Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Lately we watched A Man for All Seasons in which the hero Thomas More is undone by the villain Thomas Cromwell, and just the other day I finished Wolf Hall in which the villain Thomas More is undone by the hero Thomas Cromwell.

Be that as it may, while pondering the vagaries of history, it is worth contemplating that had Katherine of Aragon provided Henry VIII with a healthy male heir, England might to this day be a Roman Catholic country. Implicit: the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand would be too. Lutherans and Calvinists might be a small sect in parts of Europe.

Monday, June 28, 2010

blog星期五寫:

平時不養生

老年養醫生

科見的劉中老師回一句:

今天沒時間運動

明天就有時間生病

Sunday, June 27, 2010

清朝的苗栗,泰雅與漢人原來關係良好,相安無事。一次,二十名泰雅,十男十女,到卓蘭買東西。本來泰雅往返卓蘭頻繁,不料這次卓蘭惡棍竟然趁其不意,擄掠二十個泰雅,綑綁手腳,當場輪姦十位泰雅婦女,然後全部殺戮。殺害後,切肉論斤售予村民,因為當時漢人認為如果能夠吃到深山生番肉,一定很補。

部落的人看他們下山買東西,久久不歸,先派三個勇士下山探詢。三個勇士沿途問漢人,卓蘭遠郊與泰雅好的漢人說,看到他們往卓蘭走,沒看到他們回來。

勇士靠近卓蘭才聞得噩訊。二十遇難泰雅遺骸棄在原處,勇士確認其人,先回部落報告。

時漢民墾卓蘭,由大安溪上游引水灌溉,所以泰雅于源頭斷水。下游沒水,不能生存,所以必須到山上看水源。地方領袖募一千兩百人,六百人為兵,六百人修渠。泰雅埋伏山林中,預掘戰壕躲在裏面,等著鎗聲;頭目開鎗,勇士才能出擊。漢人料想山坡一定有泰雅埋伏,時常無的開鎗,但因為泰雅俯戰壕裏,不中。

漢人到源頭,完全看不到泰雅行跡,以為自己先到了,所以一千兩百人全脫下衣服到渠裏趕緊修理。全部忙著搶修時,頭目鎗一開,所有泰雅火力集中射擊漢人,殲滅殆盡,留一人回卓蘭報告,泰雅是為了報復殺人、強姦、吃人肉的仇,才如此爭伐漢民。

卓蘭人訴求于劉銘傳。劉發兵三萬人討伐泰雅,戰三年,清兵死者五千,瘞于義民廟。

久戰不果,所以劉銘傳求新竹泰雅Bayan Mahung媾和。(Bayan早失怙,故從母名。中譯白鳳凰。)Bayan未參戰,所以劉請他與苗栗的泰雅談,後來清廷賠了許多物品給泰雅,戰爭才結束,事情算擺平了。

mama Yupas收集苗栗大安泰雅老人口述歷史。

During the 19th century, in the Vali (Miaoli) area, central Taiwan, relations between the Tayal and the Chinese were generally cordial. Then a group of twenty young Tayal, ten men and ten women, went to Takulan (Chuolan, Zhuolan) to buy things, as was often done in those days. When they got to the town of Takulan, local thugs captured them and tied them up. The women were gang raped in front of the men, and then all twenty were murdered. The thugs butchered them and sold the meat, because many Chinese thought that eating the flesh of Aborigines from the deep mountains had strong medicinal properties.

Meanwhile, back at the tribe, the other Tayal waited and waited for the twenty to come home, but they never showed up. Three braves were sent to see what had happened. All the way to Takulan, they asked the Chinese farmers if they had seen the group. Farther from the town, relations were still friendly, and the Chinese said that yes, they had seen them going in to town, but never saw them again.

Only when they reached the town did the three scouts hear the awful news. The bodies of the murdered Tayal had been dumped on the spot, and the scouts were able to identify them. The scouts returned to the mountains to report.

