Crafts: Sakuliu Brings the Ancestors Back to Life

When we got to Shantimen in Pingtung County in the afternoon, we originally assumed the young Paiwan sculptor and potter should be engrossed in his clay or kiln creating. But after a single afternoon, we rather "disappointedly" discovered that he was only with four or five young Paiwan aborigines, who are his students, building a house.

Art as Life: As dusk came over, sacred Tawu Mountain gradually was shrouded and disappeared. In a flash, Sakuliu had manufactured a durable firewall out of flagstones in the front room, and lit an enormous piece of wood using only half a sheet of newspaper, and then in one graceful gesture moved the now-cooled pot of water next to the fire to warm up. In less then ten minutes, we were collected around a fire, drinking hot tea, and we began to talk.

"We aboriginal sculptors are artisans who make knives or pots, and indeed not just artisans, but persons who live everyday lives," explains Sakuliu. A traditional Paiwan craftsman (a craftsman being a highly revered status among the Paiwan) was not as most people might imagine creating frantically every day; he also had to be a hunter, to go into the mountains in search of game or to the rivers and streams to fish; he had to be a farmer, planting in the fields; perhaps in a week he might only spend one day or a few hours carving.

So we not only saw, we came to understand, the creative process for a Paiwan artist--building a house.

In the evening, it was pouring rain "as thick as hair on a bull." Sakuliu took us to catch a nearly one-hour bus ride to Tashe, the place where he grew up. That evening some of the people were holding a wedding ceremony. Colorfully dressed young men and women wearing traditional attire walked through the street squeezed in between the church, western style houses, and traditional flagstone homes; a thin and fragile bell sound reverberated in waves, weaving together the different cultures enjoyed by this village.

1,001 Nights: In the church, although the dance steps were simple and repetitive, with the young men and women expressing good will through their singing in harmony, even pop songs and campus folk songs were sung with a deep, rich aboriginal rhythm, and the dancers were enthusiastic and tireless.

To one side Sakuliu was explaining the significance of the clothing: That one is embroidered with a butterfly, symbolizing fleetness of foot, since he has won a gold medal in the Taiwan area athletic meet; that one is embroidered with an animal, showing clearly that he is hunting champion, as he has hunted down more than five mountain boars; those girls are wearing lilies on their heads, indicating that all the women in their family have maintained good reputations. . . .

Through his explanations, even if just outlines, aboriginal culture becomes so vital and fresh and alive that you can't but be amazed at his understanding of his own culture. Further, just a moment ago as we were on the road to the church, he flipped through his notebook to two facing pages, and related the tale of how the warrior Samaguleyue, who comes from the east and represents the sun, also the fountainhead of life, rescues the beautiful Samok'ai. He also told us a story that explains why there is thunder in the sky. "Our ancestors had so many treasures. If you want to hear stories, you'd better set aside 1,001 nights," says Sakuliu laughing.

Who Are My People: He originally understood nothing of these 1,001 nights. Because his grandfather and father were artisans who made knives, at a young age he began making spoons, cups and other handicraft items. As early as the middle 80s, he held or participated in exhibitions in Taichung, Taipei, and Kaohsiung. As these several exhibitions came and went, he realized that many Han Chinese were interested in studying aboriginal culture, "but I never saw my own people at the halls," he discovered, feeling disappointed.

He asked himself if his ancestral things were simply of use to make money, and to increase his own fame. As a result, he packed up his things and decided that in the future if there were to be exhibits, they would first be displayed in the village; if you want other people to understand Paiwan culture, first you had to let the Paiwan understand themselves.

From this time on he began to hold exhibitions, lecture, and teach young people to carve in Tashe and neighboring villages. Moreover, he sought out the "spokesperson" in each village--an elder who could instruct him and under whom he would study. He hoped to pick up the threads of the past across a cultural gap, created by the burning of wood sculptures and the destruction of glazed pearls brought about by deviations in the local implementation of the "New Life Movement" throughout Taiwan around 1961.

In the process of working back to the culture of his ancestors, he especially discovered three jewels of the Paiwan people: ancestral clay pots, men's hunting knives, and women's glazed pearls. The most important are the pots, which symbolize a family's status and position, but for which even the manufacturing technique had been lost after ruthless competition from the businesses of the plains.

