This is to certify that the thesis entitled WHO IS SINGING ON THE HILL -YEN CHIH-WEN AND NEW HAKKA MUSIC presented by YU-FENG CHEN has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for the MA. degree in Telecommunication Pk Major Professor’s Signature 62/3 4/0 ‘7‘ Date MSU is an Affinnative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution ' , '\- LlBRARY Michigan State University PLACE IN RETURN BOX to remove this checkout from your record. To AVOID FINES return on or before date due. MAY BE RECALLED with earlier due date if requested. DATE DUE DATE DUE DATE DUE ;:_ 3 (152008 0 2/05 c:/ClRC/DateDmJndd-p.15 WHO IS SINGING ON THE HILL - YEN CHIH-WEN AND NEW HAKKA MUSIC By YU-FENG CHEN A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of Telecommunication 2004 ABSTRACT WHO IS SINGING ON THE HILL - YEN CHIH-WEN AND NEW HAKKA MUSIC By YU-F ENG CHEN This project is a 30 minute short documentary about new Hakka music. The purpose of this project is to increase the target audience’s knowledge about new Hakka music in many aspects, including why there is new Hakka music, what Hakka musicians want to achieve, and what difficulties they are facing, etc. The documentary introduces the background of new Hakka music by interviewing one of the pioneer musicians in this field. The main interviewee, Mr. Chih-Wen Yen, shares not only his thoughts about new Hakka music but also experiences of the difficulties and disappointment he faced in the documentary. This project provides an educational function and serves as an introduction to Hakka culture. Through the documentary, our target audience, Taiwanese age 18 to 37, will have a general idea of new Hakka music and their interest toward Hakka culture will also be increased. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to dedicate this documentary to all Hakkas and to Hakka musicians either in traditional or in new Hakka music field. I am very lucky because I have met many friendly and helpful people during my videotaping. I especially want to thank Mr. Chih-Wen Yen for volunteering and even offered me the opportunity to visit his hometown. Mr. Feng-Ho Yang guided us during our Ping-Dong trip, and I learned a lot from him. Mr. Yen-Gui Chiu kindly let me use photos in his book and taught me a lot of Hakkas in Taiwan. 1 want to thank Miss Bi-Hsia Lai for letting me videotape her mountain song classes. I would like to say that I have tried my best to present what I saw from all of my interviewees, but their passion toward Hakka culture is something that I could catch by cameras. During my post-production, my friend Hiao-En Liu translated my script to English and Kim Lewis proofread my thesis. I would like to thank Brian Winn for kindly letting me use the computers in Comm Tech Lab for my DVD authoring. I asked Carrie to be in my committee only two weeks before my defense, and I am grateful that she was able to help me. Special thanka to Mr. Robert Albers for encouraging me and helping me during my production. Your encouragement supported me to go through my difficult time. Finally I would like to thank my parents for supporting my study in the US and my decision of studying in this field. Thank you for teaching me to be who I am today, and I am proud to say that I made this documentary not only for Hakkas but also for myself. iii Egflfg TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 Introduction I. The Story ................................................ II. The History of Hakka ................................. A. First Migration .................................... B. Second Migration ................................. C. Third Migration .................................... D. Fourth Migration .................................. E. Migration after 18th century ..................... III. The Panorama of Taiwanese Hakka ................ 1V. Language Policies in Taiwan ......................... V. Traditional Hakka Music & New Hakka Music VI. Who is Yen Chi-Wen ................................. Chapter 2 Method 1. Documentary .......................................... 11. Target Audience A. Target Audience ................................... B. Persona ............................................. 111. Treatment .............................................. IV. Script Outline .......................................... V. Delivery Method ...................................... iv Chapter 3 Pre—production I. Pre-Production Research ............................ 11. Production schedule .................................. III. Pre-Interview .......................................... Chapter 4 Mid-production 1. Interview with Chi-Wen Yen ........................ 11. Interview with Bi-Hsia Lai .......................... 111. Interview with Yen-Gui Chiu ....................... Chapter 5 Post-production 1. Editing A. Footage ....................................... B. Scripting .......................................... II. Translation and Caption ............................. III. DVD Authoring ....................................... Chapter 6 Evaluation 1. Method ................................................. 11. Interview Questions .................................. 111. Conclusion ............................................. Chapter 7 Conclusion I. Difficulties ............................................ II. Perspectives .......................................... 28 29 30 32 32 33 34 35 38 39 40 41 44 45 46 Appendices A. UCRIHS Consent Form for Videotaping B. UCRIHS Consent Form for Evaluation .......... C. English Script ........................................ D. Evaluation Questionnaire ........................... Bibliography ...................................................... vi 49 52 54 67 7O LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: First Migration of Hakkas ............................. Figure 2: Second Migration of Hakkas ......................... Figure 3: Third Migration of Hakkas ........................... Figure 4: Fourth Migration of Hakkas .......................... Figure 5: Migration of Hakkas after 18th Century ............ vii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1. The Story Hakka is the second largest Taiwanese ethnic group, and it is about 15% of the Taiwanese population. Every year around 500 albums are released in Taiwan’s music market, but there are only less than 10 albums produced by Hakka musicians. Currently there are only around ten people working as full-time Hakka musicians in Taiwan. What have they done to raise the audience’s awareness of Hakka culture and Hakka music? Yen Chih-wen is one of the pioneers working on promoting Hakka culture by transforming traditional music into Hakka popular music. Hakka music more than one decade ago still had its original spirit: “songs for singing on the hill”. Traditional Hakka music was called “Mountain Songs.” Hundreds of years ago, Hakka people lived among the mountains and hills of southeast China. “Mountain Song” combines dialogue with singing because when people on one side of the hill sang songs, people on other hills replied with singing. There are no specific lyrics, so singers could always create their own lyrics and melodies as they wanted. Also, because most mountain songs were sung while working, this music form truly reflected the real life of Hakka people. Nearly ten years ago, a revolutionary change in Hakka music took place. With Mr. Yen, other young Hakka musicians, and the government’s efforts, a new generation of Hakka popular musicians is now creating a growing audience for Hakka music. It seems that Hakka musicians have a brighter future for their careers than ten years ago; however, Mr. Yen also raises some hidden issues and difficulties. Mr. Yen’s career as a Hakka musician exactly reflects the development of Hakka popular music in the past decade. In this project, Mr. Yen’s story will be visualized through a documentary, and the audience will be able to watch Mr. Yen to present his experiences and performances on stage. From Mr. Yen’s story, the audience will learn more about Hakka popular music, its ethnic origins, and the future of new Hakka music. 11. The History of Hakka According to genetic studies, Hakka people share similar gene with Koreans and Japanese, and are believed to be descendants of the Huns (also called Hsiongnu, Hsiungnu, Hiong-nu, or Han) from Central Asia. Hakkas are the descendants of early immigrants who moving from Central Asia to seek a better environment. Around the third century BC, they had already lived along with other native ethnic groups in North China. When the First Emperor of Chin united China in 221 BC, he built the Great Wall and blocked communication between the Huns and the ancestors of Hakka, who had been living in North China and gradually became part of the Chinese population. Yun-gui Jiang, a scholar of Hakka studies, pointed out the reason why the origins and the early history of Hakka were vague, and also how Korea and Japan share the same origins as the Hakka ancestors: Why was Hakka’s true identity kept in the dark? The answer is simple: Hiongnu is the long-standing invader and arch-enemy of the Chinese majority over the centuries. As descendants of the sinicized Hsiongnu, Hakkas find it necessary and convenient to hide this identity. They sparsely settled in the Shantung and Shansi region by the fourth century BC. particularly in the kingdom of Chi. After the defeat of Chi and the unification of Chin, they migrated chiefly southward and westward. Some went north to settle in Korea. Many others joined Hsu Fu’s eastward expedition (migration) to Japan. The fact that there are similarities in characters among these three peoples explains why they were racially akin to each other. However, Hakka ancestors who cut their connection with Central Asia did not settle down in North China happily thereafler. Since the third century B.C., in order to find better lands, Hakka ancestors started their endless moving for centuries from North China to South China, and even overseas in the 19th and 20th centuries. Every time Hakka ancestors settled in one place, they would be recognized as “guest people” by the original inhabitants. Gradually, Hakkas also adopted “Hakka nyin,” which means “guest people” in the Hakka dialect, and began to call themselves “Hakka (guest).” Around 780 AD. during the Tang Dynasty, the term “Hakka” first appeared in history in two geographical books. 