Story of the"Sculpture of Righteous Man Wu Feng"

Introduction to the Sculpture of Righteous Man Wu Feng

The National Museum of Central University for Nationalities (中央民族大学民族博物馆) preserves a plain yet extremely precious historical relic of the Gaoshan ethnic group (高山族) — the sculpture of righteous man Wu Feng (吴凤义士雕像). This wooden sculpture is 42 centimeters in height. It seems ordinary in appearance, as it is not an elaborate or exquisite artwork but a simple wooden carving. Nevertheless, it bears extraordinary value, for it carries a touching story that has been passed down among the Gaoshan people for more than 200 years.

Life and Deeds of Wu Feng

Basic Profile and Official Experience

Wu Feng (1699-1769) was a native of Zhuluo (present-day Chiayi, 嘉义) in Taiwan, with his ancestral home in Pinghe County, Fujian Province (福建省平和县). As a member of the Han nationality (汉族), he had a thorough command of the Gaoshan language and local customs. In 1722, Wu Feng was dispatched to the Cao tribe (曹族部落) in the Alishan region (阿里山地区) to serve as an interpreter.
Though holding a humble official position, his work was closely related to the vital interests of local Gaoshan people. After taking office, he set up his working residence in a Gaoshan stockaded village, working diligently and steadfastly. He took the initiative to understand local conditions, listen to people’s voices, and implement a series of favorable policies to help the Gaoshan people develop production and enrich their cultural life. Before long, he won widespread respect, trust and affection from the local people and became their most reliable friend, whom villagers would turn to for all kinds of matters.

Persuasion to Abolish the Custom of Head Hunting

The Cao tribe once retained a cruel and backward traditional custom known as “Hunting the head” (猎首习俗). Every autumn harvest season, tribal members would hunt the heads of people from other tribes as a sacrifice to gods. In the first autumn after Wu Feng took office, the local Gaoshan people planned to carry out the head-hunting ritual as usual.
Upon learning the plan, Wu Feng tried his utmost to dissuade them and resolved to help the tribe abandon this barbaric custom. He preached to the locals that killing innocent people was cruel and immoral, and advised them to stop such violent acts. He put forward a feasible solution: the tribe could use the 40 previously collected human skulls for annual sacrificial rituals, one skull per year. Moved by his sincerity and reasonable proposal, the Gaoshan people accepted his advice.
To express his goodwill, Wu Feng ordered his subordinates to deliver a large number of cattle, sheep and cloth to the tribe. He also arranged soldiers to help villagers with grain harvesting and personally participated in their sacrificial ceremonies. Thanks to his prestige and persistent persuasion, the Cao tribe abandoned the head-hunting custom for more than 40 consecutive years. When the reserved skulls were eventually used up, the tribesmen intended to resume the old custom, and Wu Feng managed to delay their plan for another two years.

Self-sacrifice for Custom Reform

In the third year, the tribesmen could no longer restrain their traditional habits and insisted on resuming head hunting. Realizing that he could no longer dissuade them by ordinary means, Wu Feng made up his mind to sacrifice his own life to completely eradicate the backward custom.
He told the locals firmly: “This killing custom violates divine principles and mortal laws. I have promised to help you resolve this dilemma. Tomorrow morning, a person wearing red clothes and a red cap will pass by the village. You may take his skull for sacrifice, but you must never harm any other innocent people, otherwise you will incur the gods’ anger and punishment.”
Early the next morning, the figure in red appeared as Wu Feng had said. The Gaoshan tribesmen shot arrows at the figure and rushed forward joyfully to behead him, only to find that the sacrificed person was no one but Wu Feng himself. He lay motionless with blood pouring from his body. The tribesmen were utterly stunned and overwhelmed by grief and guilt. Sobs of remorse spread across the village, and even the mountain trees swaying in the morning wind seemed to mourn for his sacrifice. The righteous man devoted his life to ending the tribe’s barbaric custom on August 10, 1769.

Later Commemoration and Cultural Inheritance

Local Memorial Constructions

To honor Wu Feng’s noble deeds, local Gaoshan people built temples, pavilions and altars with trees and cogongrasses, holding regular memorial ceremonies for him. They vowed to abide by his teachings forever and completely abandon the head-hunting custom. Later, a stone tablet was erected and carved with the inscription “Righteous man Wu sacrifices his life here”. Beside the tablet stood a large bronze equestrian statue of Wu Feng, along with two planted banyan trees.
In 1820, the Alishan interpreter presided over the construction of Wufeng Temple (吴凤庙), also named Alishan Zhongwang Temple (阿里山忠王庙) or Chengren Temple (成仁庙). The temple was reconstructed and renovated many times, gradually expanding into a large memorial shrine housing the sculpture of Wu Feng. Every year on the tenth day of the eighth lunar month, numerous visitors come to the temple to burn incense and pay tribute to him.

Long-term Historical Influence

Over the past 200 years, despite tremendous changes in the Alishan region, Wu Feng’s righteous deeds have been passed down from generation to generation. He dedicated his life to ethnic unity and social progress. His noble deeds and illustrious reputation have been etched in history and will endure alongside the mountains of Alishan forever.