|
Plains aborigines () are Taiwanese aborigines originally residing in low land regions, as opposed to Highland aborigines. Plains aborigines consist of eight individual tribes, rather than being a single tribe. It is part of the Austronesian family. Plains aborigines have been labelled by Japanese and Han Chinese as "plains savages" (平埔番; ''Píngpǔfān''; ''Pêⁿ-po͘-hoan'') and "cooked savages" (熟番; ''shóufān''; ''se̍k-hoan'').〔In the early 20th century, the terms "Pepo"/"Pepohoan" and "Sek-hwan"/"Sakhoan"/"Jukuban" were used in English works, respectively. See, for example: ; 〕 Beginning from the 17th century, plains aborigines have been heavily influenced by external forces from Dutch, Spanish and Han Chinese immigration to Taiwan. This ethnic group has since been extensively assimilated with Han Chinese language and culture; it has lost its cultural identity and it is almost impossible without careful inspection to distinguish plains aborigines from Taiwanese Han people. Plains aborigines have not been officially recognised by the government of the Republic of China, apart from the Kavalan tribe. It was not until the mid-1980s that plains aborigines started gaining interest from historians and anthropologists, leading to increased public attention to this group. Various anthropological studies have emerged in recent years arguing that circa 85% of Hoklo and Hakka Taiwanese are actually descendants of plains aborigines through intermarriages with Han immigrants. This is still an ongoing debate and has been used as political leverage to promote Taiwanese independence and Taiwanese ethnic consciousness. An increasing number of Hoklo and Hakka Taiwanese are beginning to search for plains aboriginal bloodlines in their genealogy, and many are starting to claim themselves as plains aborigines. This ethnic group is currently continuing to fight for its identity, rights and recognition as Taiwanese aborigines. ==Background== In ''The Island of Formosa'' (1903), former US Consul to Formosa James W. Davidson presented the first English-language account of the aborigines of the whole island, which was almost entirely based on the comprehensive work collected over several years of study by Ino Kanori, the foremost authority on the topic at the time. In Ino's eight-group classification, the Pepo, Puyuma, and Amis groups were known as "domesticated savages" (''Sek-hoan'' in Hokkien; ''jukuban'' in Japanese), primarily due to their abandonment of ancient customs. Of these three groups, only the Pepo lived in the western plains where they remained to compete with the Chinese settlers (the Puyuma and Amis inhabited the eastern plains). The term ''Pepo'' (), referred to aborigines that resided in the Formosan plains, rather than the highland mountainous regions. Plains aborigines mainly settled in the west and central mountain regions of Taiwan. The term ''Sek-hoan'' () was also used to describe plains aborigines because they often lived closer to the coast and had more interaction with Dutch and Han immigrants, hence were more assimilated and civilised than highland aborigines. Mention of plains aborigines have appeared in Qing texts dating back as early as 1764. In summary, the Pepo were those plains aborigines who could still be easily distinguished from the Chinese, whereas the Sek-hoan had already thoroughly adopted Chinese customs, thus exhibiting no trace of their "ancient life". In the 17th century, plains aborigines were involved in the flourishing deerskin export market. Plains aborigine hunters often supplied deerskin to the Qing and Dutch regimes, in exchange for cash to trade for other goods and also to pay for taxes enforced under the new regimes. By the 18th century, the deerskin industry had largely diminished due to overhunting, and the inflow of Chinese immigrants began to take up much of the grazing land. Therefore, plains aborigines increasingly relied on plow agriculture and land rent from tribal land reclaimed by Han settlers. Han settlers initially implemented policies that favoured plains aborigines. This was because Han officials feared a revolt against Chinese immigrants, and also due to the fact that plains aborigines were tax paying citizens and could be used as military sources. Furthermore, the Chinese government initially viewed their expansion as a disruption to the aboriginal status quo, hence they introduced policies to favour plains aborigines. However, plains aborigines were increasingly not able to compete economically and ethnically with the growing Chinese population that flooded to Taiwan. Han policies in favour of plains aborigines began to disappear. Han settlers started to disintegrate many of the plains aborigines from their original villages. It is within these “political and economic frameworks” that the plains aborigines gradually became sinised. Plains aborigines began to adopt aspects of Chinese culture, values, and language. Most importantly, intermarriage between Chinese and plains aborigines increased rapidly, leading to the acculturation of plains aborigines with Chinese. Many of the early Chinese settlers in Taiwan were not permitted to bring women with them; hence they married plains aboriginal women out of necessity. This is the origin of the common saying “there are mainland grandfathers, but no mainland grandmothers” (有唐山公，無唐山媽). This extensive intermarriage is the reason that many Taiwanese people today are unaware that they could be descendants of plains aborigines. Several theories have been proposed during the 2000s, to suggest that a large majority of Hoklo and Hakka Taiwanese could have plains aboriginal lineage in their bloodline. An increasing number of Taiwanese are starting to search for their plains aboriginal roots and claim their status as plains aborigines. After centuries of acculturation, plains aborigines are almost completely Hanised. It was already noted in the early 20th century that careful observation was required to note their deeper eyes as compared to the Chinese; also, the women did not practice foot binding. It is now nearly impossible to distinguish plains aborigines without careful inspection. Through the process of acculturation, much of the language, culture and identity of plains aborigines have become non-existent in modern Taiwanese society. The Republic of China government currently only officially recognises one (Kavalan) of the eight plains aboriginal tribes. There was a lack of attention and interest in the history of plains aborigines until the mid-1980s. Henceforth, through the works of scholars, folklorists, anthropologists, historians and remaining descendants of plains aborigines, there have been a gradual restoration of plains aboriginal culture, history, identity and language. For example, a descendant of plains aborigines in Hualien, Chieh Wan-lai, still insists on teaching the traditional language and culture of plains aborigines. More educational pamphlets are emerging to educate Taiwanese about the existence of plains aborigines. Furthermore, a campaign was started in Yilan for descendants of the Kavalan tribe to find their roots. Many plains aboriginal festivals are emerging around Taiwan, and these have been opened up to the public and to people who have recently discovered their status as plains aborigines. Ethno-political activities and Nativist Cultural Movements flourished after the 1990s, and a “Plains Aborigine Name Correction Movement” emerged. Several protests occurred in 2001 and 2010, and a formal complaint was sent to the United Nations in 2010, demanding the ROC government to formally recognise plains aborigines. Descendants of plains aborigines today continue to fight for the official recognition of their status as Taiwanese aborigines. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Taiwanese Plains Aborigines」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|