| Magic Stone | Legend of Giants | Legend of Shooting the Sun | Fortune Telling Bird | Millet turned into Bird | Face Tattoo | Rainbow Bridge |

The origin of Truku’s ancestors (Magic Stone)

By Hong Zai-xa		By Hong Zai-xa

According to Truku legend, at the time of creation, there was a man and a woman that descended from heaven to a huge rock deep in the mountains. They separated the rock into two. A half of it became the king of land, the other half a palace. Then, these two gods lived in the palace and called this place feng-lian (ridges and peaks; the ancestors’ place. People called it magic tree or magic stone). On this land, the descendants of Truku tribe were proliferated. The Magic Stone is located around the branch of Mu-kua River and the upper-stream of Ching-shui, belonging to Wen-lan Village, Shiu-lin Township. 100m high and 60m wide (diameter), the magic stone lies at the altitude of 2,814m. It looks like a white rock stripe descending from heaven, sticking into the cliff. From its front and sides, it looks like a white oval.Top

Legend of the Giant

By Yen Shih-jiang		By Yen Shih-jiang

A long, long time ago, a huge giant appeared in the place where Truku lived. His name was Mawa. According to the legend, he could walk from this mountain to that mountain with one step only. When he stamped his foot, he pressed the land into “Bu-le Bay” and “Shi-la Coast” platform. It was said that the plains in Hua-tong Gorge were made because he trampled on the land repeatedly.

With a tall and powerful man living near us, he must be a good helping hand to us. In fact, the giant did not use his merits well. On the contrary, he abused his ability and brought many troubles to the tribe’s people.

How was it? The giant used his quick and wide steps to rob people’s game they hunted with much effort. When he saw the tribe’s people chasing the game, he just put his head on the shortcut and opened his mouth wide, waiting for the rushing animals to run into his mouth. Therefore, he didn’t have to do anything to fill his belly. However, the people that lived near him were hungry because they couldn’t get any food. And the people could not tolerate his behavior any longer.

At last, the tribe’s people decided to team up and fight against him. Although all of them were afraid of the giant’s power, they thought they could find a way to beat the giant. After discussing for some time, the people thought of a adventurous plan; they began to put that plan into operation enthusiastically.

On a fine day that was suitable for hunting, the warriors in the tribe gathered on the top of the mountain, pretending to go hunting. In the beginning, the giant expected a rich meal. Likewise, he hid behind a mountain, waiting for the animals to come by.

By Huang Su-hua		By Huang Su-hua

At that time, they set a fire and burnt a round crystal that they prepared earlier with the fire. The huge red crystal was so hot that it turned red. They found the time had come. Then, they pushed the crystal down the mountain. The warriors pushed the crystal and cried out, “Go down! Go down! Chase it fast!” They pretended they were really chasing after some game.

Hearing the warriors’ cry and the sound of the crystal rolling down the mountain, the giant stretched out his hand. He opened his mouth widely and placed his tongue on the turn of the path. Unexpectedly, a very hot thing rolled into his throat suddenly. The giant was in so much pain that he rolled on the ground. At last, he rolled into the sea outside Hua-tong, with his feet jutted out of the sea. According to the legend, his feet are Lanyu and Orchid Island now. This is how the life of this giant ended.Top

Legend of Shooting the Sun

In the past, Truku people in Taiwan did not live in a regular rhythm – the shift between day and night. Why? According to the story told by the elders, in the ancient times, there were many suns. They came near the land to observe people’s life. It was so hot that people could hardly tolerate it! Sometimes, a few suns came out to play during the day. Some of them would appear when people were sleeping. They rose in turn at different times of the day, making the land soak in the sun day and night. Although people were not afraid of darkness because of the sun, too much of it would lead to drought. The sun was so hot that people could not tolerate it, and it disturbed people’s lives.

By Ho Li-jun		By Ho Li-jun

Tortured by the suns, the people decided to send a troop of warriors with superb archery skills to shoot down the suns when they rose up the hills. They thought they would leave one there, and it would be enough. Blessed by the people, the first team of warriors departed. However, they did not hear any news after a long time because before they could walk near the place where the sun rose and set, they died of old age. The suns were still hanging in the sky. They rose in turn without any regular time.

By Ho Li-jun

A few decades past and the Truku people decided to send a second troop of warriors. Learning from the experience of the first mission, they found a method to complete this task. Instead of the huge bow and arrows, each warrior would take a baby boy with him on his back. In the toilsome journey, they would train the boy to become strong and tough. As time passed, a group of people approached the suns. The warriors grew old and weak. However, the boys grew up and became warriors. They continued the mission of the former generation and kept walking forward. At last, they arrived at the place where the suns rose. With hands and feet, the young warriors stretched the bow with all they could, and shot the suns with a rain of arrows. With no time to escape, some of the suns were smashed and scattered in the sky. They became many light dots and fell onto the ground, transforming into rocks of different sizes. Only two of them were able to escape. One of them was injured, and lost most of its light and heat. It came out at night only. How about the other one? Although it remained intact, it did not dare to disturb the people. It worked and rested with the people together. It dared not play any tricks on them.Top

Fortune-Telling Bird (Si-Sing)

According to the habits of the Truku people, they love to observe the plants and animals, especially birds, around to see if they are telling us something. Don’t overlook these little birds. The messages they tell are really something! When the bullbats chirp “T-waq, T-waq” at night, they fly over the village. It means they are telling us the news of death. And somebody in the village is going to die. If the owls squeak at night, for the people who are going to deliver babies, it is good news. From the sound of the owl, we will know whether the babies are boys or girls. However, as we examine all the birds, the most special ones are fortune-telling birds (Si-Sing). The Truku people valued this kind of bird in the olden days very much. No matter whether are you hunting or coming out of grass, harvesting on the mountain or seeing your friends outside, the messages told by Si-Sing will come true. It is the inspirer of fate.

