Leg wraps

The Cultural Diversity of Taiwan Indigenous People

The island of Taiwan not only has and ever-changing landscape, but has a very diversified cultural landscape with parallel development as well. In addition to the ethnic Han that originated mainly from the Fujian and Guangdong regions 300 years ago, Taiwan has 390 000 indigenous people of the Ping-pu tribes who live into 30 mountainous townships and some metropolitan areas. The population of Taiwan prior to the seventeenth century mainly comprised people who spoke the Formosan Language, although the map that explains the relationship between the prehistoric cultures in Taiwan and these indigenous people cannot be drawn in detail. Existing data suggests that the masters of prehistoric culture and the aborigines who spoke the Formosan Language arrived in Taiwan at different times. Scholars who believe that the current indigenous people entered Taiwan as different groups also believe that the earliest migration occurred between 3000 and 4000 BC, about 5000 to 6000 years ago.

    The Atayal and Saisiat tribes of northern Taiwan did not develop a pottery culture, but are known for facial tattoos and exquisite weaving. It is generally considered that these two groups were the earliest settlers. The Thao, Bunun, and Tsou tribes arrived Taiwan about 3000 years ago. The Paiwan, Rukai and Puyuma tribes that settled in southern and south-eastern Taiwan, and who developed an advanced and artistic hierarchical society, arrived in Taiwan about 1000 years ago. The culture of the Amis tribe in eastern Taiwan is similar to the metal culture of the Philippines and dates to about 1 AD. The Yamis migrated to the isolated Lanyu island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean from Batan, in around the Tang and Sung Dynasties. There are other scholars who consider that the many tribes all developed from the people who spoke the Formosan Language. Neither theory has substantial support or proof.