“This is God’s arrangement, bringing together various ethnic groups to live harmoniously.” – Wang Mingyuan
Although we were conducting a field study of the Coastal Bunun tribe, we visited the Fuxing tribe of the Amis people to interview 85-year-old Wang Mingyuan, an authentic Bancha.
Before this, besides Xiao Ma’s mother, most people who had interacted with Grandpa Ma Dashan or Grandma Tian Zhen-Nu in their adulthood and could still vividly recount those interactions have passed away. Therefore, hearing Grandpa Mingyuan’s personal recollections of his grandfather and detailed descriptions of his grandmother today is truly exhilarating for us, finally filling the void of the often missing female perspective in our field studies!
Guided by divine providence, Grandpa, at the tender age of 19, moved to the mountain village to settle and preach. Grandma Tian Zhen-Nu had already been baptized and was a revered midwife in the village. Through their dedication, the True Jesus Church’s faith swiftly spread throughout the mountain community.
Before moving there, Grandma had been suffering from cancer for eight years while living in Ma Yuan Village, without much progress in treatment. Exhausted in body and spirit, she almost gave up and moved to her sister’s home in Lunshan to recuperate. It was there that she encountered the True Jesus Church and was baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit. Miraculously, her illness gradually healed—a blessed testament to her faith.
During that time, Grandpa Ma Dashan roamed the Hualien-Taitung Valley and the Coastal Mountain Range in search of hunting grounds and farmland. Finally deciding to settle in the mountain, he brought Grandma, Uncle Ma Mingde, and Xiao Ma’s father, Ma Mingyi, from Lunshan to settle.
According to the household registry that Xiao Ma applied for, Ma Dashan moved from Ma Yuan to Lunshan in 1947 and then to the mountain village in 1952. Uncle Mingyuan arrived with his brother in 1955 to preach in the mountain village, at which point Grandma’s illness had healed. The church had not yet been built, so worship services were held at the doorsteps of their homes.
“I don’t know exactly when your grandpa converted, but he practiced shamanism at the same time. Later, he got colon cancer. I remember it very clearly; one day, he asked me to feel his swollen belly due to the tumor and pray with him… Eventually, he cried. He had a very strong personality and would never cry, but he repented and believed in Jesus. Truly, it takes a great person to repent on their deathbed; your grandpa was exceptional!”
This event happened when Uncle Mingyuan was 20 years old, and his vivid recounting makes it feel as if it happened just yesterday.
Uncle Mingyuan, like a storyteller, stood up and mimicked Ma Dashan. Tall and burly, he could carry 300-400 jin (pounds) of corn. “His legs were so… thick!” Uncle stretched out the word “thick,” indicating how robust Grandpa’s legs were, while mimicking carrying loads with a head strap and singing the “Burden-Carrying Song.”
Switching topics, the storyteller imitated the hunting posture of the Bunun tribe. “In the past, we didn’t wear shoes; we had to be silent while hunting in the mountains. The Bunun tribe walked barefoot, never stepping on stones. I was envious!”
It’s clear their foot skin was very thick! Xiao Ma continued the topic: “When I was young, I saw my grandpa Ma Qinglong shaving his foot skin with a knife.” Oh my! I, a common plains Han person, have only heard of “cutting feet to fit shoes,” never using a knife to exfoliate! It feels like we need to redefine “a real man.”
“Your grandpa was very generous, often going up the mountains. So usually, it was grandma interacting with everyone. She was very polite, always spoke kindly to people, had a good temper, and was warm-hearted. She was also very dedicated to her faith, which I admired.”
Perhaps it’s God’s baptism that makes Uncle Mingyuan’s gestures completely unlike those of an octogenarian. He often lowered his head in contemplation, puckered his lips, raised his eyebrows, and spoke in high-pitched tones with lively facial expressions. In his words, there was always a sense of humility, gratitude, and praise, as if a young, energetic soul was living within his body. His adorable expressions made it hard for me to put down the camera!
Having once led tours and served as a guide in the Fuxing tribe, he excitedly gave us keychains symbolizing the tribe that he made himself and shared hunting and gunpowder-making skills he learned from the Bunun tribe.
When asked about inter-tribal learning, Uncle Mingyuan expressed his admiration: “I envied the Bunun tribe; they were very close-knit. Whenever something significant happened, they would slaughter pigs and share. They also shared their hunts with me, and we would eat together. Later, I reciprocated by fishing and making mochi.”
Even though the Bunun tribe has reached the coast, they still uphold their ancestors’ command: sharing. Traditional Bunun people believe generous sharing brings God’s blessings. The mutual exchange of food between neighbors and relatives not only promotes a cycle of goodness but also represents another form of integration.
This Coastal Bunun group learned fishing from the Amis of Jiqi and hunting from the Bunun. The Amis who came to the mountains to preach didn’t speak Bunun, and the Coastal Bunun learned simple Amis to communicate with them. Initially parallel, the tribes found intersections, and their lives became mutually supportive.
Every tribe has treasures like Uncle Mingyuan, who know many stories and willingly share them with younger generations. We are fortunate to have received many precious memories from him. These shining fragments of history can now take root. Perhaps what the Coastal Bunun lost in traditional culture, no longer present in mountains and slate houses, has been compensated for by the pearls left behind after tribal integration. This generation of Coastal Bunun is thus opening a new chapter.
*This article was published in PULIMA LINK By: Ouyang Mengzhi.
Mina Ou-Yang (minaoy@gmail.com). A non-native of Hualien, I am a freelance worker who moved here, drawn by the allure of the grand mountains, vast oceans, trees, and whales. If I could sow seeds with my words along the thorny paths of gender, age, culture, and environment, I believe I could lived happily ever after.
