Aborigines sitting in front of house, Tsui-sia, Taiwan

Aborigines sitting in front of house, Tsui-sia, Taiwan

Notes

University of Bristol - Historical Photographs of China reference number: DH-s047. Photograph most probably taken in a village called Tsui-sia, Dragon Foot Lake, Formosa (Taiwan). Attributed to Lai Fong. In another album this photograph is captioned as follows: "No. 63. - Savage Hut and People at Tsui-sia / Tsui-sia is a village on the shore of the Dragon Foot Lake. The people are called by the Chinese Tsui-whans (water savages.) This tribe have long since ceased hostilities against the Chinese by whom many of their women have been taken as wives. -They fish and hunt a little and grow some tobacco, sweet potatoes and millet, but men and women spend most of their time in smoking, and drinking samshoo, and they are fast falling into decay. The "Chinese are bad" ("tapparoo 'm ho") and "we are all savages together" is the constant burden of their song when they meet a foreigner. -They have a peculiar practice of knocking out the eye teeth of their children, in order, it is said, to assist their wind in running".  See also DH-s048 (which is a crop of DH-s047).

Caption on photograph

63

Location

Taiwan

Estimated Date

1875

Material

Paper

Media

Black and white photograph

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