The aborigines have retained all the color of their own culture in the nine tribal locations on Taiwan. Those at Wulai near Taipei and at Sun Moon Lake are within reach of the average tourist. Ceremonial rituals, songs and folk dances have become somewhat commercialized, yet retain the flavor of authentic performance. Costumes are colorful. Presumed to be of Malay stock, the aborigines have a strong sense of rhythm. Their dances are more like those of the South Seas than of continental Asia.
Protection of the aborigines is a cardinal policy of the Chinese government—in contrast to the suppressive treatment during the Japanese occupation period. The mountain people are free to stay on their own lands or to descend to the plains, where economic opportunity is greater. Many have done so, especially girls. Women of the nine tribes are comely, and many have married Chinese. Others have done well in song and dance troupes. Young men among the aborigines have complained that there are not enough girls left to provide wives.
Except for Wulai and Sun Moon Lake, visitors must have permits to enter mountain areas where aborigines reside. This is both a security measure and an effort to guard the aborigines against unwanted intrusion and exploitation. Permits are freely granted to those with legitimate reasons for visiting the mountain people.
In 1940, when Taiwan was still under the Japanese, aborigine population was 158,000. In 1945, when the island was returned to the Republic of China, it was about 163,000. But in 1960, it was close to 210,000. The rapid increase was attributed to improvement in the aborigines' living conditions. For Taiwan's original settlers, the Japanese period was not a happy one.
In 1871, a Japanese ship sought shelter in a port of southern Taiwan to escape a typhoon. A number of Japanese and Ryukyuan sailors were killed by aborigines. Three years later, 3,000 Japanese troops attacked the tribe and occupied tribal lands. The Manchu government protested but weakly. Japan responded by proclaiming its sovereignty over the Ryukyus.
The Japanese finally agreed to accept a reparation and withdraw its troops from Taiwan. Twenty years later, Japan won a war from the Manchus and took all of Taiwan.
Japanese Rule
Japanese authorities regarded the aborigines as barbarians and treated them as such. Political, economic and social discrimination was ordered, and the aborigines answered with strong resistance. During the 50 years of Japanese rule, more than 7,000 Japanese and aborigines were killed and 4,000 injured in a succession of revolts and incidents.
Only the briefest of primary school education was provided, and that merely to teach the Japanese language and attempt to inculcate unquestioning acceptance of Japanese rule. Japanese police served as teachers.
At first, a handful of the children of those supposedly loyal to Japan were permitted to attend secondary school. But after the 1930 Musha uprising, in which more than 1,000 Japanese and aborigines were killed, the Japanese abolished the secondary school privilege. Some secondary graduates were among the leaders of the uprising.
When the Japanese period ended, only 19 aborigines had completed secondary school. No aborigine was permitted to enter college or university.
The return of Taiwan to the Republic of China in 1945 opened a new era for the aborigines.
Thirty aborigine towns and 198 villages were listed in 1946. At first the chiefs were appointed by the government. After 1950, they were elected and each town had representation on the county council. Of 73 provincial assemblymen, three are aborigines. In addition, the aborigines have a seat in the National Assembly, which elects the nation's president.
In the last six years, 344 aborigines have passed the qualifying examination for government employment. Mountain administration attracted 184 of them.
Agriculture has been encouraged by government projects and loans. Fruit growing has become a profitable sideline, and tourism also has made its economic contribution.
In the last seven years, 2,717 hectares of land have been reclaimed and 26,400 hectares reforested. Loans total US$875,000.
Aborigines cannot sell, rent, give away or mortgage their land and buildings. This is to protect their interest and assure their continued livelihood, much as the U.S. government cares for the American Indians.
Demonstration farms have been established in 117 villages. Almost 1,100 agricultural seminars have been conducted and 4,200 farm tools have been repaired. Some 500 aborigines have been trained in handicraft skills and the maintenance of machinery. Nearly 600 women have been trained as seamstresses and to take care of silkworms.
Medical Graduates
Each town has a clinic and each village a dispensary. Malaria has been wiped out and other diseases controlled. By June, 1962, twenty-five aborigines had completed four-year, government-financed training at Kaohsiung Medical College. They were assigned to health stations in aborigine areas.
The first aborigine graduate of the medical college was Ke Chiu-tien, 30. He comes from a poor family and was helped through school by one of Taipei's leading newspapers.
Last February he married Miss Lu Hsin-chi, a graduate of the Provincial Chung Hsing University. Now doing army service as a reserve officer, he plans to serve at the Kaohsiung Medical College.
