Tao Ocean Spirit Belief (Anito)

Introduction

Every spring, schools of flying fish return to the waters off Orchid Island, and the whole rhythm of Tao life for the year starts moving with them. The Tao (also called the Yami) live on Orchid Island (Lanyu), an Indigenous people whose culture is built around the sea. Their belief centers on Anito (souls, spirits) and holds that all things have spirits. Within it, the beliefs and rites around flying fish form the most distinctive chapter of Tao culture: flying fish are seen as a sacred food given by the heavens, and around how they are caught, eaten, and the taboos attached to them, a whole set of strict cultural rules has grown. For the Tao, how they treat these fish is how they keep their covenant with the sea and with their ancestors.

Legend & Origin

The Tao legend of the flying fish begins like this. In ancient times, the people did not yet know how to tell one kind of fish from another, and they cooked flying fish together with other fish — and one after another, people fell ill. One night the God of the Flying Fish, a black-winged flying fish, came to an old man in a dream. It told him that flying fish were a sacred gift from the heavens meant especially for the Tao, and must be cooked in their own pots, never mixed with other fish. The Flying Fish God also taught the old man in detail how to catch flying fish, the rules for eating them, and all their taboos. When the old man woke, he passed these teachings on to his people, and from then on the Tao built a cultural system around the flying fish. When fishing may begin, when it must stop, how the fish are preserved and shared — this whole body of flying fish season rules became the foundation of social order among the Tao.

Worship Guide

Tao worship does not happen in temples; it is bound up with the sea and the natural world. Before the flying fish season arrives, the men go down to the shore to hold the "Calling the Fish" ceremony, summoning the flying fish to come. When a new plank boat is launched, there is also a solemn launching ceremony, praying for safe voyages and good catches. These rules are how the people put their reverence for the sea into practice, every time they head out to sea.

Festivals

The Tao "Flying Fish Festival" is their central ceremony, held in three stages: the spring "Calling the Fish" ceremony (mivanwa), when the people gather on the shore to summon the flying fish; the summer "Storing" ceremony, when the catch is dried in the sun for keeping; and the autumn "Final Eating" ceremony, when the flying fish season formally ends — dried flying fish that have been hung up may not be thrown away carelessly, but may be fed to pigs and dogs as a sign of respect. The "New Boat Launching Ceremony" is another important rite. The Tao plank boat (tatala) is built by hand from many kinds of wood fitted together, its hull painted with traditional patterns in red, white, and black, and its launching is solemn and sacred.

Famous Temples

⛩️ Orchid Island Communities

Taitung County

Each of Orchid Island's six communities (Yeyou, Yuren, Hongtou, Langdao, Dongqing, and Yeyin) has its own boathouses and places of worship. The Tao have no fixed temples; rites are held on the shore, in the boathouses, or in the community square.