Ballad of Amoy

Ballard of Amoy

Ballard of Amoy

Image Courtesy of: Xiamen Overseas Chinese Museum

Transcription

Main Text (Right to Left):

Title/Header: 墩子紅吱吱 李禧探訪

Lyrics:

墩子紅吱吱

打城倒離，番仔反，

鼓浪嶼做公館，

番仔爬上山，

城內任伊搬。

Side Notes (Left Side):

註一： 此歌係七十餘年前郭氏嫂口授九家郭來堂記。

註二： 英人佔廈兵少膽怯，軍隊駐佔廈門辦事處在鼓浪嶼。恐軍民反攻，把鼓浪嶼民屋燒燬，故清代居民或委去不納地租。

Translation

Title: The Fort is Glowing Red (Collected by Li Xi)

The Ballad:

The fort is glowing red,

Attacking the city, chaos and fleeing, the foreigners revolt.

They make Gulangyu their headquarters,

The foreigners climb up the mountain,

Inside the city, they take whatever they please.

Historical Notes:

Note 1: This song was orally transmitted over seventy years ago by Mrs. Guo and recorded by Guo Laitang of Jiujia.

Note 2: When the British occupied Amoy (Xiamen), their soldiers were few and timid. The army stationed its Xiamen office on Gulangyu. Fearing a counterattack from the Qing military and civilians, they burned down the civilian houses on Gulangyu. Therefore, during the Qing dynasty, residents either abandoned their land or did not pay land tax.