1.First Migration (249~209 B.C.) The first great movement of Hakkas took place from 249~209 BC, when this First Emperor (Chin Shih Huang Ti) conquered separate kingdoms and united China to establish the Chin Dynasty. Hakkas and other non-Chinese groups were forced to obey the harsh and cruel regime, which caused the Hakkas to move from Shan-xi and Shan- Dong areas to He-nana, An-hui, and even across Yang-2i river to Jiang-Xi. (Graphic from Hakka and Taiwan, translated according to Simplified Chinese Pin-Yin) Figure 1: First Migration of Hakkas 2.Second Migration (307419 A.D.) When the Han Dynasty ended in the early 3rd century, China was in a stage of fragmentation, and had been attacked by barbarians from the north and northwest of China. The invasion continued in the 4th century during the Western Jin Dynasty: they occupied part of China and established their own countries. In 280 A.D., severe drought started and raised the wave of migration towards the south: people moved from Gan-su and Shaan-Xi to Si-Chuan and He-Nan. When the first emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty founded Nan-ng (also called Nanking, located in the north of Zhe-Jiang) the capital in 317 A.D., the second wave of Hakka migration started to move across the Yang-2i River to Jiang-Xi, Zhen-Jiang, and Fu-jian (Fukien) areas. Not only Hakkas, but also ancestors of Hoklos (who are also recognized as Min-nan people in Taiwan) were included in this migration wave. ——> Western Jin , - — —> Eastern Jin (Graphic from Hakka and Taiwan, translated according to Simplified Chinese Pin-Yin) Figure 2: Second Migration of Hakkas 3.Third Nfigration (907~1280 A.D.) 0 i V o :;"’I.:‘ ':'—--—— ,. I .' v /\: Vietnam ~ —> Five Dynastles . .... .— u—p Northern Sung f; —-——> Southern Sung — -- —b Yuan Dynasty (Graphic from Hakka and Taiwan, translated according to Simplified Chinese Pin-Yin) Figure 3: Third Migration of Hakkas When the Tang Dynasty, one of the greatest Dynasties in Chinese history, disintegrated in 907 A.D., Hakkas started their migration from southern He-Nan and An- Hui to Jiang-xi and continued to migrate during Five Dynasties (907~96O A.D.). Soon, one of the barbarian kingdoms came into North China and established the Liao Dynasty and set up their capital at Beijing. Meanwhile, the Chinese also established a Dynasty called the Northern Sung Dynasty. In the 13th century, another barbarian kingdom from the north grew stronger and conquered Liao, and soon disrupted Northern Sung. In order to avoid the chaos brought by wars, Hakkas moved again from Fu-Jian (Fukien) and Jiang-Xi to Guang-Dong area. The original inhabitants living in Guang-Dong area ,9 therefore called these newcomers “Hakka, which means newcomers in the Hakka dialect. During the Southern Sung Dynasty, the corrupted politics, declining economy and threats from Mongolians from the north made more Hakkas moved from An-Hui and Shan—Dong to Jiang-Xi, Fu-Jian, and Guang-Dong. After these migrations, most Hakkas settled in South China and along the Southeast coast. When Mongolians took over the regime of China and established the Yuan Dynasty in 1280 A.D., they went into Guang-Dong and devastated the area. Because of the disasters caused by wars, some Hakkas were driven from Guang-Dong to Taiwan, Vietnam, and even Malaysia. 4. Fourth Migration (1281~1644 A.D.) When Mongolians ruled China, more Hakkas who originally lived in Central China continued to move southward to Guang-Dong. Until the end of the Yuan Dynasty, most areas of Guang-Dong were occupied by Hakkas. Right after the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty was established by the Chinese, and some Hakkas moved from J iang-Xi to northwestern Fu-Jian. Because of the growing population and economic pressure, some Hakkas also moved to Si-Chuan, or farther to Xi-Kang. Jiang' - ' \-XI 1 4’ Q'XI “'3': ‘5]... .Guanv 7" ‘0 1F?) -— — —o Yuan Dynmqty ..... w. ---9 Ming Dynasty _—p Chlng Dynasty (Graphic from Hakka and Taiwan, translated according to Simplified Chinese Pin-Yin) Figure 4: Fourth Migration of Hakkas At the end of the 17th century during the Ching Dynasty, the population of China grew rapidly. Therefore, a large number of Hakkas moved from mainland China to Hai- Nan Island and Taiwan along with Hoklos to continue seeking their dream lands. 5. Migration after 18th Century In the 18th century, the Ching Dynasty removed its restriction on migration overseas, and people were encouraged by the Dutch to immigrate to Southeast Asia. Hence Hakkas and Hoklos who lived in Fu-Jian and Guang-Dong went to Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Borneo. After the 19th century, the growing population drove more Hakkas to move overseas to America to look for more job opportunities. Hakkas who lived in the South Fu-Jian and Guang-Dong areas also immigrated to Taiwan after ”I the Ching Dynasty abandoned its law of “Banning Hakka Migration. They arrived in Taiwan later than Hoklos, and the best land was already occupied by Hoklos. This is one of the most important reasons why most Hakkas live among the hills and only represent less than 15% of Taiwanese Population nowadays. — — —>18th Century — -— —>19th Century —-———pl 9-20th Century i (Graphic from Hakka and Taiwan, translated according to Simplified Chinese Pin-Yin) Figure 5: Migration of Hakkas after 18th century III. The Panorama of Taiwanese Hakka There are four main ethnic groups in Taiwan: the Min-nan people (A.K.A. Hoklos in Hakka dialect), the Hakka, the Wai-shen people, and the aboriginal tribes. Aboriginal I “Banning Hakka Migration” was announced in 1638 AD. It prohibited people who lived in Guang-Dong area (mainly Hakkas) from immigrating to Taiwan because Guang-Dong area used to be the base of pirates. tribes are native Taiwanese, similar to Indians in the US, and are the first residents of Taiwan. There are at least nine main aboriginal tribes and some other smaller tribes; each of them has their own spoken dialect. Aboriginal tribes are only 2% of the population in Taiwan. The Min-nan people moved from the Min-nan area (in southeast China) hundreds of years ago. They speak the Min-nan dialect, which is the majority dialect (around 65% of Taiwan population). Therefore, the Min-nan dialect is usually recognized and called Taiwanese. Hakka people, the second largest ethnic group in Taiwan (around 15% of population), are also from southeast China, but came to Taiwan slightly later than the Min-nan people. The term Wai-shen means people from other provinces of China who moved to Taiwan with the Kuomintang government2 and army after the civil war in 1949. The Wai-shen are people from different provinces and represent a large number of various dialects, and they are about 15% of the Taiwanese population. Since the current Taiwanese government was established in 1949 by Kuomintang, the government policies have favored the aboriginal culture and that 2% of the population. For example, there are more grants for aboriginal tribes than other ethnic groups and extra financial aid for aboriginal students. Meanwhile, most of the government policies ignored Hakka, the second largest ethnic group, which faced the 2 Kuomintang is the leading political party which led the revolution in China to terminate the Qing Dynasty and built the Republic of China in 1911 and established the new government. The Kuomintang government also fought against Japan during World War Two and won victory. During World War Two, the communist party in China grew bigger and bigger, and started to fight against the Kuomintang government after World War Two. Finally, the Communist Party defeated Kuomintang, and took of the control of the mainland. In 1949, the Communist party announced the new government as the People’s Republic of China, which is known as China now. 10 death of its dialect and culture. A Hakka Jazz composer, Liu Shao‘-Ci3, explains one of the main reasons why Hakka culture is vanishing in Taiwan: The crisis in Hakka culture lies in the younger generation. Many Hakka youths after leaving the villages, moving to urban areas and marrying non-Hakkas, raise children that are without any Hakka awareness, let alone speak the Hakka language. A child with a Hakka mother often does not consider himself/herself Hakka. Regardless of the right or wrong of such thoughts, it seems that in time, Hakka will die out completely in Taiwan. Hakkas are recognized as an “invisible group” among ethnic groups in Taiwan, especially in urban areas or in places where most residents are Hoklos. One of the biggest reasons why Hakkas are invisible is the immersion of “Hoklo-Hak.” The term “Hoklo-Hak” means Hakkas who live with Hoklos and are assimilated to Hoklos: they might not speak Hakka anymore, but they still keep some Hakka customs. When Hakkas marry Hoklos and speak Hoklos at home, their children might as well recognize themselves as Hoklos instead of Hakka. As more and more young Hakkas move to urban areas seeking job opportunities and expose themselves to major languages such as Mandarin and Taiwanese, the number of Hoklo-Hak will steadily grow. 3 Shao-ci Liu, who is the “Best Hakka Album” and “Best Producer” winner of the Golden Melody Award in 2003.The Golden Melody Award is the most important contest in the music industry in Taiwan, and equals to Grammy Award in US. 11 As fewer people identify themselves with the Hakka dialect and culture, the weaker Hakka culture becomes. However, on December 28th, 1988, the wave of Hakka revival started with the “Return to Hakka” movement, which is the first and most important ethnic movement involving Hakka group awareness. More than 10,000 people paraded on the streets of Taipei City with three demands: 1. To include TV news and weather reports in Hakka 2. To modify the restriction for using Hakka in TV/Radio and protect the use of Hakka in TV/Radio 3. To build up a language policy that protects multiple ethnic groups in Taiwan In order to revive and extend Hakka culture, the government founded the Council for Hakka Affairs under the Executive Yuan.4 The Council of Hakka Affairs was founded in June 2001, and its purpose is to “eternalize vitality of the Hakka Culture.” The Council has sponsored various Hakka Culture events since its establishment, including Hakka art performances, culture festivals, Hakka music concerts, Hakka exhibitions, and even the first Hakka TV station which broadcast programs mainly in Hakka. The TV station provides a channel for Hakka culture to be more widely exposed to the public, and successfully increased both Hakkas and Non-Hakkas’ awareness of Hakka culture. Luckily, through the Council of Hakka Affairs and the Hakka TV station’s help, Hakka culture has been spreading and flourishing in Taiwan lately. 