The Taivoan or Tevorangh are a Taiwanese indigenous ethnic group. The Taivoan originally settled around hill and basin areas in Tainan, especially in the , which the Taivoan called Tamani, later transliterated into Japanese and later borrowed in Chinese (Yujing). The Taivoan historically called themselves Taivoan, Taibowan, Taiburan or Shisha.
According to some scholars, there should be more than 20,000 Taivoan people nowadays, estimated based on the records during Japanese rule of Taiwan, ranked as the second largest non-status indigenous people in Taiwan, after the Makatao people.
Many scholars propose that the name of the island Taiwan actually came from the indigenous people's name, as the pronunciation of Taivoan is similar to Tayovan, the people whom the Dutch met around the coast of Anping or the bay around Anping, which later became the name Taiwan. In addition, the Taivoan established a settlement called Taiouwang, which is the only indigenous community residing there whose name resembles Taiwan.
History The Taivoan people are ethnically called "Taivoan" or "Tevorangh". While the former term comes from the self-identification of the indigenous people recorded by Japanese linguists in the early 20th century, the latter comes from one of the four main tribes or nations established by the Taivoan in the early 17th century, well-recorded by the Dutch and Chinese people in a couple of documents, in different spellings including Tevorang, Tevoran, Tefurang, Devoran, Tivorang, Tivorangh, and the like. Farrell also noted that the two terms "Tevorangh and Taivoan are probably dialectal variants of a common name (< *tayvura-n)".
In December 1628, George Candidius, the first missionary to Dutch Formosa, wrote that there were eight tribes around modern-day Tainan, including "Sinkan, Mattau, Soulang, Bakloan, Taffakan, Tifulukan, Teopan and Tefurang", among which "the most remote village is Tefurang, which lies between the mountains". In 1694, Chinese officer Kao Gong-qian (高拱亁) recorded the first Chinese record of Tevorangh in "Taiwan Prefecture Gazetteer" (臺灣府志), stating that the tribe was located to the northwest of Ma-an Mt. Both records show the tribes' location and living environment in mountainous area of Taivoan or Tevorangh, compared to the Siraya and Makatao – the two indigenous peoples with a close relationship to Taivoan – who inhabit the lowland only.
Mattau Incident In 1629, the third governor of Dutch Formosa, Pieter Nuyts, dispatched 63 Dutch soldiers to Mattau with the excuse of "arresting Chinese pirates". The effort was impeded by the local indigenous people, as they had been resentful at the Dutch colonists who invaded and slaughtered many of their people. On the way back, the 63 Dutch soldiers were drowned by the indigenous people of Mattau, resulting in the retaliation of Pieter Nuyts and later the Mattau Incident (麻豆社事件) in 1635.
On November 23, 1635, Nuyts led 500 Dutch soldiers and 500 Siraya soldiers from Sinckan to assail Mattau, killing 26 tribal people and burning all the buildings in Mattau. On December 18, Mattau surrendered and signed the Mattau Act (麻豆條約) with the Dutch governor Hans Putmans. In this act, Mattau agreed to grant all the land inherited or controlled and all the properties owned by the people of Mattau to the Dutch. The Mattau Act has two significant meanings in the history of Taiwan: The Mattau Act is the first sovereignty grant act signed between Taiwanese indigenous people and a foreign sovereignty in the history. The sovereignty of the Formosans or the Taiwanese indigenous peoples was recognized by the Dutch government.
Resistance against Japanese
As a resistance to the long-term oppression by the Japanese government, many Taivoan people from Jiasian led the first local rebellion against Japan in July 1915, called the Jiasian Incident (甲仙埔事件). This was followed by a wider rebellion from Yuchin Basin in Tainan to Jiasian in Kaohsiung in August 1915, known as the Tapani Incident (噍吧哖事件) in which more than 1,400 local people died or were killed by the Japanese government. Twenty-two years later, the Taivoan people struggled to carry on another rebellion; since most of the indigenous people were from Xiaolin, the resistance taking place in 1937 was named the Xiaolin Incident (小林事件).
