Gaoshan tribe, the origin of this name

The names of the Gaoshan people in history include their ancestors "Zuozhen people", the owners of the "Changbin culture", the Neolithic Dazakeng culture, Yuanshan culture, Fengbitou culture, Taitung culture, etc. The masters of the Beinan culture, etc., as well as the Shanyi (Yizhou people) in the Three Kingdoms era, the Liuqiu people in the Sui Dynasty, etc.; the direct ancestors of the Gaoshan people after their formation: the Dongfanyi people in the Ming Dynasty and the Fan people in the Qing Dynasty; Japanese imperialism invaded Taiwan After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the Gaoshan tribe, Taiwan's original inhabitants, aboriginals, indigenous tribes, and the different names of the Gaoshan tribe in various regions, such as the Pingpu people's Kedagalan People, Kamalan people, Daokas people, Bazehai people, Babura people, Babusha people, Thao people, and Anya people, Siraya people, Makadao people, live in the central mountainous area and the eastern longitudinal valley. The Amis, Atayal, Paiwan, Bunun, Beinan, Rukai, Cao, Saisiyat, Yami, etc. in the plains and on Orchid Island.

The Gaoshan ethnic group is the general name given to the indigenous ethnic minorities in Taiwan by compatriots on the mainland after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the name was officially announced by the Government Affairs Council of the Central People's Government. Now This name is commonly used internationally and on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Gaoshan Nationality

Ethnic Profile

Gaoshan Nationality is an ethnic minority living in Taiwan Province. They mainly live in the mountains of Taiwan Province, the longitudinal valley plains along the eastern coast, and on Orchid Island. The Taiwan authorities call them "Mountain Compatriots", or "Mountain Compatriots" for short. Due to differences in region and language, there are Amis people, Atayal people, Paiwan people, Bunun people, Rukai people, Beinan people, Cao people, Saixia people and Yami people. In addition, there are more than 100,000 Pingpu people who have been Sinicized. Pingpu people include 10 ethnic groups in history. They live scattered in the western, northern, southwestern plains and coastal areas of Taiwan. They have mixed with the Han people for a long time and intermarried. They accepted Han culture early and have basically integrated with the Han people since the 19th century. According to statistics from the fifth census in 2000, there are still 4,461 people scattered in the mainland of the motherland. The Gaoshan people have their own language, which belongs to the Indonesian language family of the Austronesian language family and has no written language. Gaoshan people in different regions use different languages.

National History

The Neolithic cultural relics unearthed in Taiwan are closely related to the Neolithic cultural relics on the mainland of the motherland, especially in Fujian. Taiwanese people should have migrated from the mainland of the motherland.

Among the traditional customs passed down by the Gaoshan people from generation to generation, there are many characteristics of ancient South China culture, such as nesting, public houses, boats, pestles and mortars, wooden drums, eating raw seafood, being addicted to betel nuts, chewing rice to make wine, and bamboo tubes. Drinking, barefoot, squatting, feather crowns, flower clothes, pearl shells, long-haired clothes, tube skirts, broken hair tattoos, chiseled teeth, nirvana teeth, ear piercing, teasing with piano and flute, building a house with hairpins, cliff burial, bone washing burial, Songs and dances, swings, wood carvings, headhunting, sacrifices, witchcraft, sun, snake and bird worship, ancestor worship, flood myths, sun shooting myths, serial naming system, etc. Among them, nest dwelling, boating, broken hair tattoos, chiseling teeth, ear piercing, eating raw seafood, cliff burial, snake worship, etc. are all typical cultural characteristics of the Ancient Yue people, which confirms that the Gaoshan people and the Ancient Yue people; Come out with a line.

