Research on the Ceremony and Music of Hakka Community--The Shieh Family in Tongxiao, Miaoli County as a Sample

• Main Authors: Yi-Yin Liou, 劉羿吟
• Other Authors: Li-Guo Ming
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2016
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/uk565w

碩士 === 南華大學 === 民族音樂學系 === 104 === 　　The objective of this paper is three-fold: 1. to investigate the relation between the Hakka ritual and music of the Hsieh Clan in Tunghsiao Town, Miaoli County, and the content of their ritual music; 2. to explore the role and function of ritual music by examining interactions of the Hakka ritual organization with emigrated clan members and affiliated ritual organizations overseas during their ritual events; and 3. to establish a systematic ethnographic audio-visual documentation and account of the sacrificial ritual through fieldwork. 　　The Hsieh clan, which moved to Kaohsiung in 2012, returned to their hometown to perform the "Hakka blessing ceremony”. During the major ritual between 11pm and 1am, the clan elders lay the altar with "five animal sacrifices" and kneel down, while the ritualist recites a scripture (addressed to the divinity) and the other clan members, positioned in a semi-circle, abide by the ritualist’s instructions. In 2014, the Hsieh clan reinstituted the ceremony of three offerings which had been suspended for years, including the grand music, accompaniments, reciting prayers, performing ritual procedures, under the guidance of the clan elders and organized by the Hsieh Shih-chen Management Committee. The Committee collects donations from the participating clan members at each ritual event to fund the next. To compensate for the diminishing fund caused by the emigration in the clan, Tunghsiao Hakka Cultural Heritage and Development Association was founded in 2015 to reach funders beyond the clan. Besides the thematic research on the ritual music of the Hsieh Clan, this paper also aims to review the development and transformation of clan’s ritual so as to study the role and function of the ritual in the migration of the Hakka clan, the significance of the ritual in cultural identities and development, and lastly, the methods and content of the relevant discourses.