Form and Meaning in Paiwanese Art and Material Culture Hueiyun Chen August 2015 Research School of Humanities and the Arts A thesis submitted for the degree Doctor of Philosophy of The Australian National University Declaration of authorship Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or part from a thesis by which I have qualified for. II Acknowledgement Foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Howard Morphy for the continuous support to my PhD study, for his patience, motivation, and immense knowledge. His guidance helped me in all the time of research and writing of this thesis. My sincere thanks also goes to Dr, Louise Hamby, whose encouragement, interest, enthusiasm in my work helped me through many difficult moments. I would also like to thank my advisor Judith MacDougall for her great instruction with the management of images in this research. My gratitude also goes to Professor Paul Darcy, for his kindness and sincere to help me with some difficult issues in this thesis. I am also very grateful to the help from my Landlord and landlady: Colin and Rosemary Jeffcott. Thanks to their warm heart to offer me a shelter, which makes Australia become home. I especially thank my great teacher – Rosemary, without her help and guidance of English writing, this thesis would have never come about in the same way. So many Paiwanese respectful elders and friends made this research come true through their assistance and collaboration. I am truly thankful for their unselfish attitude to share me with their knowledge, experience and insight of this unique culture. Their help and support is crucial in the making and becoming of this thesis. I thank my fellow mates in RSHA group, for their stimulating discussion and encouragement throughout all these past years. I also thank for my friends in Australian: Declan Trott, Sharon Knott, Sandra MacDougall, Ying-Cheng Chang, Namita Rai and Katherine Kwan, with their friendship to make Australian a wonderful place. Last but not the least, I would like to thank my family: my parents: Chihsiung and Mingyu Chen, for their understanding and support to my pursuit of interest. III Abstract The thesis is centred on the art and material culture of the Paiwanese, an indigenous Taiwanese society. The thesis begins with an analysis of Paiwanese social organization and hierarchy in which primogeniture plays an important role. I explore the ways in which the dominant ordering structure is expressed in the forms of material culture and the ways in which cultural meanings are reflected in their art forms. I show the ways in which the underlying order that is expressed in certain art forms parallels aspects of Paiwanese social structure. I explore the aesthetic dimensions of Paiwanese art and the ways in which aesthetics is associated with cultural values. Aesthetic forms are closely involved in the value creation process of Paiwanese society. Finally, I discuss contemporary art production and tourist art development within their own historical trajectories to reveal changing attitudes towards the production of art objects as well as changes in their functions. IV Table of Contents Declaration of authorship ............................................................................................. II Acknowledgement........................................................................................................... III Abstract ........................................................................................................................... IV Chapter One: Introduction................................................................................................. 1 1. A discussion about studying art and material culture in the context of a particular society ........................................................................................................................... 3 2. Categories of analysis within the relevant theoretical framework ............................ 8 2-1. Representational systems in different material forms ........................................ 8 2-2. Viewing Paiwanese culture as a semiotic system ............................................ 12 2-3. Analogous structures in an art form and Paiwanese society as a whole .......... 13 2-4. Aesthetic expressions of various Paiwanese artefacts ..................................... 14 2-5. Tourist art development ................................................................................... 16 3. Structure of this thesis ......................................................................................... 19 Chapter Two: The social organization of Paiwanese society .......................................... 23 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 23 2-1. Distribution of the Paiwanese .............................................................................. 24 2-2. Sub-groups ........................................................................................................... 25 2-3. The original homeland--Padain ........................................................................... 26 2-4. The formation of a tribe ....................................................................................... 28 2-5. Paiwanese social organization and genealogy ..................................................... 30 2-6 Social structure – the hierarchical society ............................................................ 34 2-7 Historical development – Inland migration and the colonial period .................... 35 2-8 Colonial period ..................................................................................................... 37 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 39 Chapter Three: The history of the Pakedavai chiefly family .......................................... 41 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 41 Part One: History of the Pakedavai ............................................................................. 42 3-1-1. Myth as history ............................................................................................. 43 3-1-2. The tjautsiker of the Pakedavai .................................................................... 45 Part Two: The significance of this oral history ........................................................... 53 3-2-1. The Pakedavai – a derived household .......................................................... 53 3-2-2. The power of a chiefly family ...................................................................... 54 Part three: Relating stories to objects inside the house ............................................... 55 3-3-1. The transmission of knowledge .................................................................... 56 3-3-2. The Paluvake (family song) of the Pakedavai .............................................. 57 Part Four: The stories of the Pakedavai ...................................................................... 65 3-4-1. The story of the banyan tree ......................................................................... 66 V 3-4-2. The story of Aljis (The son of Deinagkistrodon acutus viper) ..................... 67 3-4-3. The stories of the glass beads ....................................................................... 70 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 73 Chapter Four: The Paiwanese house and the symbolism of motifs on eave beams and of other forms ...................................................................................................................... 75 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 75 Part one: The places of authority ................................................................................ 76 4-1-1. Motifs inspired by Paiwanese myths and history ......................................... 79 4-1-2. The motifs on the wooden eave beam, sasuayan ......................................... 81 4-1-3. The historical interpretations of the eave beams .......................................... 82 Part Two: Forms and meanings of the motifs on the wooden eave beams ................. 84 4-2-1. Paiwanese recording systems -- Venesik ...................................................... 84 4-2-2. Representational system of the motifs on wooden eave beams ................... 85 4-2-3. Introducing the meanings of the motifs on the two Pakedavai wooden eave beams ...................................................................................................................... 87 4-2-4. The significance of the motifs on the eave beams, Sasuayan .................... 100 4-2-5. Aesthetic expression in the motifs on eave beam ....................................... 102 Part Three: The different forms of Deinagkistrodon acutus viper associated with the old slate houses and its cultural connotations ........................................................... 105 4-3-1. The form of Deinagkistrodon acutus viper associated with traditional old slate houses ..........................................................................................................