Classification and self-identification
The Taivoan people used to be classified as a subgroup of Siraya; however, Raleigh Farrell regards Taivoan as an indigenous ethnic group according to 17th century documents, and believes there were at least five indigenous peoples in the south-western plain of Taiwan at that time: Siraya Tevorang-Taivuan Takaraian (now classified as Makatao) Pangsoia-Dolatok (now classified as Makatao) Longkiau (now classified as Paiwan)
That Tevorang is sometimes considered to be a Siraya village is mainly based on George Candidius' inclusion "Tefurang" in the eight Siraya villages that he claimed all had "the same manners, customs and religion, and speak the same language". Ferrell mentioned that this is erroneous and that Candidious' assertion that he was well familiar with the eight supposed Siraya villages including Tevorang is extremely doubtful, as "he had not visited Tevorang when he wrote his famous account in 1628. The first Dutch visit to Tevorang appears to have been in January 1636".
Japanese anthropologist Toichi Mabuchi and many modern scholars including Shigeru Tsuchida, Li, Paul Jen-kuei, Liu, I-chang, Chien, Wen-ming, Hu, Chia-yu, Lin, Ging-cai, and Zhang, Yao-qi also regard Taivoan as an independent Taiwanese indigenous people from the aspects of linguistics and anthropology.Yen, Teen-yu (2015). "A Preliminary Study of the Relationship between the Liaosong Culture and the Xilaya People and the Changes in Their Society and Culture", 臺灣史前史專論, p.258. Taipei: 中央研究院、聯經出版公司.
On October 6, 2016, Taivoan people across Kaohsiung held the first Inter-tribal Consensus Conference of Taivoan People and made a consensus statement that both "Tevorangh" (the classification recorded since the 17th century) and "Taivoan" (the classification since the 20th century) are accepted by the Taivoan people, but they refuse to be identified as "Siraya" or a subgroup of the Siraya people.
Distribution
According to the oral history, Taivoan people originally lived in Taivoan community in nowadays Anping, Tainan and later founded two communities Tavakangh and Teopan in Xinhua. As invaded by Siraya people, Taivoan were later forced to migrate to Zuojhen and Shanshang, establishing two communities Makang and Kogimauwang respectively. The indigenous people were later driven by Siraya again and migrated to Danei, setting up the community Nounamou (Nunamu). Siraya eventually invaded Danei and forced Taivoan to move to Yujing, where Taivoan later founded four of their most important communities, Tevorangh, Sia-urie, Vogavon, and Kapoa.
Historical Documents According to the Dutch records in the 17th century, the Taivoan were settled in four main nations or tribes around the Yuchin Basin, and therefore they had been called Shisha (四社熟番, literally "four tribes") in the history of Taiwan.
Tevorangh (大武壠社), also spelled as Tevorang, Tivorangh, or Tevurang. This includes: Tevorangh proper Taiouwang (also spelled Tajouhan or Teijnewangh) Tusigit (also Sigit) Sia-urie (also Siyauri, Sauli, 霄里社) Vogavon (also Voungo Voungor, bongabong [< bo𝛈abo𝛈], 芒仔芒社) Kapoa (also Kapowa, 茄拔社) Besides the four main tribes, the Taivoan had founded the following tribes or nations in their history, according to Huang Shujing (黃叔璥), a Chinese imperial emissary of Taiwan, in his “Records from the mission to Taiwan and its Strait" (臺海使槎錄) (1722): Tapani (噍吧哖社) A second tribe of Tevorangh (大武壠二社) Makang (木岡社) Maopao (茅匏社) Mongmingming (夢明明社) A sub-tribe of Tevorangh (大武壠派社), today Liuchongxi. Citing Japanese linguist Shigeru Tsuchida, Taiwanese linguist Li, Paul Jen-kuei concluded that some areas previously considered as Siraya-speaking areas should be Taivoan-speaking areas, according to their recent research results on the Sinckan Manuscripts: Wanli (灣裡) Wankhu (灣丘) Kiothaotseng (橋頭莊) Matau (麻豆)