4 Executive Yuan is the highest administrative organ in Taiwan. It serves the function of executing various policies related to every aspect of people’s daily life, including culture, health, communication, transportation, and etc. 12 But how long will the blossoming of Hakka continue? Hakka musician Yen Chi- wen raised one of the potential problems: currently most Hakka culture activities are sponsored by the Council for Hakka Affairs, but can Hakka musicians survive in the market without any aid? If Hakka musicians are performing and people have to pay for admission, will any audience come? A lot of Hakka musicians have not gone through this kind of test, and even Yen himself has no confidence in it. While Hakka activities continue to be supported by the Council for Hakka Affairs, it is becoming impossible to cut off the connection between Hakka affairs and politics. Hakka is brought up as an important issue especially every time when there are political campaigns and election events. It has become a common phenomenon that in order to please Hakka voters, candidates offer policies that benefit Hakkas. In other words, if it were for of Hakka voters, it would be questionable if Hakkas would still earn politicians’ attention. Some critics also commented that candidates should focus on public policies instead of indulging in ethnic issues. (United Morning News, February 27th, 2000) IV. Language Policies in Taiwan In 1894, the Qing Dynasty (China) lost Taiwan in the war against Japan. Therefore, Taiwan was a colony of Japan from 1895 until Japan surrendered to China after World War Two in 1945. During 50 years of the Japanese regime, the Japanese government required schools to teach in Japanese. According to research, about 71% of 13 the Taiwanese population was capable of speaking fluent Japanese in 1944. (Shuan-Fan Huang, 1993). However, once people left the classroom, they still spoke in their mother tongues. In other words, Japanese was merely a language taught in school instead of a language people used in daily life. After World War Two, China (the Kuomintang government) took over Taiwan and announced Mandarin as the official language to replace Japanese. Meanwhile, the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communists began in Mainland China. The Kuomintang government lost the war and moved to Taiwan in 1949. Upon rebuilding the govermnent in Taiwan, the Kuomintang reinforced their policy of “Speaking Mandarin,” and reduced the usage of Taiwanese dialects, including Taiwanese, Hakka, and other aboriginal tribe languages. During this period of time, dialects were not allowed on public occasions, such as at schools or in theaters. Since 1976, programs produced in dialects either for radio or television were restricted and greatly declined to less than 10% in 1992. In other words, the Kuomintang’s Mandarin policy was more successful; in 1991, 90% of the population was already capable of speaking Mandarin. In contrast to most people still using their dialects at home during the Japanese regime, more than 50% of families in Taipei spoke Mandarin by the 19903 (Shuan-Fan, Huang, 1987). The “Speaking Mandarin” policy remained until the martial law was lifted in 1987, and soon various activities of Hakka group identity were held everywhere around Taiwan. The issue of the younger generation losing mother tongues also grabbed people’s attention. In a few years, regulations for mother tongues were announced by the 14 government. Meanwhile “Mother Tongue Education” also started gradually in elementary schools. However, more than 40 years of Mandarin promotion has caused a culture gap between the younger generation of Hakkas and elder Hakkas because many young Hakka people could not speak or understand the Hakka dialect. Therefore, one of the goals for the Hakka culture revival activities will be getting the younger generation involved in these activities, and eliminating the culture gap between generations. In 2002, the chairperson of the Council for Hakka Affairs announced that the number of people using the Hakka dialect is decreasing 5% each year. In the same year, among elementary schools that participated in “Mother Tongue Education,” there were more than 30,000 people participating in Taiwanese classes while only 1,170 people participating in Hakka classes. The ratio of Hakkas and Hoklos (speaking Taiwanese) in Taiwan is 1 to 4, while the ratio of Hakka and Taiwanese classes is only 1 to 28. This situation indicates the problems of “Mother Tongue Education”: 1. Although mother tongue courses were required in elementary school curriculums, the regulation does not specify the dialects to be taught and the total number of classes. 2. There are only a few Hakkas in each school, and some of them have problems identifying their ethnic groups, especially for those who have their parents from different ethnic groups or who live with ethnic groups other than Hakka. 3. A lot of current dialect teachers do not receive proper dialect teacher training. Also there are still a lot of disputes over curriculums and teaching materials. 15 Outside the classroom, some scholars claim that one of the biggest factors in the future success of “Mother Tongue Education” is family education. If students learn their mother tongue at school and yet speak Mandarin at home, in the end the “Mother Tongue” will turn out to be another foreign language like English. Hakka Musician Mr. Yen Chih-wen mentioned, Hakka has to become a language that people use in daily life, or it will become just a language mentioned in books and exhibits in libraries. V. Traditional Hakka Music and New Hakka Music The most well-known traditional Hakka music, generally called “mountain song,” was “sung in the hills in call-and-response fashion between two people standing on different hilltops.” Mountain songs were sung according to the rules of a three-note scale. Mountain song has three major tones, with fixed melodies and impromptu lyrics, including “Mountain songs,” “Old Mountain songs,” and “Plain Melodies.” There is also a different type of Hakka mountain song, which does not follow the “call-and-response fashion” and has fixed melodies and lyrics, called “Small Tones.” Hakka traditional drama is also developed based on the mountain songs. The actors and actresses will sing the lines which were created according to mountain song style. The very first Hakka plays are called “three-character plays”, which have only three roles including one actress and two actors. In order to meet people’s demand for plays during religious or more serious events, “three-character plays” gradually evolved to include more characters and longer stories. Both “three-character plays” and longer 16 Hakka plays were all presented on outdoor stages. However, when television became one of the most important channels of mass communication, Hakka plays could not find a place on television, and soon declined because of the language limitation in broadcasting.5 In 1981, the first Hakka pop music album produced by Shan-Chih Wu and Min- Heng Tu was released. It was the beginning of the transformation from Hakka traditional music to modern Hakka music. Discarding the traditional instruments and melodies, this innovative style brought Hakka music to the pop music market and to TV and theaters. Unfortunately, before Hakka new music widened its appeal to a larger audience, one of its pioneers, Shan-Chih Wu, died in an accident. There were not too many musicians continuing to create new Hakka music, hence, Hakka new music was like an early spark which died before lighting up the fireworks. Beginning from the early 19903, there were more Hakka musicians who came to Hakka music and devoted themselves to the creation of Hakka pop music. Some of the Hakka musicians tried to add jazz, rock ‘n roll, basa nova, or other popular music elements into their productions, in order to transform old fashioned Hakka music into a more popular style. At the very beginning, most of them were turned down either by the major music companies or the mainstream market. One of the musicians, Liu Shao-Ci for example, started to compose his first Hakka album in 1992, but this album was not released until 2001. When music companies found out it was a Hakka album, they 5 “Mandarin Promotion Act” item 11, “Mass communication channels must broadcast programs mainly in Mandarin.” returned the demo tape to Liu immediately without listening to it. Most Hakka musicians have had similar experiences of getting rejections like Liu did, but they did not give up Hakka music. With their continuous efforts, lots of Hakka musicians have gradually opened up the market and diversified Hakka music from hip hop to so-called world music. The government and some non-profit organizations have become aware of the disappearance of Hakka culture, and have started to host various culture festivals and concerts to promote and preserve Hakka culture and its music. Even though Hakka music is only 1—2% of albums released in the mainstream music market every year, it has already successfully seized people’s attention. The Golden Melody Award, which is the biggest music event in Taiwan, has nominated some Hakka albums under the categories of “Best Dialect Singer,” “Best Dialect Album,” “Best Producer,” “Best Band,” and other titles in the past few years. Some Hakka musicians have presented their talents with rejuvenated Hakka music styles in the competition, and gradually entered the mainstream music market. In 2003, the Golden Melody Award decided to open a new category for “Best Hakka Record” award. Today, Hakka new music has come to the unprecedented stage where the popularity of Hakka music and musicians is rising rapidly. However, Hakka musician Yen Chih-wen holds a conservative attitude toward the future of Hakka dialect and its music: 18 I am not too optimistic about the future of Hakka music. The younger generation of Hakkas does not have the ability to handle Hakka dialects as well as the older generation. They will not be able to write Hakka lyrics and poems as well as older Hakkas. The future of Hakka music depends on the younger generation. Some people believed the efforts made by Hakka musicians have successfully drawn outsiders’ attention, and this is one of the most important factors to keep a culture alive. Nevertheless, due to the gap caused by language policy and Hakka group identity, it remains unknown if there will be more Hakka musicians continuing to produce quality works and if there will be more people who are Willing to identify themselves as Hakka and participate in the revival of Hakka culture. VI. Who is Yen Chih-wen? Yen, a Hakka from southern Taiwan, grew up in the countryside of Ping-Dong County. There was only old fashioned traditional Hakka music during the time he grew up, but there were many Taiwanese popular music albums in the music market already. Yen left his hometown to study Fine Arts in National Taiwan Normal University for his undergraduate degree. He taught in a school for several years after college graduation. His enthusiasm toward music led to a decision to study abroad in the US for another degree in music. Therefore, Yen entered the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and earned a degree in Arranging. l9 When Yen returned to Taiwan from the Berklee College of Music, he immediately entered the pop music market and worked as a producer and composer for a few years. By chance he was invited by a Hakka director, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, to compose the soundtrack for a film about a young Hakka couple. This experience led Yen into the world of Hakka music, and inspired him to transform his childhood memory of mountain songs and Hakka plays to modern melodies. Encouraged by the success of the film, Yen then tried to add more modern elements into the creation of new Hakka music, and composed several Hakka songs. In 1996, when Yen first brought his Hakka popular music to record companies, he was rejected by ahnost of all them. While he was trying to talk about possible contracts with those record companies, the “reviving local culture” wave was spreading around Taiwan. Luckily, Yen’s Hakka music presented the idea of the “local culture”, and a smaller record company decided to sign a contract with him and soon released Yen’s first album called “Who is Singing Mountain Songs?” which is also the first Hakka popular music album released by a major record company in the mainstream music market. Yen also founded one of the first Hakka rock bands, “Big Mountain Dog”6 and led their performances around Taiwan. In 2001, the first official Council for Hakka Affairs was founded by the government, and soon started to help promote Hakka culture. The Council for Hakka Affairs has held various Hakka festivals and encouraged more Hakka musicians like Yen to perform their music in public. In 2003, Yen has released his fourth album and founded another mini string band, which had their first performance in March 2003. This mini 6 Big Mountain Dog in Hakka is San—Keu-Thai, which means a special kind of lizard that only found in Taiwan. 