A People of Pots and Sunlight: Legend has it that the chief of the Paiwan is produced by clay pottery and sunlight. Thus in weddings involving the family of the leader, there must be clay pots as tokens of faith; when the bride goes to the home of the groom, she must touch it to show that she is considered a member of the family. A clay pot has a head, neck, and body; when it is moved, glaze pearls must be tied onto it as decoration, and those moving it must carry it in both hands as a sign of respect.

That pot decorated with a hundred-pace snakede sign is a father pot; those with carved relief, wavy lines, or carving on the back side all mark different ranks; one with a mother's nipple is a mother pot; one with both a snake and a nipple is called the darkness and light (yin-yang) pot. The latter is the most highly revered, and you cannot own it if you are not a chief.

Today, with the ancient Paiwan culture withered and gradually disappearing, it has gone back to its source through the hands of this young man. Sakuliu is not simply doing artistic creation, but cultural renaissance.

Now, the hierarchical system is already not in evidence in Paiwan society, but fortunately, members of the tribe are still willing to buy a pot from Sakuliu for weddings or settling into a new home, indicating that many of these people, in their modernized lives, still have the values of recognizing and accepting tradition.

Who's 'Little Clay Pot'? "It's inevitable that life changes, and I also hope that my people can enjoy material civilization in their daily lives, and have top-of-the-line stereos and TV's. But the more inevitable change is, the more you should have things to keep a record, to spread and pass on the beautiful spirit of tradition. After the tribal spokesmen have all disappeared, you can still touch our culture with your own hands," says Sakuliu, explaining his hopes for his own work, and explaining why he has named his child "Leiletan," which is Paiwan for "Little Clay Pot."

"Keeping a clay pot in your home is a key to opening up the treasures of your ancestors. Even after many generations have passed, a child might be able to find out this family's past through the pottery. Just like after several generations a child will ask his father, 'Why is it that our family wasn't the head family, but we have an ancestor named Little Clay Pot?' They can then trace back to the time when the clay pots had disappeared, and find out there was an ancestor named Sakuliu, who brought the clay pots back to life, so the people of that time permitted him to use the name 'clay pot' to christen his child, and he is also our ancestor. . . ."

Elders Nod Their Heads: When the wedding went on until twelve o'clock or so, the elders gathered in the home of the new couple, and sang ancient chants one by one, relating the origins of the ancestors, anecdotes of the courage of their leaders, and praising the beauty of the new bride; the singing would only end at daybreak. In another room, the young people who had left the dance were singing songs accompanied by guitar. Sakuliu was sitting off to one side, flying along writing down the words the elders were singing and at the same time explaining the meaning of the lyrics to us.

From time to time an elder would come in, giving a sharp lesson to anyone who wasn't singing hard enough or who might have dozed off, and at appropriate moments he gave an encouraging nod to Sakuliu, and elders on either side would look from time to time to see what Sakuliu was writing.

At this time, Sakuliu, wearing eagle feathers and a crown of sunflowers, which only nobility are permitted to wear, was a truly noble-man for the day.

[Picture Caption]

After going down to the lowlands for dialogue, Sakuliu decided to first engage in dialogue with his own people, using clay pottery to enable children to learn the story of the Paiwan people. (photo byVincent Chang)

One of the Paiwan objects of worship which Sakuliu's students practice making--the sun.

A father pot with a sunlight pattern on its mouth and a 100-pace snake pattern on its body.

Piece by piece, the lost art of the clay pots is revived in the hands of Sakuliu, delighting the elders.

Legend has it that the chief of the Paiwan was born from a pot, and ordinary people are the descendents of hundred-pace snakes and people.

A wall decoration by Sakuliu with a Puyuma clay pot in the center surrounded by pictures and patterns from the eight other tribes. At bottom is the well-known Bunun "picture calendar."

This hunter, whose home is hung with animal bones, is one of the "spokespersons" Sakuliu sought out to ask about culture.

One of the Paiwan objects of worship which Sakuliu's students practice making--the sun.

A father pot with a sunlight pattern on its mouth and a 100-pace snake pattern on its body.

Piece by piece, the lost art of the clay pots is revived in the hands of Sakuliu, delighting the elders.

Legend has it that the chief of the Paiwan was born from a pot, and ordinary people are the descendents of hundred-pace snakes and people.

A wall decoration by Sakuliu with a Puyuma clay pot in the center surrounded by pictures and patterns from the eight other tribes. At bottom is the well-known Bunun "picture calendar.".

This hunter, whose home is hung with animal bones, is one of the "spokespersons" Sakuliu sought out to ask about culture.