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Amis Malataw & Lion Dance

These 2 player-designed costumes seem to be customized for Taiwan edition of the game, similar to Steel Griffin & Scarlet Admiral for Russia edition. ANNASERBIRA family designed Amis Malataw Costume Set (body costume + hat) for female wizard, while TZA family designed Lion Dance Costume for male musketeer.

They originated from the 2009 design competition for Taiwan edition. See 原創服飾設計大賽入圍作品公告 for the concept arts of the 10 finalist entries submitted to IMC. The 2 implemented costumes below should be the winning entries.


Here are some interesting background information for those who are unfamiliar...

Amis (阿美族) are an indigenous people of Taiwan, one of the thirteen recognized people of Taiwanese aborigines. They are polytheists, and worship a pantheon of deities, including the sun god Malataw (馬拉道).
Malataw is the patron deity of the Amis. He is the creator of nature, and also serves as a war god. As such, the local F16 fighter jets were customized with his holy symbol. An Ami chant was also used in the song Return to Innocence by Enigma.

Lion Dance (舞狮) is the traditional Chinese dance, in which performers mimic a lion's movements in a lion costume. Lion dances are especially common during Chinese New Year, since the practice was allegedly originated from the myth of Nian (年兽), a fearsome beast who was frightened away by the loud music accompanying the lion dances. 

Lion dances can be broadly categorised into three styles - Chinese Northern (北獅), Chinese Southern (南獅), and Taiwanese (臺灣獅). The Chinese Northern dance was used as entertainment for the imperial court and elsewhere. The Chinese Southern dance is usually performed as a ceremony to scare away evil spirits and to summon luck and fortune. The Taiwanese dance integrates with martial arts. The focus on martial arts is very different from the Chinese southern dance whose fancy style is more suitable for circuit shows.

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