Ancient Beads and Buns - Anthropology Observation VII (Notes 212 - 235 )

At Hanga Roa Easter Island Pacific Ocean

Note 212 

Eight -Petals (Lotus-Buddhism) Stuffed Buns

The seijō-kankidan 歓喜団 1000 years recipe 

Meatless Japan Made Them Sweet

Seijo-kankidan 1000 years recipe Japanese sweets @Kyoto

These Japanese sweets introduced by monks in Tang dynasty is of Central Asia origin.

Japan's centuries old meat-ban means stuffed buns were made meatless. ie sweet.

8 lotus petals (Buddhism) 7 different types or herbs such as mint, clove and cinnamon.

@Kyoto historical sweets shop

@Tesco supermarket frozen party food.

(I wrote this in 2023 - after a Tokyo trip. 

'Seijo Kankidan'
A very special sweet from a millennium ago (1000 years ago Tang dynasty) .
*As far as I understand, this very special sweet brought back from Tokyo is prepared with the same method and ingredients 1000 years ago.
* It's the size of shaomai 燒賣, 5x5cm.
*It is deep fried. Shell VERY hard and crunchy. Loaded with sesame oil which serves to preserve as well.
*Heavily spiced but not unpleasant nor richly pungent. Sesame and Clove heavy fragrance.
*It was suggested bake before consume. I heat it up with our Tatung rice cooker. Works perfect.
*Shell was SO hard that I dipped in tea to soften. The tea instantly turned into something similar to India's hot spiced tea!
*Understood not everyone is interested in culinary history. But for those who are, I recommend a try - not often you get to taste a 1000 years sweet with so much history in details. It's a unique experience.)

Note 213 Shumai (燒賣/稍麥 wheat) origin is Mongol

麥 麵 mai mian - Wheat

@Beijing Kyoto Tokyo Vienna 

Note 214 

Paiwan/Rukai aristocracy - Beads symbolism 

Was Paiwan/Ruksi aristocratic society formed AFTER (meaning a result of) beads trades? 

Paiwan/Rukai aristocracy- I have a question 2 years after Egypt trip and 6 months after Peru’s. I think it’s a good question.

3 years after I bought this wood-carved fruit bowl from a Paiwan craftsman in Taitung, I went to Egypt and I was seeing a lot of these ‘beads’. As well as beads symbolism inside 3000+ years tombs.

A couple of more years exploring new destinations here and there including Easter Island - the easternmost Austronesian expansion. And Peru where aristocratic society existed during Inca empire.

Question - 

Was Paiwan/Rukai aristocratic society formed AFTER (meaning a result of) beads trades? 

(Slavery or forced labors did not exist in Paiwan/Rukai as far as I understand . Existed in both Egypt and Peru.)

Note 215 Mantou and Baozi - North and South of Shanghai

Filled bun north of Shanghai is called Mantou . 

South of Shanghai is called Baozi . Bao as in wrap - the filling. Mantou consequently became unfilled. (after Song dynasty)

Meatless Japan - 

Japanese centuries long meat-ban means Mantou (filled bun) were made meatless (sweet).

Note 216  Ancient Jade Cutting Tool

According to Hung et al (2007) - 

Pre iron-age slate/stone cutting would have been pretty similar with Moai ‘Mata’ (eye) process I was shown in Easter Island at Rano Raraku Quarry.

Note 217 三神器 The Three Sacred Treasures

Artifacts from Japan displayed in Taipei - 

I saw them all in Izumo Shimane Japan (Land of Japanese mythology).

They are 三神器 Ie - mirror 鏡 is not really a mirror.

Yata no Kagami (八咫鏡)

Yasakani no Magatama （八尺瓊勾玉）

Note 218 Ancient Beads Craftsmen - Small Team

Hung et al (2007) small number of craftsmen. How small?

“were made by a small number of highly skilled craftsmen " - what evidence Australian archaeologists have on “small number” - how small?

I have here on Japan’s - small number of three. In both cases. 

@Shimane Japan

Note 219 Jade and Iron (Japan)

The largest beads (primarily 瑪瑙 Agate) workshop 玉造 in Shimane Japan.  Recorded in 4-5 AD. The area is also famous for ironmaking - high quality steel.

