In 2010, under the auspices of a Fulbright Scholar grant, I had the good fortune to live in Taiwan for a year while studying the music of the Han and Indigenous Peoples there. As a visiting scholar at Academia Sinica, I collaborated with award winning anthropologist and filmmaker, Hu Tai-Li, on a film project entitled Returning Souls. This film documents the recovery of lost tribal icons by the Amis tribe and interweaves three of their cultural legends with modern day realities, including national land policies, religious beliefs, community identity and clan rivalries. The lost icons are three wooden pillars with carvings of Ami ancestors that were removed from their community in 1958, following a hurricane. Anthropologists feared the damaged pillars would disintegrate, so they brought them back to the Academia Sinica museum for display. The Ami believed that when the pillars were taken, the souls of their ancestors were also taken away from their village. The film traces efforts by the young Ami members to return these souls back to their village. 

The main melody of this project, taken from an improvised song by one of the tribal elders in the film, serves as an introduction and unifies the entire piece. Although I do not usually write programmatic pieces, to do so seemed particularly fitting for this project. Below, I provide the subtitles and brief plots of the legends that are also indicated in the score: 

Introduction: Sun: The Glowing Maiden 
An ancient ancestor of the Amis tribe gave birth to many children. The last child was “The Glowing Maiden,” a girl whose body glows (symbolizing the sun). 

Legend I: The Great Flood: The Descending Shaman 
Sister and Brother are the only two humans to escape the Great Flood with their lives. They later marry and give birth to strange creatures like lizards and snakes; a descending shaman brings blessings that allow the pair to give birth to normal humans. 

Legend II: Head Hunting: The Ascending Stars 
Two brothers are instructed by their father to head hunt someone who is spoiling their fresh water supply. They later find out that they unknowingly beheaded their own father, and were scorned by their mother for their heinous act. The elder brother shows remorse. He stomps his foot, and his body sinks further and further into the ground, while his spirit ascends to the sky and becomes stars. 

Legend III: The Glowing Maiden; Returning Souls
In the film, although struggling with many obstacles, the young people in the Amis tribe uplift their own spirits as they recover their ancestors’ souls. 

Returning Souls, Four Short Pieces on Three Formosan Amis Legends was commissioned by the Houston Arts Alliance through an Individual Artist Grant, funded by the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance. The quartet version was commissioned and premiered by Art of Elan for the Formosa Quartet. 

2010⼀整年，由傅傅爾布萊特獎的資助在台灣研究南管、原住⺠的⾳樂。作為中央研究院的訪問 學者，我很榮幸地與⼈類學家兼電影製片⼈胡台麗合作了「讓靈魂回家」。這部阿美族的記錄片， 交織了部落古老的傳說與現代社會的現實，如國家⼟地政策、宗教信仰、社區認同和宗族之爭等 等。片中遺失的三根圖騰，是在1958在颱風過後由中研院移走。⼈類學家擔⼼受損的圖騰會瓦 解，所以把他們帶回究院博物館保存。但阿美族認為，當圖騰被帶走時，他們的祖靈也同時被帶離 部落。這部電影記載了阿美族年輕⼈努⼒將祖靈帶回部落的經過。

由電影⾳樂版改編成演奏會版本，最初是⼩提琴獨奏，⽽這個弦樂四重奏版是2014年由Art of Elan 特別委託給福爾摩沙弦樂四重奏。本曲的主旋律取材⼀位部落長老的即興，作為序曲並貫穿整曲。 雖然我不常寫標標題⾳樂，但在這似乎特別適合。以下曲中各傳說的標題以及簡短的情節：

序：太陽，會發光的女孩

⼀位古老阿美族的祖靈⽣下了許多⼩孩，最後⼀個孩⼦⾝體⾃⼰會發光，因此被稱為「發光的少 女」(象徵著太陽)。

傳說⼀：⼤洪⽔，天上降臨的巫師

姐弟是逃離⼤洪⽔僅存的兩⼈。他們後來結合⽣下了蜥蜴、蛇等奇怪的⽣物。⼀位巫師降世並帶來 了祝福，讓他們能夠順利產下正常的⼈類。

傳說⼆：出草，上升的星星

⽗親指⽰兄弟去獵取破壞⽔源的⼈頭。他們後來卻發現，獵取的是他們⽗親的⼈頭，⺟親責備他們 犯下的滔天⼤罪。哥哥非常悔恨，他跺著腳，⾝體越來越深陷入地，⽽靈魂則是升入天空化為繁 星。

傳說三：發光的女孩，讓靈魂回家

雖然阿美族年輕⼈在影片中許多阻礙、掙扎，但最終他們如願的尋回了圖騰與祖靈。