Atayal People
I.The Facial Tattooing(Partisan)
II.Traditional Dress
III.Traditional Folklores
IV.Traditional Customs
I choose the Facial Tattooing(Partisan) to be the first part owing to its distinction. The slide above is just the great introduce of Partisan. The custom is
The Folklore of Facial Tattooing(Partisan)
Legend has it that the first Atayal ancestors were one man and one woman who lived together for a very long time and loved each other very much. But the boy was shy and wouldn’t dare approach her. Whereupon, the girl came up with an idea. She left her home and found some coal with which to blacken her face so she could pose as a different girl.After several days, she crept back into their home and the boy 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. The Atayal custom of face tattooing may have come from the girl blackening her face in the story. The Atayal custom of facial tattooing requires that girls first learn to be accomplished weavers and cultivators before they may have their faces ‘adorned’. Male tattooing is relatively simple, with just two bands down the forehead and chin.The Meanibg of Partisan
- 驅除邪魔的作用；
- 美麗雅觀的效果；
- 族系的識別；
- 榮耀的象徵。
文面對於男子而言，是成年的標誌也是勇武的象徵。對於女子，則是善於織布 — 泰雅族正以其精緻的織布聞名於世 — 的標記。事實上，除了美觀、避邪，代表了女子的善織、男子的勇武以外，文面也是泰雅族死後認祖歸宗的標誌。 Lifestyle The Atayal Tribe was a fairly advanced culture. They originally lived by fishing, hunting, gathering, and growing crops on burned-off mountain fields. The tribe also practiced crafts such as weaving, net knotting, and woodworking. They also had traditional musical instruments and dances. The Atayal were known as great warriors. When they defeated an invader, they would remove the head of the enemy to display. (See Headhunting) They were known to be fierce fighters as observed in the case of the Wushe Incident in which the Atayal fought the Japanese. Wushe Incident Traditional Dress The Atayal were good weavers as well and symbolic patterns and design can be found on Atayal traditional dress. The features are mainly of geometric style, and the colors are bright and dazzling. Most of the designs are argyles and horizontal lines. In Atayal culture, horizontal lines represent the rainbow bride which leads the dead to where the ancestors’ spirit live. Argyles, on the other hand, represent ancestors’ eyes protecting the Atayal. The favorite color of this culture is red, because it represents “blood” and “power.” The Atayal tribe was also known for using facial tattooing and teeth filing as rituals of initiation. The practice of tattooing their faces has attracted much attention; in the past a man had to take the head of an enemy, showing his valor as a hunter to protect and provide for his people and the women had to be able to weave cloth to show their coming-of-age and maturity before they could tattoo their faces.
