THE CHANTS OF MOTHERLAND SAGAS CD & RECORD ALBUM DESIGN

Development for the performance is focused squarely on professional yueqin players of Hengchun, Pingtung. In the presentation, music from the yueqin serves as the point of introduction before the audience is given an in-depth look at the intertwining of the musical instrument Yuki and the lives of the women.

The Peninsula Book Store is the place where it all began; in the small stationary shop where the lives of three women— Aman, Achun and Yuki— came together. One of the three,Yuki is known in the village as the queen of “taking care of business”. If anything came up, all you had to do was let her at it. When she got involved, resolutions were just waiting to be reached. The second, Aman is a woman of constant hardship from the mountains who only slept three hours a day just so that she could let her younger brother and sister go to school. The third, Achun lives in the city, but every week when she needed to take the bus from Hungchun to go do her studies, all she had to do was think about the ride and she started feeling car sick.

The design concept is a symbol of life and growth. The yueqin is played by folks who use music to share their life experiences, and the use of black ink creates a visual of a twilight.

In an age where women still didn’t have many choices, these ladies needed to solve life’s problems on their own. Nevertheless, companionship generates power—and they supported one another; and with the purest of singing, gave each other company. They were there for one another in a world where there was very little choice