Pop songs in Taiwan have been an inseparable element in people’s everyday life. How was its rise and popularity linked to Japanese colonial governance in Taiwan? How did the reception and prohibition of pop songs shift under the Nationalist government’s martial law regime?

By Chen Shih-fang (陳世芳)
Translated by Grace Ho Lan Chong
Edited by Wendy Wu

The piece first appeared on StoryStudio  and was translated and published with the permission of the publisher

THE ORIGINS OF TAIWANESE POP SONGS IN THE PRE-WAR ERA

In the late 1910s, Taiwan, still under Japanese colonial rule, was gradually influenced by the increasingly global trend of “ Self-Determination” while also adjusting to Japanese imperial policies at the same time. This ushered in the period known as “Taisho Democracy,” where Japanese authorities were relatively liberal in political, economic, and cultural thought. 

Thus, during this period, Taiwanese lifestyle underwent immense changes. Entertainment activities such as listening to pop songs, drinking coffee, race horsing, watching movies, and dancing became popular choices in their leisure time.

In terms of pop music, Japanese record labels and phonograph manufacturers began to expand their business to Taiwan by establishing local companies. For example, the well-known Columbia Records (臺灣コロムビア販賣株式會社) actively promoted new Taiwanese pop singers, with the most successful singers being “Sun-Sun” (純純) and “Ai-Ai” (愛愛). These two female soloists ushered in a new type of auditory experience. (this phrase actually translates into ‘auditory feast’ which is to say, their singing and stage was so good, listeners were treated to a whole feast). 

Aside from actively nurturing and training singers, Columbia Record also scouted many talented songwriters, such as Zhou Tianwang, Chen Junyu, Deng Yuxian, and Li Linqiu, who created classic and hot-selling songs such as “Taohua Qi Xue Ji” (Peach Blossoms Weeping Blood) and “Tiao Wu Shi Dai” (Dancing Era).

Consequently, Taiwanese pop songs became one of the main defining popular culture features during this period of Japanese governance. However, as Taiwan was under Japanese rule, the songs that were deemed too out of line with the authorities’ political thoughts would not escape from the fate of being prohibited.

In 1934, a song written by Shouzhen, composed by Zhou Yu, and released by Taiping Records - “Jie Tou de Liu Lang” (Those Wandering the Streets) (also named “Unemployed Band of Brothers”) was the first song in Taiwanese history to be banned by the ruling authorities. The lyrics were as follows: 

The economy gets worse year by year, and the business gets worse day by day.
The boss doesn’t make money, going to live in his own without incomes
Aiyo, Aiyo,  my jobless fellow brothers
Willing to be an ox but there’s no plow to pull, unemployed brothers fill the streets
I can hardly sleep at night….
Aiyo, Aiyo,  my jobless fellow brothers
It’s not we are born with bad destiny, we should blame God who is unfair.
Parade the streets in the day, curl ourselves up on the street in the dark
Aiyo, Aiyo,  my jobless fellow brothers

The lyrics reflected the reality of high unemployment rates at the time. Due to its realistic and accurate description, it caused dissatisfactions and concerns amongst governing authorities. In order to prevent the song from inciting public unrest, it was forbidden. Further research suggested that another reason the song may have been banned was for the purpose of maintaining the government’s image for the next year’s event  “Taiwan Exposition: In Commemoration of the First Forty Years of Colonial Rule” , but that would be  another story.

This was an example of how songs had the function of reflecting a particular era and social contexts, which could also convey and express public sentiments. Additionally,  by facilitating  through modern media, pop songs further grew in popularity and influence. Nevertheless, due to their widespread impacts, the songs were under high scrutiny by the authorities.

BANNING AND CENSORSHIP OF SONGS UNDER THE MARTIAL LAW SYSTEM

After World War II, the Nationalist government utilized heavy-handed political measures to eradicate the remnants of Japanese rule to protect and reinforce their ruling power. Moreover, in order to implement an anti-communist national policy, the Chiang government enforced a complete reformation of Taiwanese culture, which meant that all literatures, music, arts etc. had to align with the scope of national policy. 

First, in 1946, the Chief Executive’s Office issued the “Instructions of the Office of the Chief Executive of Taiwan”, which laid out a disposal plan for popular songs released during the Japanese occupation, along with the discourse saying that,  “Now that the province has been restored, all Japanese issued books and publications related to cultural heritage and anything propagating the achievements of the Japanese imperial army, such as ballads and songs for the imperial civilization movement, must automatically be destroyed.”

