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Backloan Tribe is one of the four main tribes of Siraya. It is also the tribe with which the Dutchmen had earlier contact among Pingpu Tribes. The intrusion of the colonial power and the Han Chinese brought some impacts on the Backloan Tribe in different time spaces. My study is about, under such influences from outside world, the changes that reflected on the Backloan’s social life and religious belief. According to the document about tribe’s name, the name Backloan Tribe had many variations: such as Baccalouan、Bacoloangh、Baccloangh、Baccrouangh、Baccroangh、Baccroeangh、Backloangh、Bacloangh、Baclouangh、Bacclouang、Baccloulangh、Baccluangh、Backlouwangh、Backaloangh、Baccloan、Backloan、Backoloangh、Bacclouangh during the Dutch colonial period. It was named as Mukalayuanfan in the period of Koxinga. In Ching Dynasty there were names such as Mujialiouwan, Jialiouwan, Wanli, Mujialiouwan, etc. The tribe was active in today’s Shanhua Township, Tainan County. Their territory extended south to Zhongshan Road before Cing-an Temple, north to Shenei. It’s about the district in Shanhua and Guantian today: Take Jiaba, Siwei and Zhongshan Road in Shanhua Township as its borders in east, west and south. As to the north border, it goes to Jioushe in Shezi village, Guantian. In 1629 the Backloan Tribe, overcome by the Dutch army, helped the conquerors to attack other Pingpu Tribes. After 1644 the tribe started participating in the northern district meeting of the Dutch. Under the Dutch regime, the Backloan Tribe had to do labor jobs and pay tax. 1636 they accepted the Christian belief. 1656 nearly 75% of the tribe became familiar with the Christian teaching. 1644 the Dutchmen started a new intermediary system, however, their living got worse and worse because the intermediaries. From 1654 to 1656, many died of infectious diseases and plus the plague of locusts, the population dropped drastically from 872 to 545. In the period of Zheng regime, the Backloan Tribe had less living space owing to the new settlement of the army and the Chinese people. If Backloans went to the Chinese private school, they could be free from labor work. Instead they could cultivate their own land and life. In the year of 1673 the Chinese scholar Shen Kuang-wen (沈光文) came to teach the Backloan people. The tribe learned to know Chinese teaching and traditional Chinese medicine as well. In Ching Dynasty, the Backloan Tribe must pay tax, do labor work, and furthermore, they were under control of the Backloan guard station all the time. Once they helped the government still rebellion. 46 civil soldiers got their own farming land at Baniangkeng (Today’s Mingjian Township, Nantou County) in 1790. However, the spot was far away from their living area, which caused inconvenience of many kinds. The Ching government established tribe school for local children. But with the increasing numbers of the official organizations, army and Chinese, the Backloan Tribe was forced to move away along the Wanli River. In the late period of Emperor Kangxi, the tribe moved away from the area that located between Zhongshan Road and Shenei. Once they even acrossed the the Zengwen River. After Kangxi this constant migration happened again and again in Yongzheng period as well as in Qianlong period. In the Janpanese-ruled period, there were only two possible Backloan people recorded in the census data of Shanhua. 1933 there were 141 Backloans found in the record of Guantian. 1931 Professor Yichuanzizhizang(移川子之藏), author of Ballads of the aboriginals in Toushe, mentioned that according to an investigation in 1930, there were 143 household with a total number of 830 persons in registration in Toushe. These people came originally from Wanli, i.e. Shanhua at that time then moving to Toushe. One thing is sure that most of Backloans have settled down in Toushe in Japanese colonial period. According to the census data of Danei, one Backloan person was from Zengwen, six from Guantian, moving to Toushe and Wutou.1903 there were 22 households with a total number of 87 people of Wanli Tribe registrated in Jiubanian. There is one Gongxei (公廨) in Guantian town and there are six in Danei. The Backloans came to Gongxei mainly to worship their god Taishanglaojun (Taizu) of Wanli Tribe or Shezi Tribe, later, also to some Chinese gods and some unknown Japanese dead spirit. The Gongxei had quite good interactions with nearby temples. Its building, decorations and sacrificial offerings are getting more and more similar with those from Chinese tradition. That makes the job to trace its origins and the descendents who follow this religious belief much harder. At the present time, there are a series of revitalization movements of Pingpu Tribes going on in Taiwan. Nevertheless, we seldom hear anything from the Backloan Tribe. More attention and further researches about this are certainly needed.
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