Moon Night Sorrow
Moon Night Sorrow, also known as Moon Night Blues or Moonlight Sorrow, is a famous Taiwanese Hokkien song. It uses a tune based on the music of Taiwan’s Plains Indigenous peoples. It was created during Japanese rule by Teng Yu-hsien, with lyrics by Chiu Thiam-ōng. The song was first performed by Lin Hau and recorded by Columbia Records in 1933.
The melody comes from an early 20th-century Plains Indigenous hymn called Naomi, recorded by George Leslie Mackay. Teng Yu-hsien rearranged it in 1933 and Chiu Thiam-ōng wrote lyrics about heartbreak. The song quickly became popular.
Historical notes: In the early 1900s, Taipei rebuilt after tearing down the old city walls and creating the Taipei Ring Road. In the 1930s, couples often walked along the eastern part of the Ring Road to enjoy the street lights, which inspired the song’s sad mood.
During Japanese rule, a Japanese-language version called Benpu no Tsuma was created to encourage Taiwanese people to join the Japanese army.
In the 1970s, a Mandarin version titled Farewell My Lover, written by Zhuang Nu, became famous thanks to Teresa Teng and was also performed by Fong Fei-fei and Sarah Chen.
A version arranged by Chang Wei-fan appeared in the computer game Detention.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 08:34 (CET).