"Taiwan the Formosa" (, ''

pe̍h-ōe-jī (; ; ), also sometimes known as the Church Romanization, is an orthography used to write variants of Southern Min Chinese, particularly Taiwanese Hokkien, Taiwanese and Amoy dialect, Amoy Hokkien. Developed by Western missionary, missionaries ...

'': Tâi-oân Chhùi-chhiⁿ), also "Taiwan the Green", is a

poem Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...

written (conceived in 1977; finalized in 1993) by Taiwanese poet and

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

man Tīⁿ Jî-gio̍k (鄭兒玉; John Jyi-giokk Ti'n, Er-Yu Cheng), set to music between 1988 and 1993 by neo-Romantic Taiwanese composer Tyzen Hsiao. An English metrical translation was provided by Boris and Clare Anderson. The text represents an early example of the popular verse that emerged from the

Taiwanese literature movement The Taiwanese literature movement (also Taiwan literature movement, Nativist literature movement) refers to the effort of authors, poets, dramatists, musicians, and publishers in Taiwan to establish recognition of a distinctly Taiwanese body of ...

in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1994 Hsiao used this

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hy ...

to conclude his ''1947 Overture'' for soprano, choir and orchestra. "Taiwan the Formosa" has been popular with

pro-democracy Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a full ...

activists and has been adopted by the

Taiwan independence movement The Taiwan independence movement is a political movement which advocates the formal declaration of an Independence, independent and Sovereign state, sovereign Taiwanese state, as opposed to Chinese unification or the status quo in Cross-Str ...

as a proposed

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...

for a future Republic of Taiwan.Shih Hsiu-chuan
"Pro-independence supporters promote 'Taiwan the Green' for national anthem"

Taipei Times The ''Taipei Times'' is the only printed daily English-language newspaper in Taiwan, and the third established there. Online competitors include the state-owned '' Focus Taiwan'' and '' Taiwan News''; '' The China Post'' was formerly a compet ...

, 2006-05-18 The first stanza is

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

. The second, written by popular demand and published in number 2364 of Taiwan Church News in 1997, has overt Christian references in keeping with the poet's vocation as a minister in the

Presbyterian Church in Taiwan The Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT; ; ) is the largest Protestant Christian denomination based in Taiwan. The PCT is a member of the World Council of Churches, and its flag features a "Burning Bush," which signifies the concept of burning y ...

. The second verse is intended only for performance in

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

settings or on similarly appropriate occasions.

Lyrics

The poem was originally written in ''

''. It has subsequently been translated into other languages, such as

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...

(by clergyman Hiû San-hiùng 邱善雄).

References

External links

Sheet music and mp3 audio files
*.
''Sing our national anthem—Taiwan the Formosa''
{dead link, date=October 2010, bot=AnomieBOT Asian anthems 1993 songs 1993 poems Christian hymns Taiwanese songs Patriotic songs Songs about Asia Taiwan independence movement

Lyrics

See also

References

External links