Tea-picking song" is actually a kind of Hakka folk song. Its tune, melody, style, and expression techniques are all the same as Hakka folk song, but because it was first popular in tea-producing areas, the content of singing is mostly similar to "tea". Therefore, it is called "tea picking song"."Tea-picking opera", a popular local folk opera in Taiwan, was developed on the basis of tea-picking songs with storylines and musical accompaniment. In the hilly area where the Hakka people live in northern Taiwan, tea is abundant. When the tea-picking season comes, tea-picking girls in bright floral dresses appear in groups of three or five in the green, wave-like tea gardens, faintly visible.They skillfully picked pieces of tender green tea leaves with dexterous hands, and at the same time couldn't help singing their favorite tea-picking songs impromptuly.