20 string band is part of his idea of performing instrumental Hakka music without lyrics which may be a barrier to the non-Hakka audience. Yen talked about his perspective of Hakka music in a pre-interview. He expects current Hakka musicians to create better and better music to appeal to audiences instead of living by government grants. Yen believes that good music will be accepted by the audience, no matter what languages the musicians use; and with this belief in mind, he will keep on working to attract people to listen to Hakka music. 21 CHAPTER TWO: METHOD 1. Documentary The end product of this project is a 30-minute short documentary. This project tells the story of Yen’s journey and how he achieved his goal of rejuvenating traditional Hakka music and his perspective toward Hakka culture, Hakka music, and Hakkas. In the documentary, “Who is Singing on the Hill”, Mr. Yen will be the main narrator to present his own story and the development of Hakka new music. Due to the documentary content and story design, the videotaping and interview took place in Taiwan during summer 2003. The recording equipment in this project includes a miniDV camcorder—Canon GL2, a Shotgun microphone and a lavaliere microphone from Audio-Technica. The videotaping crew mostly should be the producer only, and there might be one or two more assistants depending on shooting situations. 11. Audience A. Target Audience The primary audiences of this documentary are Taiwanese from age 18 to 37. Before 19437, Taiwan was a Japanese colony, and people spoke Japanese as the official 7 In 1943, World War Two ended. China defeated Japan and won Taiwan back. 22 language. After 1943, the Chinese government took charge of Taiwan and declared Mandarin the official language. Since 1973, the Taiwanese government started to promote “Mandarin” restrictedly. Most elementary and middle schools banned students from speaking their dialects from then on. This policy caused a “dialect gap” between some younger generations and elder people. From 1997, due to the wave of the “revival of local culture”, the government has changed the policy into “Mother Tongue Education,” but it was too late for people who went to elementary schools during the 1970s and 19805. The average age for elementary school entrance is 6, so children who went to elementary school in 1973 should be around 37 years old in 2004. Therefore, the primary target audience will be Taiwanese from 18 (who have acknowledged the social situation and started to be aware of some ethnic issues) to 37 (who have experienced the generation gap of dialect cultures). The primary audience may include different ethnic groups, including Hakkas, Fukienese, mainlanders, aborigines, foreign immigrants, etc. These groups within the audience should be aware of different ethnic groups in Taiwan and have the willingness to understand ethnic cultures. The secondary audiences are foreigners who understand English and are interested in ethnic issues. This documentary will introduce how Hakka musicians are working to save their dialect culture through music for anyone with or without Hakka ancestry. As the minority group in Taiwan (around 15% of the population), the story of 23 Hakka should inspire other minority groups who have faced or will confront the collapse of their dialects or culture. B. Persona Lan is 26 years old and studies in a graduate school in Taiwan. She belongs to the biggest ethnic group, Fukienese, which is also known as Taiwanese. She has a boyfriend, whose mother is Taiwanese, but his father is Hakka. Her boyfriend’s family usually speaks Taiwanese, Mandarin, and a little Hakka. Therefore, she has learned a little Hakka from her boyfriend’s parents, and she thinks it is fun to speak Hakka because it is so different from Taiwanese. Most of Lan’s friends speak Taiwanese at home while communicating with fellow students or fiiends in Mandarin. Therefore, she seldom has a chance to practice or listen to Hakka. Even though her boyfriend’s family includes both Hakka and Taiwanese, he speaks much better Taiwanese than Hakka because most of his friends in school speak Taiwanese. Both Lan and her boyfriend have little knowledge of Hakka culture, not to mention Hakka music, which always sounds old fashioned to them. Recently, Lan found there is more and more news about Hakka than ever before, including various culture festivals, performances, and even a new Hakka TV station. She also found there was a “Best Hakka Album” category when she was watching the biggest musical event in Taiwan—the “Golden Melody Award.” These changes made her curious about what happened to Hakka and Hakka music, and why Hakka has become a popular ethnic issue in Taiwan. 24 IlI.Treatment According to our persona, the story should be designed for audiences including non-Hakkas to help increase general knowledge about Hakkas. The persona’s main concern should be: 1. What is traditional Hakka music? 2. What is the Hakka music that she heard in the “Golden Melody Award?” Is there any difference between them? 3. Who is making Hakka music? What are they singing? 4. How come there are so many Hakka activities? Is it because she was never aware of them or they did not exist before? 5. How are the musicians doing? What have they been encountered? Or what will they encounter? For question one, a demonstration of traditional Hakka music will be included in the video as a comparison to renovated modern Hakka music. For question two and three, Mr. Yen will present his experience of why he became a Hakka musician and what he has achieved. Several pieces of Yen’s music will be introduced either during the video or as the background music; therefore, the audience can tell the differences between the new style of Hakka music and traditional Hakka music. While Yen presents his experiences as a Hakka musician, he will also mention some difficulties he has encountered and the current environment for the development of modern Hakka music. 25 The last two questions are related to the history of Hakka cultural development in Taiwan. Government policy used to play an important role in the development of Hakka culture and music, and from the video, the audience will be able to know how it affected Hakkas and what has happened to the policy now. Also, Yen will introduce the changes in Hakka culture over the past few years including how people became aware of Hakka since the founding of the Council for Hakka Affairs, which is the greatest promoter for Hakka related events in Taiwan. From Yen’s point of view, the audience will learn about both the benefits and disadvantages that the Council has brought these Hakka musicians. IV. Script Outline Childhood: Yen’s childhood and traditional Hakka music. Path toward music: How Yen decided to work with music and the dilemma of traditional Hakka music. Coming back from the US: Yen’s experience of studying music in Berklee College of Music and what he has brought back. Good man, good woman: Working with Hou8 and the release of Yen’s first Hakka album. Big Mountain Dog: the forming of Yen’s Hakka music band and how Hakka popular music is getting people’s attention. Growth of Hakka Popular Music: interaction with other Hakka musicians and the government’s help promoting Hakka culture. Another Turning Point: What Yen is trying to convey in his latest album and what is the difference between this and his early works. 8 The director of Good Man, Good Woman, which is a story about Taiwanese Hakka 26 0 Future: The future plan, expectations, and potential problems. The challenge was to make up the script outline and interview questions before videotaping. Since the interviewee’s answers are unknown and available footage is uncertain, the script and content might be changed after videotaping. V. Delivery Method The end product will be a 30 minute short documentary. It will be saved on VHS tape with English captions especially for English-speaking audience; it is for any public occasion which is only equipped with a video player. This English-captioned version will also be used during evaluation. The other delivery method will be in DVD format with both Chinese and English subtitles, which will properly present the content to an English-speaking audience as well as to Mandarin speakers who are not capable of understanding Hakka dialect. 27 CHAPTER THREE: PRE-PRODUCTION I. Pre-production Research The first task of this project is to collect the background information about Hakka new music and musicians. During this stage, the perspective interviewees and information are located in Taiwan, while the producer is temporary staying in the US. Due to the location difference, the collecting process will take place mainly on the intemet. The data collected from the intemet includes three aspects—Hakka musical events and cultural activities, current Hakka musicians, and the existing research or production about Hakka music. When collecting the background information about Hakka, several governmental or non-profit organization websites were reviewed, including the website of the Council for Hakka Affairs, the Hakka Club of National Taiwan University, Formosa Hakka Radio Station, and the Public Television Station Service Foundation. Some key findings of the online information review are as follows: 1. Hakka affairs were already widely discussed in media channels, but mainly in the non-commercial channels, such as the Public Television Station Service Foundation. 2. The number of Hakka musicians is growing. No matter whether these Hakka musicians were working on traditional Hakka music or modern Hakka music, they were not regarded as pop singers. 28 3. Most of the current TV or radio programs involving Hakka issue introduce specific aspects of Hakka issues instead of presenting an overview. 