I wrote this report when I was sophomore. I hope you all like my report!
¡@
The Introduction of the Taiwan Mountain Aborigines
¡@
The Austronesians in Taiwan include two parts: the plains aborigines and the mountain aborigines. Han people since the Dutch period came and have assimilated the plains aborigines in 1624, and that's why there are not so many records about the plains aborigines. Therefore, it is better to introduce only the mountain aborigines instead of both. Why should we know something about the topic? Taiwan Mountain aborigines are the native Taiwanese and seriously speaking, we Han people are invaders. It is important for us Taiwanese to know something about their culture.
The origins of Taiwan Mountain aborigines are thought to be connected to a great migration of their Austronesian ancestors. Let us begin with the origin of the Austronesians. "The Austronesian expansion into Southeast Asia and the pacific starting from Taiwan and southern China around 3000 BC, was one of the most significant movement of human history."(Diamond,5) We can see that Taiwan became a homeland of the Austronesians, including the aboriginal Taiwanese. The area the Austronesians live in is very wide, and most of them contribute in South Pacific Ocean. "The Austronesian-speaking people today has a total population of about 250 million scattering over islands in the Pacific Ocean, including Taiwan, Island Southeast Asia, the pacific islands and Madagascar. It is widely believed that their ancestors originally emigrated from Taiwan." Bellwood, 90) The east part of their contribution is Easter islands, the west part is Madagascar, the south part is northern New Zealand, and the north part is northern Taiwan. Thus, the role of the Austronesians in Taiwan is very important. In brief, the Austronesians came to Taiwan 6000 years before the present, and that is, they moved to Taiwan in the Neolithic Age. The period of prehistoric time can be divided into two parts: the Old Stone Age and the Neolithic Age by the Ice Age. The people who lived in Taiwan in the Old Stone Age were from Mainland China because Taiwan and China were linked together. After the ice age, Taiwan and Mainland China were separated and a group of people, the Austronesians moved to Taiwan, and they are the very ancestors of Taiwanese. The most significant culture during the Neolithic age of Taiwan aborigines is Puyuma Culture (5300-2300BP), and a historian discovered it during 1980 to 1988. There are more than fifty houses and 15000 coffins and the location is in Hua-Lian, Taitung vertical valley and Taitung flat. The most famous cultural relics of Puyuma Culture are coffins. Following are the characteristics of the coffins, which I learned from a history class:
* Specific material: slate
* Specific structure: oblong
* Specific direction: South-south west to north-north east
* Specific posture of the dead people: lie with face upward.
Other important culture relics are stones, pottery, and Jade. It is unbelievable that they could make such delicate jades like jade earrings. The pottery, stone utensils, jade items, coffins and skeletons found at the site are now preserved in the Taitung County Culture Center.
Ice Age
The Range of Astronesian
¡@
There are nine tribes of Taiwan Mountain aborigines and they are Atayal, Saisiyat, Bunun, Tsou, Rukai, Paiwan, Puyuma, Amis, and Yami. First, let me tell you the time when each of them came to Taiwan:
* Northern Taiwan: Atayal, Saisiyat -- 5000-6000 BC
* Central Taiwan: Bunun, Tsou, -- 3000 BC
* Southern and Southeast Taiwan: Paiwan, Rukai, Puyuma, Yami -- 1000 BC
*Eastern Taiwan: Yami
¡@
Nine distinct tribes remain with a total population of over 300,000. Six of nine are concentrated primarily in Taitung and Pintung counties. Most of Taiwan Mountain aborigines live in eastern Taiwan, especially in Taitung County. To the north are the East Scenic Area and west to the eastern end of the southern Cross-Island Highway; to the east lie Green and Orchid islands; and to the south is Chipen Hot Springs. Taitung was the first place, which the aborigine tribes originally lived long time a ago. The aborigines now who live in Taitung still outnumber the combined aboriginal population of other counties in Taiwan (from a web site: http://www.infoseek.com) Following are the examples of the aboriginal culture:
Atayal:
Tattoos on the Faces 
¡@
