Nestled in the mountains at close to 1,200 meters above sea level, Wutai is the highest town in Taiwan's northeastern Pingtung County. Founded by aborigines of the Rukai tribe, it is today a popular destination for Taiwan's big-city folk hoping to escape the urban chaos for a relaxing stay in a placid mountain cottage.
Traditional Rukai houses are built by arranging a series of stone slabs. There is even something the locals call "slab alley," which is a lane of Rukai houses decorated with carvings that record family milestones. Animals like boars and bears caught in the hunt are a common subject for the carvings, as are Rukai women and men dancing in their traditional garb.
One characteristic accoutrement of the Rukai costume is the presence of a lily to adorn the female headdress. To members of this tribe, the lily is a symbol of purity and chastity. A complicated code spelled out in lilies decorating a woman's clothing can, to the initiated, describe the wearer's social and marital status. The number of lilies and whether they are buds, flowers or partially blossomed all has a specific meaning. A woman who is caught having sexual relations before marriage, for example, is punished by having her right to wear lilies stripped away permanently.
The flowers are considered badges of honor for men, too, symbolizing their achievements in hunting. Only after he kills a certain number of boars is a Rukai male allowed to wear a lily, which is ceremonially placed in his headdress by a tribal chief--the highest level in the societal hierarchy. In Rukai society, ranks include chief, noble, warrior and commoner.
The side of the road along slab alley is lined with pottery decorated with snake patterns. Not just any snake, either, but the Agkistrodon acutus, or hundred-pace snake. On this same lane is a hall in which Rukai artifacts are preserved and displayed. Next to the building, which is made of stone slabs, is an ironworks shop that is representative of old-style Rukai architecture. In other words, it has a grass roof and furnace but no walls.
The Rukai have always been well known for their expertise working iron to make knives, which are not only functional in their culture but ceremonial as well. The homes of blacksmiths are decorated with sword carvings to announce their profession, and at weddings, new knives make excellent gifts for the bride's family. The knives themselves--along with seashells and glass beads--are used as accoutrements of traditional Rukai dress.
Rukai men carry knives for hunting and self-defense, and for their general utility in a range of situations. It can take up to a month to make a good, sharp knife decorated with traditional totems. Even today, few Rukai can be seen walking around without a knife handy.
The Rukai collect stone slabs from rivers and cut them into a workable size before piling them up to make the foundation for a house. No cement or nails are used with this construction method. Apart from the traditional stone slab houses, the most highly regarded buildings in most Rukai neighborhoods are churches. Thanks to the efforts of missionaries many decades ago, the Rukai were largely converted to Christianity, although even today, animistic totem images and human figures can still be seen in the traditional wood carvings and decorative pottery inside most Rukai homes.
Wutai is beset by fog almost the entire year. This, and the lovely waterfalls located nearby, prompted people to refer to it as a town of clouds and waterfalls. In the middle of August, the Rukai hold their harvest festival. These days, the festival has become a popular tourist attraction, and visitors can come from around the island and abroad to share the ecstasy and passion of the Rukai as they engage in their ancestral celebrations, songs and dances.
One popular event among tourists is the Rukai swing, which is a swing two stories high supported by four bamboo posts. The ceremony is usually performed during weddings. The bride, wearing a red outfit, holds onto one end of the swinging rope while the groom pulls the other end, swinging his new wife around through the air with the greatest of ease.
For fans of nature, the place to visit is Small Ghost Lake, about 2,040 meters above sea level on the border of Pingtung and Taitung counties. The clear water of the lake can be enjoyed until noon, when the clouds and fog begin rolling in with great speed. The vapor forces hikers to return in the early afternoon. If they do not, they run the risk of getting lost in the eerie fog-suffused woods, which give the lake its ghostly name. An oft-retold Rukai legend tells of a deity that lives in the lake who falls in love with a hundred-pace snake. The story is the subject of theater performances and songs.
Another local legend tells the story of the leopard and the eagle that led early Rukai to the site of what eventually became Haocha Village. The animals guarded the villagers until their new homes were built. To thank the animals for their protection, the Rukai never hunt the leopard or the eagle.
The Rukai is a relatively small tribe, with a population under 10,000 distributed around the southern section of the island's Central Mountain Range. Other predominantly Rukai towns are Pingtung County's Maolin and Taitung County's Peinan. Almost 3,000 live in Wutai alone. Despite the several hours it can take to reach the town by car from either Pingtung or Kaohsiung airport, and the requirement for visitors to fill out application forms before every trip, many still make the drive through the flatlands and mountainous roads in order to experience the unique beauty and cultural splendor of Wutai.
By Rita Fang
