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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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Propagating Political Views to the Public – From New People’s Society to The Taiwan Shinminpo
Propagating Political Views to the Public – From New People’s Society to The Taiwan Shinminpo

Publication date: 29 Oct 2021
Author: Lee Yiling, Hsieh Minro |Staff member at the Archives of Institute of Taiwan History
Photo: Archives of the Institute of Taiwan History

Thanks to rapid technological advances, the Internet and social media are gradually replacing TV broadcasting as the mainstream source of information. Through surfing with a mobile phone or computer, people enjoy easy access to information from around the world. Nevertheless, a century ago before the advent of the Internet, newspaper was the most important channel for Taiwanese to get the latest updates in their daily life.

However, in Japanese colonial Taiwan, freedom of speech was under strict government control. Most newspapers adopted the perspective of the colonists and published reports that were neither objective nor neutral, thus constraining the thinking and vision of the Taiwanese. In the 1920s, eager for change and progress, a group of Taiwanese studying in Tokyo, Japan formed the Xinminhui (New People’s Society), striving to organize social and political movements. This Association heralded other Taiwanese political groups subsequently established including the Taiwan Cultural Association, Taiwan Farmers’ Association, Taiwan People's Party and Taiwan Local Autonomy Alliance. Through making publications and running a newspaper, they fought for improvement in political status and enhancement in knowledge of the Taiwanese. It was under such social ambience that The Taiwan Minpao, later renamed as The Taiwan Shin Minpao, came into being. It was the only private daily newspaper run by the Taiwanese at that time and remained as their mouthpiece. Setbacks encountered in such a bold endeavor under colonial rule epitomized the history of struggle against the colonizers, reflecting the indomitable national spirit of the Taiwanese.

2021 marked the centenary of the Taiwanese Cultural Association whose mission involved ‘enlightening’ the Taiwanese with the prerequisite of ‘running a newspaper’. This article reviews how Taiwanese ran newspapers under Japanese colonial rule and in doing so propagated political views to the public, enlightened their thinking, consolidated consensus in society, and boosted national morale with a foothold in Taiwan and eyes looking at the world.
I. Organization – Consolidating Power of Reformation ›

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