ETHNOGRAPHIC ALBUM OF QING DYNASTY HUANG QING ZHI GONG TU (IMAGES OF TRIBUTARIES OF THE RULING QING DYNASTY) AS A VALUABLE SOURCE OF INFORMATION ON TAIWANESE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

Abstract

In the third volume (卷, juan) of an 18th-century woodblock publication Images of Tributaries of the Ruling Qing Dynasty (Huang Qing zhi gong tu, 皇清职贡图), among others non-Han ethnic groups, there are thirteen illustrations of Taiwan’s indigenous peoples, including a brief description of their costumes, disposition, and customs. This volume contains illustrations of various types of Taiwanese “barbaric” natives that reveal a great deal about Qing imaginative conception of savagery. They are classified both by administrative divisions and by categories of civilized (熟番) and uncivilized (生番) depending on their adoption of Chinese culture. The entries begin with the civilized savages of Taiwan county, then south to Fengshan county, and then north to Zhuluo county, Zhanghua county, and finally Danshui sub prefecture. The submitted uncivilized savages follow again in sequence from south to north. Last are the uncivilized savages of the inner mountains. The illustrations thus proceed from the most civilized one through increasing degrees of savagery. In each of the thirteen pictures, the differences between the savage figures and civilized figures are emphasized. The depictions of the physical appearances of the civilized and uncivilized savages can demonstrate their relative levels of civilization. The Qing Dynasty’s ethnographical description, which recorded the social culture of the historical tribes, now became particularly valuable because of the lack of a great amount of information on the indigenous tribes of Taiwan. It is quite necessary to study the society, traditions and cultural features of Taiwanese indigenous people in different periods, especially after their integration into the Qing Empire. Huang Qing zhi gong tu is regarded as a very important source for a detailed investigation of different ethnical types of peoples who inhabited the island of Taiwan. We have to analyze the history of aboriginal culture alongside Chinese culture to gain a more rounded insight into the culture and history of Taiwan.