Hakka Bayin: A Living Cultural Memory

Hakka Bayin is more than a music style — it’s a gateway to understanding the Hakka people — their culture, their history of dispersal, migration and settlement, and their way of life on the island of Taiwan.

Sense of Wander: ★★★★☆

Bayin and Songs of Hakka Opera was held at the Taiwan Traditional Theatre Centre this summer. Image courtesy of National Chinese Orchestra Taiwan.

TAIPEI, Taiwan — What kind of music do you enjoy listening to? Are you into pop, jazz, rhythm and blues, or classical music? Or perhaps, like me, you’re drawn to folk music that captures the essence of a particular cultural group?

Just like art, music reflects the spirit of its time. But music, too, offers a gateway to understanding a culture. Through melodies, rhythms, and lyrics, music conveys stories, beliefs, traditions, and rituals that are central to a culture’s identity.

In celebration of its 40th anniversary, the National Chinese Orchestra Taiwan (NCO) presented the concert Bayin and Songs of Hakka Opera at the Taiwan Traditional Theatre Centre, offering us a glimpse into Hakka culture through the rich sounds of Bayin.

But before I share the concert experience with you, we must ask: Who are the Hakka? What is Bayin? And what makes Bayin so special?

Who are the Hakka?

The term “Taiwanese people” generally refers to the inhabitants of Taiwan, but it also encompasses those who share a common culture or ancestry. While the Austronesian indigenous people form a minority, the majority of Taiwan’s population is Han Taiwanese, further divided into three subgroups: the Hoklo, the Hakka, and the Waishengren (or “mainlanders”).

The Hakka in Taiwan trace their roots to the historical migrations of the Hakka ethnic group from mainland China. Today, around 20% of Taiwan’s population identifies as Hakka.

Fleeing social unrest and invasions in northern China during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1912) dynasties, the Hakka first sought refuge in China’s southern regions. Unlike other southern Han Chinese, the Hakka are distinguished by their dispersed nature and tendency to settle in remote hilly areas.

The term “Hakka,” meaning “guest families,” comes from Cantonese and reflects their status as newcomers — or guests — in the southern provinces.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, driven by overpopulation, land scarcity, and conflicts, waves of Hakka migrants made precarious journeys across the Taiwan Strait in search of sanctuary.

The Hakka people are known for their adherence to traditional Confucian values, and a commitment to learning and the virtues associated with a Confucian gentleman. Their contributions to Taiwan’s cultural fabric, particularly in the arts and literature, were highlighted in the exhibition A Dimension To Be Found: Hakka Narrative in Calligraphy held last fall at the Hengshan Calligraphy Art Centre.

A suona musician from the Chen Family Beiguan Bayin Group from Miaoli County, Taiwan. Image courtesy of NCO.

A scene from “Tea Picking on the Mountain.” Image courtesy of NCO.

What is Hakka Bayin?

The term “Bayin” originally referred to the eight types of materials used in ancient China to make musical instruments: metal, stone, silk, bamboo, gourd, earth, leather, and wood.

In Taiwan, Bayin has become the quintessential musical expression of the Hakka people. With roots in ritual music of ancient courts and military ceremonies, Bayin gradually blended into folk culture, thriving as the Hakka migrated and settled across different regions.

It’s worth noting that Taiwanese Hakka Bayin has been shaped by various artistic influences, including Tea-Picking Opera (採茶戲), Luantan Opera (亂彈戲), Wai-jiang Opera (外江戲), Siping Opera (四平戲), Taiwan’s Gezai Opera (歌仔戲), and popular music from Guangdong province in China.

Today, Hakka Bayin has evolved into small-scale wind and percussion ensemble. Passing down from one generation to the next, this musical tradition has become deeply intertwined with the daily lives of the Hakka people, observed in life rituals, seasonal festivals, deity celebrations, and other communal festivities.

The concert Bayin and Songs of Hakka Opera was a collaborative endeavour between the National Chinese Orchestra Taiwan (NCO) and the Chen Family Beiguan Bayin Group from Miaoli County. Image courtesy of NCO.

Bayin and Songs of Hakka Opera

Bayin and Songs of Hakka Opera was a collaborative endeavour between the National Chinese Orchestra Taiwan and the Chen Family Beiguan Bayin Group from Miaoli County.