After the martial law was imposed in 1949, Article 3 of the “Martial Law Order” outlined the “Administrative Measures for New Magazines and Books under Martial Law in Taiwan,” which mentioned that, “Anyone who denigrates the government or the Chief, records anything that violates the Three People’s Principles, instigates discord between the government and people, attempts to spread speculative remarks and false reports, intends  to mislead people, hinders military operations, or affects the social order will be under investigations.” As soon as this regulation was issued, all records, songs, and other publications were targeted as controlled objects. The Taiwan Provincial Security, restructured in September of the same year, became the monitoring unit to control and  ban the broadcast of popular songs.

Under the anti-communist national policy, followed by the implementation of the national language movement and the multiple facets and considerations under the Chinese Cultural Renaissance Movement, the ruling authorities determined whether a song should ‘live’ or ‘die’ by issuing relevant laws and ordinances, censoring the publications rigorously, and manipulating the media. Under the Nationalist’s rule, the ‘patriotic songs’ that featured patriotism, love for the party, respect for the leaders, and anti-communist sentiments were officially sanctioned and recognized mainstream songs. Popular songs that reflected social reality were forced to go underground and seek other ways to promote and increase exposure.

CATEGORIES OF PROHIBITED SONGS UNDER MARTIAL LAW

The main deciding factor of whether a post-war song should be banned was based on political reasons. If a song violated the following rules and regulations, it would be difficult to escape from the fate of being banned: 

1. Left-leaning ideology, Propaganda for the Communist Party 

2. Plagiarizes Communist propaganda and work

3. Lyrics are depressing in a way that negatively impacts citizen morale

4. Reflects contemporary mistakes and causes misunderstanding

To conclude, for the reasons listed above, songs with left-leaning ideology became the number one targets of being censored and forbidden.

The most bizarre and unimaginable part was that songs that included the word ‘red’ in their lyrics were seen as alluding to the Communist Party, which would possibly be banned. 

For example, the lyrics in Zhou Xuan’s “Dream” include, “My dreams are abundantly red.” Moreover, Zhou Xuan and Yan Hua’s collaboration “Tan Qing” also includes “Oh red moon, shine red light.” Both of them were banned for the above reasons. Even though the contents of the songs were obviously singing about love, they could not escape the fate of being classified as forbidden songs. Another song that was banned because of its association with leftist symbols was “Drizzle of Rain,” or “Maomaoyu” in Mandarin Chinese. The Chinese character “Mao” in the song title overlaps with that of the surname of Mao Zedong, then Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party. However unlikely, the song title’s association with Mao violated the postwar Nationalist government’s regulations on popular songs.

Aside from prohibiting songs with left-leaning ideology, Communist propaganda elements, lyrics that were reminiscent of the Communist Party, or any other reasons that jeopardized the anti-communist tenet, a song could also be banned if it reflected social reality or implicitly criticized government policies. For instance, the three local songs that are still well-known and familiar, ‘Hot Rice Dumplings’, ‘Recycling Wine Bottle‘, and ‘Mending a Broken Net’, were also forbidden during that period because the content of the songs discussed the hardships of life, difficulty of finding work, and a hopeless future.

Noteworthily,  the banned songs weren’t limited to Japanese or Taiwanese songs. Chinese dialect and Mandarin songs were also on the list. In fact, in the first wave of songs’ prohibition in the early postwar period, a large majority were Shanghainese songs. It was rumored that this was due to the Nationalist Government’s fear that these songs would corrupt the military’s mind and negatively impact the people’s hearts.

Aside from political elements, songs that violated ‘kindness customs,’ expressed emotions that were too explicit or tragic, criticized the image of the military, or provoked homesickness in soldiers and civilians were also forbidden. Many of the songs that were banned for these reasons were also popular Mandarin songs, such as “Girl Thinks of Her Lover,” “On the Jialing River,” “Romantic General,”and “Jiangnan Dream” etc. 

THE MOST ICONIC TAIWANESE SONG THAT REFLECTS THE TIME— “RAINY NIGHT FLOWER” 

The pre-war Taiwan’s pop music environment, with plenty of financial investors, industry stakeholders, and general public’s favor, reached its developmental peak in the 1930s. At that time, the best-selling and hottest song was “Rainy Night Flower,” written by Zhou Tianwang, based off a conversation he heard from a bar girl talking about the ups and downs of her past. 

“Rainy night flower, rainy night flower, blown to the ground by the wind and rain; no one sees them, grievances every day, once the flowers fall to the ground, they won’t return again.”

The song was then composed by Deng Yuxian, and co-written by both Deng and Zhou, which also became a classic hit and popular work of the female singer Sun-Sun. 

As the sales of “Rainy Night Flower” were quite good, the background story was written into a script, which was then recorded with accompaniment by a well-known movie voice-over narrator Zhan Tianma and sold as a record. 

