The rule of the Puyuma: The Puyuma are spread throughout the environs of Taitung City and Puyuma Rural Township. At present they number around 6,000 people and are divided into the eight tribes of Katipol, Kasavakan, Rikavong, Tamalakao, Murivurivak, Alipai, Puyuma and Piansiki and Apapolo branch tribes.

Historical records show that during the Kanghsi reign of the Ching dynasty (1662-1723), the Puyuma helped the imperial authorities suppress bandits, which allowed their leader, the Ajauwan, to be enfeoffed "King of the Puyuma," be presented with royal robes and given the right to rule over south Hualien and the whole of itung. This jurisdiction included the Ami of the south and the Paiwan of the east, all of whom paid regular tribute to him. This was the golden age of the Puyuma.

Sun Ta-chuan, a Puyuma who is lecturing in philosophy at Soochow University, says that, in comparison with the Ami and the Paiwan, the Puyuma were relatively few and have thus preserved an independent existence. Their ability to even rule over other peoples depended, in fact, on some special characteristics of Puyuma culture, among which the most important is the system of palakuwan.

When young Puyuma reached twelve or thirteen years of age, they would enter the palakuwan ranked according to age. Under the direction of their elders, the youngsters studied rituals, obedience, courage and wisdom, patience, humility, and other such self disciplines, as well as skills such as fighting, hunting and growing crops.

Late every December, when the manayan ayao (monkey) and manayan (hunting) rituals were held, the young people undergoing training would have to pass certain tests. Only when they had passed could they graduate to become vansavan, the strength of Puyuma society and the front line of its military service.

Do the vansaran still exist? Although traditional Puyuma society was organized according to a matriarchal system, with property passed down to daughters and the women having the right to make decisions over family affairs and distribution of money, the rise of the palakuwan meant that the male Puyuma came to hold political authority in the tribe. Most anthropologists agree that the palakuwan system was an important factor in enabling the Puyuma to exist among other tribes.

In the late Ching dynasty and early Republican periods, the large inward migration of Han Chinese brought the Puyuma into contact with the outside world. This raised their agricultural skills but also amalgamated them into a much larger society. Moreover, with the waning of the King of the Puyuma, the palakuan and age-grade system dissolved.

Today, the normal education system has no room for palakuan training. The palakuan buildings of the Puyuma tribes have collapsed, so that at present only that of the tribe named "Puyuma" among them has a semi-modern concrete palakuan hut. In such a situation, the vansaran have already come to exist in name only.

With the additional loss of their mother tongue, a lack of attention to their music and dance rituals along with the rise of the Paiwan and Ami, the Puyuma lost their status. The esteem and self-confidence of their ancestors turned to a self-deprecation which has spilled over to affect their preservation of, and identification with, traditional Puyuma culture.

This is why a Puyuma section has been included in the Taiwanese Aboriginal Dance and Music Series organized by the National Theater and Concert Hall, under the direction of folk music scholar Ming Li-kuo, and conductor Yu Kan-ping.

Wanting to introduce traditional Puyuma culture to a mass audience has led to a number of difficulties, however, there being only a small number of tribes and a limited number of people within them who are doing cultural preservation work. Among these, it is the Puyuma tribe's Lin Ching-mei, who is the artistic overseer of this particular activity, and Tseng Chien-tsu of the Katipol, who have expended most energy.

Establishing a cultural research association: Ming Li-kuo says that activities must use the format of stage performance to present Puyuma culture to the nation, and he hopes that all eight Puyuma tribes can supply their most elegant music, dance and rituals for this. There has not been much of a response from the Puyuma people, however, with little interest being shown in going back to research their roots, and a lack of will in preserving and consolidating their own culture.

Coming up against this situation, Ming Li-kuo and Yu Kan-ping can only go to the tribes to try to persuade them, first arousing a local atmosphere, then bringing about a recovery of self-confidence. They tell the Puyuma that they have a rich culture, especially their prayer literature and poetry. Then there is also song, dance and music.

Ming Li-kuo thinks that, in respecting the unique characteristics of Puyuma culture and taking their cultural system as the foremost foundation, hopefully the performance program can be returned to the tribes, so that the whole business can be decided by them. So as to achieve this objective, first the different tribes must be brought together into some kind of unity to establish a cultural research association and recover their lost traditions, as well as making appropriate arrangements for preservation. Only then will some benefit be forthcoming.

It is not that there has been an absence of people doing similar things in the past, but just that previous researchers have always come and gone. Although they have finally produced academic achievements, these have not been of any help to the Puyuma. If a cultural research association can be established, however, "everyone can take part, and it should be possible for it to become established in the tribes."

Future sales of items such as publications, documentary films, compact discs and tapes, will also belong to the Puyuma. Because they will all originate from the tribes, it is the tribes who will be credited, and hopefully not outsiders seeking fame.

This is quite a critical change. So what is the reaction of the Puyuma to being rewarded, given responsibility and achieving such affirmation? Lin Chin-mei, organizer of the Kaoshan dance troupe, says that everyone feels this is a good opportunity to get to know their "twilight folk culture." It can be taken to the hearts of the people to renew affirmation of respect for their own culture as well as bringing about new self-respect and self-confidence.

Finding and collecting lost treasures: Mustering their determination, each village haphazardly established a cultural research association and began to look back to their roots and undertake field surveys, which include orally transmitted literature, rituals and ceremonies, music and dance, and so on. So as to facilitate unobstructed communication and to enhance results, the records were made in both pinyin romanization and Chinese characters, allowing younger generations to study and trace back their culture.

Other tribes lacked commitment. For example, a time would be fixed but important officials would not turn up. After a number of such occasions, people became cold to the idea, making it uncertain whether they would turn up in future.