Why do people think Si-Sing is a fortune-telling bird? It is because if they chirp on the right, it means good fortune; on the left it is a bad omen. If the tribe’s people get bad omens from Si-Sing, they will not go up the mountain. If they answer their calls to each other, it means good luck today. When you are walking, the Si-Sing answer each other’s songs, you will have a good harvest today. However, if the Si-Sing flies across your chest, smart people will go home immediately. If those people do not pay attention to this bad omen, they will be killed because they will be attacking by the beasts. Or they will fall down from the cliff.

In addition to the inspirer to life, Si-Sing was the bird of the gods (alias mountain god). People did not call it this without any reason. According to the legend, one day the birds tried to compete by chirping. They wanted to see if anybody could sing so loudly that they could vibrate the rock downhill with their songs. It was the bird of gods. As the raven squeaked loudly, the rock didn’t move a bit. When the red beaked bird sang, the rock didn’t move a bit as well. All the birds tried to sing, but the rock didn’t move a bit. The Taiwan Whistling Thrush that loved to give kibitzer’s comments yelled, “Liar! Liar! How could you push the rock downhill when you sang loudly? Liar. Whew….” At this time, a group of Si-Sing came forward, without uttering a word, they chirped together. Whew, the rock cracked and rolled down the hill as they sing! According to the Truku elders, this rock is on Ching-kuan Mountain, now!

How fantastic! The fortune-telling birds, Si-Sing, grouped together and did an impossible job. Right! Do you want to know the real name of Si-Sing? It is Vinous-throated Parrotbill. If you go up the mountain, you can see this kind of bird everywhere. even now, Truku hunters still pay close attention to its songs.Top

Millet Changes into Birds

In the past, when people cooked it, the Truku millet would increase. They had to cut a grain of millet into two halves. If they put a half grain of millet into the pot, it would turn out to be a whole pot of rice, enough for the whole family. Back then, there wasn’t any pests or bird trouble. Therefore, each family only grew one stalk of millet. It would grow up and become a millet ear. It was enough food for the entire year.

By Lin Feng-mei		By Lin Feng-mei

One day, a lazy and gluttony person grasped a bunch of millet and cooked it in the pot just because he wanted to eat millet rice quickly. As the millet got swollen, the water in the pot dried up. Then, the millet was cooked into black coal. There was a beep sound in the pot. A school of birds flew out from the pot into the sky. According to the bird’s language, Bu-le came into being like this. They love to eat the seeds and the millet ears when they are ready for the harvest. In addition, people have to try very hard to expel these birds. The gluttons that want to eat more millet rice cause all these.Top

By Lin Feng-mei

Legend of the Face Tattoo

A long, long time ago, there wasn’t any people on earth. There was a huge rock standing in the middle of the Central Mountain in Taiwan. One day, the rock cracked suddenly as it rumbled. It broke into two halves. From the crack, there came out two boys and one girl. They looked around. As one of them was afraid, he returned to the crack. “Squeeze,” the rock closed again. Only one boy and one girl were left here. So they had to live together and take care of each other serenely on this silent and beautiful mountain. The man became very strong and was skillful in hunting. Meanwhile, the woman knew how to make clothes with beast skins very well,

By Lee Wei-jie		By Lee Wei-jie

They lived there leisurely and lonely. They observed the animals in the forest and thought that they could give birth to babies naturally. How admirable! They tried all the methods, from the ear’s hole, mouth, eyes, nose, etc, they could not give birth to any baby. One day, when they saw a couple of flies mating, they understood that they had to mate in order to give birth to babies. However, the man was scared because he was going to get married to a woman that he loved as a sister. He felt embarrassed and did not know what to do.

One morning, when the man woke up, he found that his female mate disappeared. Hurriedly, he tried to find her everywhere. But he could not find her. Suddenly, he saw a shadow flash behind the tree near the river. He thought it was his female mate. He looked at her. Her face was so dark! He said to himself. It was not his female mate. Because of his loneliness, he mated with her anyway. The next day, when he woke up from the dream, he saw the woman washing her face. When she turned, he found that it was the female mate he had been thinking of all the time! He felt excited and touched. In fact, the woman was too shy to marry him and wanted to have their descendants so she ran into the woods secretly. She painted her face dark with charcoal. Then, she pretended to be another woman and mated with him.

Soon, the woman gave birth to the first baby, accomplishing her job of continuing the race. They were the ancestors of the Truku. The woman painting her face dark became the custom of the face tattoo in Truku.Top

Rainbow Bridge

By Hsu Hao-wei		By Hsu Hao-wei

In the past, the Truku ancestors always told their children that when people died, their souls would come to the head of the rainbow bridge. If the men had hunted enemies’ heads and women knew how to weave, blood would gush out when they washed their hands. Then, they could cross the rainbow bridge and enjoy eternal happiness at the place of ancestors’ spirits. However, if the men did not hunt any of the enemies’ heads and women that did not know how to weave, they could not cross the rainbow bridge. They would be thrown into the bottom of the river. Because of this legend, men must hunt enemies’ heads and women must learn how to weave. The ancestors also said that people should not point their fingers at the rainbow bridge or their finger would be broken.Top

By Hsu Hao-wei		By Hsu Hao-wei