The Anthem of Mt. Alishan's Mysterious Origins

There are many versions of the song "Gāo Shān Qīng" (高山青) which literally means "High Green Mountain". The Taiwan Panorama website also shares this detail of the anthem of Mt. Alishan:

Though the Tsou don't actually live within the Alishan Forest Recreation Area, the CFDO had little choice but to build a cultural scene for Alishan on the basis of the old song Gao Shan Qing to satisfy visitors' imagined expectations of Alishan. The Tsou folk singing and dancing had stopped during the recent tourism downturn, but the Alishan National Scenic Area Administration held tryouts in 2008, for which the winning troupe won the opportunity to perform at the Alishan Forest Recreation Area entrance.

"Tall green mountains, deep blue waters; the girls of Alishan are lovely as the waters; the men of Alishan are strong as the mountains...": Gao Shan Qing has pretty much become the anthem of Alishan.

Gao Shan Qing was the theme song for the 1950 film Happenings in Ali Shan, the first Mandarin-language film to be produced in Taiwan. Some say the melody was adapted from a Tsou folk song, while others say it was penned by renowned composers Teng Yu-ping and Chow Laam Ping. The original singer of the song was Cheung Sai Sai, who played the heroine of the film, but it was later popularized by (the late) Teresa Teng, transforming it into a beloved classic. Many mainland Chinese people know about Alishan and Taiwan because of this song. But locals tell us that, due to the poor lighting conditions in Alishan's deep, dense forests, the film was shot in the mountain districts of Hualien and many of the actors were Amis.

Some versions of the song include aboriginal words like "Nalowanto" and "Puwasata puwasata". It's pretty much a background chanting which I enjoy. Maybe, a Malaysian, Indonesian, or an Ifugao will be able to decode it. Not me, I'm just sharing my thoughts on the anthem of Mt. Alishan. Alternatively, the song has been titled "Girl of Mt. Alishan". Alishan in itself is an aboriginal name.

I believe in the speculation that the melody came from a Tsou folk song. I want to think that somewhere in Taiwan--the natives of Mt. Alishan may have a version of the wrong purely in an aboriginal language. The song's mixture of Mandarin and aboriginal language may sound like an Ifugao song mixing Tagalog and the Ifugao dialect.

There's always the curiosity about how this song came to be. If the people of Mt. Alishan have been singing it--it's possible that the tune was theirs and used with permission for the movie. I guess I'll never be able to see the film as I want to. If it's a historical film then I'd want to grab it.

Hilario Davide Jr.'s Still Quoted by Anti-Constitutional Reform Fools on Social Media

People can falsely accuse me of colonial mentality because I've been quoting Kishore Mahbuban over Hilario G. Davide. I'm really sorry to say but I'm seeing various Facebook posts like La Verite (and the Pinocchio really fits it ), the Rule of Law Sentinel, Silent No More PH, and many more anti-reform Facebook pages (and very ironic too) quote Davide Jr. a lot. It's straightforward to say that Davide Jr. has been the favorite source of such people. An old man with a toga (who blocked me) also often quoted Davide Jr. Also, Davide Jr. turned 88 years old last December 20. I wish I had written this earlier but sometimes it's better late than never. In my case, it's better never late. Davide Jr. also mentioned that the 1987 Constitution is "the best in the world". It's easy to spew out words but can he defend his claims? One of his old statements went like this: It’s not change of structures, [whether] it would be federalism or parliamentary. It is...

How a Deaf Beethoven, Composed Wonderful Music That Survived Beyond His Grave

A composer who was deaf? That's really something to think about. Ludwig Van Beethoven gradually lost his hearing. It may have been caused by a lack of knowledge about lead poisoning at that time. The ZME Science gives this interesting detail on how Beethoven coped with his gradual hearing loss: Despite living in pain, Beethoven did not give up. However, he had a helping hand. In order to continue composing and playing music, Beethoven stumbled across a physical phenomenon that is central to hearing: bone conduction . At the time, scientists understood very little about how human hearing works. But despite the fact that his ears left him, he could still hear himself playing music by placing one end of a wooden stick onto his piano and clenching on the other end with his teeth. When notes were struck, the vibrations from the piano were transferred to his jaw, and from there directly to his inner ear. Miraculously, he could hear again! Bone conduction was born. Sound is nothing mor...

Taiwan Aboriginal Culture Park Indigenous Bamboo Dance

This is another bamboo dance done by what I believe are Atayal dancers. The dance steps are very similar to what one might find in Nueva Ecija or any indigenous region of the Philippines. What makes it more appealing to me is the absence of Taiwanese Mandarin in the lyrics. Instead, it's lyrics that would sound like the chanting of Filipino indigenous dancers. There are similar yet different movements between Taiwanese aborigines and Filipino aborigines. The Malaysians and Indonesians have settled in several places. The dance movements between Taiwanese aborigines and Filipino aborigines are too similar to be ignored. Even the indigenous language might be very similar.

The Sad Truth About School History Classes (and Why I Enjoy History as a Hobby Better)

I'm no historian and this blog is just written as a hobby . Yes, you got that right and I don't record or write history for a living. It's a shame that history is an interesting subject but people can lose interest . A person would be excited to learn mathematics but can be momentarily hating mathematics . It's because teachers, regardless of what subject, are made to teach any subject with too much memorization, too little emphasis on understanding, and too much focus on grades over learning. People tend to say that grades matter more because they want monuments of stone over monuments of learning. They value the praises of medals more than a lifetime of learning. That's why some honor students fail in real life. I saw this meme and I can relate to it. I remember elementary Civics and Culture subjects. From the second year to the third year under K+10--there's Asian History and World History . There was the whole bland textbook. Teachers occasionally do film s...

What's the Use of Complaining About Celebrities and Political Dynasties Running for Politics While DEFENDING Presidential and Rejecting Parliamentary?

2025 is just around the corner for the midterm elections . People keep emphasizing the need to "defend the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines" for any amendments whatsoever. If that were true then we really need to remove Article XVII entirely if the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines was meant to be set in stone (read here ). Several camps whether it's PDP-Laban supporters, Liberal Party of the Philippines supporters, Uniteam supporters, etc.--I can expect social media mudslinging at its finest . I keep talking about the need to amend or even replace the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines. However, they keep acting like it's the best constitution in the world, they cite Atty. Hilario G. Davide Jr. (and others like the Monsods) to idolatrous levels , and when I talk about the parliamentary system--I can expect the whole, "Boohoo! It will never work because we already tried it under Marcos! The proof was Cesar Virata!" However, I wrote a refute on that ...

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