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.

The Spicy Revolution of Sichuan

When I started doing some research on Chinese food, I got curious about the food of Communist Chinese revolutionaries. I guess it's time to cook with Communism. I tasted Yang Hero at Ayala Central Bloc IT Park. The soup sizes were rather huge so I just went for the rice bowl. It was a full house and I got to taste the food of the revolutionaries. I went for a smoked pork belly rice bowl which I believe was one of Chairman Mao's favorite foods. Mao himself had Sichuan braised pork which is spicier than the Filipino version of humba. Humba is derived from hóngshāoròu which the latter is spicier. I was laughing when I read this interesting piece of information about Mao's love for spicy food as written by Otto Braun : The shrewd peasant organizer had a mean, even “spiteful” streak. “For example, for a long time I could not accustom myself to the strongly spiced food, such as hot fried peppers, which is traditional to southern China, especially in Hunan, Mao’s birthplace.” Th...

Ifugao OFWs in Taiwan and Discovering More About One's Common Austronesian Roots

I was doing some research on Taiwan finding out that the natives are indeed Austronesians . It seems that Indonesians and Malaysians may have also settled in Taiwan aside from the Philippines. A look at Mt. Alishan and Banaue Rice Terraces have a similarity. Taiwan has its famous tea terraces. Banaue has its famous rice terraces. Both are cultural heritages that must be preserved! I soon found an article which Ifugao OFWs in Taiwan. Not surprisingly, these Ifugao OFWs can point out several things that are pretty similar. An article called " A Gotad Picnic With Ifugaos Living in Taiwan " would tell of Armand Camhol, an Ifugao OFW, who met with other Ifugaos in Taiwan. Gotad is a thanksgiving festival for the Ifugaos. The News Lens International Edition What was noted by Armand at the end of the article is: The people of Ifugao value hospitality, and as a symbol of friendship, they shared their holiday with their invited guests, who, in return, sang, joined the dances, and made...

Better Think Twice Before Defunding the Police

There are stupid people on Facebook who always say, "Defund the police!" Think about defunding the police? Well, this video from San Francisco shows just how "wonderful" society can get when you defund the police. The call to defund the police has been called because of abusive cops . I'm not going to deny that there are abusive cops. However, the profession of a policeman as well as the government having the function of police is another. Are we going to abolish the government entirely because of some corrupt politicians? We need to get the facts straight about what happens when the police is defunded . Those who are calling to abolish the police have no idea what they're getting themselves into. Yet, we've got fools such as the gossiping Facebook page, the Philippine Anti-Fascist League (which I heard is spearheaded by a bitter youth and some rebellious youths) even made this very stupid diagram... The police are needed to protect all the cups. Don...

A Critical Review of "The Flor Contemplacion Story"

VIVA Films uploaded The Flor Contemplacion Story on YouTube last February 13, 2024, at 9:00 A.M.. Yes, I didn't notice it since I saw it before, and it was one incredibly awful film. The film has been remastered into HD to fit with the times. However, in the age of social media and the like, any old piece of truthful information can be later revealed. It's not about the age of the information but the truthfulness of it. In this information age, one can easily upload any undiscovered truth in the past. That also includes that one of Cebu's bad boys in the past, Francisco Juan "Paco" G. Larrañaga, was innocent of the crime involving the Chiong sisters. In 2018, VIVA Films also released a movie called Jacqueline Comes Home which I may watch and review. Though I've already seen Give Up Tomorrow, which has been more objective since there was evidence that Paco was indeed in Manila and that real perpetrators haven't been found. Normally, the best way to rev...

Don't Fear Martial Law, Only Fear It Can Be Misused and Abused

Today is September 21 and it's often remembered as the dark era of history. It's because the late Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. declared martial law. Some people demonize martial law without knowing what it means. Even worse, some people who demonize martial law also say that the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines is "the best in the world". What they don't realize is that martial law can be done, when required, such as when former Philippine president, Atty. Rodrigo R. Duterte declared it during the Marawi siege. Also, martial law is part of the provisions of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines : Section 18 . The President shall be the Commander-in-Chief of all armed forces of the Philippines and whenever it becomes necessary, he may call out such armed forces to prevent or suppress lawless violence, invasion or rebellion. In case of invasion or rebellion, when the public safety requires it, he may, for a period not exceeding sixty days, suspend the privilege of...

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