Bunun

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Bunun dancers in traditional clothing

The bunun (Chinese: 布 農) are an indigenous people of Taiwan . The name "Bunun" means "man" and is also a name for the ethnic group. The total population of the Bunun is 69,426 (as of September 2016). They live on both sides of the Taiwanese Central Mountains at an altitude of around 1000 to 2300 meters.

This means that the Bunun's places of residence are among the highest among those of the indigenous peoples of Taiwan. Due to their adaptation to life in the high mountains, they are said to have a high degree of mobility and are also regarded as typical mountain dwellers.

The legends of the bunun

To the place of origin

In earlier times, the bunun do not seem to have originally lived in the mountains. The legends of the Bunun speak of a place of origin called "Lamungan" (拉蒙 岸). Since this place of origin could not yet be determined exactly, only the western plain of Taiwan is generally spoken of. According to traditional memories of the Bunun, they may have lived in Lukang (鹿港), Shalu (沙鹿), Nantou (南投), Douliu (斗六) or Puli (埔里). However, there is also the view that the bunun were located both in the plains and in the mountain regions.

On the history of the settlement

The legends of the Bunun tell that this people had to withdraw more and more to the mountain regions. One of the main causes was the constant fighting with the Han Chinese, who colonized more and more parts of Taiwan. For this reason, the Bunun first increasingly settled in the foothills and later hid deeper and deeper in the mountains.

On the history of the bunun

Alliances with and punitive expeditions against other indigenous peoples

There were a total of 5 communities under the bunun. In order to protect itself from enemies and dangers, each community had certain agreements with the others.

For example, they were not allowed to go to war with one another and had to afford arms help when it came to campaigns against other peoples. Occasions were, for example, the robbery of hunting grounds and revenge. The bunun, for example, had disputes with the Atayal (泰雅族), Amis (阿美族), Tsou (鄒 族), Paiwan (排 灣 族), Saisiyat (賽 夏 族) and Thao (邵族).

The Dutch occupation

During the Dutch occupation from 1624 to 1662 there was no direct contact between the Bunun and the Dutch. Nevertheless there was a trade, because the Bunun sold deerskin to the Han people, who then sold the deerskin to the Dutch businessmen.

Qing Dynasty

At the end of the 19th century, the Qing government decided to develop the mountains (開山 撫 番). This included a road construction project (八 通 關 古道), through which the reclamation and economic development of the Taiwan Central Mountains should be achieved.

Taiwan under Japanese rule

In order to speed up the economic development in Taiwan, the Japanese government passed laws that took no account of the interests of the bunun. Because of the disrespectful treatment and suppression of the bunun by the Japanese colonial power, there were repeated armed conflicts.

Today's political situation 

The Taiwanese government is actively striving to build traffic in the mountain regions, provide schools and improve the life of the indigenous peoples in general, from which the Bunun also benefit. Compared to the past, the quality of life has improved significantly. Even so, there are still major differences between the Han population and the indigenous groups.

Social order

Patrilinearity prevails among the bunun. Today there are a total of 6 communities in the bunun. Each community is autonomous and has its own meeting house. In the traditional Bunun society there were a total of 6 leaders: the priest (祭司), the head of the deer-ears festival (打 耳 祭 主祭), the political leader (政治 領袖), the war leader (軍事 領袖), the village leader (族長) and the medicine man (巫師).

The Bunun clans are a typical large family system (大家庭 制).

Typically there are 20 to 30 people in a family, and some can have up to 60 people or more. The great-great-grandfather is often the head of the family. He has supreme power, always inherited from the elder.

Habits

nutrition

The diet of the bunun is varied, as it is based on agriculture and livestock as well as hunting and fishing. Their staple foods include millet, sweet potatoes, rice, certain types of pumpkin, leafy vegetables and fruits.

Believe

The Bunun faith was originally much more complex and permeated with a wide variety of rituals, which were often related to the individual stages of life or agricultural festivals. In times of crisis, people came together and worked collectively. After successfully solving the problems, this was celebrated with a celebration. These early rites changed over time and gradually began to dissolve. This was based on the one hand on the policy of the Japanese colonial power, which forced the Bunun to leave their traditional territories, and on the other hand on Christianization, which was promoted by missionaries. Whereas religions such as Buddhism and Daoism, which are less active in missionary work, play a minor role among the Bunun today.

Trade and economy

Not only traditional ways of doing business, but also economic activities have changed. From the original to the modern way of life, the life of the Bunun has fundamentally changed. The use of other agricultural implements and machines made work easier and increased productivity. The change from the concept of bartering, as was common in the past, to the concept of the modern money economy has had a major impact on the indigenous peoples.

Rituals in life

Rite of passage to the adult

The bunun do not have a rite of passage, i.e. no special transition period to adulthood, but the ritual of “tooth pulling” (also “teeth missing”). They believe that missing teeth are a symbol of beauty. When the children are 15 or 16 years old, they must have two incisors pulled. If they did not do it, then the women could not weave clothes and the men could not participate in the normal hunt or headhunting of people. After the teenagers had their teeth pulled, they also had to start making a living for the family.

wedding

The bunun are monogamous and marry very early. The traditional Bunun marriages were decided with the mutual consent of the parents of the groom and the bride. The children had no say in choosing a partner. Sometimes such mutual vows were made even before the children were even born. However, if children of the same sex were born, the vows were changed.

The bunun had a special custom－ "Tongyangxi" (童養媳). Some young girls were adopted by another family from childhood. When they grew up to be a young woman, they had to marry the son of that family.

There were also many taboos:

1. Namesakes are not allowed to get married to prevent them from having children or from dying young.

2. The groom and bride must set a new wedding day if they see hashas (the language of bunun: a black bird) during the appointment time or wedding.

3. If relatives have a nightmare on the part of the husband, they must also set a new wedding day.

4. During a wedding you are not allowed to sneeze or fart, or you have to hold the wedding again on another day.

There was no engagement with the bunun. There was something like an agreement time (議 婚) for this. After all parents had decided on the wedding day, the relatives of the husband's side fermented millet wine (小 米酒) in the bride's house for 3 days, and after 3 days they went to the bride's house with the agreed amount of the bride price to marry her . However, these customs have changed today. The bunun now conform to the rules of Christianity. They get married in church and prepare numerous dishes for their relatives; d. H. their wedding is similar to that of the Han Taiwanese.

Pasibut butut (八 部 合音)

The bunun are world-famous for their singing “pasibutbut”. “Pasibutbut” (八 部 合音) is a celebratory song in traditional Bunun society that is sung before the sowing time (播種 祭) in February. It is said that the bunun once heard the glorious voices of a waterfall in the mountains, and they were so in awe of those voices of nature. After they returned to their village, they found that the millet was more productive. The bunun began to imitate the voices of nature in order to ask for richer harvests. The festival song "Pasibutbut" was created in this way.

The special thing about these chants is that the choir parts are not fixed, but the singers adapt to each other while singing.

literature

  • 田哲益 (2009). 玉山 的 守護 者 布 農 族 〔Protector of Jade Mountain - Bunun〕 Taipei, Taiwan: 台灣 書房 出版 有限公司.
  • 達西烏拉 灣 ‧ 畢 馬 (田哲益) (1992). 台灣 布 農 族 的 生命 祭 儀 〔Rituals in the life of the Taiwan Bunun〕. Taipei, Taiwan: 協 原 藝術 文化 基金會, 臺 原 出版社.

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