The Gaoshan people have been in the stage of primitive social development for a long time. According to historical records, during the Three Kingdoms period, the ancestors of the Gaoshan people were divided into several tribes. Tribe members were called "Milin", and public affairs were jointly managed by tribe members. They used stone axes, stone adzes, stone rings, deer antlers as spears, and bluestones as arrowheads. They mainly focused on gathering and hunting, and animal husbandry was not yet developed. The prevalent marriage system in which a man marries a woman's family is probably still in the stage of matrilineal clan society. By the 7th century, farming and animal husbandry had begun, and production tools were still mainly stone tools, with a small amount of iron tools. The tribe has a chief and no taxes. Public affairs are still managed by the tribe members. If someone commits a crime, the tribe members will unanimously decide on sanctions in accordance with customary laws. Those who are less likely to be punished will be punished, and those who are more serious will be executed. They have no writing, no calendar, and they worship mountain gods and sea gods. There are often songs and dances during gatherings. There have been sculptures and paintings. Throughout the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, the relationship between Taiwan and the mainland has increased day by day. According to records in Ming Dynasty Chen Di's "Dong Fan Zhi" and other books, at that time, although the agriculture, animal husbandry and hunting of the Gaoshan people had further developed than before, some special products were already traded with the coastal residents of the mainland. The Han people used agate, porcelain, Cloth, salt, copper, hairpin rings, etc. are exchanged for Gaoshan people's deer breasts, deer skins, antlers, etc. However, the tribes still "do not interact with other barbarians until they die" and still live a primitive life.

After the 17th century, due to the large number of Han people moving to Taiwan and the Zheng regime taking a series of measures that were conducive to the development of the Gaoshan economy and culture, the socio-economic development of the Gaoshan ethnic group was accelerated. Some of the Gaoshan people living in the southwest plains developed into feudal society. Since the 16th century, Taiwan's Gaoshan people have suffered many foreign invasions. In 1563, Japanese pirates invaded the Jilong (Keelung) area in the north, burned, killed, and looted, and the local Gaoshan people were forced to move to the mountains. Later, Dutch colonists, Spanish colonists, and American and Japanese invaders invaded Taiwan. The Gaoshan people resolutely resisted, launched a heroic, tenacious, and unyielding struggle, and demonstrated their patriotic sentiments of defending their homeland to the death.

Socioeconomics

Before the large-scale immigration of the Han people in the 17th century, the Gaoshan people in Taiwan were in a primitive social stage. People who live in the mountains make a living by hunting. Ethnic groups living in the plains engage in land reclamation, farming, fishing, hunting, and gathering. They mainly grow taro, potatoes, upland rice, millet, etc. They did not know the tools of plow, rake, hoe and ax, and the production tools and farming technology were extremely primitive.

In the Qing Dynasty, with the large-scale immigration and development, the Gaoshan people in Taiwan generally introduced advanced production technologies from the Han people. The production and life of the high mountain people living in the plains and coastal areas have undergone significant changes. They began to plant rice, wheat, millet, millet, sesame, beans, etc., while the high mountain people living in caves and deep mountains and old forests still mainly hunt. Also engaged in collecting and planting. Hunting is called "chucao" and is mainly about deer, but also wild boar, bison, bear, leopard, rabbit, pheasant, etc. The main hunting tools include bows, arrows, spears, knives, fire guns, etc. The hunting methods are generally burning hunting, trap hunting, shooting, etc. The hunting scene is very spectacular. In modern times, hunting has become a sideline business for the Gaoshan people. In the customs of the Amis and Puinan people, group hunting is a must-do activity before and after major religious ceremonies. The Yamei people of Orchid Island, the Ami people of the coast and the Thao people of Sun Moon Lake are also engaged in fishing. Usually fish bones, harpoons, bows, nets, fish traps, fish cages, bamboo covers, bamboo rafts, fishing boats and other tools are used to catch fish. Use methods such as shooting fish, net fishing, fishing, building weirs, poisoning fish, drying fish, curtain fish, and luring fish. The peak season for hunting flying fish is from March to June every year for the Yamei people. They formed fleets of patrilineal lineage groups and fished at night. Although the Beinan people, Paiwan people, and Rukai people live close to the sea, they do not engage in fishing and still rely on agriculture and hunting as their basic production forms. Until 1949, part of the Gaoshan Bunun and Atayal peoples still retained strong remnants of primitive communes. The Pingpu people, Paiwanru, Atayal people, Rukai people, Amis people, etc. had transcended the slave society and entered the feudal society. stage. The Pingpu people and the Paiwan people also have a tenancy relationship and a polarization between the rich and the poor.