The Chinese farmers irrigated their fields with water drawn from a spring in the mountains, so the Tayal first went to cut off their water supply. The farmers couldn't live without their water, so they organized 1,200 men to go up to the source; 600 went as soldiers, 600 to repair their ditches. The Tayal had already dug shallow foxholes in the mountainside, and were under strict orders not to shoot until a chief had fired first. The Chinese were expecting Tayal warriors, so they fired at random into the jungle, but never hit anybody, as the Tayal were hunkered down in their foxholes.

When the Chinese reached the source, there was no sign of any Tayal, so the Chinese thought they had arrived first. They all took off their clothes and rushed to fix their ditches as quickly as possible. When everybody was hard at work, the chief shot his gun, and all the Tayal concentrated their fire on the men in the ditches. They slaughtered all the Chinese but one, who they left to go back to town to report that the reason the Tayal fought was to revenge the murder, rape, and cannibalism of their fellows.

The people of Takulan went for help to Liu Ming-chuan (1836 – 1896), the administrator of Taiwan appointed by the Ching emperor (served in Taiwan from 1885 to 1891). He sent 30,000 soldiers to Miaoli to fight the Tayal. The war dragged on for three years, with a loss of five thousand Chinese soldiers, who are now buried in a Temple of Virtue.

Seeking to end the hostilities, Liu enlisted the help of Bayan Mahung, a Tayal from Hsinchu, further north, who had not fought in the war (Bayan had lost his father while he was still very young, so he took on his mother’s name, Bahung). Bayan served as an intermediary in negotiations, and Liu agreed to pay heavy compensation to the Tayal. This ended the war and stopped the hostilities.

Told to me by mama Yupas, who collected the story from Tayal elders in Vali.

Friday, June 25, 2010

今天看到一句,可書諸紳:

平時不養生

老年養醫生

Thursday, June 24, 2010

mama Yupas念臺大時,大概在民國五十幾六十年時,他大哥到臺北來看看弟弟。但路不熟,不知道臺大在哪,在中山北路走走看看。到了一個十字路口,也不管它紅燈綠燈,直直的走過馬路:Tayal balay! 警察看到快發瘋了,吹哨子叫住。大哥跟警察說,「我迷路了,所以我冒著生命危險來找你!出事的話,你要負責!」警察大驚,馬上叫巡邏車來,亮燈鳴笛專程將大哥送到臺大門口。帥吧!

When mama Yupas was in college, say around 1970, his big brother came to Taipei to visit him. But his big brother did not know his way around the city, and had no idea where National Taiwan University is. He walked along Chungshan N Road, one of Taipei's few busy streets at the time, hoping he might find something that looked like the university. They don't have traffic lights in the mountains, so at an intersection, he went straight across, through traffic. The policeman on duty blew his whistle and ordered him to halt. Big brother said, "I'm lost, and I'm risking my life to come ask you directions! If anything happens to me, it's your responsibility!" The policeman was so startled that he called up a patrol car, and they delivered Big brother to the front gate of NTU with lights flashing and sirens screaming. Quite an entrance.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

斗六有一家

優揚補習班

昨早路過時,或許我睡眼惺忪,眼花了,乍看來以為是

擾傷補習班…..

Monday, June 21, 2010


Today Sabiy and JH held their final Dance Movement Therapy session with the Tsou kids at Pnguu, in the mountains in Chiayi.

In the morning, I went out towards Sbisbi. As I was admiring all the detail the strong sunlight brought out on the rock face of the peak, an eagle flew out from the slope to my left. Strong sunlight: the hot solstice sun reminded me that Pnguu is only a couple kilometers north of the Tropic. When I went back to Pnguu, at high noon, walls and posts did not cast any shadows.

At lunch, Voyu鄭老師 very kindly answered my interminable questions about the Tsou language. The structure of the language is beginning to come together and make sense to me. Which does not ensure that I can make sense to anybody else in Tsou.

