A Preliminary Study of Shakuhachi Activities in Colonial Taiwan: Focusing on Its Popularization (1933-1937) and Taiwanese Shakuhachi Player A-Fa Lin

• Main Authors: Ching-Yuan Liao, 廖晴園
• Other Authors: 王櫻芬
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/06103480647392869169

碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 音樂學研究所 === 101 === Japanese shakuhachi played an active role in the musical life of Taiwan during the Japanese Colonial Period, but this has been a long neglected subject. This thesis fills this gap by providing a preliminary study on the shakuhachi activities in colonial Taiwan. It first gives an overview of the various stages of its transmission from Japan to Taiwan. Then it focuses on the shakuhachi activities in Taiwan from 1933 to 1937 and analyzes how the role of the shakuhachi players and the significance of shakuhachi activities developed during this period. Finally, by taking the Taiwanese player, A-Fa Lin, as an example, it further explores the reception of shakuhachi by the Taiwanese and the role and activities of shakuhachi during the wartime. At the beginning of the Japanese colonial period, shakuhachi was introduced into Taiwan as a means of self-entertainment for the Japanese expatriates. With the institutionalization of its activities and the transplanting of its respective schools into Taiwan, shakuhachi activities gradually flourished. The activities of shakuhachi blossomed from 1933 to 1937 as a result of the colonizers' dedication to the popularize shakuhachi, to advocate Japanese spirit, and to assimilate the Taiwanese through hougaku (Japanese music). Even though shakuhachi did not seem to have been widely accepted by the Taiwanese, there were a few Taiwanese shakuhachi players from the 1930s to 1945. Among them, A-Fa Lin was arguably the most representative. Lin first learned to play the instrument in Taiwan. In 1936, he went to Japan for further study and started to perform publicly. After completing his study in 1940, he became one of the central figures in the hogaku circle in Taiwan during the wartime. In this process, he changed from being propagandized by the colonizer as a model of Taiwan-Japan assimilation to performing actively in the wartime shakuhachi activities. From his activities, it is also clear that shakuhachi took on a new role during the wartime; it served as a tool to strengthen the Japanese spirit, to suppress the American and British culture, and to comfort the soldiers and their families.