 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|||||
|
 |
 |
CHAPTER 1 The Period of Early Inhabitants－The Orphan of East Asia and a Self-Sufficient Society |
|
 BackNext
|
Despite its geographical advantages, Taiwan has long been an orphan of East Asia, isolated from other civilizations and having little contact with the outside world. However, Taiwan has traces of human habitation dating back to the Paleolithic Age and was far from uninhabited, though it was long seen as primitive and deserted. Archeological sites of Neolithic cultures have been found in even greater numbers.From the Paleolithic, to the Neolithic and Chalcolithic Ages
Archeologists in Taiwan have discovered more than 1,600 archeological sites around the island, including those from the Paleolithic, Neolithic, and Chalcolithic ages. The oldest site to date is the Changbin Culture (長濱文化), a legacy from the Late Paleolithic Age situated in Basian Cave (八仙洞) in Taitung County’s Changbin Rural Township. At this site, many chipped-stone artifacts were found and dated to between 13,000 and 3,000 B.C.
Evidence of Neolithic cultures, such as the Dabenkeng Culture (大坌坑文化), Yuanshan Culture (圓山文化), and Shihsanhang Culture (十三行文化), have been discovered throughout the island. Archeologists have found that, in addition to stone tools, some communities used iron implements, and were thus also able to smelt iron. Overall, Taiwan’s prehistoric inhabitants lived primarily by hunting and fishing, but also developed primitive farming, pottery, and textiles.
The relationship between Taiwan’s aborigines of today and the prehistoric peoples who inhabited these sites is not clear. Some scholars suggest that these aborigines are descendents of Taiwan’s prehistoric inhabitants, but this theory has yet to be confirmed. It is interesting to note that all of Taiwan’s aboriginal groups have legends about short, dark-skinned people, who have physical and cultural similarities with the primitive peoples living throughout Southeast Asia. Perhaps these were Taiwan’s earliest residents, but more research is needed to answer this question.
Aboriginal Society—Simple and Self-Sufficient
There is a general agreement amongst academics that Taiwan’s existing aborigines belong to the same Austronesian linguistic family as the Southeast Asians, based on physical characteristics and cultural traits. There is still controversy, however, over the origin of the Austronesian peoples. Most researchers think that the Austronesian peoples originally lived in Southeast Asia and subsequently expanded outward, with some migrating to Taiwan. In recent years, however, some scholars have argued that they originated in Taiwan, from where they moved southward and dispersed. If this is true, then Taiwan may be the original homeland of the Austronesian peoples, and the very existence of Taiwan’s aborigines makes the island a living museum of the Austronesian history and culture.
Taiwan’s early aboriginal groups led a fairly insular existence and had no island-wide politically unifying organization. Naturally, there was no state. At the end of the 16th century, Chen Di (陳第) of the Ming dynasty (明 1368-1644) wrote in the Record of the Eastern Aborigines (東番記) that “each tribal community consists of a thousand, or five or six hundred people, with no chief.” This observation indicates that before the Dutch occupied parts of Taiwan in 1624, aboriginal people lived in independent tribes. In both Dutch and Han literature, there are records of an aboriginal Quata (番仔王) or Dadu King (大肚王), however, who ruled over more than ten tribes in central Taiwan. Perhaps the existence of this leader can be interpreted as the preliminary formation of a nation.
Economically, aborigines lived primarily in self-sufficient, Neolithic societies, where hunting, fishing, and primitive farming were the primary means of livelihood. Agriculture was slash-and-burn, and consisted of low-yield harvests that were inadequate to feed large populations. No use was made of fertilizers or irrigation. Sophisticated handicrafts had not yet been developed, and only simple techniques such as pottery-making, spinning and weaving were practiced. Commerce was rudimentary. In all, aborigines lived in self-sufficiency. At the close of the 17th century, scholar Yu Yong-he (郁永河) recorded that in northern Taiwan, aborigines were self-sufficient in terms of food, clothing, shelter, and other daily necessities. He wrote:
“aborigines … seek clothing only when they feel cold and food when hungry, making no preparations for the future....There are no market or trade activities. Money is of little use, and the concepts of ‘storing’ and ‘saving’ are unknown to them.... They build their own houses, knit their own clothes, grow their own food, and drink from the stream. They gather linen to make nets and bend bamboos to make bows for hunting and fishing.... Everything needed in life is home-made.”
Some aborigines did engage in limited trade, however. At sites in western Taiwan, archeologists have found jade from eastern Taiwan, as well as copper coins of the Tang, Sung, and other dynasties. According to the literature of the early 17th century, aborigines in northern Taiwan had fairly frequent trade exchanges with the outside world. Most of this trade was irregular, however, consisting of small-scale bartering with overseas visitors. The islanders traded goods like sulfur, deer hides, and gold for salt, fabrics, and iron.
Today, there are thirteen officially recognized aboriginal ethnic groups in Taiwan: Atayal (泰雅族), Saisiyat (賽夏族), Bunun (布農族), Tsou (鄒族), Paiwan (排灣族), Rukai (魯凱族), Puyuma (卑南族), Amis (阿美族), Tao (達悟族 or Yami 雅美族), Thao (邵族), Truku (太魯閣), Kavalan (噶瑪蘭族), and Sakizaya (撒奇萊雅), with a total population of about 482,000 living primarily in the mountain areas.
In addition, there are eight groups categorized as pingpu (plains) peoples (平埔族), namely, Ketagalan (凱特格蘭族), Taokas (道卡斯族), Pazeh (巴宰族), Papora (拍瀑拉族), Babuza (巴布沙族), Hoanya (洪雅族), Siraya (西拉雅族), and the above-mentioned Kavalan (噶瑪蘭族). These people live mostly in lowland areas and have been largely assimilated into Han society.