By the time the afternoon DMT session started, clouds were gathering, but I wanted to bid goodbye to Hohcubu, the sacred peak of the Tsou. I went quickly uphill. I passed the gigantic scar where a tea garden tore off the mountain last August. A huge chain link net has been placed across the scar, and workmen were busy spraying soil, fertilizer, and seed onto the face. I said hello to them and soon reached the little road that goes across the mountain past a glorious huge tree.

Shortly before I reached the stand of ten camphors, an eagle flew out of the bush, not twenty paces ahead of me, only about two meters off the ground. I was close enough to see its eye, but not fast enough to turn on the camera and photograph it.

The eagle flew down a small, freshly restored road that had been impassible months ago. I turned down the road to take a look; thunder sounded. I thought, The eagle led me here, I'll just go fifty meters down to the turn and see what's beyond that. Thunder sounded again before I reached the turn. I looked down the road beyond that, and turned back, heading upwards as fast as I could. Clouds were gathering quickly.

I finally reached the spot between tea gardens that provides an excellent vantage point for viewing Hohcubu. The wind was building as I filmed a few short clips. Clouds were moving in over the face of the mountain. I bid Hohcubu goodbye in the best Tsou I am capable of and turned back. At the last place from which you can see the peaks, I looked back. The mountain was entirely swathed in clouds and could not be seen at all.

If it started to rain, I did not want to be caught on the steep path behind the school, but I did not want to take the long loop around the road, so I quickly went down the treacherous path to the suspension bridge and rattled across it as the sky continued to thunder. In retrospect, being a warm body suspended high on a bridge crossing openly across a valley is not an ideal position when lightning is close.

I got off the bridge and continued to make my way with all due haste to the school. About seven or eight minutes from the school, preliminary drops started falling, so I knew that I would be able to reach shelter before the clouds opened up.

Friday, June 18, 2010

You may be surprised to know that yes, I am aware that the World Cup is being played. Apparently North Korea did very well against Brazil; the North Koreans scored their first goal in 44 years. Of course the players are highly motivated, carrot and stick. Their star player, Ji Yun=Nam (池潤南, or志尹南), earns the princely monthly salary of US$1.74, which piles up very quickly to a yearly salary of US$20.82, yes, you read that correctly, twenty dollars and eighty two cents! I hope he spends his money wisely, and not all in one place.

That's the carrot. The stick is, the North Korean government has told the national team that if they lose, they will be sent to work in the mines.

In the US, if a pro player doesn't do well, he's sent to the minors. In North Korea, he's sent to the mines.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

話說,當年蔣經國先生請泰雅文面耆老到圓山大飯店三樓宴會廳吃飯。耆老住慣開闊的山上,看到小小的電梯,覺得大可不必,三樓而已,kangi kakay ta la yasa la!走啦!

很巧,二樓宴會廳是幫派大宴席,各方兄弟吃的正開懷,看到樓梯走上了幾位文面人,全場肅然起敬,大夥誠惶誠恐,起立說,「蛙鰓,我們黑道兄弟刺青已經很拉風,怎麼樣也只敢在衣服裏!這幾個老頭兒還把它刺在臉上!一定是非常厲害的角色!!」全部立正,向老人致敬。文面耆老繼續走,笑笑,「Sayux balay! Tama kwara pi!不好意思!大家坐嘛!」

When Chiang Chingkuo was president, say around 1980, he invited some Tayal elders to a banquet at the Grand Hotel in Taipei. Being elders, they all had tattooed faces. The banquet was being held on the third floor. The elders looked at the elevator, and said, It's cramped in there, the air is bad, no need to bother, it's only the third floor, let's walk.

It just so happened that on the second floor, a banquet was also being held by some serious gangsters. The brothers were all eating cheerfully, when they saw these tattooed elders walking up the stairs. The gangsters rose to their feet as one, saying, "Wa-sai!! Brothers in the underworld who get tattooed are not to be trifled with, but no matter what, we hide our tattoos inside our clothes. These old folks have their tattoos on their faces! Awesome!!" They all stood at attention and paid their respects to the Tayal elders. The elders kept walking, and smiled and said, "How embarrassing! Why don't you all sit down!"