Since 1949, Taiwan Province has been under the control of the Kuomintang, and the capitalist commodity economy has reached a relatively developed stage. Taiwan's economy is known as one of the "Four Asian Tigers". Under the influence and promotion of the developed commodity economy, the farming, fishing and hunting economy of the Gaoshan people has undergone tremendous changes. In the areas where the Gaoshan people live, modern industry and modern agriculture have developed, and the living standards of the Gaoshan people, especially those living in coastal areas and plains, have been greatly improved. However, productivity levels and economic development levels vary widely across regions. The economic development of the Gaoshan people living in mountainous areas is still slow and their living standards are relatively low.

Culture and Art

The folk literature of the Gaoshan people includes songs, myths, legends and stories, etc. It is rich, colorful, primitive and simple. The songs not only reflect various production activities such as farming, fishing, hunting, and gathering, but also include war songs that record tribal battles, resistance to foreign aggression, and defense of territory. There are also custom songs, which are as numerous as pearls; current political songs, which criticize the current ills, are sonorous and powerful. The ballads have a fresh style and beautiful music. The mythology of the Gaoshan people is rich in connotation. In the process of inheritance, a mythological system with the core of tracing the origin of human ancestors, marriage between floods and compatriots, and conquest of the sun has been formed. It reflects the beliefs, aspirations, values ??and artistic accomplishments of the Gaoshan compatriots. In addition, there are many legends and stories based on customs, outstanding figures, "little black people", animals and plants, etc.

The Gaoshan people are a people rich in artistic genius. National arts such as singing, dancing, music, and sculpture are world-famous. According to historical records, the Gaoshan people performed song and dance performances whether it was for labor, love, wedding banquets, sacrifices, etc. They held hands around each other, stamped their feet and sang, shook their heads and closed their eyes, showing a very flattering attitude. The Yamei people's hair swinging dance, the Saisiyat people's dwarf ritual dance, the Ami people's harvest dance, etc. all have a very high artistic level. In the history of the Gaoshan people, there was a marriage custom of building a house with hairpins and playing the flute to tease the couple, so they often used harmonica, nose flute, etc. to play pleasant melodies.

In addition, there are wind instruments such as nose flutes and nose whistles; percussion instruments such as wooden drums, xylophones, pestles and mortars, and string instruments such as bows and harps. The music produced is pleasant to the ear.

Wood carving art has a unique style of primitive art in the Pacific region, among which the wood carvings of the Paiwan people are the most outstanding. Houses, weapons and daily utensils are all carved and decorated, with rough knife skills and simple shapes. The decorations feature squatting figures as the theme, as well as a combination of totemic human heads, snakes, deers and geometric patterns. They pursue strong color contrast and exaggerated realism to hide the soul in nature and capture the beauty in simplicity. The wood carvings of the Paiwan people are collected by people at home and abroad. In addition, the fishing boats of the Yamei people also have unique carvings, and their artistic realm is praised by the world.

Lifestyle and customs

In ancient times, the Gaoshan people regarded nudity as beauty. Only a piece of cloth was used for shade and a fur was worn around the waist. However, after coming into contact with Han culture, men gradually wore long gowns and women wore skirts, and they paid attention to the beauty of clothing. In addition to animal skins and bark, clothes are mostly made of self-woven linen and decorated with colorful patterns. Types of men's clothing: sleeveless tunics, capes, bras, and belts are common in the north; deerskin vests, breast bags, waist bags, bras, and black cloth skirts are common in the middle; long-sleeved tops, waist skirts, and trousers are common in the south. Black turban etc. Women's clothing types include short clothes, long skirts and long clothes and short skirts. The clothes of the Yamei people are simple. Men cover their lower bodies with T-shaped cloth and wear vests; women usually wear vests and tube skirts, and wrap themselves in square cloth in winter.

The diet of the Gaoshan people is mainly based on cereals and roots. They generally eat millet, rice, potatoes, and taro as their common foods, along with miscellaneous grains, wild vegetables, and game animals. Millet and upland rice are the main food in the mountainous areas, while rice is the main food in the plains. Pingpu people also specialize in fragrant rice and like to eat "Baicao paste" (grass slurry in deer intestines mixed with salt). In the past, all diets were based on raw food. Nowadays, eating, cooking, and enjoyment are very particular. The Gaoshan people are addicted to tobacco, alcohol, and chewing betel nuts.

