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Symbolic Cultural Significance of Animals and Plants in Taiwanese Indigenous Mythology

  • PHILOSOPHY·THOUGHT·CULTURE
  • 2023, (41), pp.377~394
  • DOI : 10.33639/ptc.2023..41.018
  • Publisher : Research Institute for East-West Thought
  • Research Area : Humanities > Other Humanities
  • Received : November 23, 2022
  • Accepted : January 31, 2023
  • Published : January 31, 2023

LEE, MYUNG A 1

1국민대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The symbolic significance of animals and plants in Taiwanese indigenous mythology has affected the spiritual world and ideas of their people; this has led to the origination of taboo culture and customs. For instance, animals such as the snake, fish, whale, crab, shrimp, lizard, and monkey and plants such as the ginger grass hold symbolic cultural significance in Taiwanese indigenous mythology. The snake has often been depicted as an ancestral animal. Following these myths, the Taiwanese indigenous people express their respect for the gods by drawing snake patterns on their houses’ pillars, walls, and everyday items. They also follow a taboo culture of not killing snakes, as they believe that a child will meet an early death if a snake is beaten to death. It is also considered that the fish, whale, and ginger grass help the indigenous people in need. Therefore, the people hold whale and fish annual festivals to express their gratitude and forbid the pulling of ginger grass. Additionally, the crab represents courage and virtue, while the shrimp represents evil and greed. The lizard and monkey are portrayed as powerless scapegoats when killed by the shrimp, while the fly represents fertility.

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