Yu-Ting Ye Returns to Tzu Chi University and Shares Her Own Healing Stories

Yu-Ting Ye is a singer-songwriter who graduated from the University’s Department of Communication Studies and is a talented Hakka music writer. She wrote the Hakka song “Thinking About You” as an undergraduate student, and Hakka TV picked it as the theme song for a drama series. After graduation, she continued to work on inheriting Hakka culture and creating music. In 2016, “You Are the One That I Love” won first place in the Hakka category of the Taiwan Music Composition and Songwriting Contest. Recently, she released an extended play (EP) record, “Road to Love,” and has toured around Taiwan. Today she came to Tzu Chi University, the cradle of her creation, and performed with her guitar mentor Li-Ming Huang.

She gave a “Road to Love” concert at Tzu Chi University. Yu-Ting was quite familiar with the stage, and the audience was the University’s faculty members, staff, and friends, many of whom she knew. Professor Huei-Jhen Wen, the dean of Academic Affairs, was her class instructor before. Professor Wen said she gave Yu-Ting a failing grade, because she spent too much time practicing the guitar. Since both are Hakkas, they occasionally used Hakka to talk to each other. Professor Wen is thrilled that Yu-Ting chose music creation as her career and has used music to promote the Hakka language.

Yu-Ting joined the University in 2007 and did not know how to play guitar. It is fantastic that she has become a singer and won many music awards. Her first music performance at the University was “A109,” which described her good memories of attending group practice with her peers at the Guitar Club every Thursday night.

Yu-Ting shared that guitar practice and club activities occupied most of her time during her college era, and she learned a lot from participating in activities organized by the club. She vividly remembers club members working hard to set up the venue to prepare for Crowd Lu’s performance. Crowd Lu told them: “I have provided performances on many university campuses, and the music sense of your university’s students is remarkable.” Moreover, the avatar clipping of the “Tom and Huck” concert achieved outstanding results. Yu-Ting told students: “Never underestimate yourself. We must also allow others to develop their potential. Everyone has a place in this world.”

There are four children in Yu-Ting’s family. As the eldest, like most traditional families, she felt the pressure that parents expected of the eldest child to have a successful career. After graduation, she chose music as her career. Her father told her: “You will have trouble supporting yourself.” She wrote a Hakka song, “Please don’t worry” to express her feeling: “I know, I know, you will worry. I know, I know, please don’t worry. I want to tell you that everyone will have their own life and find their path.”

She played guitar on the stage and sang her life stories, which touched many people’s hearts. Yu-Ting said: “Sometimes I write songs to express my feelings, and many creative inspirations of mine come from daily life.” Yu-Ting thought that only good grades could get her parents’ attention. After her parents gave birth to their third child, she developed depression, because of something her parents said to her. Yu-Ting said she cared too much about others’ thoughts, so she got sick. Only by facing it could she change what she was. She initiated a conversation with her father and learned that, in those days, her parents worked until midnight every day and struggled to survive. It was not that they did not love her; instead, they expressed love in different ways.

Yu-Ting presented “Be Yourself,” “Choice,” “Honesty,” “Life is a Drama,” “Bold,” “Do You Remember?” and “Lingtan Street,” etc. Her voice was pure, sweet, and filled with gentleness and persistence. In the second half, she and her guitar mentor Li-Ming Huang sang many songs together and finally presented a Hakka song entitled “Women,” for women worldwide.

Li-Ming Huang, a staff of the Department of Communication Studies, shared that fifteen years ago, a young girl came to him, after her radio class ended, and told him that she wanted to learn to play guitar. At that moment, Li-Ming thought she was kidding, so he set many rules for her, including practicing for an hour every day, never missing class twice, and completing all assignments. He was surprised that this little girl did it. Now Yu-Ying has released her first EP. We are grateful that Yu-Ting returned to the University and presented her life stories. Her concert was a musical feast with humanistic culture, life stories, and healing power.