--Sabat Stone Pillar --

Preface:：

Sabat Stone Pillar has over 3500 years of history and has been listed as one of the Class III Relic. The site is located at Wuhe Terrace in Wuhe Village of Ruishu Township and features two giant stone pillars with one on each side. The taller and pointier one on the right symbolizes men while the shorter and rounder symbolizing women. The two pillars were amazing tree fossils. Though the shorter pillar once collapsed, it has been re-erected but done in a wrong direction. Those two pillars were two of the four pillars supposed to be used for a house. Because of a road expansion plan, the original four pillars were supposed to be removed and relocated. However, the efforts to remove all four of pillars turned futile because no one was able to remove the remaining two pillars no matter what. Some said that the failure of removing remaining pillars was a result of unwillingness from the supernatural power. As a result, the remaining pillars have become a sacred location and have been heavily guarded. Sabat Stone Pillar has been considered the origin of Amis culture and a Masarut will take place here every 2 to 3 years for its significance. Other legendary tales had it that Mataian’s priest was relocating to the south and had mistakenly cast his spells when passing Wuhe Terrace. As a result, two of the pillars collapsed. Therefore, the priest and his tribesmen were not able to move forward and decided to stay. Over a span of a thousand years, the ancient ruin turned into the famous Sabat Stone Pillar, also known as “Thousand Year Stone Pillar”. _Top

Sabat Stone Pillar –Geographical location:

The relic of Sabat Stone Pillar is located on the west slope of Wuhe Terrace in Hualien-Taitung Rift Valley near Tropic of Cancer. Wuhe Terrace is located at a closed area surrounded by upper stream of Shiouguruan River and Hongyeh River and it is 75 km from Taitung’s Peinan Relic. Among the group of famous Peinan Relic, this secluded site is located further north. The distributions of civilizations covered an oval area with 500 meters from north to south and 250 meters from east to west. The official area of the relic is a square area with 4 of 72-meter sides centered on the pillar. This area covers the Provincial Route 9, used for connecting to Huatung Road that runs through the north and south border. On the opposite side of the south border, there is the Third Cemetery and a landmark for Tropic of Cancer is just located south of the cemetery. The landmark features a sign for Formosa Plastic Corp in a sundial shape and some landscapes._Top

Wuhe Terrace –Geographical Location:

Wuhe Terrace has a terrace landform and is also known as Sabat Terrace (Sabat River Terrace). Wuhe Terrace has an area of 6 km long and 1 meter wide. Its landform features flat top and a decline toward northeast. East side of the terrace was cut through by Shiouguruan River and its height is 120 meters higher than the riverbed. Wuhe Terrace is situated at the south tip of Ruisui Township and it is an area where the land had been eroded by the runoff of Hongyeh River and Shiouguruan River. Wuhe Terrace is at an altitude of 250 to 300 meters above the sea level, a highest point along the Huatung Road. On the cliff side is a layer of gravels. The best-known Ruisui Fault, as known as Sabat Fault, is located northeast of Sabat River Terrace and features non-continuous earth layers and a straight-up gravel layer. Tropic of Cancer runs through Wuhe Terrace where a landmark of a white sundial is set up. At the front edge of the terrace, Sabat Stone Pillar stands magnificently and represents one of the most important pre-historic relic sites in Hualien. From the stone pillar park, you can overlook the alluvial fan of Hongyeh River. The river is originated at Hutoushan (1745 meters above sea level) with a total length of 14 meters and runs east to join Shiouguruan River. The alluvial fan of Hongyeh River underneath Hongyeh Village has a height of 2000 meters at its tip and a height of 30 meters where it fans out.

Wuhe is located on Tropic of Cancer at 23°5' north latitude. Wuhe Terrace has fostered a diversified culture of Sera, Nakao, and Calao and the area extended to Sabat Top, where the settlement of Yejumi tribe was found in 1923. In the early days, while tribesmen were waiting on the rain to clear in a storm shelter during farming seasons, they used a piece of wood as a dinning table when they ate. Sabat was a name for “a piece of wood” and it was very common to name a place after a significant symbol. According to historical documents, Amis cultural heritages can also be found in a number of tribal communities located in Taichang Village, Ji-an Township of Hualien County such as Sabat Shabodang, Kalala, and Maliyun. Amis traditions are still in place among those communities and are considered old-fashioned tribes in Ruisui Township. In 1900s, Tabalong and Bagan called this area home.