The Gaoshan people used to live close to mountains and rivers, nesting in caves, or building bamboo thatch and wooden houses as houses. Nowadays, residential types include wooden houses, bamboo houses, thatched houses, slate houses, underground houses with thatched roofs, etc., but they pay great attention to the combination of style and practicality. Most of them are rectangular or square, with doors but no windows.

The Gaoshan people also have body decoration customs such as tattoos, tattoos, tooth chisels, nirvana, ear piercing, hair removal, and belly corseting. Body decoration is generally for coming of age, beauty, marriage, meritorious service, and nobility. etc. purpose.

Marriage among the Gaoshan people is monogamous, and marriage between close relatives is prohibited. Most men and women unite in free love. For example, the Atayal people whistle to express their love, and some Amis women go to the man's house to give gifts to express their love. In the form of funeral, the Atayal, Bunun and Cao people usually bury the body inside the house and bury the body under the bed of the deceased. The Paiwan and Yamei people practice outdoor burials. The Amei people bury their dead in the open space in front and behind their houses. All the evil dead are buried on the spot.

The Gaoshan people have many taboos: after a woman is pregnant, she is forbidden to use knives and axes; she is not allowed to eat apes, lynxes, pangolins, and fruits with two pedicles; it is forbidden to give birth to twins; it is forbidden to see snakes, lynxes, rats, and dead animals. It is forbidden to see animals mating; it is strictly forbidden to fart, sneeze, and incest; it is forbidden to eat animal heads and tails; it is forbidden for men to touch women's woven fabrics, linen products, small hoes, and pig pens; it is forbidden for women to touch men's weapons, Hunting gear, clubhouse, etc.

Festival activities

The important festivals of the Gaoshan people include: Sowing Festival (Atayal people, the day when spring sowing ends in late March), Peace Festival (Bunun people, the fourth day of April), " "Ali" ancestral sacrifice (Pingpu people, September 16th), harvest festival (Cao people, Rukai people, Amei people, etc., August 15th), bamboo pole sacrifice (Paiwan people, October 25th) Day,), the Monkey Festival and the Great Hunting Festival (Beinan people, November), the Dwarf Festival (Saixia people, October 11th to 18th), and the Yamei people’s flying fish festival, etc. The traditional festivals of the Gaoshan people are usually integrated with sacrifices. The Taiwanese authorities advocate simplifying the complex and adjusting and merging it. The above list is the main popular festivals now. During the festival, in addition to singing and dancing banquets, sports competitions, cultural exhibitions, entertainment activities, etc. are also added.

Religious beliefs

The Gaoshan people still retain their primitive religious beliefs and rituals. They worship elves, and they believe in different gods from place to place, including gods of heaven, gods of creation of the universe, gods of nature, gods of managers, and other elves and monsters. Sacrificial rituals include farming sacrifices (including reclamation sacrifices, sowing sacrifices, weeding sacrifices, harvesting sacrifices, new grain harvesting sacrifices, etc., the main one being millet sacrifices), hunting sacrifices, fishing sacrifices, ancestral spirit sacrifices, etc. Witchcraft is prevalent, among which divination methods include bird divination, dream divination, water divination, bamboo divination, ladle divination, rice divination, etc., and there are many forms of witchcraft books.

Due to the influence of Han immigrants and Dutch and Spanish colonists, the religious beliefs of the Gaoshan people are complicated. The Han people brought Buddhism, and the Western invaders brought Christianity, Catholicism, etc. These kinds of religions have taken root among the Gaoshan people. Now, the religious life of the Gaoshan people has formed a situation where primitive religious beliefs, Buddhism and Western religions coexist side by side.

Gaoshan people

Gaoshan people are the collective name for the ethnic minorities in Taiwan Province, including Bunun people, Rukai people, Paiwan people, Beinan people, Thao people, Atayal people, There are more than ten ethnic groups including the Yami people, Cao people, Ami people, and Saixia people.

The name "Gaoshan Tribe" is China's general name for the ethnic groups in Taiwan Province after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945.