"The facial tattoo treasures" are one of our national treasures. However, the custom of facial tattooing is disappearing. That is, many old Atayal aborigines who have tattoos on their faces are dying, and there will not be any facial tattoo treasures in ten years. "The culture of the tattooed Atayal teeters at the brink of extinction here at the end of the 20th century, and many people are joining in the task of preserving it." (Su-Mei Chen, 185) Thus, Tai-an Rural Township in Miaoli County, which is Atayal country, held an activity called, "Reminiscence of the past" in mid-October, 1996. Twenty-seven people who had been tattooed took part in the activity. Since the facial tattoo treasure, one of our national treasures, will disappear in years, a large hospital in Miaoli decided to treat them life-long free charge on a regular basis. Many people are curious about the tattoos on the faces and following are the introduction of the tattoo on the faces:
Legend:
The origin of the facial tattooing is "The Marriage of the Sister and Brother." : When the world began, there were only two persons, a sister and a brother. The sister was worried about the reproduction of human beings, so she told her brother that they could get married to solve the problem. But the brother refused to marry his sister because he believed that a brother and a sister couldn't get married. Then, the sister came up with an idea and told her brother, "Tomorrow there will be a woman waiting for you at the foot of the mountain. The woman will be your wife. You should have intercourse with her." The brother believed her, and excitedly got ready to meet this woman. On the next day, the sister took some black ashes and wiped her face with them. Then she waited at the foot of the mountain for her brother. A moment later, her brother came. He did not recognize her sister and he had intercourse with her. Therefore, the human race was able to go on. From then on, the myth concludes, there was the custom of tattooing faces (Chi-Wei Liu, 179)
Coming-of-Age Rite:
Facial tattooing was not only the most important ceremony in Atayal life; it was also an important social requirement. Many people think that facial tattooing is very romantic; however, people who have tattoos on their face say that they felt so painful when they were tattooed. Moreover, you have to have some qualifications to suffer such pain. "After a boy came of an age and had gone head-hunting, he could then be tattooed under his lips as the mark of coming-of-age, and as a way of lauding his bravery. After a girl became fully mature and she passed tests to prove she could weave and cultivate, she could have her face tattooed to show entry into womanhood. Whether male or female, after they were tattooed on the face could they get married." (Chen, 179)
Shrinking of the Custom of Tattooing Face:
When Taiwan was under Japanese governance, Japanese thought that the custom of tattooing faces was so ugly and they declared that they would forbid this custom. There were still many people secretly had their faces tattooed anyway. In brief, the population of tattooing people declined from then on. "The final blow to facial tattooing was probably the introduction of Christianity, which began during the Taisho period, and spread widely around 1950."(Chen, 181) That is, about 100 old folks with facial tattoos, spread all over the Atayal villages of Taiwan, are the last group of people who have gone through the history of the custom. However, in the past, we did not pay attention to the national treasure and most of them are sick or nobody takes care of them. Nowadays, we begin to care them national treasure), but somehow, it is too late. I hope that the face-tattooing culture of the Atayal can provide an opportunity for reflection.
¡@
Paiwan:
Pottery 
The pottery of the Paiwan culture is very famous, but it has not been handed down from past generations for a long time. Nowadays, a young person who was named Sakuliu make it reborn. Thus the clay pots symbolizing "ancestors" were given birth piece by piece through the hands of the youthful Sakuliu, Paiwan elders couldn't help but marvel." (Wen-Ting,Tsai, 153) Pottery is the spirit of the Paiwan and next is the introduction of Paiwan Pottery.
Legend:
A long time ago, the god of Sun fell down two eggs, which were red and white, and he ordered the snake to protect the eggs. A few days later, the eggs were hatched and the male one was Puapaulun, and the female one was Charmugi. The young generations of them are Paiwan ancestors. That is why Paiwan decorate their pottery with snake lines.
Different Kinds of the Paiwan Pot:
"Legend has it that the chief of the Paiwan is produced by clay pottery and sunlight. Thus weddings involving the family is the leather, there must be clay pots as tokens of faith." (Tsai, 158) "That pot decorated with a snake design is a father pot; those with carved relief, wavy lines, or carving on the backside all mark different ranks; one with a mother nipple is a mother pot; one with both a snake and a nipple is called the darkness and light pot." (Tsai, 158) We can see that Paiwan are people of pots and the snakes are their ancestors. Many Paiwan people believe that the leader of Paiwan was born from pot and ordinary people are the descendants of snake and people.