The concert begins with The Grand Opening (吹場樂：大開門), arranged by Qu Chun-Quan (瞿春泉). Within the first minute, this wind and percussion piece transports audience to the entrance of a grand palace. It also evokes the sounds of Taoist temples in Taiwan during celebrations and festivals. The music is both solemn and lively, grand yet reminiscent of bustling street scenes.

In Hakka Bayin, the suona — a double-reeded Chinese musical instrument with origins in ancient Iran’s “sorna” — serves as the lead instrument. Several pieces in the concert feature a suona soloist, accompanied by string, wind, and percussion instruments.

I particularly like Top Scholar’s Parade (弦索樂：狀元遊街), arranged by Chu Yun-Song (朱雲嵩). The suona solo performance vividly conjures the image of a top scholar, or zhuangyuan, celebrated for achieving the highest score in the imperial examination, parading through the streets.

The suona player’s virtuosity and improvisation bring this imagery to life. Its confident and effortless melody evokes the scholar’s grand entrance, allowing me to picture him strutting down the street, eager to receive the townspeople’s admiration.

Amidst this display of pride, the suona also mimics the sound of a horse coming to a halt, suggesting that the scholar’s carriage pauses momentarily for him to alight, make his presence known as he greets to the people, and continue his procession.

Liu Yu-Cheng performs a suona solo at the concert Bayin and Songs of Hakka Opera. Image courtesy of NCO.

In addition to instrumental pieces, the concert also features Tea-Picking Opera, a theatrical genre unique to the Hakka people who predominantly reside in hilly areas where tea cultivation and picking are central to their livelihoods.

In “Tea Picking on the Mountain,” the performance includes not only vocalists but also the suona, an instrument with a distinctive design that lacks bamboo joints, allowing it to emulate the human voice. While I can’t determine how closely the suona’s sound matches the pronunciation of the Hakka lyrics, it’s fascinating to observe the interplay between the human voice and suona throughout the play.

Another piece, “Virtuoso Wife Advising Her Husband,” showcases a unique instrument called tiexianzai (鐵弦仔). Also known as labaxian (喇叭弦) or guchuixian (鼓吹弦), the tiexianzai is a bowed string instrument unique to Taiwan that accompanies the vocalists in this play.

Staging of Hakka Tea-picking Opera (採茶戲), a genre of theatrical performance unique to the Hakka people, who predominantly reside in hilly areas where their work revolves around tea cultivation and picking. Image courtesy of NCO.

The tiexianzai is a two-stringed fiddle with an eye-catching amplifying horn at the end. I first encountered this curious instrument at the concert Invocation CHIEN Wen-Pin & TCO back in 2022, but I didn’t have the chance to document my experience at the time. Its unique design, however, dates back to Taiwan’s colonial period.

During the Japanese colonial era, there was a ban on traditional instruments like gongs, drums, and suona in opera, while allowing Western instruments. Cheng Rom-Shing (鄭榮興), a musicologist and designated preserver of Hakka Bayin, highlights that many instruments during this time were handmade by musicians. Among these, the tiexianzai — a metal-stringed instrument assembled from phonograph parts — emerged as a notable example.

Its unique design allowed it to bypass restrictions on traditional instruments. The tiexianzai’s impressive volume also addressed amplification issues in outdoor performances, making it a popular instrument in Taiwan’s folk music, including Hakka Bayin.

Cheng Rom-Shing (鄭容興), a designated preserver of Traditional Performing Arts: Hakka Bayin, is seen playing a unique stringed instrument called the “tiexianzai.” Image courtesy of NCO.

In my view, Bayin and Songs of Hakka Opera was more than a concert — it’s a unique opportunity for us to learn about the history and culture of the Hakka people whose identity seems to have slowly dissolved in today’s culturally-saturated society. That said, the curtain call wasn’t an ending but a beginning — an invitation for the curious to explore the rich tapestry of Hakka culture and the music that defines it.

In 2010, Hakka Bayin was recognised as Intangible Cultural Heritage by Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture. It’s heartening to see that this vibrant art form is not disappearing, thanks to recent efforts to nurture a new generation of Hakka Bayin musicians and ensure its continued vitality, as shown by the concert.

In the case of Hakka Bayin, music serves as a living archive of cultural memory, preserving and expressing aspects of life that might not be captured in written records and could otherwise be lost to history.

“… music serves as a living archive of cultural memory, preserving and expressing aspects of life that might not be captured in written records and could otherwise be lost to history.”

Bayin and Songs of Hakka Opera was held at the Taiwan Traditional Theatre Centre in Taipei, Taiwan, on August 3, 2024.