Historically, especially before the Ming Dynasty, there was no such name as the Gaoshan people. The origins of the Gaoshan ethnic group are diverse, but they mainly come from a branch of the Guyue people on the southeastern coast of mainland China. After the Han residents immigrated to Taiwan, the aboriginal ethnic groups divided into two parts: one settled in the plains and merged with the Han people, known as the Pingpu people, including 21 tribes of the Siraya tribe, 13 tribes of the Hong Anya tribe, and 9 tribes of the Babusa tribe. There are 4 tribes of the Bazehai tribe, 4 tribes of the Bapula tribe, 6 tribes of the Daokas tribe, 28 tribes of the Ketagalan tribe, and 34 tribes of the Kavalan tribe. The other part is still settled in the mountainous areas and has less influence from the Han people. It still retains the characteristics of the aboriginal language, customs, habits and other characteristics. The Gaoshan people today generally refer to this part of the ethnic minority. On March 14, 1954, the Taiwan authorities stipulated that the Gaoshan ethnic group includes 9 ethnic groups: Atayal, Saixia, Bunun, Cao (renamed Tsou in November 1998), Rukai, Paiwan, Beinan, Yami, and Ame ( It is said that there are 10 ethnic groups, and the Thao people are also considered one ethnic group). Most of these ethnic groups are distributed in the central mountains and islands in the southeast, with a few scattered in Fujian, Shanghai, Beijing, Wuhan and other places. The total population is about 400,000, and there are 2,909 people living in mainland China (the fourth census in 1990).

The Gaoshan people have their own language, which belongs to the Indonesian language family of the Austronesian language family. The internal languages ??of the Gaoshan people vary greatly, and there are more than ten branches including the Amis, Atayal, Paiwan, and Bunun people. There is no text of its own. The Gaoshan compatriots living in Taiwan have their own unique culture and art. Their oral literature is very rich, including myths, legends and folk songs.

Most Gaoshan people are engaged in agriculture, while a few are engaged in fishing and hunting. There are crafts such as carving and weaving.

For a long time, the Gaoshan and Han people have jointly resisted the invasion of foreign invaders and jointly developed Taiwan. During the 50 years of Japanese imperialism's occupation of Taiwan, the resistance struggle was particularly fierce, with the Wushe Uprising in 1930 being the largest. In 1947, he participated in the "February 28" Uprising, which was dominated by Han people.

Taboos: Women are prohibited from using knives and axes after pregnancy, and are prohibited from eating ape meat, lynx meat, pangolin meat, and fruits with pedicles; men are not allowed to touch the looms used by women.

Daily food customs: Cereals and potatoes are the staple foods of the Gaoshan people. Except for the Yami and Bunun people, several other ethnic groups use rice as their daily staple food, supplemented by potatoes and miscellaneous grains. The Yamei people living in Lanyu eat taro, millet and fish as their staple food, while the Bunun people eat millet, corn and potatoes (locally called sweet potatoes) as their staple food. In terms of the preparation method of staple food, most high mountain people like to boil rice into rice, or steam glutinous rice and cornmeal into cakes and glutinous rice cakes. When the Bunun people make their staple food, they beat the millet in the pot into a paste and eat it. The Paiwan people like to roll the millet in banana leaves, mix it with peanuts and animal meat, and steam it as a festival delicacy. They can also take it with them when they go hunting. But as a snack brought for hunting, salt and other salty seasonings are generally not added to the filling. When the Atayal people go hunting in the mountains, they like to use banana fillings to wrap glutinous rice, then wrap them in banana leaves, steam them and take them away. Paiwan people like to mix sweet potatoes, pigeon peas, taro stems, etc. together and eat them after cooking. The Yami people like to cook rice or porridge with taro and sweet potatoes as their staple food. When working or traveling outside, they often use dried taro or cooked sweet potatoes and glutinous rice products similar to zongzi as dry food. When the Paiwan people hunt, they do not bring pots, but only matches. They first pile up the stones and heat them with dry firewood. Then they put taro, sweet potatoes, etc. under the stones. They cover the stones with sand and soil and eat them after they are cooked. . The vegetables of the Gaoshan people come from a wide range of sources, most of which are grown, and a small amount of them are collected. Common ones include pumpkins, leeks, radishes, cabbage, potatoes, beans, peppers, ginger and various wild vegetables.