Rukai: Rocky Houses
When you go to Rukai villages, you will see many rocky houses, the famous architecture of the aborigines' culture. There were lots of rocky houses in old Hau-Cha, where many Rukais lived before; however, old Hau-Cha has become a ruin and many valuable rocky houses were collapsed. Therefore, it is better to preserve this culture rocky houses. As for the problem of transportation today an industrial use road has been built, and in the future the government will set aside funds to repair the rocky house. "Right now the most important task is to restore and preserve the stone houses." (Yuan-Ching Zeng, 78) What do the rocky houses look like? The houses, completed by piling up flat stones, are only a meter high. The doors and windows open in the direction of the rising sun, and another special feature is that they are warm in winter and cool in summer. The another custom of the rocky houses is the funeral. When a person dies, Rukais bury him or her under the rocky houses. Their reason is that family members are not animals, so why should they not be buried out in the fields where they will suffer from the wind and rain. The method of burial was as follows:
"The body was placed in a bent over sitting position, then wrapped in cloth. However, the right hand was left outside the cloth, symbolizing the hope that the deceased would bless his (or her) descendants with the right hand. The corpse was then placed in the hole by the eldest son or nearest kin, facing the direction in which the sun set. This is because the Rukai believed that death was like the setting of the sun. The body was buried as deeply as possible below the stone floor of the house so that no odors would pass into the house to disturb the living." (Yue-Kui Chen, 141) That is, they respect their ancestors very much, and the culture of rocky house is the spirit of Rukai!
The Han people came to Taiwan in the mid 17th Century, after the Dutch came to Taiwan in 1624, and a few years later, Han people came and played the role of mediators between the Dutch the colonials) and the aborigines. During this period of time, the population of Chinese rose to nearly 3 million. After the governance of Dutch in 1661, Taiwan shifted from an "immigrant society" to a "native society". Painstaking assimilation gradually occurred. In the Ching Dynasty, Chinese government encouraged emigration to Taiwan. The Taiwanese during this period were either assimilated by Han people or were forced to emigrate to the interior and start their segregated life. Many of Taiwan's aborigines, especially those living in Taiwan's lowland, were assimilated after the Chinese arrived several hundred years ago. (from a web site:
After the K.M.T. came in 1949, more and more aborigines were assimilated. The government encouraged everyone to speak Chinese instead of any dialects, and there was no exception for the aborigines. Nowadays, many young generations of the aborigines can't even speak their mother tongue. Besides, something of their culture is not handed down from past generations after the idea of Christianity came to Taiwan, like Atayal's facial tattooing. The most important thing for us to do is to preserve the aborigine's culture. "In the history of the past 400 years, the process of the development of Taiwanese society has mainly concerned Taiwan's Han people. But no matter how rocky the course of Taiwan's historical and social development has been, the aborigines today live as integral part of the Taiwanese Nation'." (Lin, 1) Taiwan Mountain aborigines are native Taiwanese. Han people, the so-called "Taiwanese", are only the invaders but have done much harms to them. Taiwan Mountain aborigines have lived in Taiwan for about 6000 years and Han people came just 400 years ago. The government should protect aborigines' rights and preserve their culture as much as possible. To love Taiwan is to love Taiwan Mountain aborigines first.
¡@
Works Cited
¡@
Books:
Liu, Chi-Wei. Legends. Culture and Art of the Formosan Aborigines. Taipei: Lion Publication Company, 1996. 179.
Zeng, Yuan-Ching. Crafts: Sakuliu Brings the Ancestors Back to life. Taiwan's Indigenous Culture. Taipei: Sinorama Magazine, 1994. 152-160.
Chen, Yue-Kui. A Rocky Home Life: A Rukai Aboriginal Author Returns to His Roots. Taiwan's Indigenous Culture (III). Taipei: Sinorama Magazine, 1997. 134-146.
Chen, Su-Mei. The Disappearing Custom of Facial Tattoos. Taiwan's Culture (III). Taipei: Sinorama Magazine, 1997. 166-184.
Internet:
Abstract for Isa Afo Speech. Online. Internet. Feb 8, 1996.
http://csa.roc.org/washington-tss/siak-abs.html
Diamond, Jared. Book Review of Guns, Germs and Steel. Online. Internet.
http://www.anatomy.usyd.edu.au/danny
Bellwood, Peter.Austronesian Dispersal and the Family of Language. Online. Internet. Scientific American (July 1991), 88-93.
¡@
¡@