Teng Yu-hsien (Chinese: 鄧雨賢; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tēng Ú-hiân, Hakka: Then Yí-hièn; 21 July 1906 – 11 June 1944) was a Taiwanese Hakka musician. He is noted for composing many well-known Hokkien songs. Teng gave himself a Japanese-style pen-name as Karasaki Yau (唐崎夜雨) and a formal name called Higashida Gyōu (東田曉雨). Teng is regarded as the Father of Taiwanese folk songs.
Biography
Teng Yu-hsien was born in Ryūtan, Tōshien Chō (modern-day Longtan, Taoyuan) of Japanese-ruled Taiwan. He migrated to Daitotei (Twatutia) with his family when he was three years old. In 1914, Teng joined Bangka Public School (艋舺公學校). He graduated in 1920, and subsequently entered the Taihoku Normal School (modern-day National Taipei University of Education). In 1925, Teng graduated and became a teacher of the Nishin Public School (日新公學校). After he married Chung You-mei (鍾有妹) in 1926, he departed from his teaching job and went to Japan to study composition theory in the Tokyo Music Academy.
Teng returned to Taiwan in 1930, then served as a translator in Taichū District Court. In 1932, he was invited by Wen-sheng Records (文聲唱片) to compose the March of the Daitotei (大稻埕行進曲), a Japanese popular song which was thought to be lost, until it was rediscovered by a collector in 2007. Later, he was interested in Columbia Records, an early disc company in Taiwan, and was invited by Tan Kun-giok, a songwriter that served as an officer of the Columbia Records. In 1933, Teng composed several well-known Hokkien songs such as Bang Chhun Hong (望春風) and Moon Night Sorrow (月夜愁).
He created a representative work The Torment of a Flower (雨夜花) in 1934, a song that depicts the mood of a fictional pathetic woman. Between 1934 and 1937, Teng composed many other songs include the Moa Bin Chhun Hong (滿面春風) and Song of Four Seasons [zh] (四季紅). After Second Sino-Japanese War occurred in 1937, the Japanese government began to reinforce the influence of Japanese culture, and thus suppressed the development of the Taiwanese Hokkien songs. Many of the songs that were composed by Teng were banned, and some were rewritten into Japanese language.
In 1939, the Pacific War intensified, thus Teng resigned from his job and fled to Kyūrin Village of Shinchiku Prefecture (modern-day Qionglin, Hsinchu) with his family, then served as a teacher in the Kyūrin Public School (芎林公學校). His health situation was gradually getting worse at that time, but he still composed some Japanese songs. At that time, Teng adopted two Japanese names: Karasaki Yosame and Higashida Gyōu. On 11 June 1944, he died from lung disease and heart disorder. Asteroid 255989 Dengyushian, discovered by Taiwanese astronomers Chi Sheng Lin [zh] and Ye Quan-Zhi in 2006, was named in his honor.2 The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 12 October 2011 (M.P.C. 76677).3
List of composition works
| Song | Meaning | Songwriter | Year | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 大稻埕行進曲 | March of the Daitotei | 1932 | ||
| 一個紅蛋 | A Red Egg | Lee Lim-chhiu | 1932 | |
| 望春風 / Bāng Chhun-hong | Desire to the Spring Breeze | Lee Lim-chhiu | 1933 | rewritten as Mother Earth is Calling on You (大地は招く) by Japanese Army4 |
| 月夜愁 / Go̍at Iā Chhiû | Moon Night Sorrow | Chiu Thiam-ōng | 1933 | Mandarin Chinese version: 情人再見rewritten as The Soldier's Wife by Japanese Army5 |
| 跳舞時代 | 1933 | |||
| 橋上美人 | 1933 | |||
| 雨夜花 / Ú Iā Hoe | Rainy Night Flower | Chiu Thiam-ōng | 1934 | rewritten as The Honorable Soldier by Japanese Army6 |
| 春宵吟 | Chiu Thiam-ōng | 1934 | ||
| 青春讚 | 1934 | |||
| 單思調 | Chiu Thiam-ōng | 1934 | ||
| 閒花嘆 | Lee Lim-chhiu | 1934 | ||
| 想要彈像調 (想要彈同調) | Tan Kun-giok | 1934 | ||
| 文明女 | Tan Kun-giok | 1934 | ||
| 不滅的情 | Chiu Thiam-ōng | 1934 | ||
| 情炎的愛 | Tan Kun-giok | 1934 | ||
| 老青春 | Lin Ching-yueh (林清月) | 1934 | ||
| 梅前小曲 | 1934 | |||
| 琴韻 | ||||
| 碎心花 | Chiu Thiam-ōng | 1934 | ||
| 閨女嘆 | Chiu Thiam-ōng | 1934 | ||
| 風中煙 | Chiu Thiam-ōng | 1935 | ||
| 姊妹心 | 1938 | |||
| 對花 | 1938 | |||
| 番社姑娘 / 蕃社のむすめ | Kurihara Hakuya (栗原白也) | 1938 | ||
| 寄給哥哥的一封信 | 1938 | |||
| 四季紅 / Sù Kùi Hông | Song of Four Seasons | Lee Lim-chhiu | 1938 | |
| 滿面春風 | Chiu Thiam-ōng | 1939 | ||
| 小雨夜戀 | Tan Kun-giok | 1939 | ||
| 密林的黃昏 | Tan Kun-giok | 1939 | ||
| 純情夜曲 | 1939 | |||
| 南風謠 | 1940 | |||
| 南國花譜 | 1940 | |||
| 送君曲 | 1940 | |||
| 不願煞 | Lee Lim-chhiu | 1941 | ||
| 昏心鳥 | ||||
| 月昇鼓浪嶼 | ||||
| 菅芒花 |
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Teng Yu-hsien.References
"255989 Dengyushian (2006 TU94)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 3 September 2019. https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=255989 ↩
"255989 Dengyushian (2006 TU94)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 3 September 2019. https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=255989 ↩
"MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 3 September 2019. https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/ECS/MPCArchive/MPCArchive_TBL.html ↩
Han Cheung (4 June 2017). "Taiwan in time: Love songs turned military marches". Taipei Times. Retrieved 4 June 2017. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2017/06/04/2003671867 ↩
Han Cheung (4 June 2017). "Taiwan in time: Love songs turned military marches". Taipei Times. Retrieved 4 June 2017. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2017/06/04/2003671867 ↩
Han Cheung (4 June 2017). "Taiwan in time: Love songs turned military marches". Taipei Times. Retrieved 4 June 2017. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2017/06/04/2003671867 ↩