Foreign missionaries and relief organizations share credit for improvement of the aborigines' livelihood. Many have become Christians. Medical missionaries have gone into remote mountain areas to help the ailing. In time of typhoon, food and other supplies are dropped by the Chinese Air Force.
In the last two years, the government has spent US$80,000 in improving the water supply systems in mountainous areas. About 90 aborigine villages have benefited. Many also have received electricity.
Remote areas have been made accessible by construction of roads and bridges. Dams and irrigation facilities have been built. Housing has been improved.
Examinations in 1959 rated 20.7 per cent of the aborigines in excellent health, 65.5 per cent in good health and 13.8 per cent in fair shape. In 1955, only 3.5 per cent were in excellent health, 17.2 per cent in good health and the rest in fair or poor condition.
Educational policy is the opposite of that under Japan. In 1949, China had managed to get 71 per cent of aborigine children into school. By 1962, enrollment was 27,150 out of 28,342 primary school-age children, or 95.8 per cent of the total. Books, supplies and uniforms are free. Milk is provided twice daily.
Secondary education is open to all, and the government provides 400 full-expense scholarships for aborigine children. More than 4,000 aborigine young people are attending middle, vocational and agricultural schools, and nearly 100 are in college.
Medical Training
Because of government financing, many aborigines prefer training at the Kaohsiung Medical College to other colleges or universities. Although there are 25 aborigine graduates of the medical college, only one aborigine has obtained a degree in law.
He is Wu Wen-ming, 27, a grandson of one of the leaders of the 1930 uprising. He was graduated from National Chengchi University in June, 1962, majoring in political science. Wu is the son of a farm family at Wulai.
After his graduation from primary school, Wu's parents wanted him to work in the fields. Trying to prevent him from taking a scholarship examination, his father took him hunting. Wu feigned sickness, returned to take the examination, and passed it.
In 1957, a Ministry of Education scholarship enabled him to attend Chengchi University.
Married three years ago, he supports his family with a small income from tutoring, gardening and other part-time jobs. He has conducted classes for aborigine youths during summer vacations.
Wu wants to run for the provincial assembly after military service. He can have a U.S. scholarship, if he wants it.
Another aborigine youth, Wun Ching-tsai, was a classmate of Wu at Chengchi University. But Wun left the university in his second year and went to the Kaohsiung Medical College. Both Wu and Wun are devout Christians.
Relatives greet C. K. Yang at airport (File photo)
Most famous of the aborigines is Yang Chuan-kuang (C. K. Yang).
Born in a village of Taitung county in eastern Taiwan, Yang showed no special athletic talent in high school. He liked baseball, however, and represented his county as a reserve pitcher in the provincial games 11 years ago. His team was beaten.
In 1954 Yang was picked as a second-string broad jumper to represent China at the second Asian Games in Manila. The head coach soon found out that Yang was anybody's equal in several track and field events. He suggested concentration on the decathlon.
That seemed impossible to Yang, who never tried the pole vault and who disliked the hurdles. But the head coach insisted. Yang finally was persuaded to try. In barely two weeks, the Chinese delegation was on its way to Manila with Yang as decathlonist.
The Iron Man
Yang was only starting to learn. However, he won the championship with a modest score of 5,454 points. Philippines sports writers called him "The Iron Man of Asia." The tag has stuck.
At the third Asian Games at Tokyo in 1958, Yang not only retained his crown by amassing a record of 7,101 points but also won a silver medal in the broad jump and a bronze medal in the 400-meter hurdles.
A fund-raising campaign made it possible for Yang to go the United States to participate in the American decathlon championships. He finished with a score of 7,625 points only to lose to Rafer Johnson.
Taiwan passed the hat a second time. Yang stayed in the United States to continue training. In 1959 he became a student at the University of California at Los Angeles along with Johnson. Both were under Coach Ducky Drake. That year Yang became the American champion because Johnson did not compete.
Second in Olympics
In July, 1960, Vassily Kuznetsov of Russia became the world decathlon record holder by breaking the 8,000-point barrier. But his title was short-lived. In the same month, both Johnson and Yang surpassed him in the U. S. championships. Johnson scored 8,683 points and Yang 8,462.
In the 1960 Olympiad at Rome, the decathlon became a close race between the two friends. At the end of the ninth event, Johnson had chalked up 8,056 points to lead Yang by 67.
Yang won the 1,500-meter race in his effort to close the gap. But Johnson was right behind and too far ahead on points. Scores were 8,392 points for Johnson and 8,334 for Yang. The American announced his retirement.