When the Yami people eat mustard greens, they first break off the growing leaves, rub them with salt, and then eat them after leaving them for two or three days. The mustard roots left in the ground continue to grow. Gaoshan people generally like to eat ginger. Some people use ginger directly dipped in salt as a dish; some use salt and chili to pickle it. The source of meat mainly comes from raised pigs, cattle, and chickens. In many areas, fishing and hunting are also a supplement to daily meat. Especially for the high mountain people living in the mountains and forests, the prey they capture is almost the main source of daily meat. . There are many wild animals in the mountains and forests, and the meat of wild boar, deer and monkeys can be eaten as food. Paiwan people do not eat dog, snake, cat meat, etc. The method of eating fish is also very unique. Generally, after catching the fish, they take a stone slab to heat it on the spot, put the fish on the stone slab and bake it until it is eight ripe, then sprinkle Add salt and serve. Paiwan children are not allowed to eat eels, or even the heads of other fish, as eating fish heads is considered unlucky. When the Ami people cook meat, they like to cut the meat into pieces, insert bamboo skewers, and put it in a big basin after cooking. The whole family gathers around the basin, and each person uses a small basket made of rattan to hold the rice. Use one spoon to scoop out vegetables, one hand to grab rice, and the other to take meat to eat. During the rice-planting season, they like to catch small frogs in the paddy fields, take them home, wash them with water, and cook them before eating. Some Ami, Atayal and other tribesmen also eat caught raw fish. They also like to kill and peel the meat, add salt and half-cooked millet and marinate it for several months. Several methods are commonly used to preserve food, such as pickling, sun-drying and roasting. Pigs and fish that have been pickled for one or two years are used as delicacies. In the past, Gaoshan people generally did not drink boiled water, nor did they have the habit of drinking tea. Atayal people like to drink cold water soaked with ginger or chili. It is said that this drink can cure abdominal pain. In the past, when hunting in the mountains, it was still customary to drink the blood of animals. Both men and women are addicted to alcohol, and they usually drink home-brewed rice wine, such as corn wine, rice wine and potato wine.

Festivals, Etiquette, Sacrifice and Food Customs The Gaoshan people are bold and hospitable. Banquets and singing and dancing gatherings are held on festivals or festive days. On every festival, pigs and cows are slaughtered, and wine is prepared for banquets. At the end of the year, the Bunun people use the leaves of a plant that eats "Xino", wrap them in glutinous rice and steam them for people of the same clan to enjoy as a celebration. The most representative food for Gaoshan people’s festival banquets is cakes and glutinous rice cakes made from various kinds of glutinous rice. Not only can it be used as a snack during festivals, but it can also be used as an offering for sacrifices. Glutinous rice is also made into rice to serve guests. There are many sacrificial activities among the various ethnic groups of the Gaoshan people, such as ancestor spirit sacrifices, grain god sacrifices, mountain god sacrifices, hunting god sacrifices, wedding sacrifices, harvest sacrifices, etc., among which the Paiwan people's five-year sacrifice is the most grand. In addition to banquets and offerings, there will also be various cultural and sports activities. The scenes of weddings and banquets are very rich and spectacular. In particular, a large amount of wine must be prepared. Participants must drink heavily and have the custom of staying drunk. On the day of the "Harvest Festival", tribesmen bring a jar of wine to the scene, dance, eat and drink around the bonfire to celebrate the harvest of a year's labor. It is held once a year. On festive days, Paiwan people often use a wooden, beautifully carved cup with two people holding each other's arms and drinking together to express their closeness. If a guest comes, they must kill each other. The Bunun people keep the chicken legs when entertaining guests and take them with them on the road to eat when the guests leave. This means that eating chicken thighs will give them more strength to walk. The Rukai people are good at roasting taro on a stone stove. The baked taro is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. It is easy to carry and is often brought to guests for consumption on the road. During weddings, Paiwan people grind millet into powder, add water to make a paste, wrap fish and shrimps (the tails of the shrimps are exposed), shape them into egg-sized balls, put them in a pot of boiling water, cook them, and take them out after they are cooked.

Typical Food Gaoshan Tribe, each of the ten ethnic groups has its own unique food. Typical foods include: pickled meat. The Atayal and Ami people of the Gaoshan tribe store meat. Among them, the Atayal pickle monkeys. The meat is unique to the Ami people’s marinated venison and wild boar; the sip wine is a kind of rice wine brewed by the Paiwan and Bunun people of the Gaoshan ethnic group.

