Among Taiwan’s aboriginal tribes, the Paiwan has the most exquisite decorative adorn￣ments on their costumes. In addition to the decora￣tions of their clothing, they also give importance to the decorations on their headdress. Every group designs different headdresses according to social status— this also reflects the cultural identity of the group. The headdress is an external marker of ethnic culture, the carrier of ethnic customs and aesthetic consciousness, and it helps to transmit and promote traditional culture.
The Paiwan people have various forms and shapes of headdresses which are designed freely according to the designer’s artistic inspiration. However , the snake form can only be used by trib￣al leaders. The headdresses are mainly made from natural materials, such as eagle feathers, animal hides, animal teeth, horns, flowers, grasses, seeds, colored glazed beads, shells, ceramics, metal, etc. However, eagle feathers, animal hides, animal teeth, horns, and colored, glazed beads can only be used by leaders and nobles;common people are strictly forbidden to use these materials.
The social organization of the Paiwan and their festivals and sacrificial ceremonies determine their various headdresses. The headdresses and head bands of the Paiwan are made mainly from black or red flannel; the shape and the use of the materials reflect hierarchical differences. Head￣dresses can be divided into those of leaders, no￣bles, warriors and commoners.
The form of the Paiwan people’s headdress consists of strong layering;each is decorated with a variety of materials, creating a three-dimensional effect. The decoration of a moulded cottonmouth snake on the head band reflects the people’s snake worship, and also the group’s aesthetic conscious￣ness and worship of ancestors.
The decorative expertise and complex working process reflect the Paiwan people’s superb skills in weaving. The materials used for the headdresses of Paiwan people are mostly derived from nature, and strongly reflect regional characteristics.
Totem worship is characteristic of Paiwan reli￣gion, and it is a form which combines the worship of nature and ancestors. The forms of animals re￣flect the psychology of Paiwan people’ s original worship in which they depended on getting along with nature, and in which they placed their hopes in Totem worship.
The Paiwan have many myths, which is one of the characteristics of their culture. The forms of the sun and cottonmouth snake, which decorate the headdresses of the leaders, reflect that the sun is the creation of life. Chamilia beads are regarded as a class symbol by the Paiwan people, and have a protective function.
The first child of a Paiwan family, no matter whether it is a boy or girl, has the right to inherit property of his/her paternal or maternal home. One should also notice that the colors, materials, and forms of the headdress of Paiwan man and woman in the same class are the same.
In summary, the shapes and forms of the Paiwan people’s headdresses vary. They reflect the Paiwan people’s unique aesthetic consciousness, and embody the Paiwan people’s excellent tech￣niques in traditional decorative handwork. The use of colors represents the Paiwan’s optimistic attitude towards life. Materials are derived from nature, which reflects the group’s harmonious relationship with the nature. Headdresses are not only an exter￣nal form of decoration, but they also have profound cultural connotation and national consciousness. The class system, taking nature as beauty, worshi￣ping ancestors, their myths, and the equality be￣tween men and women reflected in the headdresses of the Paiwan people indicate the Paiwan people’s inheritance of tradition, natural worship and pur￣suits in life. The study of the artistic features and cultural connotation of the headdress of the Paiwan people can help to protect Paiwan traditional adornment technique, and enrich the requirement of diversity in headdress design.