Sending love firewood is a special custom of the Paiwan people. Recently, it is even more common in the tribes of Chunri Township and Laiyi Township in Zhongpaiwan.

(File photo, photo by reporter Chen Yanting)

[Reporter Chen Yanting/Pingtung Report] National Pingtung University's Indigenous Education and Research Center of Pingtung University's Indigenous Peoples Education Research Center today Published the picture book "Wangjia Sending Love Chai" in the Wangjia Tribe, so that the unique courtship methods of the Paiwan people are presented through different angles of modern picture books.

Sending love firewood is a unique custom of Taiwanese aborigines, but in recent years, it has been concentrated in Paiwan people and even only in the middle Paiwan tribe. Other tribes have gradually declined. In order to make the unique culture last forever, the school through the Ministry of Education For the Higher Education Intensive Cultivation Project, alumnus Chen Ting returned to Horata to produce picture books, and collaborated with the Department of Science and Communication of the same school to produce the animated film "Wang Jia Sends Love Chai".

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The Center for Indigenous Ethnic Education of Pingtung University pointed out that in the early years, firewood was used for cooking. Firewood is an important material. A man has to bring a hundred sticks of firewood to the home of the woman he loves in the middle of the night to show his love, which means he has the ability to split hundreds of sticks of firewood in the wild. It symbolizes being able to start a family and start a business, and seeking favor from possible parents-in-law. If a woman receives a lot of wood at the same time, it represents a large number of admirers. Some men are afraid of being rejected, so they will "ask someone to send it on their behalf". Various interesting scenes are not only "surprises" when the parties go out "It has also become a "good show" in the eyes of neighbors.

The center pointed out that the most popular types of firewood are jiuxiong, yellow hibiscus and acacia, which are suitable for making charcoal or burning slowly. The vines or bamboos used also have different meanings. The vines represent the tenacity of vitality, and the pronunciation of bamboo in the ethnic language is similar to "crying".

Chen Tingyi is a native of Wangjia. When she returned to her hometown, she was welcomed by about 50 VUVU and elderly people from the Wenjian Station. They laughed and said that they saw the throbbing memories of youth in the content, and instantly felt that they were many years younger, but now they are getting older. It is rare to see "send love firewood", thanks to young people for continuing the custom through the publication of picture books and videos.

Pingtung University released the picture book "Wang Jia Sends Love Chai".

(Provided by Pingtung University)