Li Khin-huann, Professor, Department of Taiwan Culture, Languages, and Literature, National Taiwan Normal University; Associate Dean, College of Liberal Arts, National Taiwan Normal University

Preface: The Rise of Holo and Hakka Mother-tongue Literature

Holo and Hakka poetry are important facets of Taiwanese mother-tongue literature, and understanding mother-tongue literature is helpful in understanding the background and development of Holo and Hakka poetry. Taiwanese native-language literature can be divided into folk literature and authored literary works. In addition to indigenous people’s oral literature, Taiwanese folk literature includes Southern Hokkien (Holo) ¹  songs of praise and Hakka hill songs. In its earliest manifestations folk literature could be set to music and sung, preserving humankind’s most primitive poetic forms. In fact, poetry was humanity’s literature earliest form of literature and it could also be sung, e.g. the epic poetry of Homer in the West and China’s Classic of Poetry. In the era of classical poetry strict rhyme and meter were a feature of both Eastern and Western verse, and such works could be sung as well. Following the modernist poetry revolution, however, poetry and song parted ways in both the Orient and Occident. When modernism held sway, rhymed verse was panned as insufficiently “modern” and “progressive.” Thus, poetry parted ways with both folk literature and average readers.

In Taiwan, modern poetry’s development not only met with challenges of rhyme and meter, but was also challenged by the conscious use of mother tongues, the latter situation involving problems inherent in Japanese colonial governance. In the 1930s, Guo Qiusheng and Huang Shihui launched the Taiwanese Language Movement, igniting the “Taiwanese Vernacular Polemic,” a debate on whether Taiwanese writers should work in standard Chinese or Southern Min (Holo), an argument that lasted for four years. The day’s leading literati – Lai He, Yang Kui, and others – all agreed that writers should begin to use the mother tongues of Taiwanese and Hakka – i.e. “write the way they speak.” Thus, Lai He turned out several short stories in half-baked Taiwanese before giving up because of the difficulty. He abandoned vernacular literature and went back to writing classical poetry. Yang Kui attempted to write a novel in Taiwanese, publishing the first chapter, “Woodchopper Child.” Later, however, the writer admitted that even he couldn’t understand his own work and rewrote it in Japanese. Yang Hua also wrote poetry in Taiwanese, e.g. 1935’s well-known “Elegy for a Workingwoman,” but usage was still substandard. After war broke out in 1937 neither standard Chinese nor Taiwanese writings could be published in Taiwan; hence, writers of the time failed to open the way to writing Taiwanese (Holo) or Hakka in Han (Chinese) characters. 

It’s worth noting, however, that pastors and parishioners of Taiwan’s Presbyterian churches began writing literature in Romanized Taiwanese in the 1920s, producing a body of fine work. In addition to fiction by Lai Rensheng and Zheng Xipan, there were also essays by Cai Peihuo, as well as miscellaneous poems and translations, a development that can be viewed as the “early spring” of Taiwanese mother-tongue literature. Moreover, because the works were written in Romanization, they were highly colloquial, standing as successful examples of vernacular literature. By comparison, Hu Shi initiated a vernacular-literature revolution in China in 1919, but the Taiwan Church News published Fucheng Church News (today’s Taiwan Church News) in 1885; thus, the Taiwan Presbyterian Church’s quiet vernacular revolution predated China’s May Fourth Movement by roughly thirty years.

Unfortunately, these two routes to writing Holo and Hakka mother-tongue literature – Han characters and Romanization – never merged, and never influenced or supported each other. The situation didn’t improve in the postwar era either: under the Chinese Nationalist (KMT) government Mandarin replaced Japanese as Taiwan’s official language, thus a “crossover generation” of Taiwanese writers – those educated in the colonial era – either fell silent or were forced to master the new tongue. Because writers born in the postwar period were schooled entirely in Chinese (Mandarin), they quite naturally wrote in that language. Nevertheless, martial law prevented the new generation of writers from accessing Japanese colonial-era literary works or gaining knowledge of the language debates that had taken place in that era. As a result, Holo and Hakka mother-tongue poetry went underground, remaining apart from the literary mainstream.

It was not until the latter 1970s that writers such as Xiang Yang and Lin Zongyuan awakened to mother-tongue consciousness and begin writing “dialect poems” in Taiwanese. Taiwanese poetry began to flourish after martial law ended in 1987, with new Holo poets emerging one after another, their poems increasing in both quantity and quality. According to Sung Tze-lai, Taiwanese (Holo) poetry falls into two categories: modern poetry and traditional verse. Modern Taiwanese poetry is stylistically similar to modern Chinese poetry; the more traditional Taiwanese verse is akin to the poetry of an earlier era, emphasizing rhyme and meter, and can easily be sung or set to music.

From the 1930s on “popular arts” also began to develop in Taiwan. Record companies actively nurtured singers and songwriters, producing a great many Taiwanese (Holo) classics that are still popular today. Over the years many lyricists have penned poetic lyrics, such as Xu Bingding’s (1899-1977) delightful “Silvergrass” and “Lovely Flower” and Wan Xuxiong’s (1916-2000) “Open the Door to Your Heart.” However, due to considerations of length, popular song lyrics will not be discussed at this time.