At 29, Yang is still going strong. If the Republic of China had not been illegally barred from the Asian Games in Jakarta last August, Yang would have had a chance to break the world record. He expects to do so in the Tokyo Olympics.
Yang married Daisy Jue, a 24-year-old overseas Chinese girl in the United States, three years ago. They have a boy. Mrs. Yang also is a student at UCLA. Her father is a merchant in the United States.
Yang's parents still reside in Taitung county. Residents of the area have raised funds and built a house for the family. Engraved on a wall are the five rings of the Olympiad symbol, the letter "V" (for victory) and four Chinese characters meaning "all-round athletic ability."
Yang's prowess is typical of the wiry strength and endurance of the Taiwan aborigines. Others have shown ability at the provincial games and coaches are watching closely for another standout.
Ma Yi-cheng won provincial marathon (File photo)
In October, Ma Yi-cheng, 20, from the Taiyal tribe in northern Taiwan, won the marathon in 2 hours 57 minutes. All six contenders were aborigines.
Meaningful Tatoos
Older aborigines have tatooed faces and bodies. Tattoos honor ancestors and recall headhunting. They also provide tribal identifications.
Before Taiwan was returned to China, aborigine life was primitive. Men hunted and fished while women took care of the farming. Superstition was rife and alcoholic consumption high. The life span was short.
Under the Dutch, who were defeated by General Cheng Cheng-kung (Koxinga) in 1662, the aborigines were forced laborers. They were compelled to help build and improve Dutch fortifications.
The Manchus ruled the island from 1683 to 1895 and began to lay a foundation for mountain administration. Manchu officials set up a special organization to handle aborigine affairs under a mixed policy of enlightment, appeasement and suppression. On the one hand, they established schools and encouraged production, but on the other discouraged association between aborigines and outsiders and prohibited marriage with Chinese.
Taiwan-made movie depicts death of Wu Feng (File photo)
The biggest problem was headhunting, which reputedly was eliminated by Wu Feng, a Manchu official of the 18th century. Wu's devotion to his work and his spirit of self-sacrifice have immortalized him. A temple in Chiayi in central Taiwan has been built in his honor.
Respected by Tribes
Wu was from Fukien province in southern China. He took over his father's business and trade among the aborigine tribes. He learned their customs, habits and languages. They respected him for his honesty and kindness.
Many Manchu officials were killed by the aborigines in a rebellion of 1722. The Manchu government sought an able man for mountain administration. For a long time nobody applied for the position. Finally Wu offered himself and was accepted.
The aborigines customarily offered human sacrifices at harvest time. Wu ordered the practice discontinued and offered oxen and goats. Because he had once saved the life of the son of a powerful chief, the aborigines agreed.
Wu taught the aborigines, settled their disputes, attended to their health and promoted their welfare. He neglected his own wife while doctoring an aborigine, and she died.
For 48 years Wu served the aborigines faithfully. He won their respect and even love. Headhunting seemed forgotten.
Ambush Prepared
Then came a bad year. There were earthquakes, droughts and epidemics. The aborigines attributed the calamities to the anger of the gods and insisted that Wu permit them to take a human head. Wu had to accede. He told them they might kill a man dressed in red and riding a white horse at a certain place at dawn on the 10th day of the eighth month.
The aborigines laid their ambush. In the dim light of dawn came a man looking exactly as Wu had described him. One of the aborigines shot him dead with an arrow. The headhunters were stunned to find the victim was W u himself.
Wu's second son then arrived with a letter his father had written asking the Manchu government to pardon the killers and to further improve the aborigines' living condition. The letter also implored the aborigines to abandon headhunting.
News of Wu's death soon spread throughout aborigine communities. In deep remorse, aborigine chieftains met and swore they would hunt heads no more. Each tribe installed a memorial stone inscribed with the pledge.
Life is changing rapidly for the mountain people on Taiwan. However, many of the old values remain. One of these suggests that kindnesses must always be repaid.
Accordingly, relationships between aborigines and Chinese is unmarred by serious incident. Among the 11,300,000 people of Taiwan, aborigines are among the best behaved and most law-abiding. Serious crimes are virtually unknown. Authority is no longer challenged, as under the Japanese, because the aborigines know that it is fair and without discrimination.
Taiwan's aborigines are aware that in a free society, everyone has a chance to move ahead and make a contribution to his community. They are making good use of their opportunities and repaying the country with excellent citizenship.