Taipei City Government

Since 2018, the Taipei Hakka Settlement Music and Image Stories Project has continued to collect the history and experience of the urban Hakka population. This year, musicians including Hsieh Yu-wei, Lo Sirong, ZiXuan Huang, Voter Hsu, Canace Wu, and Leaf Yeh have been invited focus on the theme of “A Mountain in One’s Heart” by exploring Hakka farms in the mountains and forests as inspirations for their new songs. 

The fruits of their effort have been compiled into a new album produced by the winner of the Golden Melody Award Ouch Huang. Before the official release of the album, the contributing artists took to the stage at Taipei Performing Arts Center (TPAC) to perform these songs in the afternoon of November 13.  

For this year’s project, Hakka culture and history expert Lo Lieh-shih led the participating musicians on a visit to Hakka farms across the districts of Shilin, Beitou, and Neihu to conduct field research. Lin Ching-li, a local farmer who grows organic berries and flowers, kept careful records of his family history starting with the arrival of his ancestors from Zhangzhou in Taipei and shared his experience on organic farming with the musicians. Fang Chieh-ning transformed Sunward Farm into a halfway house to help patients reintegrate into society, echoing the spirit of Hakka ancestors in helping people overcome hardship and challenges. 

Commissioner Xu Shi-xun of Hakka Affairs Council highly recommends the “A Mountain in One’s Heart” concert, noting that many of the participating composers and singers are winners of the Golden Melody Awards. They worked together to transform the stories collected during field research into music and open up new possibilities for Hakka music. These works are contemporary interpretations of Hakka folk melodies for inspiring the new generation. 

In addition, the organizers also gave away 100 pots of strawberry saplings to individuals who check-in at the concert on a first-come, first-served basis. More information on the project is available at the official Chinese website of HAC or its Facebok fan page.