4. There are limited numbers of both traditional and modern Hakka musicians, and they present numerous varieties of Hakka music styles, including Folk , Jazz, Rock ‘n Roll, World Music, etc. Since this project will be designed for non-Hakka Taiwanese as well as foreigners, it is better to use interviewees with a straightforward background. Therefore, some of the modern Hakka musicians with political intentions or social activities background were filtered out. Also, after considering the music style and acceptance among the public, Hakka musician Chih-Wen Yen was selected as the target interviewee because of his Folk music style. Since Mr. Yen is currently living in Taipei, Taiwan; the videotaping for this project was scheduled in Taiwan during summer 2003. 11. Production Schedule Time Tasks Locations ° Pre-production research: online website and Lansing, MI March 2003- literature review. May 2003 ° Production proposal and UCRIHS applications. ° Contacting interviewees and pre-interview. 0 Interview Mr. Yen. Taiwan June 2003- ' Videotape Yen’s performances and Hakka August 2003 musical events. 29 ' Field shots: Hakka villages, Yen’s hometown, and Hakka culture festivals. 0 Interview and videotape traditional Hakka musicians. ° Interview with videotape Hakka culture researchers. ° Post-production: Lansing, MI September 2003- ° Editing March 2004 ° Translating scripts and captioning ° DVD authoring. ' Post-production research—audience Lansing, MI April 2004 evaluation. ° Production finishes. III.Pre-interview The target interviewee, Mr. Chih-Wen Yen’s personal website “Mountain Wind” and contact information was provided by the Council for Hakka Affairs. Through e-mail, Mr. Yen agreed to participate in the documentary project as the main interviewee and narrator. In the pre-interview emails, Yen mentioned that modern Hakka music was greatly promoted since 1997. Especially in the past two years, the Council for Hakka Affairs 30 encouraged a lot of young Hakka musicians and provided them with many performing opportunities. Help from government authority encouraged the rapid spread of modern Hakka music. However, compared to the musical events Yen participated in more than two years ago, current Hakka musical events are more related to culture festivals instead of music concerts. Yen believes that if Hakka music only survives through Hakka culture festivals, the future of Hakka music will be doubtful and he expects to concentrate on improving his music in the future. 31 CHAPTER FOUR: MID-PRODUCTION 1. Interview with Chih-Wen Yen Mr. Chih-Wen Yen is the main interviewee and narrator in this documentary. Before videotaping, a face-to-face pre-interview was conducted in Yen’s studio in late June 2003. Yen’s studio was where most sit-down interviews took place, and in order to enrich the visual effects, Yen was asked to sit in different places in every interview. The sit-down interview and videotaping were scheduled three times a week, and took a total of two weeks. After the sit-down interview, there were also two field shootings, including Yen’s hometown in Southern Taiwan (Ping-Dong county) and a Hakka TV concert in Eastern Taiwan. 11. Interview with Bi-Hsia Lai Miss Bi-Hsia Lai is one of the best traditional Hakka mountain song singers in Taiwan. She is also the first person who wrote down Hakka mountain song notes with western music scales, and published these notes to share with other Hakka mountain song singers. When the documentary was videotaping during summer 2003, Miss Lai was instructing Hakka mountain songs and Hakka dramas in both a Long-Shing Hakka mountain song class and the Taiwanese Hakka Chorus. Shots of these two classes 32 practicing were included in the documentary as a comparison of traditional Hakka music and modern Hakka music. In the interview, Miss Lai introduced the basic forms and tunes of Hakka mountain song, as well as demonstrating the singing of Hakka songs to students. Nevertheless, both classes were using their own PA systems, which often created sharp feedback or distortion by turning the volume too high. As a result, part of the video recorded during the interview had strong distortion and was not usable in post- production. 111. Interview with Yen-Gui Chiu Mr. Yen-Gui Chiu is one of the authors of an introductory book—“T he Map of Taiwan Hakka” (the other author is Mr. Chung—Jay Wu). Mr. Chiu has worked as a journalist and now is a researcher of Hakka customs. In the documentary, Mr. Chiu provided some of his valuable experience and personal comments about the background of Hakka activities, the development of Hakka modern music, and even the fiiture perspective of the promotion of Hakka. The interview and videotaping of Mr. Chiu took place in Taipei Hakka Culture Hall, where many exhibitions and events were held during interviewing and produced a great deal of noise in the background while videotaping. 33 CHAPTER FIVE: POST-PRODUCTION 1. Editing 1. Footage This project was edited with non-linear system Avid Express. The footage includes an 8-hour sit-down interview with Yen in various location and other miscellaneous shots of Yen working and teaching in his studio. Three hours of footage was taken in Yen’s hometown, including his old house, neighborhood areas, places he mentioned in his lyrics, and also a twenty minute short interview with Mr. Feng-Ho Yangg. Also, 2-hours footage was recorded of Yen’s band performances in Hakka TV concert, a personal performance in a county executive political campaign and Yen’s personal comments about the campaign afterwards. In another 2-hour of the footage, Yen demonstrated traditional Hakka songs simply by guitar, and also how he worked in his studio. In addition to Yen, other footage includes a one-hour interview with Mr. Yen-Gui Chiu, a 2-hour interview with Miss Bi-Hsia Lai and her mountain song classes. There are 9 Mr. Yang is the chairperson of Jia-Dong Culture and History Workshop, and he talked about the background of Hakka and his comments toward modern Hakka music in the interview. Unfortunately, because of the microphone problem, only a short part of Mr. Yang’s interview was used in the documentary. 34 also shots related to Yen’s interview contents and pictures provided by various legal sources. In total, all footage taken in Taiwan is around 16-17 hours long. 2. Scripting Considering the limited footage, the interview content and the treatment of this project, the original script outline was revised to be eleven stages. Chapter 1. Introduction The video starts with a voiceover and a montage of various shots from the documentary. The voiceover briefly talks about the background of Hakka and Hakka musicians in Taiwan. Chapter 2. Who is Singing Mr. Yen first talks about his ambition of creating a new style for Hakka music, and the interview is followed by his band performance, which helps to explain what exactly the new style is like. Chapter 3. Hakka Music the Past Mr. Yen’s modern Hakka music was inspired by traditional Hakka mountain songs. In this chapter, the narrator lists different kinds of traditional mountain songs, and Mr. Yen also explains why traditional Hakka music was called mountain songs. Several reasons that made traditional Hakka music gradually disappear are mentioned 35 in this chapter. The narrator explains that governmental policy had a great influence on Hakka dialect, and the author of “The Map of Taiwan Hakka,” Mr. Chiu also describes how social activities brought the Hakka dialect to life again. Chapter 4. Berklee Experience This chapter is about Mr. Yen’s personal experience of studying abroad in Berklee College of Music in the US, and the inspiration he got from the school. His experience in Berklee College of Music made him understand the importance of his own culture and traditional music. Chapter 5. Good Men Good Women After working for few years back in Taiwan, Mr. Yen had a chance to make a film soundtrack for a Hakka story. This is the first time he composed music with his childhood and hometown memories, which were the essence of Hakka in his mind. From then on, he started to concentrate on producing Hakka music, and released his first Hakka album. Chapter 6. Memories of Hometown This chapter includes Mr. Yen’s thoughts about his hometown and a montage of the scenery in Mr. Yen’s hometown, and was edited with a softer style. It ended with Mr. Yen in concert, singing one of his songs inspired by his hometown. 36 Chapter 7. Band Perfogance Mr. Yen talks about the reason for forming a Hakka band, why this band was named “San-Keu-Thai,” and the meaning of this name in Hakka. Chapter 8. Afler 4th Album In the past few years, other Hakka musicians including Mr. Yen have already formed the shape of modern Hakka music. In order to convey his idea that Hakkas in Taiwan have to confront other ethnic groups every day in their lives, Mr. Yen tried to put languages of other ethnic groups and Hakka into his fourth album. The end of this chapter is an example of Mr. Yen’s musical pieces using other languages: 3 documentary for which he composed the soundtrack with aboriginal tribe songs. Chapfiter 9. Disappointment After his performance in a county executive campaign concert, Mr. Yen expresses his disappointment with the connection between Hakka and politics. He also mentions that the mass media has been unfairly ignoring Hakka musical events. Chapter 10. Government Support The Council of Hakka Affairs was established by the government and has been helping to promote Hakka culture. It successfully made people more aware of Hakka issues and Hakka events. However, Mr. Yen worries that too many Hakka musical events depend only on the aid from the Council of Hakka Affairs. Before people can simply enjoy Hakka music without commercial or governmental operation, Hakka 37 musicians might still have a long way to go. Chapter 11. The Roots The future of Hakka culture is indefinite. Mr. Chiu thinks Hakka musicians have earned acceptance among outsiders, while Mr. Yang also praises Mr. Yen’s achievement in modern Hakka music. In conclusion, Mr. Yen thinks his Hakka musician career helped him to find his roots. II. Translation and Caption The interview content and voiceover were originally scripted in Chinese and then translated to English for the secondary target audience in this project. The script was first translated by Hsiao-En Liu, and modified by Federico de Gregorio and Yu-Feng Chen. This first version of translation faithfully followed the meanings in original script; however, most of the translated sentences were too long and not suitable for on-screen reading. In order to match the length in both Chinese and English sentences, the translation was revised several times and tested on screen to make sure it is readable for the audience. The captions were done by Robert Albers and Yu-Feng Chen. The biggest challenge of captioning was the editing program: due to the design of Avid Express, every page of subtitles was saved as an independent picture. Making any slight change on each page of subtitles would require redoing a new page. The total pages of subtitles were more than four hundred pages 38 III. DVD authoring After the video was edited in Avid Express and recorded to DVCam tapes, the project entered the stage of DVD authoring. The DVD authoring program used in this project was DVD Studio Pro 2. In the finalized DVD, there is a costumed interface, including chapter selection and bonus features. Bonus features briefly introduces the background of Hakka, Mr. Chih-Wen Yen, and the producer. 