Pinglin Junior High School in New Taipei City over the summer asked students to conduct projects on local tea-picking songs (siangbao, 相褒歌) in an effort to combine the conservation of unique local culture with schoolwork.
School dean Ou Chih-hua (歐志華) said that the project involved students interviewing their parents, grandparents and other elderly people about their knowledge and the history of the custom, as well as asking them to come up with their own rhyming verses in the hope of passing Pinglin Township’s (坪林) culture on to future generations.
Local elders Wang Chu-ying (王菊英) and Kuo Tsao (郭棗), well known for winning Pinglin siangbao contests, were invited to perform and conduct workshops to teach students how to sing, Ou said.
Photo: Weng Yu-huang, Taipei Times
Wang and Kuo created several verses on the spot for the audience, demonstrating their familiarity with the singing style, Ou said.
Wang and Kuo’s performance at the school perfectly captured the nuanced singing style and sound with great pitch amid a rap-like delivery, student Lin Shih-wei (林時瑋) said.
The school also invited academic Lin Chin-cheng (林金城) to teach the children the eight tones used in the Hoklo language, commonly called Taiwanese, and share with them the history of tea-picking songs.
Siangbao songs are quintessentially Hoklo mountain songs and were often sung on an ad hoc basis when picking tea leaves, Lin Chin-cheng said, adding that Pinglin, being a large producer of tea leaves, is a vital center of siangbao creation.
The attraction of urban centers is the main reason the style is gradually being lost, as it is heavily dependent on local use and the spread of new verses among people, Lin Chin-cheng said, adding that only the older generation in the area are still familiar with the practice.
Ou said that the school invited flute player Tsai Chia-fen (蔡佳芬) and singer Shao Ta-lun (邵大倫) to perform at the school to show how modern elements can be integrated into siangbao.
The performance sought to make connections between folk songs from overseas and those from Taiwan, while introducing the origins and meaning of tonal use in the hope of conveying the importance of the style to the schoolchildren, Ou said.
We hope the events have left students with knowledge of the cultural treasure of Pinglin for them to pass on to future generations, Ou said, adding that the school hopes their efforts would bridge the generational gap in the township and help preserve its tea-picking culture.
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