Introduction to the various ethnic groups of the Gaoshan ethnic group The Gaoshan ethnic group is the collective name for the ethnic minorities in Taiwan Province, including the Bunun, Rukai, Paiwan, Beinan, Thao, Atayal, Yamei, Cao There are more than ten ethnic groups including the people, the Amis, and the Saisiyat.

Bunun people

Bunun people (Bunun means "people" in Gaoshan language) are one of the Gaoshan ethnic groups. The population is over 30,000, living in 60 villages. The original residence was in the high mountains north of Yushan Mountain and west of the Central Mountains, and later migrated to Taitung and Kaohsiung. Now they mainly live in Renai, Xinyi Township in Nantou County, Sanmin, Taoyuan, Maolin Township in Kaohsiung County, Haiduan, Yanping Township, Guanshan Town in Taitung County, Wanrong, Zhuoxi Township, Yuli Town in Hualien County, etc.

The general ethnic group is divided into three small groups: the Northern Bunun people are distributed in the western foothills of the Central Mountains; the Central Bunun people are distributed in Kaohsiung County; and the Southern Bunun people are scattered in the Hualien area of ??Taitung. The technologies of weaving, basketry, tanning, and pottery are relatively developed. Social life is a patriarchal clan system. After marriage, the wife obeys the husband and the son obeys the father. Women have a certain status in the family.

Rukai people

Rukai people are one of the Gaoshan ethnic groups. It has a population of more than 6,300, living in 20 villages, distributed in the mountainous areas south of Alishan and Xingao Mountains and north of Dawu Mountain, including Zhuoshui Creek and Ailiao Creek in the upper reaches of Gaoping Creek and the Dananxi River Basin on the east side of the Central Mountains , belonging to Pingtung County Sandi and Wutai, Kaohsiung County Maolin, Taitung County Beinan and other townships, among which Wutai Township is the most concentrated. The living habits of the Rukai people are the same as those of the Paiwan people. They live in stone houses and are famous for their pottery pots, beads, carvings and tattoos. Classes have emerged in social life. Only one spouse is allowed in each generation, and power is inherited by the eldest son. After death, he is buried sideways or with his limbs straight. The language and culture are greatly influenced by the Bunun people.

Paiwan people

Paiwan people are one of the Gaoshan ethnic groups. The population is about 55,000, living in 160 villages. Originally they mostly lived in the foothills, but later moved to the mountains. Its distribution area starts from Dawu Mountain in the north, reaches Hengchun in the south, starts from Ailiao and Fangliao lines in the west, and ends in the triangle area south of Mari in the east. They are scattered in Sandi, Majia, Taiwu and Laizhou in Pingtung County. Yi, Kasuga, Shishi, Mudan and Jinfeng, Daren, Mari, Dawu and other townships in Taitung County. The Paiwan people are divided into two sub-tribes, Paiwan and Tarot-Tarot. The former lives in the central part of the distribution area of ??this ethnic group and has strong ethnic characteristics. With the central mountain range as the boundary, it is divided into two sub-tribes, Dongben; They live in the east coast area and are also divided into two small tribes: East Coast and Barilalio. This ethnic group is divided into civilians, nobles and other classes. The eldest among the children inherits power. The handicrafts are relatively developed.

Pinan people

Pinan people are one of the Gaoshan ethnic groups. The population is about 7,000, living in 8 villages. Legend has it that this tribe originated from Banatu near Taitung and was once the master of the Taitung Plain. They are mainly distributed in the coastal areas south of Beinan River and north of Zhiben River. Their residences are Beinan, Jinfeng, Daren and other townships in Taitung County. In the past, they were listed as one ethnic group with Rukai and Paiwan. In 1954, they were recognized as an independent ethnic group. Family power is inherited by the eldest daughter, and family life is focused on the mother's side.

Thao people

The Thao people are one of the Gaoshan ethnic groups and live in the Sun Moon Lake area in Nantou County. Some people think it is part of the Cao people, some people classify it as a member of the Bunun people, and some people classify it as a lineage of the Pingpu people. However, its language, customs, and habits are unique, so they regard it as an independent ethnic group.

