ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the lessons that can be learnt from Taiwan's three decades of state intervention in nanguan. In Taiwan, the announcement of the revised Cultural Heritage Protection Act in 2005 signalled a new era in state intervention, while in China a large-scale project has been launched to valorize nanyin, following its inclusion on the UNESCO register of intangible cultural property on 30 September 2009. In the past, the cultural policy of the Nationalist government has been depicted as anti-communist and anti-Taiwanese, but this has begun to be questioned by recent scholarship which points out that policy was rather confused and conflicting. State-sponsored presentations on concert stages have also contributed to a change in the nature of nanguan music, from a pastime of self-cultivation to an art form designed to appeal to audiences. Keeping the quality and nature of nanguan as an amateur pastime is as important or perhaps more important for members than increasing the quantity of new musicians.
