Once upon a time a black, hobbit-sized people inhabited Taiwan, fishing by the sea and living in the hills. They prospered for millennia but dwindled as waves of Austronesian-speakers and then Chinese immigrants populated the island.
According to Saisiyat (賽夏族) legend, a tribe member killed off the last of what they call the "short people," or ta-ay (達矮), by cutting down a bridge over which they were traversing. The remnants of the short people had been accused of molesting a Saisiyat princess. Before the race died out, however, the short people passed on their knowledge of agriculture, medicine, fire lighting, rice wine making and folklore to the Saisiyat. Much of this knowledge was handed on in the form of songs and dances, which the Saisiyat believe they must perform, or they themselves will die out. Comprised of about 5,000 members, the Saisiyat is one of Taiwan's smallest Aboriginal tribes.
In recent times the commemorative "festival of the short people" (矮靈祭) has been performed every two years. Every decade there is a special festival and it falls this year on Dec. 2. It will be held over three days and nights in Wufeng (五峰), Hsinchu County.
Deep in the mountains at a spiritually elevating 850m there will be small entertainments and stalls selling local pears, wild pork, Aboriginal craftwork and traditional Chinese night market food. Thousands of people are expected to attend. In the open-air arena, lit by dim electric lamps, the Saisiyat will lead chants and join hands to dance in circles. Unlike the biennial festival, Saisiyat leaders will carry hat-like flags representing the tribe's clans, or families. These brightly colored flags represent the sun and stars, as well as the spirits of the short people. It is every tribe member's duty to touch their flag at least twice in their life.
Saisiyat members, including the tribe's secretary-general Chu Fong-lu (朱逢祿), estimated these rituals began from 100 to 500 years ago. Some say the festival itself is circumstantial evidence of the existence of the short people, but geneticists and language theorists have more compelling proofs. Even our leaders believe in the little people. Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) reportedly said two years ago that short people were the original inhabitants of Taiwan, rather than Austronesian-speakers that include Aboriginal tribes like the Saisiyat. This caused outrage, but Lu nevertheless stuck to her belief.
The issue is a political hot potato because it defines the nation's identity. Competing historians juggle "out of China" and "out of Taiwan" theories to describe the dispersal of Austronesian-speakers to the Philippines, New Zealand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hawaii and other islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Jean Trejaut, of the Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei, claimed in a paper last year that Taiwan was a center of migration about 6,000 years ago and suggested Austronesian-speakers were the first modern Taiwanese. In an exchange of e-mails, Professor Peter Bellwood of the School of Archaeology and Anthropology at Australian National University, said he agreed with Trejaut but thought the earliest Austronesians came from South China up to 8,000 years ago. He emphasized, however, "These were not Austronesians, but pre-Austronesians."
Either way, skull fragments and other evidence from over 1,000 sites around Taiwan attest to prehistoric cultures that were not Austronesian-speaking. According to the National Museum of Prehistory, Taitung, digs have shown Tsochen Man (左人) lived here up to 30,000 years ago and Changpin culture (長濱文化) died out about 5,000 years ago. This is where short people may enter the story.
Professor Wen Chen-hua (溫振華), director of the Institute of Taiwan History at National Taiwan Normal University, is aware of Saisiyat mythology and thought it was "possible" the short people existed. He said other Aboriginal tribes have corroborative short people myths and there is documentary film evidence of dwarf wives among the Paiwan (排灣), a tribe in Taitung County. He suggested the short people may have been gradually killed off or absorbed into Aboriginal groups. "Only by checking DNA will we find the truth of this theory," Wen said.
Researchers such as George Weber, founder of the Andaman Association, believe the Andaman islands near India are responsible for the migration of "ancient pygmy people, the last remnant of the oldest human population of Asia and likely to be among the earliest ancestors of many Asian and Australian people," (from the The Andamanese Language Family). Related Negrito tribes are said to still survive in the Philippines, South China, the Malay peninsula, some parts of Thailand and New Guinea.
Perhaps these are relations of the short people who used to live in Taiwan. Secretary-general Chu, whose Aboriginal name is Tahes-a-obay, described the short people as "dark, little, with thick, curly hair" — like the Negritos. Even so, he said there was a documentary on the short people festival about five years ago and the filmmakers took some of the Saisiyat over to the Philippines to visit one of the Negrito groups there. He said they found no linguistic similarities and their songs and dances were different.
This might have been expected. Lawrence Reid at the linguistic department of the University of Hawaii was an invited speaker at "The International Symposium on Austronesian Cultures: Issues Relating to Taiwan," held five years ago at the Academia Sinica, Taipei. According to him, "The Negritos are descendants of the pre-Austronesian populations in the Philippines who apparently, like other Negrito groups in Southeast Asia, gave up their languages in favor of that of the more technologically advanced Austronesian migrants."
