The Rukai
　　The rukai have long been lumped together with the Raval and Butsul sub-groups of the neighboring Paiwan under the general term of Tsarisien or “mountain aborigines”. In fact, the Rukai of Wutai district in Pingtung county form a single system with those of Maolin district in Kaohsiung county and Peinan district in Taitung county. Their villages all lie below 1,500 meters above sea level, and principally occupy the mountain foothills between 500 meters and 1,000 meters in altitude.

　　According to legend, the Rukai used originally to live along the upper reaches of the Ta-nan River in Taitung county, in an area called Shikipalichi. In about 1340 they were forced to move westwards due to the hostility of the neighboring aborigines, and settled on the other side of Mt. Ta-wu in Hao-ch’a village. After another three centuries, in about 1640, a portion of them moved from Hao-ch’a to Wu-t’ai village. Pressures from hostile neighbours apart, these migrations of the Rukai were mainly due to the search for better living conditions.

　　Traditionally the Rukai depended on farming for their livelihood and still do, from tilling plots cleared by burning to settled agriculture. Their main crops are millet and taro, together with beans and sweet potatoes. After the taros are harvested they are dried over a fire and can be stored for use during the year. Secondary sources of food are hunting, keeping livestock and fishing the mountain streams.

　　The Rukai, with a total population of 12,051﹙according to 2000 government figures﹚, its social organization takes the form of a social class system erected on a land system and male primogeniture, by which land ownership is obtained through inheritance by the eldest son. The Rukai have a similar social structure to the Paiwan, except that the Rukai only recognize male primogeniture whereas inheritance among the Paiwan may be by either the eldest male or female descendant. Thus one may describe the Rukai social class system as arising from male primogeniture.

　　Three levels of Rukai social classes may be distinguished. Firstly, the noble class, an elite whose members tend to be landowners and their close kin. Secondly, the intermediate class of gentry, whose eldest male heirs assume the gentry status while other descendants are considered commoners. Thirdly, the commoners, some of whom are distant cousins and kinfolk of landowners, and some again are unrelated persons, while the majorities are tenant farmers. These constitute the lowest social class.

　　Among the noble class, only clan chiefs can display carvings of snakes, deer and human heads along the lintel above the entrance to their homes. Their houses are also slightly larger in area. The interior post facing the entrance is adorned with a sculpted human form, and in front of the house is a meeting-place with a dais for issuing orders. The Rukai of Wutai & Maolin districts make much use of timber and slate in their buiding, for this abounds locally, whereas those of Peinan district tend to use mainly timber, bamboo and grass thatch.

　　The Rukai possess a primitive art of an extremely fine delicacy and intricacy. The womenfolk are skilled at weaving and basketry, while the menfolk excel at wood carving. Outstanding craftsmen are held in high esteem within their village. Coloured glass beads are their main form of adornment, and their principal ritual vessels are ancestral spirit-urns. Since the Rukai can make neither glass beads nor pottery urns, these objects are handed down from generation to generation and are treated with great reverence.

　　According to Rukai creation myths, one legend has it that the Rukai ancestors originated from the hundred-pace snake Agkistrodon acutus. Thus the distinctive diamond-shaped head of this highly poisonous snake, symbolizing the Rukai ancestors, is a common feature of wood carvings on ancestral posts, door lintels and door leaves, as well as of body tattooes, embroidery on clothing and other daily utensils. Compared to the Paiwan, the Rukai in their traditional outlook are far more conservative but at the same time more closely knit as a community.

Rukai Men’s House of Taromak Village﹙H-4﹚
　　The eastern Rukai are typified by the Taromak community, which includes the settlements of Karivurivu, Tamalakao, Kaaroan and Marudup. This group has lived for generations along the upper reaches of the Ta-nan River in Peinan district of Taitung county. To both east and west this community borders on Puyuma areas, and thus displays a certain degree of Puyuma cultural influence.

　　While Rukai society is subject to a strict class system, the age-grade system also has great importance for members of the village community as they grow to maturity. This is particularly evident in the case of the three age groups 15-18﹙adolescents﹚,19-21﹙young adults﹚and 22-50﹙mature adults﹚. The adolescent and young adult age groups mark the period of training in the village men’s house, while mature adults are liable for service as warriors until they marry. During this period of training for entry into society as mature adults, the younger males undergo a strictly communal life in which they live apart in the men’s house.

　　The men’s house is also the village meeting-place. All discussions and decisions affecting the village’s political and economic life, whether held at fixed times in the year or as occasion requires, are headed by the chief of the largest noble clan. The men’s house also serves as a religious centre for village rituals. The annual millet-harvest festival, the ceremonies for achieving adulthood and the former head-hunting rituals all take place or took place here. It is also the economic centre of the village, for the house itself together with its associated forest areas, farmland, fishing zones and hunting grounds are the common property of the whole village, and the proceeds from these lands are used for village purposes. The young men of the village are employed in the service of the men’s house and its public land, and such matters as running errands for older villagers, upkeep of footpaths and management of the environment are handled by the men’s house. There are usually some young men on duty there to take part in such work, or to take responsibility for summoning villagers to meetings or spreading important news.

　　 The Taromak community’s first men’s house was built at the place Dadikusan, the site of the village’s earliest settlement. When the building began, a female shaman had a dream in which she saw an ancestor, Pinalhag, the great disciple of the earliest Rukai shaman Dalanpan. Therefore at the house-completion ceremony she declared that the ancestors wanted to return to offer protection to their descendants, and that statues of them should be erected inside the men’s house. Today the Rukai explain these statues as commemorating their ancestors and keeping alive the memory of their ancient worthy achievements.

Rukai Ancestral Statues from the Men’s House of Taromak Village﹙H-4﹚
﹙Information on these carvings is kindly provided by Mr Hsu Ying-chou﹚
1. Pinalhag, chief disciple of Dalanpan, the earliest female shaman of Taromak village.
2. Lipatutuoag, minister of the famous ancient chief Azaliv.
3. Azaliv, the most famous ancient chief of Taromak village. According to legend he was the son of the spirit born out of the sun, Samalale. Possessed of great authority in his lifetime, he opened up new tribal lands and performed many worthy acts, for which he is worshipped by descendants of later generations. This is the largest statue in the men’s house and the most closely worked. In front of the statue stands a small stone altar at which prayers are offered seeking solutions to the most important issues affecting the village.
4. Samalale, the spirit born out of the sun.
5. Dalanpan, the earliest female shaman of Taromak village . Traditionally, only the direct disciples of this shaman have the right to enter the men’s house. Thus all ceremonies and rituals held in the men’s house must be held by her disciples.
6. Lipaliv, a minister of Azaliv and the younger brother of Lipatutuoag.
7. Sumalile, cousin of Samalale.
8. Male figure, identity unknown.
9. Kalimazu, emissary of Azaliv, who was sent to explore other districts and finally returned to Taromak village.
10. Basakanlan, an emissary like Kalimazu.