Kaohsiung Hakka Bayin

Hakka bayin is the traditional instrumental music played at Hakka weddings, funerals and temple fairs, brought by Hakka settlers to the Meinong and Shanlin districts of Kaohsiung, where it became the chief musical tradition of southern Taiwan's Hakka villages, mirroring the rites and rhythms of Hakka life.

Bayin is led by the suona and joined by gongs, drums and cymbals, sometimes with stringed instruments such as the huqin and yangqin; its players are mostly amateur Hakka villagers passing on the art, performing live at weddings, temple fairs and rites to the gods, with a rich repertoire in a plain, lively style.

Hakka bayin carries the musical and ritual tradition of southern Taiwan's Hakka settlers, holding important value for the study of Hakka society, religious ceremony and folk music, and standing at the core of Meinong's Hakka cultural heritage.