39 CHAPTER SIX: EVALUATION 1. Method In order to find out if the audience gained the general knowledge of modern Hakka music, an evaluation was conducted through a survey and five participants. The participants include three people from our primary target audience and two people from the secondary target audience The research objectives are: a) To understand how much participants knew about modern Hakka music before watching the documentary. b) To understand how much participants have learned about modern Hakka music after watching the documentary. c) To know how participants rated the quality of the documentary (1) To rate if the documentary effectively achieved its goals. Four of the participants were recruited from the Taiwanese Student Association, and the other one was recruited from the Department of Telecommunication. The research was conducted in May 6th in the conference room of the Department of Telecommunication. All participants read and signed the consent form, and were asked to complete the first page of survey form before they proceeded to watch the documentary. After watching the documentary, participants completed the survey form. 40 11. Survey Questions a) What do you know about traditional Hakka songs? 40% of the participants (two out of five) said they have heard of traditional Hakka songs but did not pay attention to them, while the rest of the participants had no idea about them. b) Do you know there are new Hakka songs? If you do, what do you know about new Hakka songs? Two of the participants heard there is new Hakka music, and only one of them can name a Hakka band. The rest of the participants have never heard of new Hakka songs. c) What is the connection between Council for Hakka Affairs and Hakka music? Only one participant had heard of the Council for Hakka Affairs and knew it helped to promote Hakka culture. The above three questions were answered before the participants watched the video. After they watched the video and continued the survey form, items 0 to e were asked again. a) What do you know about traditional Hakka songs? All participants were able to answer this question by saying it is a style that “people sing on the hills when they work,” and it is “fading away.” 41 b) Do you know there are new Hakka songs? If you do, what do you know about new Hakka songs? All participants learned that there is a new style of Hakka music; it is “played by modern instrument,” and it uses “up-to-date composition techniques.” One of the participants mentioned it is “more trendy that traditional songs.” c) What is the connection between Council for Hakka Affairs and Hakka music? 80 % of the participants (four out of five) answered that the Council for Hakka Affairs “help to promote Hakka music.” Only one participant answered “not sure, but I think it supports the Hakka music promotion.” In addition to the three items, the questions below were the other questions answered after watching the video. a) Does this video help you to understand new Hakka music is? Please describe your idea of modern Hakka music. All participants agreed that this video helped them to understand new Hakka music, and they described it as “easy to understand” and “it seems like modern rock music but themes and lyrics seem much related to the Hakka culture.” b) Do you think Yen’s music is different from traditional Hakka music? Please describe your impression of Yen’s music. 42 60% of the participants thought Yen’s music is different from traditional Hakka music, while 40% of the participants were not sure because they were not able to distinguish what traditional Hakka music is like. c) Does this video help you to understand the difficulties that Yen and his fellow Hakka musicians are facing? If you do, please describe how the difficulties influence new Hakka music. All participants agreed that this video helped them to understand the difficulties that Yen and his fellow Hakka musicians are facing, and they learned that “people still don’t pay much attention to it.” 80% of the participants found Hakka musicians “need government support but they don’t want to be used to get political votes” and people “not really care about Hakka music.” (I) How does this documentary change your idea of Hakka music? (If any) 20% of the participants thought Hakka music introduced in the documentary is a new idea to her/him. 40% of the participants agreed this documentary made them aware of the current situation for Hakka music. The rest of the participants said they like new Hakka music. e) Do you think you will pay more attention to Hakka affairs in the future? All participants agreed that after watching this video, they will pay more attention to Hakka affairs in the future. 43 All participants rated the quality of overall production quality above average. They strongly agreed that the title and content of the video clearly presents its main idea, and that the story flows smoothly. All participants agreed that the music and sound are appropriate, while 40% of them (two out of five) thought they like Mr. Yen’s music. All participants agreed that the video images, the opening and the ending are appropriate, and that the documentary gave them a professional feel. 111. Conclusion The results of evaluation showed that the documentary has successfully achieved its goal of making people aware of new Hakka music and enhancing their general knowledge of new Hakka music and related events. However, there was only a little information about traditional Hakka music provided in the documentary, and this caused the audience to have difficulties in telling the difference between traditional and new Hakka music. According to the survey, the quality of the documentary is above average. Only one of the participants said there were too many zoom-in shots. There was also another participant who felt Mr. Yen was less optimistic than the narration and other interviewees, and that created a conflict in the documentary. 44 CONCLUSION I. Difficulties One of the biggest challenges in this project was the videotaping schedule. Since the background is in Taiwan, the producer had to interview and to shoot all footage in only a few months during the summer. The shooting was at first scheduled to go from late May to early August, but unfortunately, “Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome” (also known as SARS) was spreading throughout eastern Asia, including Taiwan. Some Hakka events were either canceled or delayed not only because the government cut the budget for the Council for Hakka Affairs but also because people were too scared to go out in public places where they might be affected by SARS. It was not until late June that the government lifted the regulation of wearing masks and people started to get back to normal life. The interviews were then rescheduled to start in July and ended in early August. There were only a few Hakka musical events during that period of time, and it meant there were not too many performances to videotape. Due to the location limitation, this project was videotaped by miniDV camcorder and cheaper audio equipments instead of regular DV camcorder and audio equipments in a professional level. This equipment reduced the quality of footage, and caused some irrecoverable audio problems. For example, the lavaliere microphone was broken when videotaping, and caused strong distortion. Therefore, part of the footage was not usable because of the audio issue, and was taken off from the documentary. 45 In the documentary, there was not enough video collected for Mr. Yen’s interview content. For example, when Mr. Yen talked about his experiences in the Berklee College of Music, he did not have pictures saved for the unforgettable “International Night.” It increased the difficulties of enriching visual effects for Mr. Yen’s interview. Another example is that due to the outbreak of SARS mentioned earlier, many Hakka events were canceled or delayed. Therefore, when Mr. Yen talked about the problems caused by the support from government, there were not many events to videotape. II. Perspectives There are a few things can to be improved in the future: the first one is to videotape more Hakka events, no matter if it is directly related to video content or not. The second one would be to pay more attention to sound recording quality; for example to put on headset and listen to real-time recording while interviewing or videotaping. One of the evaluation participants commented about the conclusion, “Yen is less optimistic than some of the script talked about,” and the participant might feel the conclusion was not convincing. When editing, the producer should be more careful on leading all interviews and narration to a consistent conclusion. In addition to this solution, it is also possible to have interviewees having different attitudes toward same event, and let the narration lead to an open-ending conclusion. This documentary focuses on Mr. Yen’s career as well as the development of new Hakka background. Although it successfully explains the background of new Hakka 46 music, it does not provide a clear comparison between traditional and modern Hakka music. As a result, the audience may feel confiised about what Mr. Yen and his fellow musicians have changed in Hakka music. According to the evaluation result, this documentary is successful as an introduction to a certain aspect of Hakka culture. If this project is developed to be a series of documentaries in the future, it will be able to include other aspects of Hakka culture, such as traditional outdoor Hakka plays transformed to be delicate drama in theaters. The whole series of documentaries will then become a beginner’s guide to Hakka culture development in Taiwan, and provide an educational function as well as entertainment to the public. 47 APPENDIC E 48 APPENDIX A: UCRIHS CONSENT FORM FOR VIDEO TAPING Consent Form for Appearing in a Video Documentary 1. Title: Who is Singing on the Hill? — Yen Chih-wen and New Hakka Music This documentary of Yu-Feng Chen will introduce the second largest Taiwanese ethnic group, Hakka, and its music. This production will follow Hakka musician Yen Chih- wen’s career and experiences to illustrate the development of Hakka popular music in Taiwan. The end product will be a 40 minute documentary. Yen Chih-wen, relevant musicians, and officers of Council of Hakka Affairs will be interviewed. 2. Estimates of Subject’s Time Each interview will require two hours, and the first twenty minutes will be allowed for set-up. The actual interview and videotaping time will be approximately one hour and thirty minutes. You will have ten minutes at the beginning of interview to talk with the researcher about the interview content. 3. Voluntary Participation Participation is self-motivated and voluntary, and you have the right to withdraw from the interview at any time during the process without penalty. You may stop the interview and videotaping when you do not feel willing to continue, and also you may decide to have your interview excluded from the documentary. 