Social:Pokua

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The Pokua Museum at Erkan Village in Siyu Township, Penghu County, Taiwan.

Pokua (Chinese: 褒歌; pinyin: bāo-gē; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: po-koa), also Tshit-jī-á kua (Chinese: 七字仔歌; literally: 'Song of 7 characters'), is a kind of traditional folk music in Taiwan and Penghu which can be traced from Hokkein peoples that migrated to Taiwan under Qing ruled. The main themes found in Pokua songs include elements of romance, weather, the environment, festival activities and events of everyday life. Pokua has no fixed process of performance; people are able to sing Pokua with improvised lyrics or rhythms.[1][2][3]

Name

Pokua literally means "Song of Compliment" or "Song of Praise".[2] Besides, there are some people call Pokua as "Tshit-jī-á kua'' based on the form of lyric, the literal meaning is song of 7 characters.[2]

Introduction

Pokua can be defined that a kind of folk songs, as an oral traditional music performance in Taiwan, which was ever popular in the long-term history, especially in commoners.[4][5] The basic form of Pokua, there is usually at least 4 sentences in every single song, then it is composed of 7 Chinese characters in one sentence. Moreover, the last of lyric word that rhyme have the same last sound usually as well. The rule of the numbers of character, sentence or rhyme is not so restrictive, but 7 characters for one sentence and 4 sentences compose for one Pokua is the most common Taiwan folk song style.[5]

Example

One Song of Pokua and its style[6]
Chinese characters Taiwanse pronunciation English translation Main idea of narration Note
天頂出有講百萬 Thinn-tíng tshut ū kóng pah-bān There was a million of fortune in the heaven. Landscape
地下出有媠牡丹 Tuē-hā tshut ū suí bóo-tan There was a beautiful peony on the ground. Landscape Peony is king of flower in Chinese culture,
it's also the symbol of wealth.
阿娘生媠好人範 A-niû sinn suí hó lâng-pān Young lady you are so beautiful, you are our beauty model. Emotion
親像仙女來下凡 Tshin-tshiūnn sian-lú lâi hā-huān Just like an angel fall down on to the earth. Emotion

References

External links