Folklore
According to stories told by their elders, the first Atayal ancestors appeared when a stone, Pinspkan, cracked apart. There were three people, but one decided to go back into the stone. One man and one woman who lived together for a very long time and loved each other very much. But the boy was shy and wouldn't dare approach her. Whereupon, the girl came up with an idea. She left her home and found some coal with which to blacken her face so she could pose as a different girl.
After several days, she crept back into their home and the boy mistook her for another girl and they lived happily ever after. Not long after, the couple bore children, fulfilling their mission of procreating the next generation. The Atayal custom of face tattooing may have come from the girl blackening her face in the story. The Atayal custom of facial tattooing (ptasan) requires that girls first learn to be accomplished weavers and cultivators before they may have their faces 'adorned'. Male tattooing is relatively simple, with just two bands down the forehead and chin.
Read more about this topic: Atayal People
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