| People | gaoshan · |
| Region | Taiwan: mountain forests of indigenous communities in the center and south of the island |
| Role | growers |
Tea
臺灣山茶 táiwān shānchá, Camellia formosensis — the island’s wild mountain tea, growing in the forests of indigenous communities. The 諸羅縣志 Zhūluó xiànzhì of 1717 describes 水沙連茶 shuǐshālián chá: tea in the Shuishalian mountains is abundant, close to Songluo tea in flavor and color, but the trails are dangerous, the Han dared not go there and knew no method of processing, and the same source says that hiring mountain dwellers to pick the leaf and following Wuyishan processing would yield a better result. The first thorough survey of wild tea on Meiyuanshan dates to 1935; in 2021 the forest service added 臺灣山茶 to the list of agroforestry crops, and today wild mountain tea has become a signature product of the communities — including the Bunun settlement of Baoshan in Kaohsiung and farms in Ren’ai Township, Nantou, at elevations of 1400–1780 m.
Sprig from the crown
A single straight leaf of wild mountain tea: a stiff, leathery blade, spread FLAT across its full width toward the viewer, with clearly defined serrations along the edge and a sunken central vein, held almost vertical and slightly bent back — a leaf from the crown of a feral tree. Differs from the Han in the orientation: there the leaf stands EDGE-ON as a narrow lobe with tightly rolled cylinders, here the blade is visible across its full plane and the serrations read along the rim; a horizontally lying blade belongs to the Va — this leaf stands.
Headwear
A simple field cap of a tea picker: a shallow weave of split bamboo splints in a warm straw tone, fitting snugly to the skull, smooth across the surface, an everyday item; along the lower edge a narrow DARK braided band breaks the light field. From both edges runs a thin cord, converging at ONE point under the chin. The slit for the leaf is cut at the crown and bound with dark tape, the leaf emerges leaning back.
Outline at 6 mm. Bonnet with cord: a fine woven cap plus two cords converging wedge-like at one point under the chin. The only headpiece in the set whose silhouette CLOSES into a triangle beneath the face: with the Mongols the sides are pressed to the crown, the rim above the forehead is straight, and the entire vertical of the silhouette sits in the ladle-pour; the Jing have a single thin cord that merely ties the hat and creates no closed shape under the face. It differs from Anczi precisely by this wedge and the absence of a lobed edge, from the Dongxiang in that the appendages are thin and converge rather than hanging as two rigid masses along the cheekbones, and from the Bui in that the ends CONVERGE to a point rather than spreading open.
Clothing
A short sleeveless woven shirt with a narrow striped trim, a picker’s waist pouch, knee wraps.
Palette
Straw splints of the cap, unbleached linen of the shirt, narrow reddish-brown trim, dark green stiff leaf.