Jez's Blog

After watching the video Spirits of Orchid Island, here are some following questions with their answers, based on what the video was about:


(1) Please indicate the importance of the ocean to Tao.
The ocean seems to be a really important role in Tao's life. Tao lives on a island, which obviously is surrounded by the ocean. Therefore, the very first thing that Tao people have to learn, is how to get along with the ocean, especially for Tao men, they've already been playing in the ocean as if it's their playground since they were little. The ocean provides food resources, in which it basically provides sea foods, for Tao people.

(2) It takes a lot of time for Tao people to build a boat. How do Tao people make a boat? Do you think it is worthy or it wastes time? Why?
Tao people make their boats with woods on the island. First, they chopped down the tree that they think has the most suitable wood for their boat. And then they gradually shape and smoothed each piece of the boat with an axe. Finally, they combine all the pieces of the boat together. By only looking at the steps of making a Tao boat might seem quite easy, but it actually takes a lot of effort. And by the way, one thing about making one of these boats has quite impressed me, which is that all the pieces of the boat are joined together with wooden needles, the boat is actually made up with absolutely no metal needles in it!
I think it's a definitely worthy for Tao people to make these Tao boats because this is one of the most symbolic thing that represents the Tao culture.

(3) Explain the boat launching ceremony.
According to the Tao tradition, before a boat launches, a boat launching ceremony will be held. In the ceremony, Tao men toss the new boat, with its sailor, into the air, to symbolize how the new boat will break out the waves as it sails on the ocean. Also, all the Tao males, including little Tao boys, will dance around the new boat, acting as if they are in great anger, in order to drive the evil spirit away from the new boat(?).

(4) Explain the flying fish calling ceremony.
The flying fish calling ceremony is the biggest event that the Tao held in once a year. Tao people belief that the flying fish is the fish from the heaven, its God's fish. During this ceremony, Tao people will kill a piglet, then each person stain their finger with the blood of the piglet, and then everyone dip their fingers, with blood, into the sea water on the sea shore. By doing this, the flying fish will smell the blood and come nearer to the shore, and so its easier for the Tao fishermen to fish them. The Tao fishermen also use fire to lure flying fish. Some flying fish that are caught, were used to be the bait for fishing bigger fish. However, the rest of flying fish that are caught, have to be all eaten by the next day.

(5) How do Tao people live in harmony with the natural environment?
Tao people are not just living in the nature, they are also protecting it. For instance, they may have been chopping down trees to make their boats and houses..etc, but they were also planting trees in the forests. They also have this rule of not cutting too many trees from a certain place, in order to remain the forest. Moreover, Tao people do not normally kill other animals, not even snakes.

(6) The houses Tao people build are so special. Please compare their houses to those houses in your own country.
The reason why the houses that Tao people build are so special, is because that they are located on a island where there's not much natural barriers to block strong typhoons. Therefore, their house were built underground, to avoid the damage from strong typhoons. On the other hand, the buildings in the country where I'm from, Taiwan, is totally different then the Tao buildings. Although strong typhoons invade us sometimes as well, but because of the natural barrier of Central Mountain Region, we do not have to build our buildings under ground. And also, there is variety of materials to build the buildings in Taiwan, which most of them are quite preventable for typhoons.

(7) Tao people view eating a seasnake as a taboo because it lowers social status. In your own culture, do you have any eating taboos? Do you believe in it? Why?
I don't think there's really an eating taboos in my own culture. Perhaps eating dogs? Well, if eating dogs is really an eating taboo because it lowers our social status, I think I'll belief it because dogs are just like our friends, and high class people do not eat their friends!!

(8) So far only one big handmade boat is kept in Tao tribe because of modernization. Thus, some Tao people try to preserve their art culture. Please describe a vanishing art culture in your country that you would like to preserve.
Paper umbrella is a vanishing artifact in Taiwanese culture. Young people do not usually appreciate the beauty of these paper umbrellas, they might think they are meretricious. However, I think young people should learn more about these paper umbrellas, in order to appreciate them and actually wanting to preserve them.



- http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/5-gp/yearbook/20tourism.html
[Picture of Tao hand made boats. Copied by Jez. 26th of Nov. 2008]