Introduction
Kaohsiung City Museum of Natural History is located on the campus of Kao Yuan University. The museum features the exhibitions of various tribal relics and records in Kaohsiung City. We hold social educational activities, such as a series of exhibitions and seminars every year. We also plan relative courses to facilitate the local people to learn more about the cultural relics.
This area will give a brief introduction of the cultural characteristics of various ethnic groups within old Kaohsiung County area with an access to its cultural landscape, history, life styles, and its topographic position.
Kaohsiung County is located in southwestern Taiwan. Kaohsiung Harbor is the next opening for the center of the hub in southern Taiwan, Started from the ancient time, there have been ethnic groups, including the excavated prehistoric cultural groups (big dust pit culture, Fung nose culture, Great Lakes culture, Niao Song culture, mountain Biya Lu culture), Taiwan Austronesian ethnic groups (South Zou Department Tsou, Bunun, and lower social Rukai, plains), and Han Chinese (mainly Fujian Province Zhang Quan Holo, Hakka, kept moving here and those new residents that came to Taiwan in 1945.
Warm ethnic group activities gave birth to the rich cultural assets, especially in social organization, religion, customs, housings, songs performance, eating habits, clothing and other daily living performances. Heritage, images, and cultural records fully represent various ethnic groups and cultures and depict the intense bonds in between these ethnic groups.
Ever since the 17th century, Han people refer to those who were Luo (also known as "Taiwanese"), Hakka and those new residents that came to Taiwan since 1945.
This area mainly presents Taiwan's early lifestyle based on agriculture, farming utensils, eating style, wearing styles, housing types, authentic house furnishing, and decorations, folk beliefs, folk rituals, drama and songs , so as to build up a fundamental cultural concept on early Taiwanese life style associated with its old customs. deepen our young generations’ perception and concepts of this land.
Highly localized Pepo Group reside mostly in the foothills or coastal plains. The majority of those who have been residing in Kaohsiung County are Siraya Group. This area is made to represent the Pepo’s organization and religious beliefs through the Antiquities, physical display, images, music, video records and the physical reconstruction of public shrine. A special Zuling Xin Yang and the production of daily used bamboo utensils would present the find arts of the Pepo people’s daily activities in public shrine.
Aboriginal refers to the period during the past seven or eight thousand years and before the Han’s move to Taiwan, those people who settled themselves down in Taiwan. They are “Formosan” and ”Pepo Group”.
For groups who still maintain their culture and customs are Austronesian peoples are Formosan Aborigines in Kaohsiung area. They are the Bunun, Tsou (south of the Zou-based) and Rukai. Our museum will use graphic panels, artifacts, images and rituals reproduction, etc., to tell the rich vitality of the aboriginal people.