Island Folklore

Fireflies

A short, tragic tale that tells of how fireflies came to be and how they got their name.

The Sea Goddess is the protector of Taiwan. She was once a real person and this is her legend.

Take a guess: Is this a German fairytale? Or is it a Taiwanese folktale?

“3/8” is the date of the Int’l Women’s Day. It also sounds just like a very common Taiwanese expression.

In the ancient homeland of the Amis and Puyuma peoples, women once ruled.

In this instalment, we pay homage to the Int’l Women’s Day with Taiwanese women’s tales!

An overview of six general categories into which we organize our Taiwanese tales and traditions.

A holiday message of gratitude from the Island Folklore team to our readers.

From pygmies to dwarves, legends of “little folk” exist all over the world, including Taiwan.

The Paiwan people have many origin myths. Here is a sampling of these Paiwan origin tales.