Voices of Eternal Spring
Voices of Eternal Spring: A study of the Hingcun diau Song Family and Other Folk Songs of the Hingcun Area, Taiwan Submitted for PhD By Chien Shang-Jen Department of Music University of Sheffield January 2009 Chapter Four The Developmental Process and Historical Background of Hingcun Diau and Its Song Family Introduction The previous three chapters of this thesis detailed the three major systems of Taiwanese folksongs - Aboriginal, Holo and Hakka. Concentrating on the area of Hingcun, one of the primary cradles of Holo folksongs, these three chapters also explored how the geographical conditions, natural landscape, and historical and cultural background of the area influence local folksongs and what the mutual relations between these factors and the local folksongs are. Furthermore, the three chapters studied in depth not only the background, characteristics and cultural influences of each of the Hingcun folk songs but also local prominent folksong figures, major accompanying musical instruments, musical activities and so on. Chapter Four narrows the focus specifically to Hingcun diau and its song family. In this chapter, on the one hand, I examine carefully the changes in Hingcun diau and its song family activated from within a culture; on the other hand, I also pay attention to the changes in these songs caused by their contact with other cultures.1 In other words, in addition to a careful study of the origin, developmental process and historical background of Hingcun diau and its song family, I shall also dissect how the interaction of different ethnic groups, languages used in the area, political and economic factors, and various local cultures influence Hingcun diau and its song family, and what the mutual relations between the former factors and Hingcun diau and its song family are.
[Show full text]