中文

The Tsou

Women’s Attire

  • Dress Top: Short, double-breasted cotton top with long sleeves. Usually a two-piece, long-sleeved top is worn, together with a cloth waist girdle that reaches all the way down to the feet. The head is adorned with a dazzlingly colorful kerchief.
  • Bib: This is made from a rhombus-shaped piece of cloth, of which one corner is cut off to make a pentagonal shape. Then two threads are attached to the cut corner, allowing the wearer to wear them around the neck and tie them at the waist.
  • Underwear: The Tsou call their women’s underpants “Pancu”.
  • Skirt: Made from two pieces of square cloth (usually black) with embroidered hems. The two pieces are held together with a cloth band around the waist.
  • Waist Girdle: These are the cloth bands used to hold the skirt together. They are mostly made from red / green cotton cloth and are embroidered at both ends.
  • Leggings: Made with alternating strips of black and white cloth, they reach up to the knees.
  • Moccasins: Mostly made from deerskin.

Men’s Attire

The customary attire of Tsou men, including shirts, trousers, hats and shoes, is made of leather, usually from wild deer, Formosan barking deer, goats and other wild or domesticated animals. The Tsou are renowned for their consummate skill in the traditional art of leather making.

  • Red Shirt: These are bright red on the outside and black on the inside. The normal ceremonial attire for festive occasions requires that the red is worn on the outside, but for funerals and related ceremonies the shirt is turned inside out and black worn on the outside.
  • Yellow Shirt: In the old days, the male wardrobe also included a shirt made from bright yellow cloth that was worn under the red shirt on festive occasions. It was also used as underwear. Today, it has gone out of use.
  • Leather Cape: These capes are made from the skin of wild goats. The blood of wild beasts is used to write the ancestors names on them, and they are worn for many of the Tsous’ sacred rituals.
  • Leather Pants: Made from deer leather, these pants are tight at the top, “drainpipy” in the middle and loose at the bottom. They are worn around the hips with a belt and gathered and bound around the calves.
  • Leather Sleeves: Also made of deer leather, they cover the outside of the arms but are open on the inside. Tapering out on both ends, they are fastened to the middle fingers by thin leather straps.
  • Deer Leather Vest: Made from hairy deer leather, these vests are worn loosely over the shoulders, reaching no further than the chest in the front, but all the way to the buttocks in the back.
  • Bear Skin Coat: This comes in two varieties. One is made with hairy leather, which is warmer and good for cold weather; the other is made with smooth leather, which is thinner but also lighter and allowing more freedom of movement, making it the ideal outfit for outdoor work.
  • Long Coat: This is black on the outside and red on the inside, double-breasted with sleeves, and reaches to the knees.
  • Bib (Chest Wrap): The chest wrap comes in two sizes, large and small, and is made from a square piece of hemp cloth. This is folded into a bag-shaped bib that that is fastened around the shoulders with strings.
  • Loincloth: A strip of cloth or leather worn as a codpiece.
  • Head Kerchief: An embroidered kerchief worn on the head.
  • Leggings: Decorated with an alternating black and white checkered pattern, these puttees are made from buckskin and are mainly worn for hunting to protect the calves and ankles.
  • Moccasin and Leather Hat: The moccasins are worn to protect the wearer’s feet when walking through thick undergrowth or on rough terrain. The leather hat has a more symbolic function and is usually worn during rituals and ceremonies as a sign of the wearer’s courage, wisdom and responsibility.
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