A small community located between Wanli and Tevorangh could be a Taivoan community, too:
Terrijverrrijvagangh
Population dispersal
After Koxinga defeated the Dutch colonists in Dutch Formosa, more Chinese immigrants flooded into Southern Taiwan, in turn driving Siraya people to inland Tainan. This resulted in the dispersal of Taivoan people from lowland to hilly areas in Tainan and Kaohsiung in the 18th century.Lin, Ming-yuan (2016). "Immigrants' Settlement and Industrious Changes of Jiasian District", pp.2–3. Kaohsiung: National Kaohsiung Normal University. Some Taivoan had climbed across Wu Mt. (烏山) and reached Alikuan (阿里關) between 1722 and 1744Hung, Li-wan (2011). "Ethnic Interaction, Migration and Expanded Living Space of Shufan in Mountain Peripheral Areas of Jia Nan Plain during Qing Dynasty: A Study of Duo-luo-guo-she". Taipei: Institute of Taiwan History. As a result, today all the indigenous people in Yuchin Basin, the native habitat of the Taivoan, recognize themselves as ethnically "Siraya", while many Taivoan descendants still have strong Taivoan identity across new habitats founded after the 18th century, including:
Tainan Liuchongxi (六重溪), founded by Tevorangh-Taivoan between 1650 and 1757. Khetang (溪東), founded by Tevorangh-Taivoan. The local Taivoan were forced to relocate since Nanhua Dam were to be built in the 1980s.
Kaohsiung Alikuan (阿里關), founded by Tevorangh-Taivoan from Khetang. Xiaolin (小林村), founded by Tevorangh-Taivoan from Alikuan in the late 19th century. Pualiao (匏仔寮), mainly founded by Kapoa-Taivoan, joined by many Tevorangh-Taivoan from Xiaolin through inter-tribal marriage since the early 20th century. Tuakhuhenn (大丘園), founded by Kapoa-Taivoan. Tingkongkuan (頂公館), founded by Kapoa-Taivoan. Hakongkuan (下公館), founded by Kapoa-Taivoan. Suannsamna (山杉林), founded by Siaurie-Taivoan after 1736. Pangliao (枋寮), founded by Vogavon-Taivoan after 1761. Lakku (六龜), founded by Vogavon-Taivoan from Pangliao. Laulong (荖濃), founded by Vogavon-Taivoan after 1781.
After a fatal landslide caused by typhoon Morakot destroyed Xiaolin on August 9, 2009, the local villagers, mainly Taivoan people, were compelled to relocate to three new communities: Wulipu (五里埔), founded on January 15, 2011. Sunlight Xiaolin (日光小林), founded on December 24, 2011. Xiao'ai Xiaolin (小愛小林), founded on February 11, 2010.
Hualien Dazhuang (大庄), founded by Makatao and Taivoan people as the ethnic majority from Kaohsiung and Pingtung in the early 19th century, joined by very few Siraya people from Sinckan, Tainan, proven by the self-identification as "Taivoan", "Tau", "Makatau", or "Taiburan" by the local indigenous people in the early 20th century. Local ancestral worship marks strong Taivoan religious influence, and many locals claim they have ancestors from Xiaolin. Yuli (玉里) Guanyinshan (觀音山) Majialu (馬加祿) Wanning (萬寧) Luoshan (羅山) Mingli (明里) Funan (富南)
Taitung
Chishang (新開園 / 池上) Guanshan (里壠 / 關山) Chengshan (城山) Ningpu (石寧埔 / 寧埔) Chuhu (竹湖) Boai (宜灣 / 沙汝灣) Xingang (成廣澳 / 小港)
Culture Language
Taivoan language
The concept that Taivoan spoke the Siraya language has been rejected by many linguists, based on documentary and linguistic evidence. Since the January 2019 code release, SIL International has recognized Taivoan as an independent language and assigned the code tvx.
Documentary evidence "De Dagregisters van het Kasteel Zeelandia" by the Dutch in the 17th century showed that, to communicate with the chieftain of Cannacannavo (Kanakanavu), the local official language Sinccan (Siraya) had to be translated to Tarrocquan (regarded as a dialect of Rukai or Paiwan), and Tevorang (Taivoan):
Linguistic evidence