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Taiwanese, Portuguese musicians revisit countries' authoritarian pasts

08/26/2025 07:21 PM
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The Taiwanese folk rock band Tudi-Voice. Photo taken from the Vancouver Taiwan Fest webpage
The Taiwanese folk rock band Tudi-Voice. Photo taken from the Vancouver Taiwan Fest webpage

Vancouver, Aug. 25 (CNA) As part of this year's Vancouver Taiwan Fest, two musicians from Taiwan and Portugal explored the roots of the traditional Chinese string instrument, the moon lute (also known as the yueqin, 月琴), and the Portuguese guitar, discussing how both have served as outlets for public discontent.

Under the event's theme of "Dialogue with Portugal," Chiang Yu-ta (江育達), frontman of the Taiwanese folk rock band Tudi-Voice (農村武裝青年), at an Aug. 24 forum talked to Portuguese fado guitar player Simon Arruda about the history and role of the moon lute and the fado guitar in their two societies.

According to Chiang, the moon lute, nicknamed the "beggar's lute," used to be a busking instrument used by people at the bottom of Taiwan's social hierarchy and a tool on which their livelihood depended.

With only two strings, the moon lute requires a high degree of improvisation by the player to carry a tune, Chiang said.

The instrument was invented about 300 years ago, but banned by the authorities in Taiwan during the country's authoritarian era and nearly lost, he said.

Chiang said since first picking up the instrument 10 years ago, he has often dreamed about performing overseas, and is delighted his dream has come true.

When Taiwanese musician Chen Ming-chang (陳明章) began playing the moon lute about 20 years ago, it was practically a dead instrument, he said.

Thankfully, he said, the instrument has been brought back to life after some elementary schools in Pingtung County's Hengchun Township began teaching it in recent years. In addition, Chen has held a moon lute folk festival in Taipei's Beitou District for over than a decade.

"The old, middle and young generations have finally come together," Chiang said.

Meanwhile, Arruda, one of the four fado guitarists in the greater-Vancouver area to ever perform the instrument publicly, said the 12-string instrument has a history of around 250 years.

Originally, it was used by seamen or the poor to sing about the woes of their lives, he explained.

From 1933 to 1974, Arruda said, fado music became a medium through which people expressed their dissatisfaction toward the autocratic government at the time.

Consequently, he explained, the government introduced an injunction that censored all performers of fado.

In 1974, democracy advocates in Portugal planned an uprising and picked a fado piece that would be played simultaneously by all radio stations as a signal to the people to take to the streets to protest against the authoritarian government, Arrudo said.

This "musical uprising" ultimately led to the downfall of the authoritarian regime the following year, he said.

After the forum, Arruda told CNA that he used to play jazz on a guitar, and was only introduced to the fado guitar five years ago when his father gave him one as a present.

Since then, he has become so enamored with the Portuguese guitar, it motivated him to learn more about his country's language and culture, and he rarely put the instrument down, Arruda said.

Arruda expressed amazement at the similarities between the moon lute and the fado guitar, noting that they both reflect the voice of the masses, can be played on their own or accompany a singer.

Chiang said that through his exchange with Arruda, he learned that Portugal, like Taiwan, also experienced decades of authoritarian rule.

He said he was particularly impressed with how fado music helped to usher in a new era of politics in Portugal.

Taiwan Fest is an annual cultural festival exploring the connections between Taiwan, Canada, and the world through events from live music performances to films, talks, culinary programs, exhibitions and workshops, according to the event's website.

(By Hu Yu-li and Sean Lin)

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