CCKF.ERCCT

Call for Papers
Special Issue / Topical Section of East Asian Journal of Popular Culture
The Musical Roots of Taiyupian: Music and Taiwanese-language Opera Cinema

This special issue or topical section seeks to place the musical roots of Taiwanese-language cinema at the centre of scholarly discussion. It builds on the symposium ‘Starting from Music: 70 Years of Taiyupian’, held at SOAS, University of London, in June 2026, while inviting new contributions that broaden our understanding of Taiwanese-language opera cinema and its continuing significance.

The first commercially successful Taiwanese-language films emerged directly from gezaixi (Taiwanese opera). Indeed, the film widely regarded as launching the Taiwanese-language film boom, Xue Pinggui and Wang Baochuan (1956), was itself adapted from a gezaixi repertoire and performed by a famous opera troupe. Early taiyupian was therefore never simply cinema; it represented the adaptation of an established musical and theatrical tradition to a new commercial medium.

As the industry developed, however, Taiwanese-language cinema became far more than filmed opera. It evolved into a dynamic cultural space where gezaixi intersected with modern theatres, martial arts films, melodrama, comedy and popular entertainment. Opera and theatre performers became film stars; musical traditions were adapted for the screen; and Taiwanese-language cinema increasingly drew upon a wide range of musical influences, including popular songs and other local and transnational forms of performances as its genres diversified.

The rediscovery and restoration of Xue Pinggui and Wang Baochuan have opened further avenues of research. The surviving Hakka-dubbed version raises important questions concerning multilingualism, cultural circulation, soundtrack reconstruction, archival ethics and the preservation of Taiwan’s audiovisual heritage. These issues demonstrate that music is not simply a matter of selection and performance but also of restoration, memory and historiography.

We welcome proposals on topics including but not limited to:

gezaixi as the foundation of early Taiwanese-language cinema;
musical experimentation and hybridity in taiyupian;
the rediscovery and restoration of Xue Pinggui and Wang Baochuan and other gezaixi films;
soundtrack restoration and the ethics of preserving multilingual film heritage;
Taiwanese opera performers as film stars;
Transnational musical appropriation in taiyupian;
opera troupes and the development of taiyupian;
music, singing and performance in Taiwanese-language cinema;
film songs and musical performance;
pop singers and recording artists in Taiwanese-language films;
the relationship between Taiwanese-language cinema and the recording industry;
dubbing, voice and musical performance;
cross-fertilisation between opera, folk performance, popular music and cinema;
audiences, musical memory and reception;
sound restoration, soundtrack reconstruction and audiovisual preservation;
comparative perspectives on opera cinema in East Asia.

We welcome proposals from scholars working in film studies, musicology, ethnomusicology, performance studies, sound studies, media history, theatre studies and related disciplines. Please send abstracts (maximum length 400 words), with a one-paragraph bio, to Ming-Yeh T. Rawnsley ([enter preferred email]) and Chris Berry ([email protected]) before 15 October 2026. We hope to respond to everyone by mid-November, and the deadline for submission of manuscripts will be 15 June 2027. After peer review, we anticipate publication in the May 2028 issue.

CCKF-ERCCT Short-Term Resident Fellow Program 2027

The European Research Center on Contemporary Taiwan – A CCK Foundation Overseas Center (CCKF-ERCCT) at the University of Tübingen, Germany, pursues the objective of promoting and facilitating postgraduate social science research on contemporary Taiwan and scholarly co-operation between Europe and Taiwan.
To this end, we run a Short Term Resident Fellow Programme and invite two Ph.D. students or postdoc researchers from Europe and Taiwan each year to join the center in Tübingen for a period of up to three months.
Invited fellows will be granted a monthly allowance of EUR 400, basic health insurance, and a one-time travel grant of EUR 600. We provide office space and the opportunity to dis-cuss projects and exchange ideas with ERCCT Fellows and Visiting Scholars working at the ERCCT. We encourage Short-Term Resident Fellows to present their ongoing research in a Tai-wan Colloquium and invite them to take part in the center’s manifold academic activities. Working languages at the ERCCT are English and Mandarin, German language skills are hence not required.
Interested applicants should submit an academic CV, an exposé of their Ph.D. or postdoc re-search project of no longer than 10 pages, and a letter of recommendation by a professor of the institution where they are enrolled/affiliated. Please also state the intended duration of your stay. All application materials should be sent in electronic form to Stefan Braig at
[email protected]
The deadline for applications for the period from April to July 2027 is October 31, 2026.
For more information on the CCKF-ERCCT please refer to our website at www.ercct.uni-tuebingen.de or feel free to write to [email protected]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGMkHdWqf5Y

Taiwans vorderste Front – Insel im Fadenkreuz | auslandsjournal er Druck auf Taiwan steigt: Die Inselgruppe Penghu vor der Küste Ta...

