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Among the Head-Hunters of Formosa

CHAPTER VIII MARRIAGE CUSTOMS

Word Count: 2507    |    Released on: 17/11/2017

ps as to the Auspicious Day for the Wedding-The Wedding Ceremony-Mingling by the Priestess of Drops of Blood taken from the Leg

England and America, or present-day Russia; since among the aborigines of Formosa there exists no registry office or other place where a civil marriage can be performed. In Formosa marriage means always a religious ceremony

s. Sex is, to the aborigines of Formosa-as to many primitive peoples,-a thing of mystery, and one fraught with danger-danger not only to the man and woman chiefly concerned, but also to the tribal group, or whole tribe. The welfare or "ill-fare" of the tribal unit is a consideration which seems

iage ceremony, it may be well to say a few wor

w who have been "east of Suez." Certainly both in China and Japan, marriages are arranged entirely by the parents of the young people, often with the aid of a professional "go-between," the bride a

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bserve customs of courtship which resemble those prevailing in the Western world, rather than those characteristic of the Orient. Nor is this true of one or two tribes only. It is true of all the tribes of the Chin-huan ("green savages"), and even also of those se

resembles a jews'-harp, and which is played in much the same way. The sound produced is, to the Western ear, more like a wail or lament than like a love-song. However, in Formosa it is-as far as the aborigines are concerned-the practically universal method of serenading one's lady-love, and is apparently enjoyed both by the serenading warrior and by the young lady. The lover often keeps up the performance for hours at a time, and returns the next evening, and for many succeeding evenings, to repeat it. All this time he makes no attempt to pay any other form of address to the young lady, or to ingratiate himself with her parents. Finally, after some weeks of

t as an indication that his suit has been successful, and that he will be acceptable as a husband to the maiden of his choice. He th

er-horn, in front of the door of his beloved, either in place of the musical instrument or together with it. The

osits at his inamorata's door. The second night he brings another bundle, which-on departing after the serenade-he adds to those left the night before. The third night he brings still another; and so on, until a pile of twenty bundles (never either more or less) stand as a monument[157] testifying to his affection for the lady of his choice. On the night that the twentieth bundle is added to the pile, the jews'-harp is also left. This is the night that dec

e on the part of the lady of the offerings of the lov

d women-of the Taiyal tribe, "if an engagement were

promise that had been made, would it not? But that is not the custom." The

ard of in some parts of

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es,"[79] the old woma

lted, and she, in turn, consults the bird-omen-for in Formosa to-day it is

is he who, knowin

ds, blameless bef

and not over-st

is the case in present-day Formosa. The ancestors of bride and groom are supposed to indicate through the cries of birds

erpretation of the bird-omen, strips of bamboo, some uncoloured, some blackened with soot, are thrown by the priestesses into the air. Upon the way in which these fall-the relative num

stess, or more frequently several priestesses, dance, swaying and chanting, about the young couple, cutting the air with their knives, to drive away evil spirits, which would otherwise attack a newly married couple. Before the knife-dance ends the chief priestess usually make

been taken from an enemy by the bridegroom himself, and among the Taiyal this is usually the case even to-day. The Bunun and Paiwan often content themselves with drinking from skulls taken by the father, or grandfather, of the groom; while the ot

e with the parents of either bride or groom, their custom in this respect also being

iage ceremony,[82] and only upon their return from this sylvan honeymoon does the bridegroom build the hut, while the bride has her face tattooed by the priestesses with the insignia of matronhood-a design which extends from lip to ear, and which will be

se-keeping on their own account. In this tribe, which is matrilocal, as well as matripotestal, the bridegroom transf

den; or rather it is "frowned upon," as regards the marriage of cousins on either side of the family. But among the Ami, Piyuma, Tsarisen, and Paiwan tribes marriage with the first cousin on the mother's side is abs

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outh, however, separation is more frequent, based apparently-in many cases certainly-on "mutual incompatibility." In such cases the separation is usually a peaceful one, both husband and wife frequently remarrying. It is among the Ami that the frequency of separation and remarriage reaches i

The arrangement seems always an amicable one, the grandparents of the children often deciding the matter. Priestesses

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