49 4. Confidentiality Your personal information will not be given out and will be kept confidential. The information includes your contact information and any other information that you are not willing to have published. The researcher will discuss with you before every videotaping session begin, and if you are not willing to be interviewed or participate, you will not be videotaped. If you decide to participate in the project and be videotaped, the names of participants will appear either in the credits at the end of program or in the middle of the program. Except recognizable images and the list of names, other information will be kept and protected to the maximum extent allowable by law. 5. Contact Persons If you have any questions about this research project, please contact: Yu-Feng Chen, Project Producer, 886-37321228, cheryuf1@msu.edu Robert Albers, Project Investigator, 517-355-6559, albcrs@msu.edu In case if you have any other questions about this study, please contact the investigator (Responsible Project Investigator, address, phone number, and e-mail ifappropriate). If you have questions or concerns regarding your rights as a study participant, or are dissatisfied at any time with any aspect of this study, you may contact — anonymously, if you wish — Ashir Kumar, M.D., Chair of the University Committee on Research 50 Involving Human Subjects (UCRIHS) by phone: (517) 355-2180, fax: (517) 432-4503, e-mail: ucrithmsuedu, or regular mail: 202 Olds Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824. After reading the above statement, you have the right to decide if you are willing to participate in the project: “Who is Singing on the Hill? — Yen Chih-wen and New Hakka Music.” If you agree to participate in the project, you agree to be interviewed and videotaped. Please complete the following blanks if you agree. Your signature authorizes the producer, Yu-Feng Chen to use all of the videotaped footage and interview content for the purpose of completing the final production, distribution, and necessary reproduction. Your name will appear in the program and be listed on the credits at the end of program. You will not receive any monetary compensation for participating in the project, and will not have ownership rights to this program. You acknowledge that you are 18 years old or older and have the right to engage in this agreement. Your signature below indicates you have read the above statement, and voluntarily agree to participate. Name (please print) Date Signature 51 APPENDIX B: UCRIHS CONSENT FORM FOR EVALUATION Consent Form for Completing a Survey of a Video Documentary Who is Singing on the Hill? Yen Chih-wen and New Hakka Music This documentary of Yu-Feng Chen will introduce the second largest Taiwanese ethnic group, Hakka, and its music. This production will follow Hakka musician Yen Chih- wen’s career and experiences to illustrate the development of Hakka popular music in Taiwan. The end product will be a 40 minute documentary. Please read the following information carefully. You have the right to refuse to participate in the survey any time when you do not feel willing to participate. The survey result will be valuable for measuring the effectiveness of raising the awareness and providing information of Taiwanese Hakka and Hakka music after viewing this documentary. You acknowledge participating in the documentary project “Who is Singing on the Hill? — Yen Chih-wen and Hakka Popular Music”, and also authorize the producer Yu-Feng Chen to use all information collected in the survey for completing the project. You will not receive any monetary compensation for participating in the project, and will not have the ownership rights to the survey results. 52 Participation is self-motivated and voluntary, and you have the right to withdraw at any time during the process without penalty. If you are not willing to participate in the survey anymore, you can withdraw from the session at any time. You have read, understood and agreed to the above statement. And by returning the survey form to the investigator you are giving your consent to participate. Name (please print) Date Signature 53 APPENDIX C: ENGLISH SCRIPT Chapter 1: Intro Narrator: “Taiwanese” is not just the people of Taiwan, but also their language. (Music But we usually forget Hakkas, 15% of the population, and their dialect. fade in) Hakka, the second largest ethnic group in Taiwan, is a minority group and often ignored. In spite of this, proud Hakka musicians sing aloud rather than hide themselves. And Yen Chih-Wen is one of the pioneers. Chapter 2: Who is Singing Yen: When I started to produce Hakka music, one of my beliefs was that, I must create a unique Hakka music style. Before I got involved in it, I didn’t know what I would end up with. A new musical style, perhaps? And this new style will change the stereotypes that people have toward Hakka music. Yen & (Hua—Lian, Hakka TV Concert, Yen and Big Mountain Dog Band) Band: let me teach you to sing mountain songs, from midnight until sunrise, let me teach you to pick tea leaves, singing over mountains and hills, let me teach you drum and gong, dong-dong-long-dong-chin-dong-chiang, let me teach you bow and string, yi-yi-o-yi one-two-three, together everybody sing aloud, to sing until the sun goes down, no matter what 54 age you are, to sing until late in the night Chapter 3: Hakka Music: the Past Yen: Narrator: Yen: Narrator: Traditional 1 write Hakka songs with contemporary composition methods. But I want to emphasize the connection of my works with Hakka culture of the past, for the essence of Hakka culture is traditional mountain songs. Traditional Hakka music is called Mountain Songs or Tea Songs. It has three primary tunes and improvised lyrics. The three melodies are “Mountain songs,” “Old Mountain songs,” and “Plain Melodies.” There is also “Small Tunes” with fixed melodies and lyrics. Geographically, the Taoyuan, Xinzhu, and Miaoli areas are hills. A Hakka phrase “Dai-san-hong”, means “living on the hill”. Their work and tea gardens were on the hills. This is why people call Hakka music “Mountain Songs.” They worked in the mountain tea gardens while singing to entertain themselves. Due to social and economic changes, most Hakkas moved to cities. As a result, most people lost interest in traditional Hakka music. However, some middle-aged people who experienced the rural lifestyle have begun to learn or sing the Mountain Songs for entertainment. . .a guy is heading to his girl, isn’t afraid of the high mountains and 55 Hakka song class: Narrator: Narrator: Chiu: unpaved road” mister, ma’am, let’s go, let’s go, follow me In addition to the impact from social and economic change, TV also had a great influence on Hakka music. Afier TV became the main source of mass communication, traditional Hakka music was regarded as old- fashioned and gradually disappeared. Hakka songs or plays were barely found on TV. One of the greatest reasons is government policy. The government began to implement the “Mandarin-only” policy from the 19403. Under this policy, dialects were forbidden in schools. In the 19903 dialects began to be taught in school because of the wave of “Reviving the native identity” that spread after Taiwan lifted martial law. In December 1988, Hakka people protested the ban on usage of the Hakka dialect through the “Return to Hakka” movement. This event was recognized as the biggest self-identification activity of Taiwanese Hakka. Not until that moment about 15 years ago did activities of the Hakkas begin to be promoted. Many advances have been made recently. Hakka dialect has been included in the curriculum, and adopted as one of the main broadcasting languages. 56 Chapter 4: Berklee Experience Narrator: Yen: Mr. Yen was a high school art teacher after graduating from college. He decided to pursue an Arranging degree at the Berklee College of Music in the US because of his interest in music-producing and the lack of decent modern music education in Taiwan. I thought that going to Berklee would be the start of my journey of American music. But a concert turned my thinking upside down. Students coming from all over the world went on stage to perform music from their own cultures. At that concert called “International Night”, I saw students from other countries carrying instruments which I had never seen. They went on stage to sing Or to play. That night brought me to a whole new realization. I did a lot of thinking after the concert. Lying on the bed that night, I wondered if I was wrong. Students fi'om other countries came to the US not only to study American music, but also to present their local music. Why couldn’t I do the same thing? Hence, I fully understood what I had to do when returning to Taiwan. That is, I would create my own music using the local materials of my mother tongue. Chapter 5: Good Men, Good Women Narrator: Mr. Yen produced kinds of music after returning to Taiwan. By chance 57 Yen: Yen: he was given the job of producing the soundtrack for Hou Hsiao Hsien’s movie—“Good Men, Good Women.” The movie was a story of a Hakka and his experience in a massacre. It is the first time he converted his childhood memories of mountain songs into melodies. Ever since then, he concentrated on Hakka music field. The film was nominated in foreign film festivals and earned rapturous applause both domestically and overseas, which encouraged me greatly. This praise validated my thinking, that is, good music will not be limited by language. I then wrote some songs and contacted major record companies for possible contracts. But all I got were negative responses. Then I went to the label, “Friendly Dog Music” for the second time. This time I provided them more musical pieces. By that time there were changes in Taiwan’s politics. My songs were not linked explicitly to politics, but my messages were similar to the “Reviving Local Culture” activities, which were a resurfacing trend in Taiwan. The people of “Friendly Dog Music” believed it was time to issue Hakka records in the market. They wanted to give me a try, and signed a contract for three albums with me. The owner of “Friendly Dog Music”, Mr. Sheng, told me when we signed the contract, “Personally, I am not sure if we can make money out 58 Yen: of Hakka records. But I’d like to leave Hakkas some decent music.” What he told me came true. Those records did give Hakkas some decent music, and led to rising popularity of Hakka music. Chapter 6: Memories of Hometown Music: Yen: Yen: Yen: Behind my old house, there’s a ditch with water coming from the mountain (It was twice of width, and you could easily go down, no cement) I didn’t confine the themes of my songs to certain moments or places. Somehow when I created my songs, some of them naturally became descriptions of my hometown and my childhood memory. I took a ride back home. Upon reaching my hometown, I suddenly realized the scenery around my house was very different from before I went abroad for study. Roads lined with fields were now lined with buildings. I met some acquaintances on the road, and asked for directions to home. It felt so new. Everything is now so different from the past. The house in the photo is across the road. We took it from the inside patio of our house. 