Formosa/Taiwanese austronesian tribal

yuanzhumin · 13th June 2007, 03:15 AM

Hello everybody

I’m very happy to announce on this forum that the website dedicated to my collection of Taiwanese austronesian artifacts is finished and online. There are weapons, sure, but also eveything else I collected from the material culture of these people.

I have already displayed some of the blades and weapons from this collection on the forum. If you are interested, you can see all of them now.

I will just add that so little is known about Formosan/Taiwanese aboriginal groups outside academic circles and that there are only a few sources of information avalaible on them, and even less on their material culture. Books are rarely published on the subject and, if so, mostly in Chinese.

Taiwanese aboriginal people are much more than merely representative of the island on which they live – they are the origin of the Austronesian civilisation that swept across the whole Pacific, from the Philipines to Easter Island.

While some few museums and other private collectors around the world have gathered items from these people, they however seldom display them. Not me. I want to share what I know about these people and promote their culture.

So, you are most welcome to see for yourself at http://www.formosatribal.com

Thanks
yuanzhumin/Nicolas Grevot

Andrew · 13th June 2007, 03:38 AM

Outstanding website, Nicholas. Thank you for sharing it with us here. I haven't looked at everything yet, but the hard work you put into it is immediately apparant.

Thank you, again.

ligpo2001 · 13th June 2007, 04:14 AM

I have gone through every single page and learned a lot. Thank you for sharing and congratulations for a very wonderful website!

Narciso

yuanzhumin · 14th June 2007, 03:21 AM

A thousand thanks, Andrew, Narciso and all the others.

The collection took me roughly 10 years to complete -and it's not finished - but the worst to deal with, during one year, was the website : it was a real headache ! www.formosatribal.com still needs many adjustments, but, anyway, the big work is done.

I hope to see many of our friends from this ethnographic weapons forum come and visit it.

By the way, Narciso, do you know if there is anything close to my website or my collection, on line, for the Philippines indigenous people, wether it is only concerning the weapons or the material culture in its whole ?

For the other members here, any comments on the formosan tribal weapons exhibited on line ? Sorry if the pictures are not always good.

Once more thank you all for your support.

yuanzhumin/Nicolas

ligpo2001 · 14th June 2007, 10:57 AM

Hi Nicolas,

Yes, there a couple of websites specializing in Philippine tribal stuff. For example:

http://home.chello.no/~andy.anderson/Page2.html

IMHO, it would be a challenge for anybody to come up with a good representative collection that would cover the entire peoples of the Philippines, as we have around 120+ cultural groups. A lifetime might not be enough to adequately study all these groups

Thus, scholars tend to specialize, which I think is a wise route.

Anyway, your site is cool indeed!

josh stout · 14th June 2007, 04:03 PM

Truly amazing work. I collect Chinese swords and these are completely new to me. The artifacts look more like what one would find in Borneo or New Guinea. The weapons have a heavy patina so it is hard to tell any details about the blades. Were they pattern welded? Where did the steel come from?

Nice stuff,
Josh

Ps. You show something called a spoon that looks like a haut culture high healed shoe carved of wood. It made me picture Paris Hilton walking through the rain forest in spike heals

13th June 2007, 03:15 AM	#1
yuanzhumin Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Ex-Taipei, Taiwan, now in Shanghai, China Posts: 180	Formosa/Taiwanese austronesian tribal Hello everybody I’m very happy to announce on this forum that the website dedicated to my collection of Taiwanese austronesian artifacts is finished and online. There are weapons, sure, but also eveything else I collected from the material culture of these people. I have already displayed some of the blades and weapons from this collection on the forum. If you are interested, you can see all of them now. I will just add that so little is known about Formosan/Taiwanese aboriginal groups outside academic circles and that there are only a few sources of information avalaible on them, and even less on their material culture. Books are rarely published on the subject and, if so, mostly in Chinese. Taiwanese aboriginal people are much more than merely representative of the island on which they live – they are the origin of the Austronesian civilisation that swept across the whole Pacific, from the Philipines to Easter Island. While some few museums and other private collectors around the world have gathered items from these people, they however seldom display them. Not me. I want to share what I know about these people and promote their culture. So, you are most welcome to see for yourself at http://www.formosatribal.com Thanks yuanzhumin/Nicolas Grevot

13th June 2007, 04:14 AM	#3
ligpo2001 Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: New Jersey, USA Posts: 16	Congraulations! I have gone through every single page and learned a lot. Thank you for sharing and congratulations for a very wonderful website! Narciso

14th June 2007, 03:21 AM	#4
yuanzhumin Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Ex-Taipei, Taiwan, now in Shanghai, China Posts: 180	A thousand thanks and a couple of questions A thousand thanks, Andrew, Narciso and all the others. The collection took me roughly 10 years to complete -and it's not finished - but the worst to deal with, during one year, was the website : it was a real headache ! www.formosatribal.com still needs many adjustments, but, anyway, the big work is done. I hope to see many of our friends from this ethnographic weapons forum come and visit it. By the way, Narciso, do you know if there is anything close to my website or my collection, on line, for the Philippines indigenous people, wether it is only concerning the weapons or the material culture in its whole ? For the other members here, any comments on the formosan tribal weapons exhibited on line ? Sorry if the pictures are not always good. Once more thank you all for your support. yuanzhumin/Nicolas

14th June 2007, 10:57 AM	#5
ligpo2001 Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: New Jersey, USA Posts: 16	Your website Hi Nicolas, Yes, there a couple of websites specializing in Philippine tribal stuff. For example: http://home.chello.no/~andy.anderson/Page2.html IMHO, it would be a challenge for anybody to come up with a good representative collection that would cover the entire peoples of the Philippines, as we have around 120+ cultural groups. A lifetime might not be enough to adequately study all these groups Thus, scholars tend to specialize, which I think is a wise route. Anyway, your site is cool indeed!

13th June 2007, 03:38 AM	#2
Andrew Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: USA Posts: 1,725	Outstanding website, Nicholas. Thank you for sharing it with us here. I haven't looked at everything yet, but the hard work you put into it is immediately apparant. Thank you, again.

14th June 2007, 04:03 PM	#6
josh stout Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 407	Truly amazing work. I collect Chinese swords and these are completely new to me. The artifacts look more like what one would find in Borneo or New Guinea. The weapons have a heavy patina so it is hard to tell any details about the blades. Were they pattern welded? Where did the steel come from? Nice stuff, Josh Ps. You show something called a spoon that looks like a haut culture high healed shoe carved of wood. It made me picture Paris Hilton walking through the rain forest in spike heals