Gulou Village Introduction
Gulu Village is the largest Indigenous village in Taiwan during the Japanese colonial period, located on a high mountain slope at an elevation of one thousand meters. Even in the plains, it still retains a rich Paiwan tradition. The five-year ceremony of Gulu Village has endured over time thanks to competition. The oldest chieftain family, the Jilung, faced challenges from the emerging Cui Lu Fu Kan family during the Japanese occupation, leading both sides to form factions and compete during important festivals. As a result, while other villages were losing their traditions, Gulu's five-year ceremony became increasingly grand. The Bamboo Pole Festival, also known as the five-year ceremony, is the most important festival of the Paiwan people. Originally a three-year ceremony, it was established by the Paiwan ancestral figure Limoji and the creation goddess Delangge, who agreed to meet every three years, referred to as the "Covenant Festival." Ten days before each ceremony, shamans would divine the timing, using the smoke from burning millet husks as a bridge to invite ancestral spirits to meet with the tribe. Currently, only Gulu Village in Laiyi Township, Pingtung County, and Duban Village in Dahua Township, Taitung County, still preserve this ritual.