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

照我的慣例,端午節把離騷誦過一遍;總該有人記得屈原吧。

有一句:

羌內恕己以量人兮,各興心而嫉妒。

是發語詞,可以不理它。害賢為,害色為)這是人的通病沒錯,但現代人這個問題特別嚴重,尤其在臺灣。新聞界要負很大的責任,但我覺得癥結在于政客要拉票,所以慫恿選民說,所有問題都是他們造成的;你不必努力長進,你不必為你的行為負責,你不必反省,只要你配合我嗆他們,就是他們的錯;你是聖人,你是無辜的,都是 他們的錯。

最近看到候選人的廣告:

拒當二等國民!!

台北市有的,

新北市都要有!!

對不起,我還是秉President Kennedy的精神:Ask not what your country can do for you, ask rather what you can do for your country.可是我沒有競選,所以著眼點可能不大一樣。

嚴以律己,寬以待人。這樣還是比較健康。

不容易當選就是了。

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

三四十年前,yanay Bawnay的牧師第一次坐飛機,暈機,就跟空服員說,「我有點不舒服,請司機到前面停一下。」

30 or 40 years ago, the first time yanay Bawnay's minister took an airplane, he got airsick, and asked the stewardess, "I don't feel good, could you ask the driver to pull up ahead and stop for a bit?"

Yesterday Sabiy and JH were scheduled to go to Pnguu for another session of Dance Movement Therapy with the Tsou kids. However, it rained hard over the weekend, so even though the rain had more or less stopped by the time we set out from Touliu, and at the time of a phonecall to the school the roads were still open, we were uncertain that we could reach Pnguu.

On the way out of 雲林縣Yunlin before the tunnel to 草嶺 Tsaoling, at the spot of one of last year's worst slides, we were stopped by a stream of mud flowing across the road. We were the third car backed up on our side, so the slide was pretty new. It wasn't deep, but it was steady. The slide doesn't look like much in this clip, but notice that it is briskly pushing good sized rocks. A bulldozer looked poised to clear a way across. The operator turned out to be the contractor who had just built a small catch basin above the road, but the cement had not had time to set thoroughly, so he was worried it would flush out. He started his bulldozer, maybe planning to doze a path across the slide, but thought better of it. The slope above could have dropped at any moment.

It wasn't worth it to try to power our way across, and even if we did, we had no way of knowing if we could get back later. We turned back.

Before we turned around, the driver of the car in front of us had the same idea, but backed up a bit too far, and the back right wheel slipped into the ditch. Our driver 陳大哥, Chiahuan家煥, and I lifted the back end of the car, the driver gunned it, and the car came free.


Another clip here:
and here::

Monday, June 14, 2010

Sometimes it is difficult to explain just

what goes wrong with a translation

or somebody's great idea for a product's name.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

This is what summer sounds like in the forests and mountains of Taiwan. From morning to sundown, the cicadas sing.

::Taiwan's cicadas come out every summer, not every 17 like American cicadas.::

Friday, June 11, 2010

日據時代,帝國軍閥用飛機巡查山林,看到泰雅就拋下炸彈,內裝釘子石頭等,泰雅很頭痛!可是日本人的民族性就是死腦筋,作了一次,以後很難起變化。達晏(泰雅)觀察到這一點,所以就注意看飛行路線。果然每次一樣。他們就找了山腰上一棵大樹。選了一棵五葉松,上面作窩,幾個達晏神鎗手在上面等待。日軍飛機飛來,大家集中火力擊下。下面的勇士看飛機慢慢下墜,追去用戰刀砍死駕駛員。軍閥非常驚訝,這些達晏怎麼這麼剽悍!