The Characteristics of Holo and Hakka Poetry

Since modern and traditional poetry have already parted company, why do some Holo and Hakka native-language poets want to return to the past, writing poetry more typical of a bygone era? One of the characteristics of mother-tongue poetry is that it can be sung and is catchy – mother tongues not only engender feelings of intimacy, but also move readers. Because native-language writing is not in the literary mainstream, how does it reach readers? After long consideration, writers decided to make use of their mother tongues’ phonetic characteristics, on the one hand writing in everyday language and on the other hand adding rhyme and meter, thereby increasing the likelihood of reader acceptance. 

From the 1990s onward, many Holo and Hakka poets have written rhyming poetry. Outstanding among them are Xiang Yang, Lu Hanxiu, Huang Jinlian, Sung Tze-lai, and Lin Chenmo. Others poets write in what Sung has termed a modernist mode. Because these writers have foregone the abstruseness of modernist Chinese poetry in favor of simpler, more colloquial forms of expression, many their works can also be set to music and sung. Lin Zongyuan, Lin Yangmin, Li Khin-huann, Chen Mingren and Zhuang Bolin are representative of this latter group, emphasizing musicality and rhythm in their poetry, their works often gaining popularity by being adapted as songs.

Holo Poetry Societies and the Fan Shu Poetry Magazine

Fan Shu Poetry Magazine, Taiwan’s first poetry journal entirely devoted to Holo and Hakka Poetry, was founded in 1991. Lin Zongyuan, Huang Jinlian, Lin Yangmin, Li Khin-huann, and Chen Mingren set up the Fan Shu Poetry Union, and Fan Shu Poetry Magazine, the group’s official publication, was the world’s first “pure Taiwanese (Holo)” literary magazine. Edited by Huang Jinlian, the first issue was published on August 15, 1991; the seventh issue came out on June 10, 1996, after which publication was discontinued.

Below is the Fan Shu Poetry Union’s mission statement:

I.This group advocates creating literature written in Taiwan’s native languages.

II.This group enthusiastically promotes the writing of literature in Holo, Hakka, and Aboriginal languages.

III.This group hopes that Taiwanese literature at its present stage will achieve the following goals:

A.To create literary works which exhibit the spiritual characteristics of Taiwan’s peoples.

B.To write poetry, fiction, and essays that show concern for both Taiwan and the world, manifesting both local and global points of view.

C.To oppose tyranny, reflect the sufferings of the oppressed, and present the voices of the people.

D.To upgrade the quality of Taiwanese (Holo) literature and poetry.

E.To promote written Taiwanese (Holo) and Taiwanese (Holo) literature. 

Part D of the third main point in the Fan Shu Poetry Union’s mission statement – “to upgrade the quality of Taiwanese (Holo) literature and poetry” – makes it clear that Taiwanese (Holo) poetry has always emphasized musicality. In particular, Huang Jinlian’s poetry readily lends itself to musical adaptation, and many of his poems have been turned into songs and issued on CD. Huang has also written children’s poetry. Many of group president Lin Zongyuan’s works have also been set to music, most notably “Rocking a Grandchild to Sleep.” Zhuang Bolin has penned more “musical poems” than any other Fan Shu member, and has also put out a CD. His “If the Chinaberry Blossoms” ² made a strong impression on listeners. The song vividly describe the chinaberry tree in bloom, the lyrics conveying the poet’s deep love for Taiwanese farming villages:

Purple flower blossoms

Fall with the wind and rain

A dragonfly lingers at the corner of the house

Nesting in the treetop’s snowy blossoms;

Children cluster at the foot of the tree

Catching crickets for cricket fights ³

After the Fan Shu Poetry Union disbanded, the Jian Mang Hua Poetry Union was founded in 2000, and at the end of 2005 the “Holo Literature Battlefront” was formed by major figures in the Jian Mang Hua Poetry Union. Most poets in these groups were modernists who produced very few “musical” poems, perhaps because they felt that Taiwanese (Holo) poetry should return to modernism. Currently, there are no mother-tongue poetry societies in Taiwan. This is mainly because a great number of Holo and Hakka literary prizes have been established, and there are presently many literary periodicals devoted to native-language literature; also, a multilingual society has taken shape, and mainstream periodicals now accept manuscripts written in mother tongues. Thus, native-language poetry societies have faded away in the twenty-first century. 