Fengtien in Hualien, Taiwan, is famous for jade, primarily nephrite. Note the distinct black spot texture.

Note 220  Mata - long and short vowel

Mata long vowel means eyes

Mata short vowel means raw uncooked

Maori - Proto Polynesian language reconstruction I accidentally discovered in Easter Island.

Maori- Polynesian - Malayo 

Mata - long and short vowel
Mata long vowel means eyes exist in Easter Island.
Mata short vowel means raw uncooked. Do not seem to exist in Easter island (?)

Mata long vowel eyes exist in Taiwan.
Mata short vowel uncooked may exist in Taiwan (under Proto Austronesian language reconstruction/strategy) (I haven't looked so I don't know)

Note 221 Hani - 

I don't know if there is word after 'hani' that I didn't capture - possible. But I couldn't seem to find 'hani' in Hawaiian and Easter Island's (Polynesian). But I found it in Māori . 

hani  1. (noun) a long carved wooden weapon more commonly known to modern Māori as a taiaha.. (noun) 

Ka tū a Kāwana Kerei, me te hani i tōna ringa, he hani i hoatu ki a ia e taua iwi, he mea hoki mā te toa anake e hāpai taua tū patu te hani (TW 30/3/1878:143). / Governor Grey stood with the hani in his hand, one which had been presented to him by that tribe, and the type of weapon that only warriors carry.

Note 222 

Thao 'Ancestral Basket' - Hokkien and British Influence? 

Siraya 'Shaman Whip' - Dutch Influence? 

The ancestral basket ( Thao language : Ulalaluan) is developed from Hokkien 籃仔nâ-á meaning basket.

However - the basket itself .... could be British missionary (wife) influence. 

籃仔nâ-á (Hokkien)

Ulalaluan (Thao)

Note 223

Thao ritual vocabulary - Priest 祭司 shishi is Chinese or Japanese しし (either. It's not 'indigenous') .

先生媽 is Hokkien. 

Note 224 Changbing 長濱 長浜

Note that there are a few ‘Changbing’ 長浜in Japan.
This upper-Changbing 上長浜 in my photo is known for shell mounds.

上長浜貝塚.
Amis ‘ka’ is 蟹/解 - at least contemporary claim. Indigenous etymology change all the time. Never consistent.

Note 225 Parang (Headhunter's Sword)@ Cambridge MAA

So looks like ‘rang’ is ‘head’ - 

Pa-rang is get rid of /remove head! Headhunt!

Make sense , right?!

Note 226 Loanwords Diversity. Note Language Diversity. 黃藤 Calamus jenkinsianus 

U Hua etc are Taiwanese/Chinese 黃 or 藤
si gec etc are also Taiwanese/Chinese 心.Refer to the heart.

Amis eat the heart. Word borrowed from Chinese 藤心。

原住民語中，魯凱族、卑南族稱其為「lrusi」；排灣族稱其為「quway」；布農族稱其為「huaz」；噶瑪蘭族「Uway」；阿美族稱為「Uway」或「dongec」（藤心），藤皮為「niteRisan uway」，是重要且常見的原住民農作物。
etc

Note 227 Mongolian BBQ Overturned Woks

1950s Tamsui Taipei

In my book with Steven Crook “The Culinary History of Taipei” Chapter 6: Supplying the Consumer (Taipei’s Markets). We included an anecdote of Mongolian BBQ mobile vendors in the late 1950s on the east bank of Tamsui River : “…… and that cooked in the open air on overturned woks”

Rewarding feeling that 7 years after 'Culinary book' was published , I found -

1. overturned - wok used for first generation Mongolian BBQ. @Korean BBQ Taipei 2025
2. Qiaoguo 巧果 made of a unique Taiwanese ingredient - tofu. Under innovative food - Tofu Snack.

Note 228 Missionary Scripts - Vietnam and Taiwan (Indigenous)

Cam (Vietnamese) = Kam (Hokkien) = 柑= Orange

I have said it before - there are occasions translating Vietnamese is like translating Indigenous Taiwanese.

I couldn’t point to a single explanation except as a native Hokkien speaker there are evident similarities that exist in these languages.

