Tao Film Questions

(1)Indicate the importance of the ocean to Tao:

It acts as a kind of playground for the children. For the grown ups, rowing plank boats is a form of exercise. The ocean provides the Tao with food like crabs or fish. As the Tao live close to the ocean, it teaches them to watch the wind, clouds, and currents for shifts in weather. 

(2) It takes a lot of time for Tao people to build a boat. How do Tao people make a boat? Do you think it is worthy or it wastes time? Why?

The boats are made of at least 23 trees, of 5 different kinds. It takes the Tao about a year to carefully select the best trees in the mountains for build a boat and before the tree is cut down, a prayer is said for the tree. In order to protect their environment, they never cut down more than one or two trees in the same place. After the shape of the boat is done, the pieces are joined together with wooden pegs. Nails or screws are not used. Then, they paint and decorate the boat according to their beliefs. There are usually two eyes equally balanced on each side of the stern and bow.

I think it would be easier for them to use modern tools like the saw to chop down the tree and nails to secure the pieces together, but what the Taos are trying to do is preserve what they still have of their old traditions, so they are doing a good job of that. I don't think the decorating is worth the time is precision, but again, they decorate because they believe it will help them in harvesting the fish.

(3) Explain the boat launching ceremony.

Male Taos perform an loud angry dance around the boat because in the culture, anger is said to repel the evil spirits that might be around the boat. They toss the boat with the chief inside to represent how the waves will act on the boat. 

(4) Explain the flying fish calling ceremony.

The flying fish is viewed as their god, or the God's fish and they pray to it, like they do with many of nature's creations. On the boat, the crew sings again to repel the unwanted spirits. They set something on fire and hoist it on the back of the boat, as flames are said to lure in the flying fish. They also hold up a rooster (presumably dead) also to attract the fish. On the shore, the other people dip their fingers in a piglet's blood and put wash it away in the ocean. (Also to get in the fish). Short drift nets are used to catch the prized fish, which they carefully store on the boat until the next day by when the fish will have to be eaten. 

(5) How do Tao people live in harmony with the natural environment? 

The Tao people take good care of the trees and plants around them, especially the ones that they have "grown up with". They also leave the animals to their natural habitat and respect the way they are. Basically, they make sure that they are not harming their environment with pollutants or human waste.

(6) The houses the Tao people build are so special. Please compare their houses to those houses in your own country. 

Each house is built with carefully selected leaves, plants and timber. They ask the gods to bless the materials they use to build their house, so that the end product (the house) in the end is blessed. 

In Taiwan, Singapore, the States, wherever, people have other workers build the house for them with cement, bricks, metal, etc. Our houses are usually not made of plants or leaves. 

(7) Tao people view eating a sea snake is a taboo because it lowers social status. In your own culture, do you have any eating taboos? Do you believe in it? Why?

  If we do have any taboos, I'm not familiar with any of them.

(8) So far only one big handmade boat is kept in Tao tribe because of modernization. Thus, some Tao people try to preserve their art culture. Please describe a vanishing art culture in your country that you would like to preserve.

  I don't know much of Taiwanese culture, but I guess they try to preserve tea art and the old traditions that follow along with it. Modernization has changed tea so that people don't drink it the way it's supposed to be enjoyed and savoured.

Source: picture