臺灣高地的政治體系初探：以布農人為例的研究

過去對布農人傳統政治組織或秩序的主要研究，一直相當強調其平等主義的傾向。政治或社會領袖的產生完全是依個人能力與影響力而來，並沒有制度化階序的形成。即使文獻上有關於類似青年會所的軍事組織的記載，並未真正受到重視，而被視為只是北部布農人向外遷出的原始住地，在人口過多、土地不足的壓力之下，為對抗鄰近聚落與異族侵奪所發展出來的地區性組織。本文將挑戰這種觀點，結合民族誌與歷史資料，來重新思考與解釋布農族傳統政治體系的性質。筆者指出布農人所展現出的強烈的平等主義傾向，在相當大的程度上的與日本殖民統治的歷史過程有關。布農人的傳統政治體系，其實呈現出在平等性與階序性制度的擺盪(oscillation)。不同族群的敵對關係與獵首戰爭，則是影響這種擺盪的最主要因素。離有檢視比較長時間的動態歷史過程，並將布農人置於更寬廣的區域性政治脈絡中，我們才能清楚看到這一點。由此，本文也進一步反省過去研究中的理論與方法論預設。

Previous studies of the traditional Bunun political system have emphasized the strong egalitarian tendencies of the Bunun. There is no institutional hierarchy, and political leadership is achieved according to personal abilities and influences. Even though the historical existence of military organizations such as men’s houses has been recorded, this is regarded as merely a regional phenomena and its significance downplayed or ignored. This article challenges these characterizations, combining ethnographic and historical materials to rethink the features of the Bunun political system and taking into account the larger-scale forces bearing upon the Bunun. I argue that the egalitarianism displayed by the Bunun is to a large extent a consequence of Japanese colonial rule. Before the advance of Japanese colonialism in Taiwan, the Bunun socio-political order oscillated between egalitarianism and hierarchy, and the most important factor triggering this shift was hostility and headhunting warfare between different ethnic groups. The suppression of headhunting and tribal warfare by the Japanese colonial state in effect halted such oscillation. Because only by examining the dynamic historical processes of a longer period, and by situating the Bunun within wider regional political contexts can we reach this understanding, this article also critically addresses the theoretical and methodological assumptions of previous studies.