Chi, Sheng-shih (2017) The role of popular music in the negotiation of Taiwanese identity. PhD Thesis. SOAS, University of London. http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/24331 Copyright © and Moral Rights for this PhD Thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non‐commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This PhD Thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this PhD Thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the PhD Thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full PhD Thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD PhD Thesis, pagination. The Role of Popular Music in the Negotiation of Taiwanese Identity By Sheng-shih Chi A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Music Department School of Oriental and African Studies University of London 2016 1 Declaration for SOAS PhD thesis I have read and understood regulation 17.9 of the Regulations for students of the SOAS, University of London concerning plagiarism. I undertake that all the material presented for examination is my own work and has not been written for me, in whole or in part, by any other person. I also undertake that any quotation or paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of another person has been duly acknowledged in the work which I present for examination. Signed: ____________________________ Date: _________________ 2 Abstract This thesis explores the role of popular music in the negotiation of Taiwanese identity. Taiwan has undergone a number of significant changes historically, socially and culturally since the mid-twentieth century. After fifty years of Japanese colonial rule, the island came under the strict control of the Chinese Nationalist Party in 1945. From the time Taiwan entered a democratic era, following the end of martial law in 1987, moves towards Taiwanese consciousness and Taiwanese identity – which were suppressed under Japanese colonial and Chinese authoritarian rule – have increased significantly. However, nearly three decades later today, the political status of Taiwan remains unresolved, as it is neither an independent nation state nor a province of China. Taiwanese identity is not yet clearly defined and well-bounded due to the complicated political sphere. My research focuses on the nature of popular music and its relationship to politics and identity in the context of Taiwan. I regard popular music broadly as a mediated form that is widely distributed in Taiwanese society. Such cultural production plays an important role in creating, maintaining or rejecting political and cultural identities. My thesis not only discusses how Taiwanese identity is expressed in popular music, but also how the identity of Taiwan is constantly constructed and negotiated through the medium of popular music. The thesis is organised into five chapters which consider different aspects of popular music and identity. I begin by providing a historical overview of the island which provides contextual information for which provides the contextual background for understanding the social and cultural values that are carried in the music, and the implications of those values. In the subsequent chapters I look at popular music and its relationship with the government’s political and cultural policies, as well as social and cultural movements in different political phases from the late 1970s until the present time. I focus on specific case studies from the 1970s to the 2000s, including the campus song movement, protest singers, nationalist Black Metal, and the ‘Taike’ phenomenon. Through the study of various popular styles and groups of different times, I argue that the evolution of Taiwanese identity that is developed in popular music directly corresponds to the evolving social and political landscape. 3 Table of Contents List of Figures 6 CD List of Music and Video Examples 7 Note on Translation 8 Acknowledgements 9 Introduction 10 Methodology 40 Chapter Outline 44 Chapter 1: A History of Popular Music in Taiwan 48 1.1a Historical Contexts and State Policy during the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912) 51 1.1b Music and Culture in Taiwan during the Qing Period (1644–1912) 53 1.2a Japanese Colonisation 1894-1945 55 1.2b Cultural and Language Policies during the Period of Japanese Colonisation 59 1.3a The Era of the Kuomintang 66 1.3b Popular Music Under the Rule of the Kuomintang 74 1.4 Their Music on Our Land – American Pop in Taiwan 84 Chapter 2: ‘Let Us Sing Our Own Songs’ – Yang Zujun ( 楊祖珺 ) and the Resignification of Campus Folk songs 93 2.1 The New Modern Chinese Folk Song in Taiwan 98 2.2 Where are Our Own Songs? The Tamkang Incident 110 2.3 Our Songs: the Modern Chinese Folk Songs 119 2.4 The Commercialisation of Campus Folk Song 123 2.5 Yang Zujun – ‘Singing Our Own songs’: the Emergence of Taiwanese Consciousness? 