踏溯台南

踏溯台南

文學院 通識教育課程

Migration and Settlement of the Siraya Tribe

Route Introduction

  • Worshipping the ancestors with betel nuts and pork, remembering them with thousands of kettles of water-We Have Always Been Here.

     

       Siraya people used to be a powerful group, who settled on the Tainan Plain, and were roughly divided into Chikan (current Downtown Tainan), Xingang (current Xinshi District), Tavocan (current Xinhua District), Soulangh (current Jiali, Cigu, and Jiangjun Districts) and Madou (current Madou District) tribes.

       After the 17th century, the territories of Siraya tribes gradually shrank because of the migration and movement of Han people. Siraya people were forced to migrate to the hilly areas of Tainan. After mid-Qianlong Era, Soulangh Communities gradually moved to Kabuasua (or Jibeisua, at Donghe Li of Dungshan, currently).

      Alid (the name can be varied with different districts) is the common god of the tribes, yet no statues nor ancestral plaques had been used to represent Him. Water in urns, pig skeletons, or general's pillars are used to symbolize Him.

      Later, affected by Han culture, some statues of god were made. Siraya people worship the water in urns that symbolizes the power of ancestral spirits.