Rare Pingpu indigenous historical materials return to Taiwan from Japan

Taiwan's National Central Library (NCL) has received a valuable collection of historical research materials on the island's indigenous peoples, donated by Japan's Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (TUFS). This significant handover marks the culmination of efforts to repatriate decades of scholarly work, completing a multi-generational research puzzle.

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The NCL has been actively seeking international scholars to donate research materials since 2011, hoping to preserve and pass on academic achievements both domestically and internationally.

The donation includes over 22,000 vocabulary cards, 400 field notebooks, and comparative linguistic tables. These materials are the result of extensive fieldwork and research by Japanese scholars, including Ogawa Naoyoshi, Asai Eirin, and Tsuchida Mitsuru, spanning the early 20th century to more recent times. The collection specifically focuses on the languages and cultures of Taiwan's indigenous groups, with a particular emphasis on the highly endangered Pingpu people.

This repatriation effort was significantly facilitated by Academia Sinica academician Lee Ren-kuei, who has long advocated for the return of such international research data to Taiwan. The NCL has been actively seeking international scholarly donations since 2011 to preserve and share academic achievements. The current collaboration builds on existing ties with TUFS, ultimately leading to the return of these crucial documents.

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This collaboration originated from the long-term efforts of Academia Sinica academician Lee Ren-kuei and continued the results of recent cooperation with Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, ultimately allowing this important data to be returned to Taiwan for preservation.

Among the donated items are approximately 100 "Xingang documents" – land contracts from the 17th to 19th centuries – including five extremely rare original manuscripts, handwritten copies, and translations in Siraya, a Pingpu language. The collection also features over a thousand photographs, albums, and slides documenting the daily lives and rituals of indigenous communities, alongside vinyl records, correspondence, and census data. TUFS Institute of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA) Director Kondo Nobuaki highlighted the special significance of these materials returning to the land where they were originally researched and recorded.

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The materials on Taiwanese indigenous languages and cultures collected by Ogawa Naoyoshi and Asai Eirin in the early 20th century are now returning to the land where they were originally researched and recorded, which has special significance.