Chapter 3 Section 3 The two sides of the Taiwan Strait have the same origin

Taiwan and the mainland are not only connected by geography, but also have the same humanities. According to statistics from the Taiwan authorities in recent years, the current population of Taiwan is 21 million, of which about 98% are from the mainland (mostly in Fujian and Guangdong provinces), and the remaining 2% are ethnic minorities who have lived on the island for generations. referred to as "aboriginal people"."Taiwanese" whose ancestral home is in the mainland, needless to say, are all "Chinese". They are descendants of the Chinese nation and are closely related to the mainland compatriots.So what is the relationship between the ethnic minorities called "aboriginal people" and the Chinese nation?

In the past hundred years, archaeologists have discovered hundreds of ancient human sites and excavated a large number of ancient cultural relics on the island of Taiwan, which fully proves that the prehistoric culture of Taiwan has an inseparable relationship with the mainland of the motherland, and its primitive society Every stage of development in history is closely related to the original culture of the mainland in terms of cultural connotation, and belongs to the same cultural system. There are two ancient human sites that have been discovered in Taiwan and can be concluded to belong to the Paleolithic Age: one is the "Zuozhen Man" site in Zuozhen, Tainan; the other is the Baxiandong site in Changbin Township, Taitung.

In the summer of 1970, Taiwanese archaeologists unearthed a gray-red ancient human skull fossil in Cailiao River, Zuozhen Township, Tainan County, which caused a sensation at home and abroad.After identification, it is the parietal bone of a young man about 20 years old. It belongs to the late Homo sapiens and is similar in age to the cave man. It is about 30,000 to 20,000 years ago. This is the earliest Taiwan resident we know so far.At that time, it was in the late Pleistocene (the end of the Ice Age), and Taiwan was still connected to the mainland. "Zuozhen Man" and many other large mammals probably migrated to Taiwan from the southeast of the mainland after a long and difficult journey. of.

At the end of 1968, archaeologists also unearthed a large number of stone tools and bone horn tools in Baxian Cave, Changbin Township, Taitung County. The stone tools unearthed in Songcun and other places are exactly the same.After identification, they are about 15,000 years ago (some say 50,000 years ago) the relics of the late Paleolithic Age, known as the "Changbin Culture". Whether the "Zuozhen people" and "Changbin people" are the ancestors of the current Taiwanese aborigines remains to be verified, but some Taiwanese scholars believe that they are the first batch of immigrants from mainland China to move to Taiwan, which is certain.

Many Neolithic sites have been discovered in Taiwan, and they can be summed up in the following three cultural types: One is the "Dadi (ben Ben) Keng Culture" (named after the Human Site of Dadikeng, Bali Township, Taipei County), which is mainly distributed in the lower reaches of the Tamsui River in the north and the west coast. Many russet and tan coarse-sand pottery fragments and The stone tools are very similar to those found in Neolithic sites in Jinmen, Fujian, Wannian, Jiangxi, Chao'an, Guangdong, and Dongxing, Guangxi, etc., and their age is roughly the same as that of the "Yangshao Culture" in the northern part of the mainland, about 6,000 to 7,000 years ago.

The second is the "Yuanshan Culture" centered on the Taipei Basin and extending to the northern coastal area (named after it was first discovered in Yuanshan, Taipei City). A large number of stone tools, pottery, bone and horn tools, jade and a small amount of bronze ware were unearthed.They belong to the late Neolithic and Bronze Age, which began more than 4,000 years ago and lasted for a long time.The found relics are mainly characterized by plain surface, stucco and circle Jomon pottery, segmented stone adze [ben Ben], shoulder stone axe, etc.Some scholars believe that the types of Yuanshan culture stone tools are related to the Neolithic age on the coast of Guangdong.

The third is the "Fengbitou Culture" (named after the human site of Fengbitou Mountain in Linyuan Township, Kaohsiung) distributed in the central and southern regions of the west coast. It is a late Neolithic remains more than 4,000 years ago.The early period is characterized by thin rope pattern red pottery, and the late period is characterized by gray pottery and red pottery with printed rope pattern, stripes and inscribed patterns, and has the shapes of tripods and beans.Many production tools such as stone axes, stone hoes, and stone sickles were found.It is generally believed that it was developed from the Dadikeng culture, and has similarities with the Tanshishan culture on the west coast of the strait.Some scholars also maintain that it is a culture formed under the strong influence of the Longshan culture in its formative period.

Taiwanese scholars believe that the Neolithic Taiwanese residents were a branch of the ancient Yue people in southern China. They were the second batch of mainland immigrants who moved to Taiwan, and they are the ancestors of most of the current Taiwanese aborigines. In addition to the above-mentioned series of major discoveries in archaeology, experts in ethnology and folklore have also presented strong evidence to further demonstrate that although the origins of Taiwan's "aboriginal people" are very complicated, they obviously came from different cultures at different times. However, its main source is the ancient Yue people along the southeast coast of mainland China.

In the long historical period before the Qin and Han Dynasties, the Yue people were widely distributed in the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River in my country. Because of the large number of tribes, they were called "Baiyue" or "Baiyue" in history.After the Qin and Han Dynasties, some of them merged with the Han nationality, and the other part had a close relationship with today's Zhuang, Buyi, Dai, Li, Dong and other ethnic minorities. So when did the Yue people immigrate to Taiwan?Ethnologists believe that it is in the "distant ancient times".According to many documents such as "Historical Records" and "Hanshu", at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, Fu Chai, king of Wu, defeated the Yue people. During the Warring States period, the Chu State destroyed Yue, and after Qin unified China, he established "Minzhong County" in the Fujian and Zhejiang areas where the ancient Yue people lived. , and later Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty conquered Minyue and Dongou, etc. These series of major historical events have caused turmoil in the southeast coastal areas of our country. and so on.These Yue people who immigrated to Taiwan are the ancestors of most of the modern Taiwanese aborigines.