In an earlier post, I told of the first time kaba Tali Watan, and Wulai, ever saw an airplane. Wulai is close to Taipei, so the Japanese warlords were careful to keep the local Tayal under close control.

In Miaoli, the first airplanes were used to patrol the mountains. When Tayal were sighted, the pilots would throw down bombs loaded with nails, stones, and other sharp objects. This gave the Tayal some real headaches!

But the Japanese have always had one-track minds. If they have done something once, they have difficulty doing it another way the next time. The Tayal were aware of this trait, so they carefully observed the flight path. They selected a large pine tree on a mountain slope close to where the plane came through a gap in the mountains, and gathered some of the best local marksmen, who hid in a large nest in the tree. When the plane made its next appearance, they all shot together, and shot the plane out of the air. As it drifted downward, warriors waiting below chased it, and soon as the plane landed, took care of the pilot with their laraw (knives). This certainly gave the Japanese army something to think about!

Told by mama Yupas, who collected the story from tribal elders.

Wednesday, June 09, 2010

泰雅的習慣,如果吃飯時有人路過,一定請他進來一起吃。

大概四、五十年前,幾位文面泰雅婦女到城市買東西。路過麵攤,老闆娘叫,「進來吃喔!有麵有飯!」盛情難卻,就進去各吃了一碗牛肉麵。吃完,要走,跟老闆娘說謝謝,要趕車回山上,老闆娘說,「錢呢?」此時才發現在平地吃東西還要付錢。一個很冤枉說,「怎麼辦變成這個樣子?」另一個很不甘願說,「為甚麼她要騙我們?」

對同樣的一種事,不同文化背景的人有截然不同不同的解讀。

When eating, Tayal traditionally invited any passersby to join them. Good manners, good company.

About 40 or 50 years ago, some Tayal ladies with tattooed faces went to the city to buy stuff. When they walked past a diner, the boss called out, "Come on in and eat! We have noodles and rice!" The ladies said, "Oh, isn't that nice of him!" so they went in and each had a nice big bowl of beef noodles. When they finished, they thanked the boss and said they had to go catch their bus back to the mountains. It was only when the boss asked to be paid that the ladies realized that when you eat in a city, you have to pay for your food. One said plaintively, "Mswa maha kani" (How did that happen?), and another grumbled, "Suwa ta niya kbrus pi!?" (Why did she trick us?).


Very often, your interpretation of events is decided by your cultural background.

Tuesday, June 08, 2010

As I have mentioned on this blog, Sabiy has been doing Dance Movement Therapy with Tsou kids who survived the Morakot landslides last year. I have been trying to learn the Tsou language, but have encountered various difficulties… to say the least!

Fortunately, today the Pnguu Elementary School administrators introduced me to Mr Moo-Muknaha / 武山勝先生, an authority of the language (I was surprised to learn that he is 74 years old. He hardly looks it!) I asked for twenty minutes and he very generously spent an hour explaining some of the intricacies of the Tsou language.

Tsou has a series of verb particles that specify what it is you are talking about. E indicates that the object is close at hand, si means not that close, ta further away but still visible; na means you don't know what it is, ‘o means you know what it is but it is not visible, co means you know what it is, it is not visible, but you can hear it (for example, a dog barking outside). Wish me luck!

Monday, June 07, 2010

今天安排舞蹈治療團體結束後,到劍湖山慈光寺。路過華山,問到橋頭堡咖啡館有素餐,就進去點了手工麵。現在很多所謂的「手工」產品令人懷疑,可是點完,老闆娘說,「要等一下」,到裏面去忙。老闆說要給我們喝咖啡酵素。沒聽過,喝喝看。老闆忙了一回,調好了,味道很清爽,很特別。才開始喝,老闆娘遞了一大糰麵粉給老闆,他開始趕麵。果然純手工!口感非比尋常。老闆又端上熱咖啡,說是朋友送的「麝香咖啡豆」,比一般咖啡香,但沒有一般咖啡的苦味。

慈光寺,九二一後重建。佛像高十尺,由一整塊樟木雕成。但因為師父要外出開示,所以提早作晚課,不便久留。下次吧。

Our way to Ciquang Temple took us through Gukeng, Taiwan's main coffee growing area. Coffee is a new crop here, but the quality of the coffee is excellent. We stopped in Huashan at Bridge Coffee when they told us they had vegetarian selections, including handmade noodles.