129 Conclusion 139 Chapter 3: Our Land and Our Songs: Local Activism and the Folk-Pop of Lin Sheng Xiang ( 林生祥 ) 144 3.1 Lin Sheng Xiang and the Beginning of Environmentalism 147 3.2 Labour Exchange – Let’s Sing Mountain Songs 150 3.3 The Music Style of Lin Sheng Xiang 157 3.4 Movement, Root Seeking and Identity 165 3.5 Singing in Dialect, Singing Multicultural Nationalism 168 Conclusion 171 Chapter 4: Taike ( 台客台客台客 ), Music and Identity 173 4.1 Who are the Taike? 175 4.2 The ‘Real’ Taike and their Musical Life: The Decorated Electric Vehicle Show ( 電子 花車秀 ) 179 4.3 The Creation of New Taike Music: LTK Commune 189 4.4 The LTK Commune and Taike 201 4.5 ‘Commercialised’ Taike Music 204 Conclusion 213 4 Chapter 5: Chthonic – Heavy Metal as Soft Power 216 5.1 Soft Power as Taiwan Power? 218 5.2 The Formation of Chthonic 222 5.3 The Music and Performance Style of Chthonic 226 5.4 Chthonic’s Role in the Development of Taiwanisation and Taiwanese Nationalism 238 Conclusion 245 Conclusion 246 Bibliography 253 Bibliography in Chinese 264 Discography 271 Websites 274 5 List of Figures 1.1 The Techno Third Prince 11 2.1 The Cover Yang Xiang’s album A Collection of Modern Chinese Folk Songs 106 2.2 The Image of Li Shuangze 116 2.3 The Poster of Green Grass Field Concert 131 3.1 The Cover Labour Exchange Album Let Us Sing Mountain Songs 156 3.2 Chen Da Playing the yueqin 162 4.1 The 2007 Taike Rock Concert in Taipei 173 4.2 An Illustration of Stereotyping Taike 178 4.3 A Typical Decorated Electric Vehicle Show 180 4.4 An Original Decorated Electric Vehicle Show 181 4.5 A Medium Size Modern Decorated Electric Vehicle 182 4.6 A Newspaper Advertisement for the Yundong Song and Dance Troupe on 18 185 Feburary1956 4.7 LTK at Formoz Festival 2007 192 4.8 A Scene of The Supper Club of Pig Brother Liang show 193 4.9 The CD Cover of Shining 3 Girls 205 5.1 Chthonic Wearing Corpse Paint 228 6 CD List of Music and Video Examples Track 1 Deng Lijun. ‘Longing for the Spring Breeze’ 63 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CpeOMy3-fE Track 2 Li Shuangze and Yang Zujun. ‘The Beautiful Island’ 114 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKlYSvLVTdg Track 3 Pang Anbang. ‘Grandma’s Penghu Bay’ 124 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj6smOEBd_8 Track 4 Li Jianfu. ‘Descendants of the Dragon’ 125 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8kLPuBSruc Track 5 Labour Exchange. ‘Let’s Sing Mountain Songs’ 145 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oA4h-1IuJ6Q Track 6 Labour Exchange. ‘Night Buses’ 154 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qy7MgboA8c Track 7 Yang Xioqin. Traditional Sing and Tell (唸歌 ) 154 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BObHcArAGXA Track 8 Chen Da. ‘Sixiang qi’ 160 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGxWdXBUm6k Track 9 Labour Exchange. ‘If the Dam Can Be Built, Then Shit Can Be 164 Eaten’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IJV-b1AZiw Track 10 LTK: Rotten Brain - ‘Revenge through exploiting Chinese women’ 195 (from 4:30-6:25) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtJmsxNhImA Track 11 Music Video of LTK: ‘Cartoon Pistol’ 198 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glyYEbcuWKY Track 12 LTK: ‘Something Has Happened in the Village’ 201 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIS0_4NPF10&list=RDtIS0_4NPF10 Track 13 Shining 3 Sisters. ‘Give me a few seconds’ 206 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufi7eK1uEs4 Track 14 Wubai: ‘Dust of Angels’ 210 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YspEQ7pIV0E Track 15 A typical live concert of Chthonic 228 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAo002kINR8 Track 16 Chthonic. ‘Nemesis’ 231 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0sgpM2dfvU&list=PLhLWkSWhgRwp0BH9 _mbgVxVrIJ76lgSo5 Track 17 Chthonic. ‘Onset of Tragedy’ 231 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grfjDbRN4M0&index=2&list=PLhLWkSWhg Rwp0BH9_mbgVxVrIJ76lgSo5 Track 18 Chthonic. ‘Takao’ 232 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_UkowmQs30 Track 19 Chthonic. ‘Kaoru’ 233 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6_C7EZ7b90 7 Note on Translation Mandarin words have been Romanised using the hanyu pinyin system, expect names of Taiwanese persons, institutions and significant proper names (eg. Taipei and Kaohsiung). These have been Romanised using the Wade-Giles system or other common versions in use in Taiwan. 8 Acknowledgements I would like to pay special thankfulness, warmth and appreciation to the persons below who made my research successful and assisted me at every point to cherish my goall.