The Sacrifice to the Little People (
The festival at Nanchuang starts tonight at about 6pm and will continue each night until Monday morning. The festival at Wufeng will start a day later at about 6pm on Saturday and will run until dawn on Tuesday.
According to the Wufeng Administration Office, private vehicles will have to park about an hour's walk from the site of the festival in the Ta-ai (
The sacrifice to the so-called Little People is a solemn affair held primarily at night. The story behind it contributes to the fascination it exercises on the public. According to legend, the Saisiat once lived side by side with the Little People. From time immemorial, the Saisiat had made use of the magical powers of the Little People, who were always able to ensure a bumper harvest. But there was a price for this -- the Little People often lusted after Saisiat women and would often also use their magical powers to seduce them. Saisiat men found this intolerable and vowed vengeance.
Each year, the Little People would assist the Saisiat in the harvest festival. After assisting in the ritual seeking for a good harvest the following year, the Little People retired to sleep. During their sleep all but three were slaughtered, and these escaped to the east and were never seen again. And the Saisiat never again had the bumper harvests that the intercession of the Little People had been able to guarantee them. The sacrifice to the Little People is an effort to appease their ghosts so that the harvest will be a good one and is always held in association with the harvest festival.
INFO: Additional information may be obtained at the Wufeng Township Administration Office at tel: (03) 5851001 or the Nanchuang Township Administration Office at tel: (037) 7823115.
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