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Listening to the World Locally – The Homecoming Tour of Taiwanese Musicians
Listening to the World Locally – The Homecoming Tour of Taiwanese Musicians

Publication date: 20 Aug 2024
Author: Lee Yi-ling, Wang Li-Chiao | Staff member at the Archives of Institute of Taiwan History

Ninety years ago, in August 1934, a group of young Taiwanese musicians embarked on the first Western music concert tour in Taiwan’s history. The Homecoming Concert Tour began with great fanfare during the scorching summer of the South Island, kicking off at the Taipei Medical School Auditorium. With a packed itinerary, the tour traveled southward, stopping at public assembly halls in Hsinchu, Taichung, Changhua, Chiayi, and Tainan, before culminating in a final performance at the Kaohsiung Youth Hall. Despite the demanding schedule, the musicians delivered exquisite piano melodies and harmonies to audiences across Taiwan, sparking widespread acclaim.

This article focuses on Taiwan’s first “Homecoming Concert Tour,” which was rapidly organized in just over a month. The program primarily featured Western musical compositions. During the scorching summer of the South Island, this grand musical feast unfolded with enthusiasm, traveling from north to south with seven performances. It offered audiences across Taiwan an auditory delight, broadened their horizons, and brought Western music closer to the local population. This tour marked the beginning of Taiwan’s musical diversity and led to Taiwan’s music being recognized on the Olympic stage, where Taiwanese music shone brightly on the global scene.

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Identification Description

Title

Du Xiang-guo Papers (杜香國文書)

Introduction

Du Xiang-guo (1893-1947) was a member of local gentry and industrialist in Dajia Town, Taichung County. The documents left behind him are acquired and preserved by the Institute of Taiwan History, Academia Sinica, and some of them are digitized for academic use.

Du Xiang-guo’s father, Du Qing, was a local businessman. He cooperated with other local businessmen to establish the HorThai company and the Dajia hats and mats trading association to improve the development of the industry.  In addition, he used to serve as the director of Dajia Credit Union and executive officer of Dadong Trust Corporation.  Affected by his father, Du Xiang-guo began his business in economic and trade area, and served as manager of Taiwan Securities Co., Ltd, president of Dajia Chamber of commerce, general manager of Penglai Paper Co., Ltd., supervisory manager of Zhongnan Industrial Co., Ltd., and executive officer of Dajia Credit Union. Both the Du’s father and son were active in the business community in Taichung.

The Du Xiang-guo Papers contains more than 500 items, including his correspondence, photos, collected documents, and manuscripts which were created during the period of Japanese rule. More than reflecting intercourse between local families during the period of Japanese rule, those documents, including correspondence with his friends, diaries during schooldays, and manuscripts about his literary works, help researcher understand cultural and educational situations and Du Xiang-guo’s contact with his friends. As for the correspondence on business matters and commercial information, revealing the situation of business development and civil disputes between businessmen, could be the first-hand material for the research into business development during that period.

Source of Collection

Producer: Du Xiang-guo

Coverage Dates

1908 - 1946

‹ Du Xiang-guo Papers (杜香國文書) up Biography ›

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