Hakka Bayin (Eight Sounds)

Hakka Bayin is a traditional instrumental form brought to Taiwan by Hakka settlers, current in the Hakka villages of Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli and the mountain towns of Taichung; Dongshi and Shigang are key sites of preservation, the ensemble led by the suona — called "guchui" by the Hakka — with gongs, drums and cymbals, the core music of Hakka ritual life.

Performance falls into two kinds: the wind-and-percussion "blowing" for temple fairs, weddings, funerals and ancestral rites, led by the suona and kept by gongs and drums, and the "stringed" ensemble for festive gatherings, adding erhu and yangqin, with a rich repertoire prized for a sober dignity lively yet decorous.

Hakka Bayin binds together Hakka identity and reflects their outlook and aesthetic, an important strand of Taiwan's plural music culture, with real value for the study of Hakka migration, ritual music and ethnic identity.