Coming up against this kind of situation, the only way forward is to compromise among themselves and bring about some kind of unity. They should not produce conflicts because the tribes are really like brothers and sisters. There will always be small differences. They must just communicate internally so that they can go out as one body which will command the respect of other people.

According to Ming Li-kuo, the advice to "quickly save the culture of the older people," is for the sake of the culture of the older generation that is gradually being forgotten. There are many things that the elders should be asked--many songs which only they can sing, much archaic language and stories that only they can still talk about.

Arising from geographical and historical factors, the Puyuma have been deeply sinified, with many among them speaking surprisingly good Fukienese Chinese. When children and grandparents converse, parents have to act as interpreters.

In a situation of having no written records, the mother language as a medium is very important. Tseng Chien-tsu, the priest in the Katipol's Catholic church, has always stressed oral literature and often uses his mother tongue for transmission. Following Puyuma customs during services, he uses rice, glutinous rice and fruit as offerings for a bountiful harvest.

Children study the Puyuma language: The younger generation cannot use the Puyuma mother tongue and have no written records, so many myths and legends are gradually being lost. Fortunately, in recent years, the increasing value placed on preservation of a pluralistic culture has stimulated activities, giving Tseng Chien-tsu the opportunity to do more things.

Recently Tseng has been translating into pinyin romanization and Chinese script some orally transmitted literature that was collected together in 1966, using research into the Puyuma carried out by a Japanese anthropologist in 1932. Now the younger generation can study pronunciation of the Puyuma language and use Chinese to understand its meaning.

One summer vacation, Tseng began teaching the Puyuma language to young students, causing some surprise for their grandparents, who wondered how the little ones could recite such deep poetry in the Puyuma language. His wish is for teenagers to be able to use the most elementary Puyuma to construct sentences. After many attempts, however, it was not enough to rely solely on the congregation, but better to establish Puyuma in the home and at school. Most recently, a teacher by the name of Chan Ah-hsin has echoed this by beginning a Puyuma class for children. There are even some tribes that hold Puyuma competitions between children speaking Puyuma and old people speaking Mandarin as a way to bridge the generation gap.

Swing festival and siduhg dance: As for gathering and tracing ritual songs and dances and tribal histories, the yield has not been bad.

For the early rice harvest, usually around New Year, the ajauwan head man would take the whole tribe to perform a ceremony in front of the shamanistic ancestors, land god and god of the Five Grains. Fearful that the young children would do something offensive, the adults would use what materials were at hand to erect a simple swing so that the children would not interfere with the proceedings of the ritual.

After the swing had become customary, it was made ever larger and more solid. The old and the young would participate, adding songs and dances in the process. Naturally, this eventually became a kind of entertaining festival to follow the preceding rituals. Today, the swing has become the last vestige of the ritual for a good harvest.

The origins of the siduhg dance of the Murivurivak tribe are related to inter-tribal wars. Early fishing and hunting peoples found it hard to avoid coming into conflict with other tribes over fishing and hunting grounds, which at times resulted in fatal casualties. When someone was killed in this way, their tribe would go out for revenge and, when they returned triumphant, often those who had been most successful were not given special attention. When the victory banquet was thrown, these heroes could restrain themselves no longer and would pull out their chairs to start dancing and shouting. It was only at this time that everyone would know just whose feats had been greatest.

As for choreography, the dance steps of the Katipol tribe are most simple and show obvious Japanese, Han and Ami influences. In the right hand is held a paper fan or plantain leaf, while the left waves a cloth up and down as the dancers move in fearsome steps. All the males of vansavan status and above, under the direction of a big drum, will circle the village, performing a dance in front of the house of anyone who lets off firecrackers. This procession around the village will usually take about five hours.

Preserving the vitality of Puyuma culture: After incessant communication with all the tribes, everyone eventually reached a consensus that they would take part together in a common expression of Puyuma culture, with on one village taking the leading role.

In the joint festival for a good harvest, each tribe made a demonstration of their best points and decided on a program most suitable for performance on stage. Participants were drawn from all the tribes and, at practice times, not only did each tribe want to study its own specialties, but also the best things of the other tribes. Following such an exchange, it became much easier to gather the strength needed for preservation of this cultural heritage.

In August, the Puyuma will hold a performance in the National Theater. Although what they display on stage will be just one face of Puyuma culture, behind it will lie the hard work of their people and hope for the future.

[Picture Caption]

Originally entertainment to keep the children quiet and stop them offending the gods, such swings are now an important vestige of the Puyuma ceremony for a good harvest.

Although the siduhg dance was originally performed only by heroes, today it has begun to be studied by youngsters of the Murivurivak tribe for the sake of continuing tradition.

The vansaran initiation dance of the Katipol has been deeply influenced by other cultures.

Glutinous rice wrapped in leaves and stuffed with pork (above) and peanut-fried bracken leaves (center) are famous Puyuma delicacies.

Tseng Chien-tsu, Catholic priest for the Katipol, uses various foodstuffs as offerings for a good harvest during his services.

The value of old age. Language, legends, and adornments of the elders are all subjects to be researched and recorded.

Although the siduhg dance was originally performed only by heroes, today it has begun to be studied by youngsters of the Murivurivak tribe for the sake of continuing tradition.

The vansaran initiation dance of the Katipol has been deeply influenced by other cultures.

Glutinous rice wrapped in leaves and stuffed with pork （above） and peanut-fried bracken leaves （center） are famous Puyuma delicacies.

Tseng Chien-tsu, Catholic priest for the Katipol, uses various foodstuffs as offerings for a good harvest during his services.

The value of old age. Language, legends, and adornments of the elders are all subjects to be researched and recorded.