Igor Sitnikov: Case Studies of Ethnic Migrations Processes in Southeast Asia

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Case Studies of Ethnic Migrations Processes in Southeast Asia

Abstract

The paper discusses two issues: (1) ethnic composition of the first ‘Chinese’ immigrants to Taiwan and (2) Yunnan province ethnic composition. My previous research of the 18 Deity Kings cult in northern Taiwan, where one of the deities is a dog, brought me recently to an assumption of the multiethnic character of the first wave of so called ‘Chinese’ immigrants to Taiwan from the mainland in 17th century. A boom of this unusual cult appeared in 1980s in the area of Hakka fishermen settlement. Fishermen were the first visitors to Taiwan shores from the nowadays China mainland during the Ming dynasty in the late 16th century. Hakka immigrants to Taiwan originate from the area of nowadays Guangdong province, where, as it supposed, they had long historical contacts with the Yao people (瑤族), who traces their ancestry to a mythical dog. In the study of the18 Deity Kings cult it was supposed that the cult is probably a mixture of local beliefs connected with dog worshipping and Hakka immigrants’ memory of the Yao myth of origin. The recent assumption suggests even the presence of several Yao people among the earliest Hakka immigrants in Taiwan. Professor Holm (2012) assumes also that dog cult in Taiwan could originate from the Hakka people contact with the She group (畲族) in mainland China which inhabits the territory of nowadays Guangdong, Hunan, Fujian, Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces. As Professor Holm informs the ethnic group of She is related to the Yao people and share with them the same myth of origin. The current study aims to throw light upon the question of Yao and She ethnic groups’ members’ hypothetical participation in the first wave of immigration process from mainland China to Taiwan during 16th -17th centuries.

The understanding of ethnic composition of the first immigrants to Taiwan from the Chinese mainland depends from the issue of southeast and southwest China ethnic composition in 16th century and before. To reach this goal first of all should be analyzed the ethnic composition of nowadays Yunnan province of PRC. In this paper the draft classification was made according to ethnic groups’ language similarities, similarities in the ways of production and the hypothesis of their origin. Of cause all these ways of classification cannot give the real picture of ethnic composition of the region, but could bring us closer to the understanding of migration processes on the territory of nowadays Yunnan province. The classification tables are shown in the paper. The classification tables’ analysis shows that the classification on the base of language similarities doesn’t match to the classification based on the way of production, which means that language could be spread not only by migrants, but also by military power or economic interests. The way of production from another hand could be changed because of changing of environment, due to migrations. The origin hypothesis is usually based on language similarities and legends. Legends also could not be a trustful source as soon as they could be created according to political reasons and the wishes of comfortable adaptation in other ethnic environment. Anyway, the classification which was done in this paper is an attempt to the further studies in understanding the migration processes in Southeast Asia.

Igor Sitnikov

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Igor Sitnikov and Miklukho-Maklai

I was born in Ryazan city (Russia, 3 hours from Moscow) in 1961. 30 years I lived in the Soviet Union on the bank of Oka-river, which is a border between a huge forest and a wide steppe. Then 12 years I spend in the Russia on the same bank, under the same sky. I like Oka, and the steppe with multitude of small slow rivers, and the forest, that carries the name of vanished people “Meshchera”. When I was a schoolboy I had read a book about the famous Russian anthropologist Miklukho-Maklai, who studied peoples of Papua New Guinea. His life was amazing for my childish imagination. I dreamed about long voyages in vast waters of the Pacific Ocean. I was envious of Tur Heyerdal, who could travel along the Pacific islands and to Charles Gogin, who could draw beautiful Tahiti women.If I could imagine that I will become an artist and will live in Pacific?

Saisiyat (賽夏)

The Saisiyat believe that a long time ago, a tribe of three-foot tall, dark-skinned dwarfs once taught them to farm, sing, and dance, but also harassed and threatened the women.
Long ago, a tribe of dark-skinned pygmies arrived in the area inhabited by the Saisiyat. They were skilled in the arts of magic. The Taai (known as the Short People) gave the Saisiyat seeds and taught them the knowledge of agriculture, how to hold ceremonies and offer sacrifices to gods or ancestors.
Therefore the Saisiyat regarded the Taai as their benefactors. Whenever rituals and ceremonies were held, the Saisiyat always invited the Taai to be their guests, and they enjoyed drinking and having fun together.
The Taai, however, gradually began to encroach upon the Saisiyat women. To avoid disrupting harmonious relations between the tribes, those women who were violated remained silent. The Saisiyat tribal elders urged patience for the good of the whole tribe. The Taai, however, stepped up their encroachments on the Saisiyat. When the Saisiyat had had enough, they swore to avenge the insult on the Taai.
The Saisiyat knew that the Taai were particularly fond of climbing on a loquat tree that overhung a precipice. Two Saisiyat youths thereupon took it upon themselves to saw the tree halfway through. That evening, the Taai, not suspecting a thing, climbed one-by-one up into the tree. As more and more Taai scaled the tree, it could no longer take the weight and the trunk snapped. All of the Taai who had been sitting in the tree went over the edge. Those that weren't killed in the initial fall were drowned.
However two Taais, who had escaped the ambush, placed a curse on the Saisiyat tribe, leading to a succession of disasters and poor harvests. In an effort to lift the curse, the Saisiyat sang Taai songs and performed Taai dances to plead for forgiveness while also appealing for fair weather and a bountiful harvest. That is the origin of the Saisiyat tribe's pygmy spirit ritual.

The pygmy spirit ritual gives raise a hypothesis by a Japanese archeologist, Kano Tadao, that the prehistoric peoples living in Taiwan included Negritoes.