Drinking Together with the Joint Cup  Except Yamei people, Gaoshan people all have a liking for drinks. They would generally make wine firstly before celebrating the wedding, baby birth, happy events, house building as well as farming, fishing and hunting ceremonies. The traditional drinking vessels are commonly wooden dipper, bamboo tube, wooden spoon, wooden cup, pottery jar, and pottery cup. The joint wooden cup of Paiwan people is particularly characteristic.
Paiwan people are good at the wood carving skills. There are two kinds of joint wooden cups, with two or three cups joined together for two or three persons' drinking use at the same time. The cup shapes are mostly octagon and square. At either side of the cup there is a handle to hold. The handles and connections between the cups are carved with the line decorations of people, snake, deer, and geometric patterns. The craft is exquisite and elegant. The pair-joint cup is used more frequently, especially on the great occasions of peace making between tribes in the past. Now it is commonly seen on all banquets of receiving guests and marriage. When drinking with the cup, two people stand shoulder-to-shoulder, one holding the handle with the left hand and the other with the right hand. Drinking with the joint cups features an important way of Paiwan people to express their friendship and promote their unity and harmony.
(Some of the pictures are provided by the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village)
The Clothes Sewed with Bunches of Shellfish Pearls <<
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