The name “kalala” of Wuhe Village symbolizes “A tribal community with a pot-like landform”. Kalala tribesmen came from pacidal, fataan, talakop, alapawan, rarangas Tabalong, and sielac. Historically, odong moved from Shoufeng to Danong Village of Guanfu Township and coexisted with Tabalong tribe of Fuyuan Village. Later, odong tribe moved to Taipingding’s “nalacolan” in Wuhe Village of Ruisui Township and formed a second generation of “kalala” tribe. Because of constant disputes over water, the new generation of kalala relocated to the current location of “kalala” tribe. Unfortunately, constant battles over land and water usage resulted in a series of migration waves the costal region of Chongan, Taitung and the mountain region of Fuli Township, and Guanshan Township. _Top

Sabat Relic – Historical Transformation

Archeological sites in eastern Taiwan are of type Paleolithic. There are three major cultural relics: Peinan Culture, Kylin Culture, and Huagangshan Culture. Peinan Culture covered the eastern costal mountains and terraces around southern Hualien-Taitung Rift Valley. In this region, Peinan Relic is best known and other significant sites are Sabat, Fushan, Yuchang, and Yuchang South and East Rivers. The classic example of Peinan’s antiquities is rock slate, rock slate coffin, and rock slate basin. In addition, “Ceramic Mask” for dead people and removing dead people’s teeth are part of Peinan’s customs. Among stone-made utensils, stone knife, stone scythe, and stone pestle were commonly used in farming while stone spear, stone arrowhead, and stone pin were designed for hunting. Based on Professor Chao-mei Lian’s findings, Peinan culture was close to Stone Age Culture while Professor Yi-chang Liu believed that Peinan Cultured eventually branched out in two groups: one moved into mountain regions and became the ancestors of Paiwan tribesmen while the other stayed in the plains and along costal terrace land.

Sabat Relic is located on Wuhe Terrace, 75 km north of Peinan Relic. Among the familiar sites for Peinan Relic, Sabat Relic is located further north and secluded from major traffics. The two ancient pillars of Sabat Relic are the tallest structures among Taiwan’s ancient relic sites. Not surprisingly, there had been many interesting legendary tales about Sabat Stone Pillar in Chimei Village by Shiouguruan River and some even became targets of expert studies. Nonetheless, the information about Sabat Relic is limited because it is yet to be fully explored. _Top

Sabat Relic – Architectural Features

Located in the middle of Hualien-Taitung Rift Valley near Tropic of Cancer, Sabat Relic stands on the west side of mid section of Wuhe Terrace. Though it is right next to Huatung Road, visitors must take old Provincial Expressway or small roads of Kalala Village to get there. Compared to other well-known relic sites for Peinan Culture, Sabat Relic is located further north and more isolated from others.

The distribution of cultural influence stretched into an oval shape and centered on the relic site. Because of the area’s tea plantation and landscapes, damages had been done to a certain extent and the loss of antiquities had been reported as a result. On the other hand, the two pillars and a survived pillar on the southeast side are still the major evidences of Peinan Culture.

In 1925, Japanese colonialists found the two ancient slate pillars in Sabat Relic during Japanese occupation. They are by far the tallest in Taiwan and grooves were cut into the pillars. By the time the relic site was discovered, the one on the south side had collapsed though restored in 1970 by the Ruisui Township Administrative Office. By the way, there had been many interesting legendary tales about Sabat Stone Pillar in Chimei Village by Shiouguruan River because Sabat Relic has been the most important symbol of sacredness in Chimei region._Top

--Legendary tales--

Because the two pillars in Sabat Relic are by far the tallest among the pillars found in Taiwan’s prehistoric relic sites, there had been many legendary tales to spice up one’s imagination and creativity during the discovery of civilization and history.

1. Tale of Hunter’s Curse
Stories had it that there were two gods, “Chakuwanye” and “Pachalu” (also known as Budasha) descended from heaven to the plateau of Wuhe. They had one boy named Siloche and one girl named Liaojiao, both became the ancestors or Amis tribemen. One day, a hunter from Guanyinshan came to the area for hunting and was impressed by the abundant livestock. He requested the two gods for some livestock but was rejected. As a result, the hunter was furious and cast his curse on the two gods. A violent storm washed away everything except the two pillars. Over a long period, the pillared eventually turned stone hard._Top

2. Tales of Amis Ancestry

In the ancient time, Kiwit family lived along the southern coastline around Taitung region. One day, a strong earthquake devastated numerous straw houses and triggered waves of tsunamis, resulting in huge fatalities. Fortunately, a brother named Nakao and a sister named Sera sailed a small boat northward and ended up in Lawashan, north of Chimei. After the tidal waves receded to the remote mountain regions and plains, the two built a straw house and engaged in farming in the area for their long-term future. Later, they got married and have three sons, the older son named Caiao-Panahay, the second son named Kagomalan, and the youngest son named Komod. After the wave completely receded, the three sons started heading to the plain region in attempts to locate separate pieces of land for cultivation. To differentiate each family’s traditions for their future generations, each brother brought his own symbol on his way out: Calao built a boat anchor; Kagomalan made a ladder (often mistaken for Tabalong’s ancestor); Komod crafted a raft. Kiwit family’s ancestry came from Calao’s branch, once left the mountain region of Lawashan and headed down south to Lahtar (a plateau east of Chimei). Later, the Kiwits’ moved westward along Shiouguruan River and eventually settled down in Sabat. Because of poor environment conditions for cultivation, Calao again led his tribemen back to Lahtar. After he left Sabat, his old house turned into the giant rock on Wuhe Terrace._Top