59 Music: Yen: Music: People Chatting: Yen: Music: We ofien came here to play hide-and-seek. We were running through these houses. Afternoon sunshine falls from the trees of the west, on the jia-don trees at the front door That is my elementary school friend’s house. And this house belongs to my teacher, Mr. Zen. He used to teach math. We often came to his room to listen to music, he had a nice stereo. In the garden in front of the patio, weeds grew as tall as men, Swallows lived under the roof, nested by the sides of the front door I need two bottles of oils please. So it’s cable TV. Yes... A-shu’s grocery shop is the only traditional grocery shop left in my hometown. The grocery shop is not only a place for shopping, it also serves the community as a spot for chatting and interacting with others. A-shu’s grocery shop, is for kids and adults, A-shu’s grocery store, from long time ago to the present. Not too far from my home, there is A-shu’s grocery store, every day I passed by the store, the elders greeted me warmly; relatives and friends from everywhere, stopped by and joined us, 60 to chat about everything, no one realized it’s already late in the night. Chapter 7: Band Performance Yen: Yen on the stage: Yen: Yen singing: Since it’s a new type of music, I expected it would bring a lot of chances to perform on stage. We decided to form a band called San- Keu-Thai. (big mountain dog) First song: San-Keu-Thai San-Keu-Thai is an animal with a name used only by the Hakkas. “You are a San-Keu-Thai” in Hakka means you are a naughty kid. Fix up your clothes, fix up your footsteps, don’t block the road, someone’s coming out for a walk, san-keu-tai (lizard) is not san-keu (monkey), san-keu-tai (lizard) is not san-keu (monkey), san-keu-tai is not san-keu, san-keu-ta is san-keu-ta. Chapter 8: After the 4th Album Yen: After releasing three albums with “Friendly Dog”, our contracts then came to an end. To me it represented the “end of a phase.” I have accomplished my goal of making people aware of Hakka music. There was not only me, other Hakka musicians also released their records. The total amount of Hakka records is not big, but these records do shape a style for the new Hakka music. 61 Yen: Music: In my newly released fourth record, compared with my previous three records, I adopted more languages instead of Hakka only. I would put it this way, thinking of myself as a Hakka in Taiwan. We live in a world where every day you meet people of different ancestries, such as aborigines, Fukienese, mainlanders, etc. We are confronted with a multi-ancestral world. Therefore, I expressed this idea in my fourth album by using different languages. “Aboriginal bu-nong tribe song,” time is like the wrinkles on grandma’s face, earth is like the homesickness on grandma’s face, she whispers the ancient melodies Chapter 9: Disappointment Yen singing: Yen: Before sunset, we sat quietly by the ponds, speaking, speaking like whispering, don’t disturb fireflies. The sky was getting dark, everybody was getting nervous. One, flew from the east; two, flew to the west... I felt bad when I was on stage. Local campaigns like this are places for politicians to express themselves. And I am here to entertain the audience. Sometimes people don’t care if you sing well or not. They just asked you 62 Yen: Yen: to heat up the atmosphere. Like today, the candidate invited me here because he intends to express a Hakka-oriented political View. The mass media channels would be helpful if they are willing to broadcast Hakka-related programs. But they showed no signs of helping. Hakka band “Labor Exchange” won the “Best Band” title at the Golden Melody Awards. But this fact was not widely reported. Actually, some news only discussed how they were hissed when walking onto stage. There was a disturbing lack of fair reports, which I can say is a sign of deliberate neglect. Chapter 10: Government Support Narrator: Yen: In 2001 , the government founded the Council for Hakka Affairs. Its purpose is to promote and prolong Hakka culture. In July 2003, the Council also founded the first Hakka TV station broadcasting in Hakka. The Council for Hakka Affairs celebrated its second anniversary this June. The work they have done is impressive. It seems Hakkas in Taiwan have been awakened. There are always some Hakka events taking place all over Taiwan. The news of Hakka culture and affairs, which could 63 Yen: Yen: hardly be found in the past, is now “touchable” on intemet, on TV, or in the newspapers. The fact that Hakka music is now flourishing is in large part because of the aid of official authorities, such as Council for Hakka Affairs. And a Hakka TV station has just been established. While I acknowledge the direct influence they have, however, I hold a less optimistic attitude toward the current situation. A so-called “culture” has to be “lived” in our daily life. It has to be things people fully enjoy in a natural way every single day. Only in this way can a culture prolong and develop over time. I believe there is still a long way ahead of us since now the development of Hakka culture is mainly dependent on governmental policies or business operations. To put it directly, if a Hakka musical event is held in a city auditorium, will people buy tickets and participate in it? This is what I consider a real test. By far, I would say that not many Hakka musicians have gone through such tests. Personally, I haven’t gone through it either. And it would be too ideal to say that we will pass it. This indicates Hakka music is not yet turning into a style of music that everyone enjoys in their daily lives. 64 Chapter 11: The Root Narrator: Yen: Narrator: Chiu: Ignored in the past, today Hakka cultural activities draw more and more media attention. Hakka cultural revival seems to have successfully made its first step. The later we revive Hakka culture, the more essence we will lose. Hakka culture is passing away rapidly. “Rescue Hakka” has become a trendy phrase. And I do have the feeling that Hakka culture needs to be “rescued”. My short-term goal is to create more Hakka musical pieces and to promote these songs so that they can earn recognition and acceptance among the public. People are acknowledging these songs and are showing willingness to sing them. From this point of View, I am glad to say that I have achieved my first step. Can Hakka culture keep its momentum or even spread out more widely? These remain unknown. If the scope of a culture is confined to a certain group of people, especially a minority group who can barely retain their own culture, it will hardly survive. It can become alive only if outsiders live this culture as their own. Hakka musicians have successfully made some achievements. 65 Yang: Yen: Narrator Hakkas are Hakkas because they are willing to devote themselves to something not doable. They want to pass on a vital cultural heritage. Mr. Yen may not be the first pioneer, but what matters is the belief he holds onto and achieves. Making Hakka music is like finding my root. It is like I travel all over the world and finally return to the original spot where I started out. We have no answers to whether there will be more musicians producing Hakka music, or whether Hakka music will attract more audience. It is sure that more intellectuals are needed to join the revival of Hakka culture. And more young Hakkas will identify themselves with Hakka. 66 APPENDIX D: EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRE Evaluation Questionnaire for Who is Singing on the Hill? How old are you? ' What is your nationality? ° What ethnic group do you identify yourself with? 0 What is your mother tongue? 0 I Have you listened to Hakka song before? If not, why? ° Have you paid attention to Hakka affairs? If yes, please list your observation. If not, why? ' What do you know about traditional Hakka songs? ' Do you know there are new Hakka songs? Yes No If you do, what do you know about new Hakka songs? ' What is the connection between Council for Hakka Affairs and Hakka music? Please stop here and watch the video before proceeding to next page. 67 0 What do you know about traditional Hakka songs? ° Do you know there are new Hakka songs? Yes No If you do, what do you know about new Hakka songs? ' What is the connection between Council for Hakka Affairs and Hakka music? ° Does this video help you to understand new Hakka music is? 0 Please describe your idea of modern Hakka music? ° Do you think Yen’s music is different from traditional Hakka music? ° Please describe your impression of Yen’s music. ' Does this video help you to understand the difficulties that Yen and his fellow Hakka musicians are facing? 0 If you do, please describe how the difficulties influence new Hakka music. ' How does this documentary change your idea of Hakka music? (If any) Do you think you will pay more attention to Hakka affairs in the future? (Strongly Disagree) 1 2 3 4 5 (Strongly Agree) 68 ° Do you think the title and content of the video clearly presents its main idea? (Strongly Disagree) 1 2 3 4 5 (Strongly Agree) ° Do you think the story flows smoothly? (Strongly Disagree) 1 2 3 4 5 (Strongly Agree) ° Do you think the music and sound are appropriate? (Strongly Disagree) 1 2 3 4 5 (Strongly Agree) ° Do you think the video image and graphics are appropriate? (Strongly Disagree) 1 2 3 4 5 (Strongly Agree) ° Do you think the opening and ending of the documentary are appropriate? (Strongly Disagree) 1 2 3 4 5 (Strongly Agree) ° Overall, do you think this documentary has a professional feel? (Strongly Disagree) 1 2 3 4 5 (Strongly Agree) 0 Finally, would you like to share some more comments about this documentary? 69 BIBLIOGAPHY Kiang, Clyde Y. (1992). The Hakka Och/ssey & Their Taiwan Homeland. Elgin, PA: Allegheny Press Kiang, Clyde Y. (1992) and translated by Hsu, Han-Bing (1996). The Hakka Odyssey & Their Taiwan Homeland aka Hakka and Taiwan (Chinese Title). Taipei, Taiwan: Formosa Folkways Chiu, Yen-Gui & Wu, Chung-Jay. (2001). The Map of Taiwan Hakka, Taipei, Taiwan: Cite Shih, Cheng-feng. (2002). H_a_kka Ethnic Group and the Country. Taiwan, Southnews Yang, Yun-Yen. Taiwanese Languages—Mother Tongue Policies and Related Issues. (available at http://203.64.42.2 l /iug/Ungian/Chokphin/iankang/TOgugianchcngchhck/TOgugianchcng chhekhtm) Chang, Chung-Fang. (2000) Nine Tones and Eighteen Tunes, Sino Magazine. (available at http://www.wwwart.com.tw/tea/tea_08_l3.htm) Li, Chin-An. Language Policy and Taiwan Independency. Taiwan: Taiwanese Literature Studies Workshop. (available at http://www.ncku.edu.tw/~taiwan/taioan/hank-chia/l/li- khin—hoann/rO 1 - 10.11tm) Chang, Frank. (2003) A Site of Related Issues on Grade 1-9 Curriculum and Dialects in Taiwan. (available at http://members.at.infoseek.con/Frank_chargfl Labor Exchange Band. About Hakka Mountain Songs in Meinung. Meinung, Taiwan: Labor Exchange Band (available online at http://www.lebandnet/english/mms.htm) 70