Bukun Ismahasan Islituan

Bukun Ismahasan Islituan, also known as Lin Sheng-hsien in Chinese, is a Taiwanese indigenous poet and writer from Isbukun Bunun. He was born in 1956 in the Maia community, Sanmin Township, Kaohsiung County. He has served as a junior high school teacher, the chairman of the Indigenous Peoples Cultural Foundation, and the president of the Bunun Cultural Development Association.

Activities

In 1984, Bukun sought guidance from Pastor Chang Yu-fa on the Romanized version of the Bunun Bible, marking the beginning of his involvement in the study of the Bunun script. From 1987 onwards, he started organizing and documenting oral literature, annual rituals, shamanic culture, and proverbs, and engaged in ongoing dialogue and research with elders.
In 1989, he published the article "Malahtangia — The Pride of the Bunun." In 1996, he presented his first Bunun poem titled "Boundary of Hais." In 1998, he collaborated with Dahu Ismahasan and Li Wen-su on Walking through the Moon in Time and Space. In 1999, he published the bilingual poetry collection Moonlight of Formosan Sugar Palm in Bunun and Chinese. In 2009, he released the bilingual poetry collection Bukun Bilingual Poetry: Where the Sun Revolves.
Bukun writes his poetry in Bunun and then translates it into Chinese, characterizing his own works by their simultaneous presentation in Bunun and Chinese, showcasing the interaction between his people and the land, along with the unique cosmology and worldview of the Bunun people.