I then came to realize during a trip in Vietnam that a key reason is the ‘missionary scripts’ - that sounds are being scripted by Western missionaries. And sometimes for Taiwan’s indigenous languages - same word can be scripted differently that they look almost like different languages.

Cam (Vietnamese) = Kam (Hokkien) = 柑= Orange

Early script: The first known writing system was developed by Dutch missionaries in the 17th century for the Siraya language, called Sinckan writing. It was used for religious and legal purposes, with examples surviving in the form of contracts.

Modern scripts: Later, beginning after 1947, Christian missionaries created additional romanized scripts for other Formosan languages to aid in Bible translation.

French missionary Alexandre de Rhodes (French Jesuit) building on earlier Portuguese efforts, significantly developed Quốc Ngữ, the Latin-based script for Vietnamese, by publishing the first dictionary in 1651, making it a practical tool for evangelization that later became Vietnam's official, modern writing system under French colonial rule, replacing Chinese characters (Chữ Nôm) for broader literacy and administration. (Wikipedia)

Note 229 Bad Sinkan 新港文書 Scholar Error 

山冬粉 = 山薑

Bad Sinkan scholar error -

山冬粉 is 山薑 Taiwan ginger.
NOT mung bean noodles!

You think Siraya in 17th century ate ‘mountain mung bean noodles’ ?? @ Tainan National Museum of Taiwan History Dutch-era exhibition

Note 230 山馬 is Deer/Formosan Sambar Deer

If you see English translation of Formosan indigenous 山馬 (mountain horse) chances are great it's wrong. 

山馬 (literal mountain horse) refers to 'deer' (or Formosan sambar deer)

Note 231 Vietnamese and Formosan Indigenous Scripts (In particular Atayalic languages)

There are occasions translating Vietnamese is like translating Indigenous Taiwanese. As well as similarities of missionary scripts (developed by European missionaries).

Similarities are perhaps more common in Atayalic languages (Northern Formosan and Northwestern Formosan languages branch)

Here are examples - 

1. Museum of Ethnology 

Bảo Tàng - 保藏("to preserve and protect") or 寶藏 ("to preserve

treasures"). 

dân is people 

tộc is clan 
học is study

Altogether- Museum of Ethnology

2. 土產 = 故鄉 Que Huong (Hometown)

3. Banh Dai Xanh 餅豆青 (in reverse order) - cake bean green 
Xanh - 青 means green is Hokkien  tshenn · tshinn

Siraya used that Hokkien Green 青 too for their Ritual plant 

4. SMALL - Vietnamese, Tagalog , Malay

The Cham People (Central Vietnam) Speak Malayo-Polynesian Language 

 'It' means 'Small' 

Gai is Ramie 苧

Banh is 餅

Note 233  The largest and smallest deer in UK.

Largest Red deer in Chinese is 馬鹿 - suggesting they are as large as horse.

Smallest muntjac was introduced from Asia in early 20th century. (Muntjac deer, also called "barking deer," are small, dog-sized deer from China that are now common across Southern England )

Note 234 Rainbow and Dragon in Vietnam

Robert Blust published a famous book about The Dragon and the Rainbow. 

In which his theory was Dragon is developed from Rainbow. 

By linguistic facts however ( since he used the cover of a ‘Chinese’ dragon) - it should be the opposite : 

Rainbow 虹 is a 7-coloured dragon (serpent) . And not Dragon is a single-coloured rainbow. 

I never knew Vietnamese considered themselves 'Dragon' peoples and in a show showcasing Hội An heritage - it's the first time I saw Dragon-Rainbow-Sea Goddess supernatural phenomenon and then I understood.

Note 235

Pu means Taiwan
Amutoura (Saisiyat -northern)

I have not been able to solve these -
I have a feeling - when I do, or when someone does….
It will to-an-extent discontinue the encouraged and indulged indigenous hypothetical claims and proposed etymologies going round for decades - in particular after 2000.

Anthropology Observation VI (Notes 181-212) HERE

Anthropology Observation V (Notes 153-180) HERE

Anthropology Observation IV (Notes 112-152) HERE

Anthropology Observation III (Notes 83-111) HERE

Anthropology Observation II (Notes 52-82) HERE

Anthropology Observation I (Notes 1-51) HERE