wfn.org | Ancestral Taiwan Aboriginal Rites Don't Conflict with Christian Faith

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@wfn.org>]

Taiwan Church News 2577, 22 July 2001
Reported by Wang Hui-tzu, Written by David Alexander

Giving Thanks Where Thanks are Due
      Every year following the grain harvest and storage in July and
August it has been traditional among the Tayal (Taiwan's second largest
Aboriginal tribe) to hold rites to thank the spirits of their ancestors
for protection and care.  Rites and traditions such as these have fallen
further and further into disuse in the face of modernization and
globalization, forces which threaten the very existence of Aboriginal
culture.  This year in Ulay (Wu-lai) township in Taipei County the local
government cooperated in and subsidized a multi-village ancestral
thanksgiving ceremony at its athletic field on July 14th.  Through
pageant and ceremony the history of Tayal life from long ago to modern
times was portrayed.  Residents of the villages of Ulay (Wu-lai), Tampya
(Chung-chi), Rahaw (Sin-hsian) and Mangan (Fu-shan) participated.
      The township's celebration this year, thought rooted in ancient
practice, had its modern beginnings a year ago from the Rev. Yumin
Gayung, pastor of Tampya Presbyterian Church.  He sensed the difficulty
of Aboriginal culture preservation and transmission, and decided to do
something about it.  He talked with the operators of parking lots in the
tourist zone and secured enough outdoor space to hold the thanksgiving
ceremony in Tampya.  This year he coordinated with the township office
and people from other villages to hold the larger ceremony.  He said,
"This was an event by and for our own people.  It was not a performance
mounted for tourists to come and watch.  We neither sought their
participation, nor did we turn them away."
According to Tayal legend, the tribe began from stone people in Nantou
County's Ren-ai Township.  On June 25 and 26 some busses were hired in
Ulay to take local people to their place of origin.  They visited the
village of Stbon (Ruey-yan) where the Rev. Pehu Torih, pastor of
Mui-chun Presbyterian Church, told them, "It used to be believed that
Taiwan's Aborigines came here from the South Seas and elsewhere.
Research into language and origins and searches as far away as Yunnan in
China have led us to believe that the flow was in the opposite
direction, and that the peoples of other places have their origins
here."
Traditional Tayal folk religion is based in veneration of the ancestors
and of spirits.  Existence is basically spiritual, including various
types of beings.  Souls, spirits, dead spirits and demons all exist.
Some are good, and others are bad.  People who die naturally become good
spirits, who ascend to heaven from whence they exercise a protective
role over their descendants.  People who die violently become evil
spirits who remain on the earth among the living to cause problems,
illness and misfortune.  Good spirits can protect and heal their
descendants.
Living surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, it becomes incumbent
upon the Tayal to give thanks.  Rites of veneration can be performed by
individuals or by families. These are distinctly different from worship
which, according to Rev. Pehu Torih, is given to God alone.  There
should be no conflict between the rites of the Tayal regarding their
ancestors and the worship of the Tayal regarding the one true God who
created the heavens and the earth and all that dwell therein.

For More Information: Pehu Torih +886 49 295 5192
                    Yumin Hayung +886 2 2661 6901