Pokua, also Tshit-jī-á kua, is a kind of traditional folk music in Taiwan and Penghu which can be traced from Hokkien peoples that migrated to Taiwan under Qing rule The main themes found in Pokua songs include elements of romance, weather, the environment, festival activities and events of everyday life. Pokua has no fixed process of performance; people are able to sing Pokua with improvised lyrics or rhythms.[1] [2] [3]
Pokua means "Song of Compliment" or "Song of Praise". Some people also refer to the tradition as "Tshit-jī-á kua'' (song of 7 characters) based on its lyrical form.
Pokua can be defined as a folk song tradition. Traditional oral music performance in Taiwan was continuously popular throughout history, especially among commoners.[4] [5] In the basic form of Pokua, there are usually at least 4 lines in a song, with seven Chinese characters in each line. There is usually has an end-rhyme on the last syllable in each line. There is no rigid ristriction on the number of characters, lines, or rhymes that can appear in any song, but four lines to a song with seven characters to a line is the most common Taiwanese style of Pokua.
| 天頂出有講百萬 | Thinn-tíng tshut ū kóng pah-bān | There were a million fortunes in heaven. | Landscape | ||
| 地下出有媠牡丹 | Tuē-hā tshut ū suí bóo-tan | There was a beautiful peony on the ground. | Landscape | Peony is the king of flowers in Chinese culture, as well as a symbol of wealth. | |
| 阿娘生媠好人範 | A-niû sinn suí hó lâng-pān | Beautiful girl, a model of grace. | Emotion | ||
| 親像仙女來下凡 | Tshin-tshiūnn sian-lú lâi hā-huān | Like an angel coming down to earth. | Emotion |