Hokkien pop

Hokkien pop, also known as Taiwanese Hokkien popular music, Taiwanese pop (臺灣歌; Tâi-oân-koa), T-pop (臺語流行音樂; Tâi-gí liû-hêng im-ga̍k), Tai-pop, Minnan Pop and Taiwanese folk (臺語歌; Tâi-gí-koa), is a popular music genre sung in Hokkien, especially Taiwanese Hokkien and produced mainly in Taiwan and sometimes in Fujian in Mainland China or Hong Kong or even Singapore in Southeast Asia. Hokkien pop is most popular amongst Hoklo people in Taiwan, mainland China, Hong Kong, and the Overseas Chinese and Overseas Taiwanese in Southeast Asia, such as Chinese Singaporeans, Chinese Malaysians, Chinese Filipinos, Chinese Indonesians, etc.

The historical origin of Hokkien pop comes from a Japanese enka base instead of a Chinese shidaiqu base.^{[failed verification]} Because it developed from traditional Japanese enka, it has become diverse in its varieties.^{[citation needed]}

Under Japanese rule (1895–1945), Taiwanese music continued and developed its new form from the previous period. By the 1930s, vinyl records of traditional music, such as Taiwanese opera, Peking opera, Nanguan, and Beiguan were popular. The first Hokkien record to have "pop song" printed on its label was March of the Black Cats [zh]. Sung by Chiu-chan and released in March 1929, the song featured Taiwanese opera-style seven-character lines with a Western orchestral instrumentation. In March 1932, a Hokkien-language promotional jingle recorded by Sun-sun to advertise the film The Peach Girl was released, and achieved wider popularity.

A new business model of the popular music industry emerged when Kashiwano Seijiro, who led the Taiwan branch of Columbia Record Company, started to market their records in new ways, such as marketing songs with silent movies. Kashiwano also recruited and made popular musical talents such as Teng Yu-hsien, Yao Tsan-fu [zh], Su Tung [zh], Lee Lim-chhiu and Sun-sun. They produced important titles such as Bāng Chhun-hong (Longing for the Spring Breeze) and The Torment of a Flower (Flower of a Rainy Night). The Taiwan branch of Victor Records was an equally competitive company, delegated by the influential Lin Ben Yuan Family and headed by Chang Fu-hsing. With talents such as Chen Ta-ju, Victor produced important titles such as White Peony [zh].

This new business was led by a new generation born under Japanese rule. This generation received modern Japanese education at that time and was exposed to western musical styles and ideas. Some were active in the new music industry because of their interest in politics. Music helped them demonstrate their disapproval against the Japanese ruling and support of native culture.

However, Hokkien pop was soon set back. As Second Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937, non-Japanese songs were banned, and talents were required to write songs (and change previous songs) for military propaganda. The situation worsened in 1941 when the Pacific War broke out. The bombings of Taiwan (called Formosa at the time) by the United States, poverty, and the shortage of raw materials hit the music industry hard, a situation which drove many talents away. This period ends with the end of World War II and the handover of Taiwan to the Republic of China in 1945.

Taiwan's period of White Terror began after the February 28 Incident of 1947 and declaration of martial law in 1949. The Kuomintang had lost the Chinese Civil War and proclaimed Taipei as the temporary capital of the Republic of China. All facets of Taiwanese culture that were not of Han Chinese origin were under scrutiny. In particular, the government discouraged use of Taiwanese languages (see also Taiwanese Hokkien§Politics). As a result, native Taiwanese pop music was no longer in development.

In the 1960s, Taiwan Television was barred from airing more than two Taiwanese pop songs a day.