Legends behind Paiwan Ceramic Beads

The glass and ceramic beads represent an important part of Paiwan culture, one of the aboriginals in Taiwan.  The history and origin of Paiwan beads are fascinating. With so many unique multi-colored patterns, each bead has its own name, meaning, and a legend behind it. 

History of Paiwan Beads

Tradition and Heirlooms

Paiwan tribe is one of the 14 aboriginal tribes of Taiwan.  In their traditional culture, glass beads played a very important part of it.  The multi-colored beads were a symbol of tribe social status.  Certain beads were reserved for the chief or aristocracy. Some, as symbol of honor, were rewarded to warriors who performed well in the battlefield or hunting field.  During the once every five year festival and special occasions such as traditional ceremonies or wedding, Paiwan indigenous would wear the necklace made up with glass beads.  The number of beads on the necklace represented the wealth and position of the wearer. 

The glass beads could be used as wedding gift or as a currency. Glass beads also considered as family heirlooms and passed down from generation to generation.

The Origin of Paiwan Beads

It is still not clear what the origin of Paiwan glass beads is. Some said they were introduced to Paiwan society through the trade with Dutch in the 17^th century. Some said the handicrafts were simply passed down from ancient Paiwan tribe, but the creation method was not recorded.

Without the knowledge of how to make glass beads, the number of antique Paiwan beads had been diminishing due to the collectors’ acquisition and lost in natural disasters.  The most recent disaster was Typhoon Morakot in 2009. Some of the precious antique Paiwan bead necklaces were collected and exhibited at the Museum of Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica in Taiwan.

Rediscover the Art of making Paiwan Glass Beads

When the number of antique Paiwan beads dwindled down, it was difficult to conduct the traditional Paiwan ceremonies. Realized that this was a threat to the Paiwan culture, a Paiwan artist named Umass Zingrur started his search of how to re-create Paiwan glass beads about 40 years ago. Through the research and experiments, he had found the formula to re-create the Paiwan glass beads.  Due to his efforts, as many as 34 patterns of glass beads are now in production at various Paiwan tribe studios.

Cape No.7 and Paiwan Beads

In 2008, a Taiwanese romance comedic drama film “Cape No.7” became one of the most watched movies in the country's cinematic history, just behind James Cameron's Titanic.  The film won the Halekulani Golden Orchid Award for Best Narrative at the Hawaii International Film Festival.

In the film, different Paiwan glass beads were given to the main characters to reflect each person’s personality.  Due to the popularity of the film, the Paiwan glass beads became the most sought jewelry and gift items instantly in Taiwan. Especially for the “Bead of Warrior” worn by the main actor and the “Bead of Peacock” worn by the main actress, the lead time of obtaining these beads could be as long as 3 to 4 months.  

Bayi Ceramic Beads Workshop

In 2009, the most powerful typhoon in Taiwan recent history hit hard on Jialan, one of the Paiwan villages. Among those lost were the precious Paiwan glass beads, the heirlooms of many villagers.

 

In 2010, Jialand Bayi Workshop was established to help the affected Jialand villagers to regain their footing after the disaster. One of the main goals was to train the villagers the basic techniques of making ceramic beads with Paiwan style. The Jialand style ceramic beads have the same multi-colored patterns as the traditional Paiwan glass beads.  The Paiwan ceramic beads are quite new compared with the Paiwan glass beads.  But they carry the same Paiwan tradition and legend.

Legends of Paiwan Beads

When Paiwan artist Umass Zingrur searched for the techniques for re-creating the traditional Paiwan glass beads, he also interviewed the elders of the tribe. He found out that each bead had a name, a meaning, and a legend. In fact, there can be more than one name, meaning, or legend for each bead.  It seems to be the story may vary among the tribal clans.  Below are the stories of some of the Paiwan beads.

Bead of Warrior (Mananigai)

Paiwan people claimed to be the descendants of hundred-pace viper, which was also considered as the guardian god of the clay pots for tribe chief. The rhombus-shaped pattern of the hundred-pace viper is a symbol of courage. This bead was only given to the warriors who had excelled on the battlefield or on the hunting grounds.  For a Paiwan male, possessing a Mananigai bead was one of the highest honors.  This bead was also called the bead of warrior.

Bead of Peacock (Kurakurau)

There are many versions of the legend of this bead. One version says that there was a peacock from the heaven that could turn himself into a man. He fell in love to a beautiful daughter of tribe chief and asked for permission to marry her. But the chief refused. He pleaded to give hundred peacock bead necklaces, hundred peacock bead bracelets, hundred peacock bead rings, and hundred peacock bead hair pins as the wedding gift.  The chief finally agreed the marriage of his daughter. The pattern on this bead resembles a feather from the tail of a peacock. This bead also means bead of love.

 Bead of Noble (Mulimulitan)

The traditional dwellings of the Paiwan tribe were made of slates, which were stacked to create the walls. Due to the small openings between the slates, the smoke from cooking inside would escape to outside and upward to the heaven in wave-like pattern. Paiwan people believed this is the link between heaven and earth. They also believe the rainbow is the link between heaven and earth. Since this bead has the wave-like pattern and three rainbow colors, it represented the link between heaven and earth and thus was the bead of noble. It was considered the most valuable of the traditional Paiwan beads and could only be possessed by chief and aristocracy.