On January 20^th, 2005, Mr. Huang, Jia-jiun, the musician of the Ming Hwa Yuan, was invited to our school to be interviewed by us. He brought four kinds of stringed instruments, erhu fiddle, ke zai sian（a shell-shaped stringed instrument）, da guang sian（a large, two-stringed Chinese mandolin）, and hexagon-shaped Chinese mandolin with him for the interview.
Mr. Huang was from Mainland China. He learned to play huqin（a certain kind of two-stringed bowed instrument）since he was seven years old. After he married a Taiwanese musician of Chinese Music, he began to settle in Taiwan. We are curious about how he became a full-time musician for the Ming Hwa Yuan since he used to know nothing about Taiwanese Opera before his came to Taiwan. Huang admitted that he really didn’t know anything about Taiwanese Opera, not to mention its particular music accompaniment. However, after he settled down in Taiwan, he learned more about Taiwanese Opera through TV, theater houses and the philharmonic. Then with recommendation from his colleagues in the Chinese philharmonic society and his excellent huqin skill, he was hired by the Ming Hwa Yuan and became its full-time musician.

The stringed instruments brought by Mr. Huang are all common in the accompaniment of Taiwanese Opera. Mr. Huang shared with us his experiences about playing these instruments. Nanhu, so-called erhu, which Mr. Huang plays best, is also the most difficult to master. He learned to play erhu since he was very young. The sound of erhu is dulcet and has very dramatic powerful to cope with different scenes in a drama. After musicians adopted the Occidental playing skills of stringed instruments, the artistic power of erhu is further reinforced. Therefore, erhu is also internationally known as the “Chinese violin”.
Da guang sian（a large, two-stringed Chinese mandolin） is Huang’s favorite instrument. It has a unique diapason, and it sounds like human weeping.
The sound of hexagon-shaped Chinese mandolin is tender and lucid; it especially goes perfectly with actors singing voice. Hexagon-shaped Chinese mandolin only exists in Taiwanese Opera.
Ke zai sian（a shell-shaped stringed instrument）was unique to Chi Zi Diao (Seven-Syllable Melodies) of Taiwanese Opera. After Taiwanese Opera won popularity in Mainland China, ke zai sian also became one of the major instruments for the accompaniment of Taiwanese Opera in both cross-strait areas.

Mr. Huang told us that in the Ming Hwa Yuan, most male leads（siao sheng）sing in C major and D major, while female leads（siao dan）sing in F major and G major. Ms. Suen Tsuei-feng sings in E flat major. Huang also showed us his electronic tuner with which he could find a fixed music score & fixed tunes for Taiwanese Opera troupes.
Mr. Huang also told us that there are more types of music for voices in the Ming Hwa Yuan than any other Taiwanese Opera troupes, because the Ming Hwa Yuan can accept more unconventional ideas. For example, if there is a foreigner in the story, musicians will have to play Occidental music with Chinese instruments. We asked Mr. Huang to demonstrate a bit of Occidental cartoon music with his instrument. It was really amusing!