【跨境鎮壓｜德國記者在台遭中國女子跟蹤 台灣法務部揭手段專業】

德國資深記者周勁恆（Jürgen Kremb）在台灣研究中國對台間諜活動期間，在阿里山遭一名操中國北方口音、聲稱在丹麥居住的神秘女子跟蹤監視，對方更一路尾隨至酒店大堂。台灣法務部調查局證實事件，並將事件視為中國跨境鎮壓及長臂管轄延伸海外的例證。

周勁恆曾任德國《明鏡周刊》（Der Spiegel）北京辦事處主任，目前在台北東吳大學人權研究所擔任訪問學人，他接受台灣英語新聞網站Taiwan Plus訪問時憶述，去年與同事和朋友在嘉義阿里山遊玩時，一名年輕亞裔女子突然走近，以普通話要求他代為拍照。

由於以往曾在中國北方生活，周勁恆聽得出女子帶有中國北方口音，追問下女子承認來自中國。周勁恆當場質疑「中國旅客不能在台灣自由行」，結果對方又聲稱住在丹麥，然後打電話向神秘人交談。

周勁恆馬上提高警覺，決定返回酒店，豈料相隔大約10分鐘，女子竟然在他入住的酒店出現，甚至坐在他朋友附近。周勁恆馬上對同事說不要再講電話，直言女子就是中國特工。同事原本難以置信，周勁恆於是說：「我以前在中國工作過，這類人我一眼就能察覺出來」。

返回台北後，周勁恆聯絡法務部調查局，要求當局追查神秘女子身份。調查人員翻查監控畫面後發現，女子並非偶然出現，而是一路躲在汽車後、藏身街角，以相當專業的方式尾隨周勁恆。周勁恆也確認，女子當日根本不是該酒店住客。當局展開查證後，發現她已於兩日後離開台灣。

｜約18萬人從事對台情報相關工作

周勁恆目前研究的中國對台情報活動，規模同樣驚人。他引述仍在中國接觸到的消息來源估計，約有18萬人從事與台灣有關的工作，分布在不同省份。不過他強調，這18萬人並不全部是正式情報人員，當中亦包括協助情報網絡運作的人員、線人和代理人，不能與目前被指在台灣活動的「特工」或「潛伏小組」混為一談。

今次事件除了驚動台灣國安會，德國聯邦情報局和丹麥情報部門亦都接獲通報。台灣法務部調查局強調中國打擊的對象，已經不限中國人或者台灣人，只要反對共產極權，追求民主、自由和人權，都有可能成為鎮壓目標。

#周勁恆 #德國記者 #跨境鎮壓 #中國間諜 #台灣安全 #阿里山 #情報活動 #人權研究 #特工追蹤 #民主自由 #國際關係 #長臂管轄 #法務部調查局 #18萬中共情報網

Another throwback! Dr Sarah Liu on gender issues in Taiwan’s national defence.

Throwback! Lin Wan-jou’s presentation on ecofeminism.

Throwback! Prof Ho Ming-Sho signing his book “Be Water” for us. 💦💦

ERCCT Visiting Fellow Programme
January - February 2027

The European Research Center on Contemporary Taiwan – A CCK Foundation Overseas Center (CCKF-ERCCT) at the University of Tübingen, Germany, pursues the objective of promoting and facilitating postgraduate social science research on contemporary Taiwan and scholarly cooperation between Europe and Taiwan. To that purpose, the Centre runs a Visiting Fellows Programme in cooperation with its Taiwanese partner institutions. Under this scheme, we invite Taiwanese Ph.D. or Postdoc students (R.O.C. nationality required!) each semester to join the CCKF-ERCCT for a period of one month.
The successful applicant will be granted a living stipend of 500 EUR, free accommodation, insurance provided by the CCKF-ERCCT, and a free round trip air ticket (economy class, up to € 1400).
During their stay in Tübingen, Visiting Fellows will be officially affiliated to the CCKF-ERCCT and be provided with office space. They will take part in the centre’s activities, most notably the Taiwan Colloquium, and present their on-going Ph.D. or Postdoc research to the other fellows. Working languages at the CCKF-ERCCT are English and Mandarin Chinese.
Interested applicants should submit an academic CV, an exposé of their Ph.D. or postdoc research project of no longer than 10 pages, and a letter of recommendation by a professor of the partner institution where they are enrolled. All application materials should be sent in electronic form to Stefan Braig at [email protected]
The application deadline for the period of January 7 to February 6, 2027 is September 15, 2026.
For more information on the CCKF-ERCCT please refer to our website at https://www.ercct.uni-tuebingen.de/ or feel free to write to [email protected]

Throwback! Visiting Fellow Jonathan Chen on overseas Chinese leadership in Myanmar. We had (and are still having) a very fruitful summer.

📣📣📣