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

 

Graves of Flying Aborigines

Running faster than the running horses and just like the winds

 

   The author of "Dong Fan Ji" (Records of Eastern Aborigines), Chen Di, wrote that local indigenous people in Taiwan were "brave and courageous in nature, enjoy fighting, and can march days and nights. The skin of soles is so thick that they can walk on thorny roads easily.
 
  They run faster than horses, and can continue running day and night without rest." The most renowned runners in Soulangh tribe were Chen Tien-Yu and his son Chen Guo-Tai. It was said they both ran faster than horses.
 
  The Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang Gioroi Mamboo reported to the Emperor Kangxi in 1717 and 1719 about their talents, so they were summoned by the Emperor to demonstrate their running skills.
 
   They were praised and rewarded by the Emperor for running faster than horses in front of the court officials. It was said they performed three times in front of the Emperor and received the epitaph of "Father and Son Summoned 3 Times by the Emperor".
 
   Since the Siraya people often used piles of stones to mark their graves, so the two gravestones are important relics about the official system in Qing Dynasty.