番路鄉 Fanlu Township, Chiayi County

meanwhile back in Chiayi County ...

Fanlu (番路; lit. “Aborigine road”) Township, is exactly what it says, the road leading to the Tsou (鄒) Aboriginal area of Alishan in the higher, eastern mountains of Chiayi County.

Aboriginal settlements were traditionally called 番社 (Mdn. fan-she; Hoklo: hoan-sia; “barbarian community”), roughly comparable to today’s 部落 (Mdn. bu-luo; “tribe” [in the original sense of “village” not modern “ethnic group”]).

Taiwan’s Aboriginal ethnic groups were historically divided into 熟番 (Hoklo: sek-hoan; Mdn. shou-fan; lit. “assimilated barbarians”), that is, into Han Chinese society, and 生番 (Hoklo: chheⁿ-hoan; Mdn. sheng-fan; lit. “unassimilated barbarians”). Assimilation meant things like taking a Chinese surname and paying taxes.

These two groups—each with a dozen or so major ethnic groups—are very roughly analogous to the divisions of 平埔族 (Plains Aborigines) and 山地人 (Mountain People [a prejudicial term no widely longer used]), and also (also very roughly) to those that are 官方認定族群 (recognized by the government) because they are largely unassimilated, and those 非官方認定族群 (not recognized by the government) but many of which are fighting for recognition.



Text and photos © Jiyue Publications 2011