"Hu and Hu" Anthropologist Questions. "Myth And Tradition Formosa 1935" Relook

"Hu and Hu" Anthropologist Questions. "Myth And Tradition Formosa 1935" Relook - Part I (Anthropology Note 279,280)

January 25, 2026

靈屋 @Sendai 瑞鳳殿

Indigenous 靈屋/祖靈屋 concept is very close to Japanese.

STRICTLY NO - photos allowed, visits outside family member.

Taiwanese/Hakka 靈屋 tradition is very different - it is part of a funeral service usually made of paper to burn.

瑞鳳殿 is a famous 靈屋 in Japan - well worth a visit and explore the history and tradition. @Sendai 瑞鳳殿 (仙台市青葉區靈屋下23-2)

("Hu and Hu" are Hu Chia-yu 胡家瑜 and Hu Tai-li 胡台麗)

Note 279

'koko' Questions - Hu Tai-li 胡台麗

Hu in her Saisiyat reports criticized (and discredited) Lin's 1956 report for

1. Lin not including 'koko' in the 'koko ta'ay' - a general term used today representing the short-statured people.

2. Lin for using 豆/趙 clan version instead of 朱 clan .

See HERE.

Hu also raised a 'koko' question with Saisiyat locals when she investigated 'koko' word origin and was told 'koko' means woman.

3. Her question was "If koko means 'woman' 'female' 女人 why is it not 'minkorigan' ? (as published in official Saisiyat dictionary)

1935 "taai report" shows/suggests -

1. "子供" is synonym of "矮人". (child-size monkey-like living in cave is synonym of mystical-dwarf ). And that explains pasta'ai was translated into 矮人祭 and (later) 矮靈祭.

2. 'minkorigan' is a woman and is taai's wife. (whether Hu spotted the connection, I don't know. But I noticed that a week ago) Previous related post HERE .

3. That explains why Saisiyat words for "child", "woman" don't belong to Malayo-Polynesian branch of Austronesian language family - because they are borrowed from the 1935 taai section. (子供 meaning child is Japanese).

1935 page

Note 280

Amutoura to Sai-Siat Questions - Hu Chia-yu 胡家瑜

Hu in her Saisiyat investigation reported 'Amutoura' '南庄化番' (Source Inō Kanori), although she did not appear to have identified 'Mu-tou' as 本島 (aka Taiwan. Han Taiwanese).

（A-mu-tou-ra 未-漢化/本島人)

She also pointed out the transition from 'Amutoura' to 'Sai-Siat' for being 'sudden', fast spreading within a period of time. But in any case - Both Amutoura and Sai-Siat on documents available point to Nanchuang as far as etymology is concerned.

1935 ta'at report shows/suggests -

1. Ka-pasu taai (using photo I took in Nanchuang 5 years ago) doesn't appear equivalent to pasu taai.

Both ka - and pasu carry meanings.

ka 昔 is used - as I later discovered - in the same way as 'ka'ama - ama means father. ka'ama means someone else's father (same linguistic pattern as Syaman - Lanyu Tao peoples)

2. Sai - means 社/番 Clan .

Sai-rakis (synonym of Ta'ai 大隘). kis - here is prefix for ritual . Sai-rakis is where pasutaai ritual was taken place.

3. Siat refers to Shitan 獅潭 - Interesting formerly 西潭 Xitan. Same name as a predominant Hakka region 漳州府詔安縣 in Fujian.

Photo @Nanchuang Miaoli