3200 TAIWAN - National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine in Taipei

The National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine, resting on the slopes of the Chingshan Mountain and overseeing the Keelung River, is located right next to the Grand Hotel in Taipei, and is dedicated to the war dead of the Republic of China. Built in 1969, it recalls the architecture of the Hall of Supreme Harmony in Beijing's Forbidden City. The structure houses the spirit tablets of about 390,000 persons killed, among other engagements, during the Xinhai Revolution, Northern Expedition, Second Sino-Japanese War, Chinese Civil War, and the First and Second Taiwan Strait Crises.

2163 TAIWAN - Pingxi Line in Shifen

The Pingxi Line is a 13km long, single-track narrow-gauge railway branch line, one of three remaining open from the Japanese era. It was completed in July 1921 and originally was aimed to the transport of coal. In nowadays it runs through Ruifang and Pingxi District in New Taipei City, and is used only in touristic purposes. The towns along the line were all once thriving mining towns, all feature “old streets” selling tourist paraphernalia and old Japanese buildings.

0720 TAIWAN - Ba Jia Jiang (Eight Generals)

To any religious event in Taiwan are present groups of young men with painted faces who wear elaborate costumes, a familiar sight to locals, even if no one really knows how they evolved or where they came from. They are members of the Ba Jia Jiang (Eight Generals) troupes, which have the role to keep evil spirits away by chasing them down and dealing with them. They carry elaborate fans with protection spells written on them, and the smiles aren't permitted. It seems that this tradition dates over 100 years and is closely associated with Wu Fu Da Di, the God of Plague Expulsion, but, as in any folk culture, there are many different tales describing their origins. Like Chinese Opera performers, the Ba Jia Jiang can be distinguished by their face paint, the different patterns serving to denote who they are. According to different heritages, the troupe can had four, six, eight, ten, twelve or thirteen members. The more complete group is with a number of thirteen Gods, who have different responsibilities.

0716 TAIWAN - A Seediq pair from Nantou playing the jaw harp

The Seediq (Sediq, Seejiq) are an aboriginal people who live primarily in Nantou County and Hualien County, and were officially recognised as Taiwan's 14th indigenous group in 2008. Seediq and Taiya share cultural similarities, in particular the importance of face tattoos and the “chucao” tradition of headhunting. They are also closely related to the Truku (Atayal), both tribes having the same origin and culture, but separated early on due to different lifestyles.

0676 TAIWAN - Atayal women dancing

"Once upon a time, a stone named Pinspkan cracked apart and in it were three people. However, for an undisclosed reason, one of them decided to return back into the stone. Then there were two. The remaining one man and one woman then lived together for a very long time and they loved each other very much. Unfortunately, the man was too shy and would not approach the girl and tell her how he felt.The woman then came up with an idea because she could not bear to see how the man was too shy to confess to her. She firstly left her home and found some coal and with it, she blackened her face with it so she could pose as a different girl. After several days, she crept back into their home and the man mistook her for another girl and they lived happily ever after. Not long after, the couple bore children, fulfilling their mission of procreating the next generation."

0663 TAIWAN - Amis young women dancing at the Adult Ceremony

The Amis are the largest ethnic group among the fourteen officially recognized peoples of Taiwanese aborigines, and they identify themselves as Pangcah, which means "human being", "people with the same ethnicity", or "people of the same descent". Even though their communities have been moved many times due to interaction with other ethnic groups and geographical factors, can be considered that their traditional territory include the narrow valley between the Central Mountains and the Coastal Mountains, the Pacific coastal plain eastern to the Coastal Mountains, and the Hengchun Peninsula, so they are considered to be "Plain Aborigines".

0292 TAIWAN - Two Puyuma warriors

Larger than Saisiyat tribe (about which I wrote here, and here), with about 10,000 members, Puyuma (also known as the Peinan or Beinan tribe) is divided into the Chihpen and Nanwang groups, on the east coast of Taiwan. Initially, the Japanese anthropologist Mabuchi Toichi considered it as part of the Lion Tribe, along with the Paiwan and the Rukai, but ulterior, because of unique Puyuma’s ancestral family system (karumahan) it was separate as an independent ethnic group. Even if the population of the Puyuma is not great, its influence on the history of eastern Taiwan is very significant, because the tribes occupy a teritory located at the confluence of several main rivers, in the Taitung alluvial plain, which controls the entrance to the mountains, and furthermore they have an open attitude regarding the contact with the outside world.

0289 TAIWAN - Saisiyat hunters and theirs formosan mountain dogs

About Taiwan (Formosa) I wrote here, and about Saisiyat tribe here. Of course that I didn't exhausted the two subjects, but neither I don't want to exaggerate with the details. Romanians say that "what is too much, spoils." I absolutely agree, but I also believe that "what is less, isn't enough".

The remarkable picture that I posted it above is part of the photos collection from National Geographic, taken about 1939 (i.e. during the Japanese occupation) by Japanese photographer Katsuyama, at Saisiyat tribe. Two things caught my attention since from the first glance: the diversity of the traits of the men, and the dogs. If I hadn't read that these people ready to hunt are from the same tribe, I would say that is a heterogeneous mixture of individuals not only from different ethnic groups, but from different races. In fact, as a Doubting Thomas that I'm, I'm still not convinced that all belong to the Sistiyat tribe. Given the origin of the photographer, and the period during which was taken the picture, may I not mistaken. And when I say "diversity", I don't mean the facial expression or the hairstyle, but the shape of the head and nose, and the facial bones.

0194 TAIWAN - A Saisiyat man smoking pipe

The 521.000 Taiwanese aborigines constitutes now only 2% of the island population, although they were the first who colonized it, with a few thousand years before that benshengren (literally "home-province person") come from the mainland. These natives Taiwanese, divided into 14 major groups, are Austronesians, with linguistic and genetic ties to peoples of the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Madagascar, Polynesia, and Oceania. Moreover, historical linguists consider Taiwan the original homeland of the Austronesian language family. The issue of an ethnic identity unconnected to the mainland has become a thread in the discourse regarding the political status of Taiwan.