When the Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937, Taiwan entered a wartime system. To promote the “Japanization” movement, the Japanese authorities enacted a series of policies in order to cultivate Taiwanese people into patriotic subjects of the empire. The ballads that were  household names had no choice but to be shadowed by the war. “Rainy Night Flower” was rewritten and renamed as “誉れの軍夫,” or “Honorary Military Man” in 1938. The “Rainy Night Flower” was transformed into a military song and became a melody that encouraged and celebrated Taiwanese participation in the war. 

Red ribbons, honorable soldiers, how exciting, Japanese men.
Dedicated to the Emperor, my entire life, for the country, will not pity
Charge the enemy, raise the flag, bring in ammunition, your comrades will follow.
Camping in the winter, in the deep night, you’ll dream of a cute baby.
If you want to die of old age, you have to be a cherry blossom, my father, my honorable soldier.

After the Nationalist Government took over Taiwan, this Japanese-inspired song “Rainy Night Flower” was banned, but the lyricist Zhou Tianwang did not stop writing and composing. However, due to the official censorship and control over songs, content creations were heavily policed everywhere, which meant household income was unstable. The family had to rely on his wife Ai-Ai, a pop singer during the Japanese occupation, to do subcontract work in the garment industry and sell imported products to make ends meet.  

Through the changes to the song “Rainy Night Flower” during different time periods, we can see the influence of social contexts on song lyrics. We can also see the display of political powers in the cultural sphere. Nevertheless, the authoritarian policies not only repressed the songs that reflected the social realities but strangled the songwriters’ freedom to compose  simultaneously, which negatively impacted their lives.

Fortunately, Taiwanese society has emerged from the shadow of martial law, and the classic songs sung in the past are slowly reemerging, carrying on the history of Taiwanese pop music. 

Bibliography

1. Chen Junyu, “Summary of Taiwanese Pop Songs During the Japanese Occupation Period,” “Taipei Cultural Relics” 4:2 “Taipei: Taipei City Documentation Committee, August 1955), pg. 22-30

2. Zheng Henglong and Guo Lijuan, "Taiwan Folk Songs Facebook" (Taipei: Yushan Club, 2002).

3. Xue Zongming, "Taiwan Music Dictionary" (Taipei: Taiwan Business, 2003).

4. Liao Chunying, "Transplantation and Internalization: Research on Taiwanese Cover Songs in the 1950s and 1960s", Master's thesis of the National Cheng Kung University Art Institute, June 2007.

5. Li Xiaofeng, "Analysis on the Content of Patriotic Songs During the Two Jiang’s Authoritarian Reigns", "Journal of Literature and History Taiwan 1, 2009, pp. 120-162."

6. Huang Yuyuan, "A Study of Taiwanese Record Pop Songs during the Japanese Occupation: A Concurrent Discussion on Popular Culture and Society in the 1930s", PhD thesis, Institute of History, National Taiwan University, 2010.

7. Chen Peifeng, "From "Boudoir Complaints", Hong Kong Males to Japanese Singing: The Evolution of Taiwanese Pop Songs in the 1930s and 1960s," Taiwan History Studies, December 2015, pp. 35-82.

8. Lu Xingchang, "Observations from Japanese Military Songs to Taiwan's Forbidden Songs", "Taiwan Literature Research" 10, June 2016, pp. 11-39. 

This article is a collaboration with the National 228 Memorial Museum

The 228th National Memorial Museum recently hosted a series of events called “Their Era: 1930-1960 Taiwanese Renaissance,” with three main events including documentaries, special guest lecturers, and concerts in order to introduce the public on the rise and circulation of Taiwanese pop songs from the 1930s to 1960s. The documentary “Vival Tonal Dance Era” was screened on November 4th, introducing the story of Colombia Records, Chen Junyu, Sun-Sun, Masojiro Kashiwano (柏野正次郎) and others who helped write the story of Taiwanese music in the 1930s along with the contemporaneous Taiwanese society. Director Wei-ssu Chien was also invited to discuss the spirit of the film; On November 10th, researcher Chen Peifeng from the Academia Sinica was invited to discuss the post-war 1950s to 1960s era, and a post-colonial and later recolonized Taiwan, and the way Taiwanese pop songs evolved spanning those period. The “Taiwan Ballad Music Festival - Grass Concert” held on November 11th featured important Taiwanese pop songs from the 1930s to 1960s.In addition to inviting singers and bands to conduct live performances, there was also an introduction to the context and metaphors about Taiwanese history to each song. In particular, senior singers such as “National Treasure” Wen Xia, Wen Xiang, and Ji Luxia were invited and, as though transported back in time, reproduced the original sounds of the glorious era of Taiwan’s pop songs. You are welcome to come and learn about the nostalgia of historical music. November 4th (Sunday) at 2:00PM for music class. November 10 (Saturday) at 2:00PM for the movie Viva Tonal Dance Era.