Atayal

Atayal is one of the Gaoshan ethnic groups. With a population of more than 64,000, accounting for 23.5% of the total Gaoshan population, it is the second largest ethnic group among the Gaoshan people. Live in 120 villages. Originally living in the plains of western Taiwan, they gradually moved to mountainous areas due to environmental pressure. They are mainly distributed in the northern half of Taiwan, such as Wulai Township in Taipei County, Fuxing Township in Taoyuan County, Jianshi Township, Wufeng Township, and Miaoli in Hsinchu County Tai'an Township in Taichung County, Heping Township in Taichung County, Renai Township and Xinyi Township in Nantou County, Xiulin Township in Hualien County, Datong Township and Nan'ao Township in Yilan County, etc. This ethnic group is divided into two sub-groups: Atayal and Seediq. The Atayaya tribe is further divided into the Xizhupu Group, the Da (Mountain + Branch) (Mountain + Kan) Group, the Dahu Group, and the Western Kailik Group; the Seedikeya tribe is also divided into two groups, the East and the West. This group has the custom of whale faces and tattoos. Men are good at hunting, women are good at weaving, and they live and work like their husbands.

Yamei people

Yamei people are one of the Gaoshan ethnic groups. The population is 2,500, living in 6 villages. Distributed in the coastal area of ??Lanyu Island in Taitung County, they are the only fishing and hunting ethnic group among the Gaoshan ethnic group. The language is almost identical to that of the inhabitants of Bataan in the northern Philippines. The agriculture is mainly based on the cultivation of calla taro, and the crafts are famous for pottery, shipbuilding and silver making. Social life is dominated by the nuclear family. This ethnic group is peace-loving and does not have habits such as headhunting.

The Cao people (renamed the Tsou people in November 1998)

The Cao people are one of the Gaoshan ethnic groups. The population is more than 3,000, living in 12 villages. Originally distributed in the area from Taoyuan Daxi to Daan River, they settled in Wufeng Township, Hsinchu County, Nanzhuang, Shitan Township, Miaoli County and other places.

This ethnic group is divided into two small groups, the Northern Saixia and the Southern Saixia. Within the group, the father lives with his wife and the wife follows her husband. They live together for generations, and there is a limit to two couples in the same generation. The Dwarf Festival is held every two years.

Ami people

Ami people (Ami means "north" and is the name of the people from the south of Ami to the people from the north) are one of the ethnic groups of the Gaoshan people. The Gaoshan ethnic group has the largest population, with about 120,000 people. It was originally distributed at the mouth of the Xiuguluan River and near Hengchun at the north and south ends of the longitudinal valley plain in eastern Taiwan. It later moved to the eastern longitudinal valley and coastline in eastern Hualien County and northeastern Taitung County, including 11 towns in Taitung County and Hualien. There are 12 towns and villages in the county. Based on language, customs and regional differences, it is roughly divided into four parts: northern, central, southern Ami and coastal Ami.

Saixia people

Saixia people are one of the ethnic groups of the Gaoshan people. It has the smallest population among the Gaoshan people, with about 1,075 people. Their ancestors moved down from Dabajian Mountain to the plains around Dahu and Miaoli, and then gradually migrated to the mountainous areas of Alishan and Wufeng Mountains in the southwest of the Atayal settlements, which belong to Wufeng Township in Hsinchu County and other places.

Current situation

Currently in Taiwan, residents other than the Han ancestry are generally referred to as aborigines, and the "Gaoshan people" are only one of them (compared to the other major category, which is called "Han"). The deeper Pingpu ethnic group), and following the research of anthropologists during the Japanese colonial period, they are divided into more than ten ethnic groups. Their languages ??belong to Taiwan's Austronesian language family. The total population of each ethnic group in Taiwan is about 44, and there are more than 4,400 people scattered in Taiwan. in mainland China. However, it is worth noting that not all Gaoshan people live in the mountains. For example, the Amis people who live in the Huadong Rift Valley in eastern Taiwan and the Dawu people (Yami people) who live in Orchid Island do not live in high mountains, so this term is relatively general. In recent years, based on the standpoint of respect and a more accurate classification, "aboriginal people" or the original names of each ethnic group have been used instead of the two major ethnic groups (Gaoshan and Pingpu). However, some people think that the term "ancestors" is more appropriate.