Gulou Village Introduction
Gulou Village is the largest Indigenous village in Taiwan from the Japanese colonial period, located on a mountain slope at an elevation of 1,000 meters. Even after moving to the plains, it still retains a strong traditional Paiwan culture. The five-year festival of Gulou Village has remained vibrant primarily due to competition. The oldest chieftain family, Jiling, faced challenges from the rising Tsui Lutang family during the Japanese occupation, leading to the establishment of factions that competed against each other in significant ceremonies. As other tribes were losing their traditions, Gulou's five-year festival became increasingly grand. The Bamboo Pole Festival, also known as the Five-Year Festival, is the most important ceremony of the Paiwan people. It was originally a three-year festival, based on the pact between the Paiwan ancestors Limoki and the creation goddess Talan to meet every three years, hence called the "Human-Deity Covenant Festival." Ten days before each ceremony, a shaman divines the time, using the smoke from burning millet stalks as a bridge for the ancestral spirits to descend and meet with the tribe. Currently, only Gulou Village in Laiyi Township, Pingtung County, and Tuban Village in Daren Township, Taitung County, continue to uphold this ritual.
