Chinese Nation – Gaoshan nationality

Gaoshan people mainly live in the Taiwan Province of China, and a few are scattered in Fujian, Zhejiang, and other coastal areas. Gaoshan ethnic groups live mainly in the central mountainous area of Taiwan, the eastern longitudinal valley plain, and Lanyu Island.

The economy of the Gaoshan people is mainly rice farming, supplemented by fishing and hunting. The main handicrafts of Gaoshan people are weaving, bamboo weaving, rattan weaving, wood carving, bamboo cutting, and pottery making.

Gaoshan Nationality has its own language, belonging to the Austronesian Indonesian language family, which can be roughly divided into three language groups: Taiya, Zou, and Paiwan. There is no native language, and Gaoshan people scattered in the mainland use Chinese. The Gaoshan people living in Taiwan have their own unique culture and art. Their oral literature is rich in myths, legends, and folk songs.

Gaoshan language belongs to the Indonesian language family of the South Island language family. The difference in Alpine language in different regions is relatively large. There are at least 15 languages, which can be roughly divided into three major language groups: “Taiya”, “Cao” and “Paiwan”. There are more than ten branches of Taiya people, Paiwan People, and Bunun people. There is no universal national character. The GAO’s scattered in the mainland use Chinese. There is beauty, there are no own words. The Gaoshan people living in Taiwan have their own unique culture and art. Their oral literature is rich in myths, legends, and folk songs.

The diet of the Gaoshan people is mainly composed of grains and rhizomes, usually, millet, rice, potato, and taro, supplemented with coarse grains, wild vegetables, and game. Millet and upland rice are the main food in mountainous areas, and rice is the main food in plain areas. In addition to Yamei and Bunun people, other ethnic groups take rice as their daily staple food and potato and coarse cereals as their supplement. Yamei people living in Lanyu mainly eat taro, millet, and fish, while BuNong people mainly eat millet, corn, and potato (local name is sweet potato). Pingpu People also produce fragrant rice, like to eat “herbal paste” (deer intestines straw pulp with salt ready to eat). In the past, the food was raw, and the food, cooking, and enjoyment were very exquisite. Gaoshan people are addicted to tobacco and wine and eat betel nut.

In the production method of staple food, most Gaoshan people like to cook rice or steam glutinous rice and cornflour into cakes and Ciba.

The vegetables of Gaoshan Nationality come from a wide range of sources, most of which depend on planting and a small amount on collecting. Common pumpkin, leek, radish, cabbage, potato, beans, pepper, ginger, and all kinds of wild vegetables.

Gaoshan people generally like to eat ginger, some directly use ginger dipped in salt as vegetables, some use salt and pepper pickle. The source of meat mainly depends on pigs, cattle, and chickens. In many areas, fishing and hunting are also a supplement to daily meat. Especially for the alpine people living in the mountains, the prey captured is almost the main source of daily meat.

The traditional clothes of the Gaoshan ethnic group are colorful, and the styles of clothes vary from ethnic group to ethnic group.

There are four types of clothing styles for Gaoshan men: one is the northern type represented by Taiya, said Xia, and Northern AMI. It is characterized by two pieces of hemp cloth stitched together to form a jacket without sleeves; the other is the middle type represented by Cao people and Bunun people. It is characterized by deerskin as the clothing material, the coat is a deerskin vest with hair, and is covered with the deerskin shawl; the third is the southern type represented by Paiwan People, Beinan people, Lukai people, and southern AMI people. It is characterized by a double-breasted long sleeve top, a half-waist skirt at the waist, or a wide belt hanging at both ends as a front skirt; and the fourth is the elegant type of elegant beauty on Lanyu Island. Just a T-belt made of three or four-inch thick cloth to cover the lower body.

The dress styles of Gaoshan women include short dresses, long skirts, and long dresses. There are three types: one is the short dress style of Taiya people, said Xia people, Cao people, and Amei people; the other is the narrow sleeve style of Bunun people, Rukai people, and Paiwan People; the third is the semi-naked style of Amei people. The upper body often only wears a vest, and the lower body only has a waistcloth. In winter, a square cloth is used to wrap around the body from the left shoulder and tie knots on the left shoulder.

Both men and women of the Gaoshan ethnic group attach importance to decoration. There are many kinds of ornaments, including shell beads, shell pieces, glazed beads, pig teeth, bear teeth, feathers, animal skins, flowers, silver and copper jewelry, coins, buttons, bamboo tubes, etc. They use these ornaments to decorate their bodies in a dazzling array of colors. Especially for men, there are decorations from head to toe when they are in full dress. Some men’s crowns, especially those of leaders, are even more complicated and colorful than those of women’s crowns.

The important festivals of Gaoshan people are sowing for Taiya people (the end of spring sowing in late March), peace offering (BuNong people, the fourth day of April), “Ali” ancestor offering (Pingpu People, September 16th), harvest festival (Zou people, Lukai people, Dawu people, August 15th), bamboo pole offering (Paiwan People, October 25th), monkey offering and hunting offering (Beinan people, November), and Ai-Ling offering (Saixia people, October 25th) And the flying fish sacrifice of Dawu people, etc.

Most of the traditional festivals of the Gaoshan Nationality have a strong religious color and basically, appear in the form of a sacrificial ceremony. For example, reclamation sacrifice, sowing sacrifice, weeding sacrifice, harvest festival, five-year Festival, ancestral spirit Festival, fishing and hunting Festival, dwarf spirit Festival, boat festival, flying fish Festival and so on. Among them, the “Harvest Festival” is a national festival of the Gaoshan people except for the elegant and beautiful people. During the festival, besides singing and dancing, sports competitions, cultural exhibitions, and recreational activities are also added.