First they gave us each a glass of coffee enzyme, which I had never had before. It was refreshing and had an unusual, but palatable taste. The proprietress came out of the back and handed the proprietor a big hunk of dough. He got to work with his rolling pin. When they say handmade noodles, they mean handmade noodles. Excellent!

After the noodles we enjoyed a special cup of coffee made from beans given the proprietor by a friend. I'm not sure what they’re called in English, but they had a very fragrant aroma, and none of the bitterness you get with so much coffee.

Stuffed, we proceeded to the temple, but since the Shihfu was going to give a lecture, they had evening devotions early. The temple was destroyed in the September 21, 1999 earthquake. When they rebuilt it, they had a new Buddha carved, out of one gigantic piece of camphor. The whole temple is elegant and refined.

Sunday, June 06, 2010


九十九年六月六日早上十一點十一分溫度二十二度~~amazing!

Friday, June 04, 2010

Looking at the mountains in Miaoli, central Taiwan, mama Yupas says, "This land was given to us by our ancestors. We will live in this land generation after generation. Unless this land is destroyed, the Tayal will always be here; if this land is destroyed, the Tayal tribe will cease to exist."

苗栗泰安看群山,mama Yupas說,這個地是我們祖先留給我們的,子子孫孫也會一直長存在個大地上。除非這個大地滅亡,否則我們泰雅會一直守此地;倘若這個大地滅亡,這個民族也會滅亡。

The language is the C'oli dialect of Tayal, an early Austronesian language, one of the oldest extant.

Thursday, June 03, 2010

今天托mama Yupas的福,到天狗社拜訪泰雅耆老yaki Lawa,今年一百零六歲。十五歲時失怙,因為她是長子,下有三個妹妹,所以Lawa擔負起養家的責任,再苦再重的工作,也不辭。日據徭役,每家必派一男丁,由Lawa來作。也開墾新地、爬樹鋸枝、犁田等。

至今,Lawa為泰雅族人楷模。生活仍依循泰雅祖訓,個性開朗,說笑間充滿智慧。鄉公所定期派醫生、護士來照顧,也送營養午餐。跟我們談了一個小時,親切、活潑,但很抱歉,因為想為我們唱泰雅古調,身微不適,不方便唱。但yaki Lawa說,下次一定要再去找她,她一定為我們唱。

現在文面耆老難得一見,拜訪yaki Lawa,我非常感動。

Thanks to mama Yupas, today Chao and I were able to visit yaki Lawa, a Tayal living in S'uraw, Miaoli, in central Taiwan. She is 106 years old.

She lost her father when she was 15. She took the responsibility for rearing her three little sisters, doing a man's hard labor without complaint. During the Japanese Occupation of Taiwan, each family was required to send a man to labor for the government for a certain amount of time; Lawa took over for her father. She cut down jungle for new fields (mnayang), and climbed trees to cut off limbs before chopping them down. Bawnay recalls that when he was a little boy, on his way to school early in the morning, he would see Lawa already hard at work, plowing the fields.

Now she is a revered matron of the Tayal. She lives according to GaGa, Tayal moral teachings, and she is one of the last Tayal left whose face was tattooed by traditional ritual. She is full of life, talk, laughter, and wisdom. The local government sends doctors and nurses regularly to look after her, and provides nutritious lunches every day.

We chatted for about an hour. She apologized, saying that she was going to sing a traditional Tayal song for us, but she was a bit under the weather. She said, Be sure to come again, and I promise I will sing for you then.

Also: here

and here::