Taiwanese opera

Taiwanese opera (Chinese: 歌仔戲; pinyin: gēzǎixì; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: koa-á-hì; lit. 'Song Drama'), commonly known as Ke-Tse opera^{[citation needed]} or Hokkien opera, is a form of traditional drama originating in Taiwan. Taiwanese opera uses a stylised combination of both the literary and colloquial registers of Taiwanese Hokkien. Its earliest form adopted elements of folk songs from Zhangzhou, Fujian, China. The plots are traditionally drawn from folk tales of the southern Fujian region and Chinese historical legends stories, though in recent years stories are increasingly set in Taiwan itself. Taiwanese opera was later exported to other Hokkien-speaking areas, such as Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Fujian, China.

Taiwanese opera is considered as the embodiment of Taiwanese history and tradition because the political identity crisis of Taiwan shaped its development.

Taiwanese opera is the only form of Han traditional drama known to have originated in Taiwan, specifically in Yilan. In the early stages, most Han immigrants in Yilan were from Zhangzhou, Fujian, bringing with them the Hokkien Zhangzhou dialect.

Koa-á were story-telling ballads spoken in Hokkien. Each line could have five or seven characters, and every four lines constituted a paragraph.

Jinge (錦歌; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Kím-koa) is the forerunner of Taiwanese opera. As early as seventeenth century, immigrants from southern Fujian, China brought Jinge, the popular folk songs that set the poetry in local dialect to Taiwan. Around the nineteenth century, amateur singers in Gilan modified Jinge and gradually developed a new style called Kua-a (Chinese: 歌仔; pinyin: gēzǎi; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Koa-á).

Other than Jinge, Taiwanese opera absorbed the styles of formal operas including Peking opera, Luantan opera (亂彈戲), Siping opera (四平戲), Liyuan opera (梨園戲), and Gaojia opera (高甲戲). Between 1923 and 1949, Peking opera troupes from Shanghai and Fujian toured Taiwan. Some actors stayed in Taiwan and became performing directors of Taiwanese operas. The influences of Peking operas can be seen in repertory, gesture, movement, percussion music and costume. Fighting themes and acrobatic movements became standards in the operas.

Taiwan was under Japanese rule from 1895 to 1945. In the early stage, the Japanese government allowed the local customs to develop without much interference and Taiwanese opera continued to thrive. In Ho-yi Lin’s book “Taiwanese Opera”, she describes how Taiwanese opera took root in China. She stated, “It’s worth noting that in 1928, the San Le Hsuan troupe (三樂軒班; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Sam-ga̍k Hian-pan), on a pilgrimage to Wu Wang Temple in southern Fujian, performed with great success in Bai-chiao (白礁; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Pe̍h-ta) and Xiamen… In succession, Taiwanese troupes such as Ni Sheng, Ni Kuan, Dan Feng, Mu Dan and Tun Yi also performed in Fujian province.”

After the Pacific War broke out, the Japanese government changed the previous policy and implemented a Kōminka policy that encouraged Japanisation. During this period, the Japanese government prohibited the public performance of Taiwanese opera. Even though many troupes were disbanded and Taiwanese opera witnessed its first decline, local people still tried to perform Taiwanese operas in secrecy. Taiwanese opera, also known as Bông-kok-tiāu/wangguodiao (亡國調; literally, "music from a dying nation") provided an outlet for Taiwanese people to search for their identify and fight for the "in-betweenness" of cultural influences of Taiwan, Japan and China.