Transforming Tradition in Eastern Taiwan: Bunun Incorporation of Christianity in their Spirit Relationships Chun-wei Fang A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of The Australian National University April 2016 Declaration Except where otherwise indicated, this thesis is the result of original work carried out by the author. Chun-wei Fang ii Abstract This thesis investigates the history of religious beliefs and practices among the Bunun people of eastern Taiwan after their acceptance of Christianity at the end of the Second World War. I describe the process of Christianisation among the Bunun people, especially those who live in Hualien County, and investigate the role of Christianity in the development of Bunun identity in post-war and post-colonial Taiwan. Instead of seeing Christianity as a „missionary imposition‟, I follow the ways the Bunun have actively adopted, interpreted, and modified both the indigenous and Christian forms and ideas to meet their needs in different periods. I argue, therefore, that the study of the interactions of Christianity and indigenous religious beliefs and practices should examine what makes some Christian ideas and forms more amenable to adoption than others, and what the determinant ones are. The thesis demonstrates that Bunun conversion to Christianity has been a complex process involving both continuity and discontinuity. Continuity and change take place at the same time and are interwoven. To gain a better understanding of the mutual constitution of Christianity and Bunun culture, I suggest that we approach this question by combining the exegetical and historical perspectives. The intertwined trajectories of evangelisation, Sinicisation, indigenisation, and urbanisation have deeply influenced the articulation between Christian beliefs and practices and indigenous ones. My argument is that the reason most Bunun people desire to maintain continuity with their pre-Christian ways, and the reason the minority refuse to do so, derives not only from the appeals of Christianity but also from their engagements with the ethnic, political, and cultural politics of Taiwan that they have experienced from the end of the Second World War to the present. The study of indigenisation is not only to see what has changed or been preserved, an ongoing interest among scholars, but also to focus on the articulation of Christian and indigenous cultural elements at any given time within the wider social and political environment in which the Bunun are placed. iii Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without the assistance and support of many people. First, I would like to express my deep gratitude to the Bunun people, who looked after me and supported my research. In particular, I would like to give special thanks to Cina Ibu and her family, who treated me like a member of their family. I would also like to express my gratitude to Pastor Talima Nahaisulan (黃順利牧師), Pastor Taupas Tanapima (田光明牧師), Pastor Taupas Tanapima（田東波牧師), Pastor Manias Is-pasipal (張玉發牧師), Pastor Taupas Tanapima (田正義牧師), Pator Ibi Taki-ludun (宋銘金牧師), Pastor Wen-tsi Hu, Reverend Claude Gagelin, Talima Nahaisulan, Bisazu Nahaisulan, and many others for spending so much of their personal time and energy answering my questions. Without their guidance I would not have been able to enter and learn about Bunun culture and society. At ANU, I have been extremely fortunate to have Patrick Guinness as my supervisor. Patrick‟s ability to articulate problems and highlight intuitions is unsurpassed in my experience. Working with Patrick has fundamentally changed the way that I think about and approach research. His patience, encouragement, and insights were vital to the success of this thesis. I also owe a deep debt of gratitude to the members of my panel, James Fox and Bronwen Douglas, for their insights and suggestions over the course of this journey. While not on my panel, Christopher Ballard read drafts of various chapters and I would like to thank him for his useful comments. I would also like to thank my fellow postgraduate researchers and friends, Jinghong Zhang, Jingfeng Sun, Jennifer Holmgren, Sophie McIntyre, Tzu-yu Chiu, Ying-cheng Chang, and Trixie Tangit, for their encouragement and support. I also extend my deep gratitude to my teachers, colleagues, and friends in Taiwan for their kind support and assistance. I am indebted to Wen-te Chen, Shiun-wey Huang, Zhao-hua Ho, Han-chen Chiang, Siu-nang Fong, Jiuan Lin, Chang-hua Wang, Banay Watan, Yuma Taru, Yu-tsuen Hsu, Chien-chang Feng, Chi-shan Chang, Jing-Jhih Wang, and Yi-ling Tsai. I sincerely appreciate Hsueh Tsai for her assistance in drawing the map. I would like to give special thanks to JC Bartimus (傑西) for proofreading my draft chapters. His timely and invaluable help is greatly appreciated. iv My study at ANU was supported by scholarships from the Ministry of Education in Taiwan. My fieldwork was funded by the College of Arts and Social Sciences at ANU. Finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my parents, my sister and brother, my wife Chyi-chyi, my son Ming-long, and my daughter De-lian for their love and support. v Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................ iii Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................... iv Illustrations.................................................................................................................... xi Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 Research Topic ............................................................................................................... 6 Christianity in Taiwan Austronesian Ethnography ...................................................... 12 Thinking of Continuity, Discontinuity and Christianity .............................................. 17 Ethnographic Setting .................................................................................................... 24 Outline of the thesis ..................................................................................................... 33 Chapter 1 The Pre-Christian Bunun ........................................................................ 37 Constructing the Bunun ............................................................................................... 38 Lumah as the House and Family .................................................................................. 43 House Membership Through Food-sharing ................................................................. 47 Pre-Christian Religious Beliefs and Practices ............................................................. 50 Hanitu (Spirits) .................................................................................................... 51 The Spirit of the Living Creature or Natural Object ............................................ 51 The Spirits of Living People ................................................................................ 53 The Spirits of Ancestors ....................................................................................... 55 The Wandering Spiritual Beings .......................................................................... 56 vi Spirit Mediums ..................................................................................................... 56 Is-ang (the Breath, Heart, and Soul) .................................................................... 57 Dihanin (The Sky) ............................................................................................... 58 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 63 Chapter 2 Loss and Rediscovery .............................................................................. 66 Erasing the Bunun Past ................................................................................................ 67 The Past as Part of the Present ..................................................................................... 69 History: the Experiential and Shared Path ................................................................... 72 The Golden Age and its Losses .................................................................................... 75 Intensifying Political Struggles in the Early Japanese Period ...................................... 78 „The Bunun are as Ignorant and Wild as Barbarians‟ .................................................. 84 The Bunun Diaspora in a New Socio-political Arena .................................................. 87 Post-war Losses ............................................................................................................ 93 Save My People: Christianity and Rediscovery ........................................................... 94 The True Jesus Church ......................................................................................... 94 The Presbyterian Church ...................................................................................... 96 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 100 Chapter 3 Re-engaging the Ancestral Past ............................................................ 102 Experiencing the Power of Christian Spirit ..............................................................