Folklorists have found from another perspective that many of the important cultural characteristics of Taiwan's aborigines are exactly the same as those of the ancient Yue people in the south of the mainland: Broken hair tattoo: According to historical records, ancient Yue people had the custom of "broken hair tattoo".For example, "Huainanzi · Qi Su Xun" said: "The people of Yue cut their hair [jianjian]", "King Goujian of Yue cut his hair with tattoos".Taiwanese aborigines also "tattoo and embroider their faces".For example, in Houlong and Zhuqian communes, "the ones that grow around are all removed, and the dome is left in the middle, cut and drooping, like a snake head." (Chen Menglin: "Zhuluo County Chronicles" Volume 8, "Fan Sukao") In the Qing Dynasty, Yu Yonghe witnessed the aborigines' "chest and back inscriptions with green carvings as bird wings and nets [gugu] tiger and leopard inscriptions" (Yu Yonghe: "Shenhai Jiyou"). Until now, "tattoos and embroidered faces" can still be seen. of the aborigines.

Totem Worship: The ancient Yue people believe in snake dragons as their totem beliefs, and most of their tattoos use dragon snakes as images. "Huainanzi·Yuan Dao Xun" said: "Yu Yue gave birth to Ge Zhen... In the south of the Nine Doubts, there are few things about land and many things about water, so the people are tattooed by (pi) to look like scale insects, short and not dull , for wading, and roll up the shorts for piercing the boat.” They believe that cutting hair is good for launching into the water, and tattooing snake dragon patterns on their bodies can prevent the harm of animals in the water and facilitate fishing, hunting and production.Some ethnic groups among Taiwan's aborigines also use snakes as their totems.For example, Paiwan people and Rukai people like to carve or embroider snake patterns on their houses, utensils and clothing, and it is strictly forbidden to harm snakes.The hundred step snake is also regarded as the ancestor of the Paiwan nobles. Live in "dry fence" houses: Most people in ancient Yue lived in "dry fence" houses.The so-called "dry column" house is based on wooden piles, and large and small beams are put on to support the wooden boards to form an overhead building base, and then the house is built on the base.This architectural form is actually a remnant of primitive people's nesting, and it adapts to the climate and geographical environment of rainy, humid and overgrown grass in southern my country. In 1973, when Chinese archaeologists excavated the Hemudu site six or seven thousand years ago in the Hangzhou Bay area of ​​Zhejiang Province, one of the main settlements of the ancient Yue people, they cleared out this kind of wooden structure.Some ethnic minorities in southern my country, such as the Zhuang people in Guangxi and the Li people in Hainan Island, who are closely related to the ancient Yue people, also live in this kind of "dry column" house.The same is true for the aborigines of Taiwan.They "according to the deep mountains, erected houses on the planks, like buildings" (Shen Ying: "Linhai Tuzhi"). "At the place where the nest dwells, the blood drinks the Maoru" (Yu Yonghe: "Shenhai Jiyou").Aboriginal people lived on trees until the end of the Qing Dynasty.So far, most of the "public houses" and "warehouses" of the Cao people in Alishan are still built on piles like buildings. Chiseling teeth: The ancient Yue people had the custom of "chiseling teeth", knocking out two front teeth to facilitate identification of the same tribe in wars, and it is also related to marriage.Some aboriginal groups in Taiwan maintained the custom of "chiseling teeth" until the Japanese occupation era. Before marriage, men and women have to knock off their front teeth and hand them to each other, which means "pain and itching are related, and life is not easy." Cliff Burial and Dog Sacrifice: Ancient Yue people considered dog meat to be a precious food. "Wuyue Spring and Autumn" records that when a woman gives birth, she is given "a pot of wine and a dog" for a boy, and "a pot of wine and a dolphin" for a daughter; when the parents die, the dog is sacrificed, and the corpse is put into a wooden coffin and hung high on the cliff. superior.Up to now, there are still "cliff coffins" of the ancient Yue people in the Wuyi Mountains at the junction of Fujian, Zhejiang and Jiangxi.According to the records of Linhai Soil Chronicles, the aborigines in Taiwan also have the custom of "sacrificing dogs when their parents die". Today, the upper reaches of Shangping River in Hsinchu, Mabalai Mountain Cave, and Hongbiyu Island still have remnants of the original aborigines. The site of the "cliff coffin" of the residents. In addition, there are many customs such as headhunting, hair removal, bare feet, playing the harmonica, beating wooden drums, wearing headgear, etc. Some ethnic groups of Taiwan's aborigines are also the same or similar to the ancient Yue people in the south of the mainland. Of course, because Taiwan is located in the southeast sea, some residents from the southern Philippines, Indonesia, the Malay Peninsula, and the northeastern Ryukyu Islands drifted to Taiwan over the long years, forming another source of aborigines, but they only accounted for one of them. Very little portion.Someone once compared the 100 special customs and habits of the aborigines listed in "Taiwan Fu Zhi" with the special customs and habits of the Malays in Indonesia and the Malay Peninsula, and found that only 18% of them were the same; In particular, when compared with the customs and customs of the Zhuang and Dong ethnic groups that are closely related to the ancient Yue people, more than 80% of them are the same or similar. It is an undeniable fact that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have the same origin!