Innovated Tradition: Transformation of Palakaw Fishing among the Amis of Fataan, Taiwan (original) (raw)
Related papers
2018
Stone tidal weir is a traditional kind of stone trap made for fishing. Its prototype was a curved U or V-shaped underwater stonewall laid within the intertidal zone. Sea animals could be brought into the trap when the tide came up and left inside the trap as tide dropped. It’s a specific kind of human landscape which could be found only if stones could be easily obtained at some shingle or coral reef beaches. In Asia, the stone tidal weirs just existed in some parts of Korea, Thailand and western Kyushu, Okinawa, Yaeyama, Quanzhou, and Taiwan. At Taiwan, this way of fishing was assumed practiced by the Docas family of the Pinghu people of early Taiwan. As it was bearing wave erosions twice a day, its construction deserved more efforts in regular maintenance than any other similar stone-laid walls like terraced fields. Not just inexhaustible stones in hand, but sufficient labour which could spontaneously be obtained by tacit understanding are key factors for these kinds of constructi...
Tai O village: vernacular fisheries management or revitalization?
This paper offers a socio-cultural perspective on what happens to a once thriving fishing village when the traditional fishermen retire, their children seek safer and more lucrative work in an adjacent cosmopolitan city, and the population diminishes leaving the village facing economic hardship and general decline. The paper explores these issues and the related aspects of 'place' and 'space' in the context of Tai O village, Lantau Island, Hong Kong. The paper treats 'space' as a blend of social experience and physical structure in its pursuit to examine the tensions between the vernacular architecture of Tai O and the Hong Kong government's plans to 'revitalize' the area.
Adaptability of Folkways: Buddhist Thai vernacular houses of Songkhla Lake Basin
Asian Journal of Environment-Behaviour Studies
This research has explored the relationships between community ecosystems and folkways in the context of modern development, especially how these relationships are manifested in the changing physical characteristics of their vernacular houses. Using qualitative methods and a holistic approach to study tradition and change, three Thai-Buddhist communities around Songkhla Lake Basin were selected for comparative study. Data were derived from documentary sources, direct and participant observation, in-depth interviews and architectural drawings. It was found that the traditional communities in different local micro-ecosystems were transformed to be a new characteristic of Southern Thai dwellings underlie the emergence of hybrid economic and society. However, kinship ties, their Buddhist beliefs and experience of adaptability reinforce the existent of local identities. Keywords: Adaptability; Folkways; transformation; Community eco-system; Buddhist Thai, Vernacular house; Songkhla Lake ...
Fisher-foragers amidst the reeds: Loptuq perception of waterscapes in the Lower Tarim area
Ethnobiological Letter, 2020
Toponyms and hydronyms encode important information about human perceptions of the environment in a specific context. This article discusses the Loptuq, a group of Turkic-speakers, who until the 1950s lived as fishers-foragers at the Lower Tarim River, Eastern Turkestan (contemporary Xinjiang, China), and their use of common reed (Phragmites australis) as an example for the close connection between language, culture, social relations, economic activities, and human perceptions about the surrounding environment. Operating in lakes and swamps for their economic activities (fishing, hunting, foraging, and occasional transport), exploring and observing vegetation and animal life, the Loptuq developed and transmitted information through naming their habitat. Today both their habitat and the earlier knowledge have disappeared, but the perceptions and uses of resources can at least partly be reconstructed through foreign explorers’ narratives and field notes
The Sacred Ecology of Penglipuran - A traditional bamboo village on Bali, Indonesia
2012
This paper deals with the Sacred Ecology of the traditional village Penglipuran, located on East Bali. The core question is: How does the main Balinese worldview “Tri Hita Karana” influence the rural and environmental development of the village Penglipuran? To answer that question interviews were held on Bali in February 2012. The analysis is based on the “Belief-Practice-Knowledge”-Concept of the Sacred Ecology that examines the four levels: The worldview, social institutions, land- and resource management and the local traditional knowledge. This “Belief-Practice-Knowledge”-Concept is applied on the main Balinese philosophy Tri Hita Karana. It aims at balanced relationship towards God (belief), human beings (practice) and the environment (knowledge). The main characteristics of the Balinese understanding of “the sacred” can be defined as the memory of the origin and maintenance of unity. They have to be achieved by the appropriate balance of the Tri Hita Karana philosophy. The strong commitment of the villagers towards the Tri Hita Karana can be identified as one of the “secrets” for sustainable development. Both the structure of the various traditional institutions and the land- and resource management as well as the local knowledge about the bamboo cultivation are all grounded in the ubiquitous worldview. They also can serve as a model towards a sustainable development of rural communities. Further immersion in the ethnographic roots of Indonesian societies and the history of the religion Agama Hindu Dharma on Bali may constitute a basis for further development approaches.