Even so, there is no direct evidence to prove the short people, or Negritos, ever lived here. There are sites that date back over 15,000 years but there are no skeletons of short people. Also, there are no demonstrated links with Andaman islanders. Furthermore, the idea of a race of short people migrating to or from the Philippines is compromised because there was no land bridge from northern Luzon for them to cross, according to Bellwood.
"We have been excavating in the Batanes Islands [northernmost Philippines] and found no signs of pre-Neolithic populations crossing from Luzon to Taiwan or vice-versa. The first were the Austronesians ... . Taiwan did have pre-Neolithic foragers before 3000 BC, but we have no skeletons and cannot define them as Negrito. I suspect the Saisiyat tradition is just that — a good story! I am doubtful that Negritos, who … crossed from Borneo into the Philippines during the Pleistocene [period], ever reached Taiwan," Bellwood wrote. "If they did reach Taiwan, it was probably via the land bridge that joined Taiwan to China until a little after 10,000 years ago."
But there are other, intriguing, explanations of the short people. One of these is that slaves brought to Taiwan from the Philippines escaped from Spanish control and assimilated. Li Tzu-ning (李子寧), head of collection at the National Taiwan Museum in Taipei suggested this happened in the mid-17th century and referred to National Taiwan University Professor Jose Eugenio Borao's book, Spaniards in Taiwan. In response, Borao said "it is quite difficult to attribute" the myth of the short people to a few fugitives.
The Saisiyat themselves have different versions of their short people story and varied notions about their existence. There is a Saisiyat couple that sleeps in or near the open-air arena at Wufeng throughout much of the year. They live a nomadic life and agreed to be interviewed though they asked not to be identified. They said in the "old days" short people used magic to control the weather and prevent birds and mice eating the crops. Today, they said, the short people punish those who disrespect them by playing tricks, such as making rice wine turn sour. The Saisiyat man told a story about getting lost in the mountains and said the short people came to him in a dream to guide him onto the right path. Both said the short people had powers to make the ill healthy, and vice versa.
Saisiyat elder Chu Tian-ding (朱添丁), whose Aboriginal name is Bong-a-opas, said he learned as a youngster the short people taught the Saisiyat their language and passed on a lot of knowledge, but he was not convinced they were an historical fact. He said his ancestors might have regarded the short people in a religious way. Nevertheless, he pointed to the hills not far from the arena and said this was where the last of the short people had lived. You enter at your peril, Bong-a-opas said, quoting the example of a TV crew member who found the cave and on entering was bitten by a poisonous snake. It was a life-or-death emergency, but he survived.
One thing everyone must do when they attend what the Saisiyat call the pasta-ay, or short people festival, is wear a band of leaves made from the silver grass (芒草) plant that is found in abundance on the mountains surrounding Wufeng and which is said to help drive away bad spirits. The festival usually begins with the slaughter of a pig. A meal of rice wine, fish and glutinous rice cakes is prepared for the short people.
On the first day, at sunset, the Saisiyat will stand in a circle and call on the short people to receive their offerings. Most of the Saisiyat put on bright red, embroidered vests and skirts, while the elders wear white. Around their waists and dangling over their backsides are mirrors and bells, which dazzle and jangle as the dance progresses. It should get lively as the rice wine takes hold and everyone is invited to dance. Stewards will be on hand to maintain order. The dances usually pause at midnight and the circles face east (where the sun rises) for prayers. At dawn on the final day, the Saisiyat will sing farewell songs to the short people and follow a ritual that involves planting a tree.
According to the Formosa Aboriginal Song and Dance Troupe there are 15 songs at the festival that have 34 verses and 229 lines. "Each verse employs a plant name to rhyme the lines, creating a very poetic result." The Taiwan Saisiyat Tribe Pasta-ay Kapatol gives a comprehensive introduction to the festival, the people involved and the melodies and vocals of the songs that are chanted at the festival. One of them, The Fifth Song: Running Dance goes like this:
"Sing the song of the Chinese gum tree/Sew millet so it looks like wriggling worms/Then it will grow evenly/So it can be reaped/Sew the seeds so they can't be seen/You can only see five fingers/No millet is left in the palm/Strip the leaves and bind the millet/Arrange the millet/Enjoy the happy harvest/Sing the song of the caolian (草煉樹) tree/The sound of murmuring water/Hearing water splash/Like water flowing fast/Suddenly it is silent."
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