[3][4][5] Moon Night Sorrow takes its melody from a song of the Plains indigenous people of Taiwan, originally recorded by George Leslie Mackay at the beginning of the 20th century as a hymn called Naomi (拿阿美).
[3][5] In the 1930s, as open displays of courtship became common in Taiwan, couples would meet and take strolls along the Taipei Ring Road.
The result was “Benpu no Tsuma” (軍夫の妻), the lyrics of which encourage Taiwanese people to enlist in the Japanese Imperial Army and serve their country.
[11][12][13] In the 1970s, the song was adapted into Mandarin by Zhuang Nu (莊奴) as “Farewell My Lover” (情人再見), which was made famous by Teresa Teng (鄧麗君).
[16][17] [13] A version of the song arranged by Taiwanese composer Zhang Weifan (張衞帆) was also featured in the computer game “Detention” (返校)[18]