Chinese name: 鍾雲輝客家八音團

Year of Establishment: 2004

About six decades ago in Kaohsiung’s Meinong, 16-year-olds Chung Yun-hui (鍾雲輝), Li Lai-tian (李來添), Tseng Mu-sen (曾木森), and Wu Chin-chang (吳勤昌) were self-taught musicians. Due to lack of money, they even made musical instruments by themselves until members of local gentry discovered the four youths’ gift for music and decided to sponsor their music education.

The four musicians have jointly performed the traditional Hakka music “bayin” for more than sixty years. Great teamwork led to the establishment of Chung Yun-hui Bayin Ensemble in 2004. Chung, the leader, is the suona player; Wu hits gongs and drums; Tseng and Li play the huqin (胡琴), which generally refers to Chinese string instruments. For 15 years, members of the troupe have dedicated themselves to the promotion of bayin and cultivation of young Hakka pupils.

The troupe not only brings its performances to various places across Taiwan, it also has been invited to perform abroad. It stunned the international art field in Paris, France; Geneva and Zurich, Switzerland; and California, the United States, showing audience the beauty of Taiwan's Hakka culture. The ensemble was the first group to receive the Hakka Contribution Award in 2019 for the lifelong devotion to Hakka traditional music.

In the traditional classification of musical instruments, bayin (eight notes) literally refers to the eight materials used to make instruments, namely metal, stone, string, bamboo, fruit shell, earthenware, animal hide and wood. It gradually became synonymous with conventional Hakka music which is usually performed in religious ceremonies (deity and ancestor worshipping), guest greeting and wedding and funeral banquets in agricultural Hakka settlements.

The performance of the Hakka bayin troupe is the basic performance of the traditional four-person group. One person blows on the suona instrument, two people play string instruments, and one person plays the percussion instrument. In addition to playing the suona, the musician who plays the suona also plays the flute, and is responsible for performing the task of hitting the sitting gong and the hanging gong. The person playing the string instrument huqin also assists in striking percussion instruments during parts of the performance.

The performance of the troupe is like that of a beautiful chamber orchestra. The wind instruments give people a dignified feeling. The string instruments are used to create a festive and happy atmosphere. The flute gives a solemn feeling. It’s like the musical instruments are talking to each other, and telling various stories. The performances of Hakka bayin music incorporate the Hakka life rituals into the music. Therefore, it is said that the Hakka bayin music is a type of music with life and is a representative culture that highlights the outstanding artistic style and traditional spirit of the Hakka people.