3. Tale of the “plank” homonym

Sabat Stone Pillar is located on Wuhe Terrace and it a legendary relic of Amis ancestry because “Sabat” means “plank” in Amis tongue. In the ancient time, a group of Amis tribesmen were cultivating the area’s land. One day, a sudden rainstorm swept the area and they stayed in a shelter waiting for the weather to clear up. Because of the muddy floor, this group of men laid pieces of wood on the floor to sit on and to eat their meals. Therefore, the name “Sabat” symbolizes the plank they used at that particular incident._Top

4. Tale of Wood Turning into Stone

Once upon a time, there was a woman named Badien, led her tribesmen from Alabaeng (currently Fengli Li of Taitung City) to Damayan (Ruibei) and settled down in the area. Unfortunately, unable to adjust to the new environment, she decided to return to Taitung along with her tribeman. While passing Wuhe on their way back to Taitung, disputes over whether the tribe should stay in Wuhe resulted in conflicts of interest. As a result, some decided to go back to Taitung with Badien and some were determined to stay in Wuhe with Jihenhen and Milamashan.

The ones led by Jihenhen cut tree logs to build houses. Based on traditions, it was required to sing prayers when erecting main pillars of a house. They followed the traditions. When the first pillar was being erected, they sang prayers and worked together to get it done. As expected, the first pillar was erected successfully. Unfortunately, someone had wrong notes while sang the prayers while erecting the second pillar. As a result, the wrath of their ancestors came down on them with darkened sky, and the sandy air. After everything resumed to normal, tribesmen were surprised to find that everything they owned and used had turned into stone, even the tow wood pillars. Unable to finish building the house, Jihenhen was very ashamed of himself and couldn’t continue to lead the tribesmen. He eventually ran off and hid in a cave under the waterfall. During an accident, he was washed away to the ocean and drowned.

Suffering from the loss of her husband, Milamashan was outraged and decided to release her emotions by standing in the middle of the two stone pillars and stated: “ I am going to bury myself and I will swear to the sun on the east that the lightening will strike when I am completely buried underground. The lightening indicates a violent storm is approaching and leads to a devastating flood. If a thunder roars, I will be reunited with my husband”.

 After her declaration, Milamashan stumped on the ground one time and her body below her knees was completely underground. After a total of 7 stumps, her overall body was buried. Like she predicted, the sky lit up and heavy rain poured down immediately. In the meantime, the tribesmen were very terrified as the raging voice of Jihenhen mixed with the roaring thunders pounding in their ears. Fortunately, Jihenhen’s words were to stop Milamashan from calling a flood. As a result, the rain gradually diminished. Today, people still believe that thunders coming after rainfalls or lightening will stop the rain from developing into floods.

5. Ruisui’s story about Sabat Stone Pillar
Once upon a time, there was a couple and their two sons living in Wuheshan. After the boys had grown up, the father took his sons to find building materials for their new house. While erecting a pillar, they sang songs. On one hot day, the father went for a quick shower in the upper stream of the nearby river while the sons were loading water in the buckets. When the sons discovered the muddy water, they were concerned with the quality of their water source. Therefore, they went to the upper streams of the river for an answer and spotted a man in the middle of the stream. The father was mistaken for an intruder and was pierced by arrows cast by his sons. The sons were devastated and unable to go on with building their new house because the father’s voice was missed during the erection of the remaining pillars. The ones they had completed are now standing by the Wuhe roadside._Top

6. Tale of Yuanliu
           Once upone a time, God Kabi and Goddess Aka had two children, the boy named Shila and the girl named Nagao. One day, a huge flood devastated the earth. The two children were floating on their canoe and drifted to Chilayashan where they later settled down and cultivated rice, fruit trees, and breadfruit trees. After they had children, the oldest son Dabang.Malas brought his inherited wooden boat along the coastal mountains to Shuilian and later settled down in Toulan. The second son Chalao.Banahai brought his inherited boat anchor with him and eventually found a paradise nestled comfortably in the middle of mountains and along Shiouguruan River. The place was named Chimei. The third son Kalu.Guwu brought his inherited ladder and headed down to the plains and settle down in Tabalong where the richest soils and abundant natural resources could be found. The area was also known for its giant white crabs. Because the youngest son Madu.Masla had made serious mistakes and was punished for it, he had moved around and lived in Eight Immortals Cave, Changhong Bridge, and eventually in Wuhe. In the end, he left two stone pillars._Top