Chinese name: 哈旗鼓文化藝術團

Year of Establishment: 2004

Founder: Lee Jung-feng (李榮豐)

In February 2004, the HaChiKu Culture Troupe was established in Kaohsiung City. With an initial membership of 30, the troupe has now expanded to 80-strong. With the assistance of chief suona player Kuo Chin-tsai (郭進財) of the Kaohsiung Chinese Orchestra, bangdi player Chuang Hsi-shu (莊喜淑), percussionist Chen Yao-fen (陳珧芬), drummer Tang Yu-ru (唐玉如), and dancer Tseng Ting-kai (曾鼎凱), Lee Jung-feng (李榮豐) created this Hakka youth performance team and later served as the head and artistic director of HaChiKu.

Aiming to develop "Taiwanese Hakka people's performing culture" and cultivate young Hakka talent, the troupe integrates modern performing styles into the basis of their creation — the traditional elements of Hakka language, music, and dance, presenting their distinctive performances to the general public. Their shows include the mixture of rock and roll and Hakka folk music, Hakka pop songs, and Hakka music and dance. Since 2007, the troupe has gradually devoted itself to the development of Hakka musicals and created a number of music compositions and dance dramas.

Their performances are a breakthrough from the typical style of Hakka performances and often get warm responses from people regardless of their ethnic backgrounds or ages. In order to allow Hakka culture to take root in the younger generation, HaChiKu has created several children's musicals, which were performed in many schools and received very high ratings. The troupe has participated in national celebrations many times, such as the National Day celebrations, and the opening ceremony of the Taiwan Lantern Festival, telling the 300-year history of the Liudui Hakka settlements through their extremely creative performances.

In addition to touring in Taiwan, HaChiKu Culture Troupe has gradually expanded its overseas performances in recent years. In 2014, the group was invited to Poland to participate in the International Folk Meetings Małopolska. It is an honor to be the first Taiwan cultural group invited by the Polish town Myślenice during its arts festival. Its performance was astonishing, promoting traditional Taiwanese music and Hakka culture to Europe. In 2015, the troupe adhered to their passion and their mission to pass down the heritage of Hakka culture, and toured in Malaysia’s Kuantan, Melaka, and Kuala Lumpur. It was praised by local people and received extensive media coverage.

Later, the troupe’s members sought various opportunities for cross-border cooperation, invested a lot of effort, and created Hakka historical dramas. Based on the most painful battle in the Liudui Hakka area in the early days of the Japanese colonial rule, HaChiKu launched its performance “The Battle of the Burning Village in 1895 (1895火燒庄).” It reinterpreted historical events from a modern perspective, and inspired viewers to use different angles to look at the past.

In addition, this performing group has adapted "Sinking (沉淪)," one of the books in Hakka literary master Chung Chao-cheng's (鍾肇政) "Taiwanese Trilogy (臺灣人三部曲)," to create “The Hakka Yiwei Battle of 1895 in Taoyuan (乙未戰爭客家首部曲-紅日頭-1895桃澗堡)." It tells the story of the Hakkas protecting their homeland and defending the country, and represents the important Hakka history in the Taoyuan region.

In August 2019, HaChiKu Culture Troupe successfully served as a cultural ambassador, receiving the UNESCO-certified "Bleuniadur Ensemble" from France and taking it on a trip around Taiwan. This enabled Hakka culture to have more contacts and exchanges with other ethnic minorities around the world, through each other's music and dance.