Taiwan · Basketry / Functional Craft
邵族魚筌 (Shao zu yüquan)
The Thao people of Sun Moon Lake (Nantou County) are Taiwan's smallest indigenous group by population — approximately 700 people — and maintain a unique lacustrine (lake-adapted) fishing basket tradition distinct from the river-fishing baskets of other groups. The Thao yüquan is a conical bamboo fish trap designed for Sun Moon Lake's specific conditions: the lake's visibility requires a trap with larger gaps than river traps (fish in clear water are more cautious) but a funnel opening smaller than river traps (lake fish are larger than mountain stream fish). The defining technical knowledge is this dual calibration — gap width ('three finger widths between bamboo strips, not two as in river traps') and funnel opening ('two fists wide at entry, one fist at throat'). These measurements encode Thao's specific ecological knowledge of Sun Moon Lake.
Risk level: Critically Endangered · Taiwan national ICH list
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