Taiwanese Aboriginal Dances Compared to Filipino Aboriginal Dances

I remembered writing about the links between Taiwanese natives and Filipino natives as well as Ifugao OFWs in Taiwan. I'm not a bit surprised about the studies showing the common ancestry of Taiwanese natives and Filipino natives. The brown skin ethnicity is not unique to the Filipino majority. A visit to Taiwan's fabulous Mount Alishan would show a surrounding similar to Banaue Rice Terraces or the Cordillera region.

Above is a video depicting the dance of a song called "高山青 (read in pinyin as Gāo Shān Qīng)". It literally means "High Green Mountain". I guess this is the most-known song. A trivia would be that the song was written for a 1940s Taiwanese film called Happenings in Alishan. If you noticed the dance steps, any Filipino familiar with the native dances of Filipinos might comment, "Wow, the steps are rather similar." These are dances that Taiwanese natives would entertain tourists with.

This is an Ifugao dance called Dinuya. It's not surprising that in a program, the attire worn for an Ifugao dance was used for the Taiwanese tribal dance. The dance steps can be very similar in more than one way. I even want to say that take away the words of Taiwanese tribal dance songs, you may get a very similar beat.

Some of the versions of the song "High Green Mountain" include chanting in an indigenous language as part of the lyrics. It's actually hard to decipher it. It might sound similar to the Hudhud chant of the Ifugao people. Maybe, an Ifugao native would be able to decipher what the indigenous chant in "High Green Mountain" may actually mean. Maybe, I don't need to go to Taiwan but to Nueva Ecija to understand the meaning of those words.

There's also the song "Love Song of Nanuwa". Apparently, the word "Nanuwa" is of aboriginal origin. I heard it means "welcome". I tried to look for a translation online of what Nanuwa means. I had no such luck as the word is apparently native in origin. The word "Nanuwa" also appears in some versions of the Chinese song "High Green Mountain".

Finding a Taiwanese aborigine bamboo dance is anything but surprising. The distance between Taiwan and the Philippines is so close. It's not too surprising to find similar dance steps per country.

This would be a huge challenge. Recently, I want to go to both Nueva Ecija and Mt. Alishan. Not surprisingly, Ali is also a word in the Ifugao language! Alishan when translated into English is still, Alishan. I think Alishan is pretty much another indigenous language. I'm not actually good at languages. However, I still feel interested in digging into history even as I'm no history major.

Right now, this might be building another bridge to acknowledging common Asian ancestry.

Nirvana Fallacy and the Die-Hard Defenders of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines

IMGUR The philosopher Voltaire (real name François-Marie Aroue ) was said to have said, "Perfect is the enemy of good." To define the Nirvana fallacy, we can look at Logically Fallacious to help us define it: Description: Comparing a realistic solution with an idealized one , and discounting or even dismissing the realistic solution as a result of comparing to a “perfect world” or impossible standard, ignoring the fact that improvements are often good enough reason . Logical Form: X is what we have. Y is the perfect situation. Therefore, X is not good enough. Example #1: What’s the point of making drinking illegal under the age of 21? Kids still manage to get alcohol. Explanation: The goal in setting a minimum age for drinking is to deter underage drinking, not abolish it completely. Suggesting the law is fruitless based on its failure to abolish underage drinking completely, is fallacious. Example #2: What’s the point of living? We’re all going to die anyway. Ex...

A Parliamentary Philippines with Mandatory Weekly Questioning Will Be Better Than Its Mandatory Yearly Presidential SONAs

Rappler I must admit that ignorance of the difference between the parliamentary system vs. the presidential system is there. Some people still insist on the myth that the first Marcos Administration headed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s late father, Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr., was really a parliamentary system. In reality. the Marcos "parliamentary" years during the Martial Law era, were still presidential (read why here ). A simple research would show that Cesar Virata was called by the late Lee Kuan Yew, as a non-starter and no leader. LKY would know how a real parliamentary system works. Sure, it's one thing that those who consider themselves Dilawan, voice their criticisms. However, the big problem of the Dilawans is their focus on political idolatry rather than solutions. I can talk with the Dilawans all they want that we do need to shift to the parliamentary system and some of them still cry foul, say that it'll be a repetition of the first Marcos Admi...

The Foolishness of Complaining About Stupid Voters and Stupid Candidates, While Insisting the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines is "So Perfect"

I was looking into the Facebook page of Butthurt Philippines . Honestly, it's easy to complain but what's the use of complaining if you reject the solutions? The art produced by its administrator shows some problems. However, if the administrator here believes that the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines is "perfect as it is" (and he seems to be throwing a "saving face" by saying it was just sarcasm, and I failed to detect it) then it's really something. It's one thing to keep complaining. Complaining can be good. However, what's the use of complaining if you reject the solutions. Even worse, complaining about the quality of candidates for the upcoming 2025 midterm elections , while still saying, "It's not the system it's the people!" Please, that kind of thinking has been refuted even by basic psychology and political science! It's really good to point out the three problems. Distractions? Check. Keeping people hopeless? ...

Don't Expect a Mahathir-Type Leader, Under the 1987 Constitution!

ABS CBN News Happy 100th birthday, Mahathir Mohamad! It's something that not so many people live up to 100, or more. The late Fidel V. Ramos passed away on July 31, 2022, at the age of 94. Ramos's advanced age may be the reason why the Omicron variant (which isn't supposedly fatal) ended his life. I'm posting this image of Ramos and Mahathir for one reason--Ramos wanted charter change back in the 1990s. However, plenty of anti-charter change commercials came in, the late Raul Roco said we only need a change in people, and we have Hilario G. Davide Jr. (who's in his late 80s but still active), and the idea that having a president who will rule for more than six years, is supposedly scary. Please, have they even thought that the late Pol Pot ruled Cambodia for just four years, but carried millions of deaths , that would make the late Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr.'s 20-year reign look tame (read here )? I've read posts on Facebook saying the Philippines just needs l...

Why I Believe So Many Filipinos (Especially Boomers) Misunderstand (and Blindly Oppose) Charter Change

Okay, I'm no political analyst or historian. That doesn't mean I should just shut up and not share my opinion. I felt like I needed to publish this piece. This is where I want to examine another issue. I've noticed some people on Facebook are sharing the quotes of Atty. Hilario G. Davide Jr. Some would try to do Ad Hominem attacks on me because I'm no constitutionalist (which I admit that I'm not). Just because I'm not a constitutionalist, doesn't mean, that I can't quote from the experts . Do I really need a degree in law at one of those prestigious universities in the Philippines? Sadly, some people are supposedly smarter than me but are the ones spreading nonsense. Understanding charter change We need to see the definition first to understand why so many Filipinos, especially boomers , are so against it. The Philippine Star gives this definition of charter change: Charter change, simply, is the process of introducing amendments or revisions to the ...

A Business Graduate's Reviewing History Blog

Search This Blog