Taiwan (Liukiu)

30. Northern Taiwan

Northern Taiwan (Liukiu) is 5-6 days sail east of Canton.

The king’s family name is Huan-ssi. But the natives call him Kolau.

His lives in Polotantung. It has a threefold mound and a palisade surrounded by running water and protected by thorn hedges, and the eaves of the palace building have many figures of birds and beasts carved upon them.

Both sexes bind their hair with white hempen cord and coil it up in a knot at the back of the head.

They make clothes of different patterns from hempen cloth and (ornamented with) feathers. They diers are plait hats of rattan and decorate them with armed with weapons feathers. Their sol such as knives, pikes, bows of every kind, and arrows, and swords; they use drums, and make and buff-coats of bears' 10 leopards’ skins.

The carriages of wild beasts, in which (the and only several tens chiefs) drive are of men walk in front and

They have no regular tax revenue. But when occasion of an equal impost (on arises, behind

They a duty in the nature all classes) is levied. They do not understand the solar and lunar divisions. They simply record time by observing the phases of the moon.

Fathers and sons sleep together on the same couch. They evaporate sea water in the sun to make salt. They brew rice barm into spirits.

Whenever they happen to have any extraordinary delicacy, they 20 their principal men (or Worthies ;^ but no cattle, sheep, donkeys nor horses ^ The and loamy. After burning the grass rich they flood the land and merely hoe 25 it first offer it to ^ ^ ^)- Of meats they have bears and wolves, a great many fowls; When- (i. e., pigs, and domestic soil of this country is the stubble of the last crop), up a few inches deep.

They have no noteworthy products. The people are given to robbery. This is why traders do not go there. Sometimes, they gather yellow wax, native gold, buffalo tails and jerked leopard meat to the Visayas for sale. By its side are Southern Taiwan and Tanmayen.

43. Southern Taiwan

The language of Pishoye cannot be understood. Traders do not go here.

The people go naked and are in a state of primitive savagery like beasts.

Near Canton, there is an island called Ponghu belonging to the jurisdiction of Tsin-kiang-hien. From here, smoke from Southern Taiwan can be seen

The Southern Taiwanese raid Ponghu and our people have fallen victims to their cannibalism, a great grief to the people!

From 1174—1190, their chiefs organized raiding parties of several hundreds on the villages of Shui-au and where they gave free course number and women them by in attacks in Canton, slaying men without ^. iron vessels, spoons, and chopsticks; one could get rid the iron knocker and go away. The had raped them closing the entrance door, could be got to stoop make sudden to their savage instincts, too, after they They were fond of 20 of y^) and Wei-t'6u were their chiefs down officials’ soldiers By to pick from which they would only wrench throwing away spoons or chopsticks they them up, and thus fall behind some paces. used to lay hold of them in this manner= when the savages got sight of a horseman in mail, they struggled to strip off his armour, when, in their headlong rush, they met their death without being sensible of the danger.

When attacking an enemy, they are armed with javelins to which are attached ropes of over an hundred feet in length, in order to recover them after each throw; for they put such value on the iron of which these are made,

They do not sail in junks or boats, but lash bamboo into can be folded up like screens, lift weapons that they cannot bear to lose them. so, when hard them up and escape by swimming off pressed, a number rafts, of which them can with them.

Liu-k’iu.