Lin Yuxin, MA, Institute of Taiwan Literature, National Tsing Hua University

In the short story “A Pilgrimage to The Mountains” cultural beliefs and values of the Saisiyat – one of Taiwan’s indigenous peoples – emerge in the conversations and interactions of three men: Daruo, an aborigine who safeguards his people’s traditions; Lahei, a fellow tribesman who has settled in the city; and Yamamoto, a Japanese geologist.

 
To Taiwan aborigines, “walking towards the mountain” implies that one will soon return home. Yet this phrase has a different meaning for each of three men in the story: for Daruo, it is the path to communion with nature; for Lahei, it is simply the road that leads from the city back to his native village; and for Yamamoto it is an avenue to new knowledge of the mountains.

 
At the beginning of the story, the Taiwan Forestry Bureau plans to build a road through Hsueh-pa National Park, a move that will mean the destruction of a mountain. The bureau hires Yamamoto, a Japanese geologist, to survey the area. Daruo and Lahei, indigenous residents of the region, are to act as Yamamoto’s guides. As the three set out, Yamamoto’s cold conversations with Daruo reveal the disparity in the two men’s cultural knowledge and the gap in their mutual understanding of nature. By the story’s end, however, they have opened up to each other, and Yamamoto realizes the importance of living in harmony with the natural world. At a Forestry Bureau meeting – the story’s final scene – he concludes his remarks with the statement “Let this mountain live!” Yamamoto and Daruo have experienced a meeting of spirits; not only has the Japanese scientist deepened his knowledge of the mountains, he has also come to understand the Saisiyat people’s love and respect for their homeland.

 
Author Itih a taoS uses traditional tales, customs and beliefs to transmit Saisiyat cultural knowledge, addressing readers through Daruo as he talks with Yamamoto: “In the high mountain forests, leaves fall, buds sprout, and flowers blossom, all at the same time. Sometimes after a downpour, flowers burst forth in full bloom, as though spring has silently arrived; at noon, the mountain wind blows the dead leaves from the trees, as if fall is approaching; at night the cold penetrates to the bone, as though you’re about to die; in the morning it’s cool and pleasant, and in the afternoon it’s so hot you’re soaked with sweat – aren’t these the four seasons?” Although not completely in accord with modern scientific knowledge, Daruo’s interpretation of natural phenomena illustrates a central tenet of Saisiyat cultural beliefs: only by coexisting with Nature can humans understand its ever-changing wonders.

 
As the story ends, Yamamoto relates a magical experience: “Two warriors with tattooed faces pounced on me; when I tumbled into a gorge, a white-haired old man embraced me in midair and lightly set me down on the ground. I’m not lying – it really happened.” Perhaps this white-haired old man was Puweng, a legendary Saisiyat figure; in any case, the story is an expression of the animist belief that in every mountain there exists a “mountain spirit, and that everything in the natural world is alive.”

Lin Yuxin, MA, Institute of Taiwan Literature, National Tsing Hua University

 
Itih a taoS (b. 1957: Chinese name Gen Asheng), a member of the aboriginal Saisiyat people, was born into the Bakasun tribe in Penglai Village, Nanzhuang Township, Miaoli County. Itih a taoS is his tribal name. His great-grandfather was a key figure in the Nanzhuang Incident, an armed anti-Japanese uprising, and an in-law of resistance leader Akoway. Itih a taoS has held positions as vice-chairman, councilor, and chieftain in the Association for the Betterment of Urban Aborigines, and has served as president of the Council for the Promotion of Saisiyat Culture.

 
A literature grant from the National Culture and Arts Foundation enabled Itih a taoS to complete The Path of Saisiyat Literature, a series of interrelated works totaling approximately 100,000 Chinese characters. Although Itih a taoS’s literary output falls short of other aboriginal authors such as Walis Norgan, Topas Tamapima, and Badai, during the last decade he has won several prizes for aboriginal literature. In 2000, His “Pas-ta'ai” – a poem about Taiwan’s legendary “little people” – and “Thunder Woman” respectively took second prize in the poetry category and an honorable mention in the short-story category in the first China Motors Aboriginal Literature Awards. The following year his “Towards the Mountain” took first place in the award’s short story category.

Subsequent prize-winning works include “A Dialog between Nature and the Souls of Dwarfs,” “Leaky House Stains,” and “The Heavy Labor of the Man in the Mountain.”

 
Itih a taoS’s Saisiyat writing has enriched aboriginal literature. In 2008, his works were collected in Tales and Legends from Mount Baka, the first-ever collection of Saisiyat poetry and prose, which contains his prize-winning stories and poems as well as the myths and traditional prophecies of the Saisiyat people. The writings celebrate the spirit of traditional Saisiyat culture, and Itih a taoS’s account of his own life experiences reveals the difficulties encountered by Taiwan’s indigenous people as they try to adapt to a modern urban lifestyle.