In addition to members of the Fan Shu Poetry Union, other poets such as the prolific Xie Andong and the well-known Lu Hanxiu have produced much excellent poetry that can also be set to music. Xie’s “A Cradle Called Taiwan” is a fine example. The poet characterizes the island of Taiwan as a cradle rocking on the ocean’s waves, a mother uncomplainingly raising her children: If we trust one another and strive together / She’ll rock us to a wonderful future / If we lovingly protect the environment / She’ll rock out beautiful springs and falls. Lu Hanxiu has written much outstanding poetry. His “Springtime’s Flower” links the spring’s unpredictable weather, a sky full of starts, and a fragile-yet-beautiful flower blossom. The work has been included in junior high-school texts: Although it often rains in the spring / As long as you and I are there for each other / No matter how dark the skies or heavy the rain / Stars will always light our way. The tender, romantic lines can be seen as love poetry, but the poet’s passion for life also emerges from within.

The Beginnings of Hakka Poetry

As noted above, early Hakka poetry is part of Taiwan’s folk literature. As for pure literature, Hakka writers have not been absent from Taiwan’s literary history: Qiu Fengjia and Wu Ziguang wrote classical poetry; modern writers include Long Zongying, Zhong Lihe, and Wu Zhuoliu. But those who have written in the Hakka language – much less written Hakka poetry – are exceedingly rare. The situation took a turn for the better in the pluralistic, nativist wave that arose after martial law was lifted in 1987. Huang Hengqiu, a Hakka poet and member of the Fan Shu Poetry Union, has devoted himself to both Hakka mother-tongue poetry and literary criticism. After Fan Shu disbanded, Huang spent his own time and money organizing Taiwan Hakka P.E.N. and founding Hakka Literature Magazine (2010), defining Hakka literature in the process: ‘Hakka language’ and ‘Hakka consciousness’ are the most important components of Hakka literature. Due to actual social conditions, however, many Hakka writers are unable to create in the Hakka language, or the reason they write is not to expound and propagate Hakka culture. But Hakka writers’ work must show love and concern for our home towns and society as a whole, gradually forming the mainstream of Hakka literature.” Huang Hengqiu’s unstinting efforts have afforded Hakka-language literature with space in which to develop.

Nevertheless, in Huang Hengqiu’s 1998 History of Taiwan Hakka Literature Zhong Zhaozheng (Chung Chao-cheng), the “grand old man” of Hakka letters, bemoaned the paucity of Hakka literary works written in the Hakka-language: “So many Hakka writers and poets; in the Japanese colonial period they wrote in Japanese, and in the postwar period in Chinese. If literature written in the Hakka language is to be born, all we can say is that at the present time it’s still in the womb. Piecemeal individual efforts are as yet unable to converge to form a powerful current of Hakka literature.” Just as Zhong Zhaozheng has noted, as of yet there is very little Hakka poetry, and outstanding Hakka poems are even rarer. 

Still, there are a handful of Hakka poets are writing poetry in the Hakka language. In addition to the writers chosen for this unit (Zeng Guihai, Qiu Yifan, Ye Risong, Huang Hengqiu, and Zhang Fangci), Du Pan Fangge, Zhong Zhaozheng, Li Qiao, Fan Wenfang, Li Yufang, Chen Ninggui. Liu Huizhen, Feng Huiyue, Zhong Daming, Gong Wanzao, Yang Zhende, and Yang Baolian have all produced fine Hakka poetry. Du Pan Fangge, a member of the postwar generation of “crossover” writers, was the first to compose poetry in the Hakka language – inspired by a Hakka translation of the Bible, she began writing in her mother tongue. “Peace Opera” and “Smiling Flower” are two of her best-loved works. In addition, Fan Wenfang, an “academic poet,” writes poetry and essays in the “Sea-and-Land” (海陸hoi liug) Hakka dialect, distinguishing her from the majority of Hakka poets writing in the “Four Counties” (四縣xi yen) dialect. Thanks to the efforts of these Hakka poets, all adept at producing melodious and catchy poems, “Hakka poetry” has become a way for Hakka writers to express ethnic identity, their first choice for conveying resolution in the face of cultural crises. Thus, Hakka poetry now blossoms like a brilliant flower, a unique feature of Taiwan’s literary landscape. 

Conclusion: May Holo and Hakka Poems Continue to Be Sung

Song poems are part of the mainstream of Holo and Hakka poetry. Because the beautiful sounds of the Holo and Hakka languages are a major characteristic of this poetry, abandoning musicality would detract from the poems’ beauty. Fortunately, most Holo and Hakka poets are aware of this, which is how they’ve produced such lovely work. Recently, the R.O.C. Association of Vocal Artists set to music the poems of Xiang Yang, Li Khin-huann, Lin Chenmo, and Lu Hanxiu. A female soprano performed the pieces to a packed house at the National Performing Arts Center, the audience’s enthusiastic response testament that Holo and Hakka poetry are readily adaptable as either popular songs or art songs, profoundly moving listeners. We hope that Holo and Hakka song poems will continue to be sung, and that Holo and Hakka culture be passed on from generation to generation for millennia to come.

¹In Taiwan Southern Hokkien (閩南語), a dialect spoken by approximately 70% of the populace, is commonly known as “Taiwanese” (台語), or “Holo.” See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwanese_Hokkien

²A performance of Zhuang Bolin’s “If the Chinaberry Blossoms” can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3swAJoCTzI

³See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket_fighting