Polynesians are a branch of Austronesian people, including more than 10 branches of the indigenous Maori, Hawaiians, Easter Islanders and even a few indigenous people in Taiwan that we are familiar with, all of which are descendants of Austronesians. There are also a number of anthropologists and historians who support that Native American Indians also have Austronesian ancestry.
About three thousand years ago, the Polynesians discovered many islands in the vast South Pacific, but a thousand years later they abruptly stopped their voyages, which is said to have inspired the movie "Pocahontas".
Originally thought that "Ocean Moon" was just a continuation of the previous Disney princess series, but after listening to my friend's suggestion, I was very surprised and moved. I am moved by the story itself, and I am also moved by Disney's seriousness about this work.
The animated film "Pocahontas" truly restores some of the life details of the Polynesians, and even the "nautical mysteries" they used when they sailed. To this end, the main creative team also personally went to each island to collect data.
I was fortunate to be the "New Zealand Social Media Ambassador" this year, and I learned part of the Maori culture under the leadership of the staff, so I felt more emotional watching this film. As one of the important branch races of the ancient Polynesians, the Maori have well preserved the culture, traditions and languages of ancient Polynesia. In addition, I have consulted a lot of literature and materials, and consulted friends who live in New Zealand. Next, Xiaoye will come to analyze in detail some small knowledge that cannot be ignored before watching this movie.
Navigation occult
first sailing for us to say that the secret operation, which is the Polynesians can dominate the whole of the South Pacific the most important reason.
1. Navigation and stargazing to determine the direction of navigation The
ancient Polynesians attached great importance to stargazing. It is necessary to know that the consequences of deviation from the direction when sailing are very serious. On sunless nights, the stars help Polynesians pinpoint their direction. Different stars represent different directions in different seasons. This is reflected several times in the animated film "Ocean Sea".
First of all, when Moana, the protagonist of "Pocahontas", first learned about the voyages of his ancestors in the cave, what did the ancestors follow at night? take a look at this picture
Does it look familiar? That's right, this is Orion lying horizontally!
This is where Disney’s sophistication is reflected. Orion looks upright in the northern hemisphere, but it looks “recumbent” at the equator, and “upside down” in the southern hemisphere. The picture below shows the "upside-down Orion" photographed in New Zealand last year.
Orion is the most representative constellation in the northern hemisphere in winter. Although there is no cold winter near the equator, I guess the Disney team wants to express that the fleet travels east from December to February each year, using the Orion Samsung as a reference. However, it seems that the direction of Orion is wrong. The shape of Orion in the movie is what it looks like when it falls to the west, and the picture below is what Orion looks like when it rises. You can compare and see if it is turned 180 degrees?
In addition to this detail, Orion rising eastward on winter nights has an important nautical astronomical clue. When the heroine decided to go to sea, her grandmother told her to "find the demigod Maui in the direction of the fishhook star". What is this fishhook star? I believe many astronomy enthusiasts have guessed that, yes, it is the tail of Scorpio!
Does it look like a fish hook? Photo author: Xu Gang
In China, the tail of the constellation Scorpio is called "Tailu", although it is regarded as the tail of an animal in both the East and the West. But the ancient Polynesians saw them as a giant fish hook. According to legend, a god once used a huge hook to catch a big fish, but with too much force, the hook was thrown into the sky and became a star, and the fish dragged up became New Zealand. This thread leads to the appearance of another animated character - Maui. Legend has it that the demigod was a warrior who held the sun with a fishhook, extending the day and pulling the Pacific islands from the bottom of the sea. There are many more stories about this God, which we will talk about later.
However, there is also an obvious mistake here. As the tail of Scorpio, the fish hook star should be submerged in the galaxy, but the galaxy is in the other direction in the animation. For more Scorpio knowledge, you can check the previous push: A very suitable gift for Scorpio
2. Use water temperature to determine ocean currents
In addition to determining the course by stargazing, the ancient Polynesians also judged ocean currents by immersing their hands in the sea water.
This is also reflected in the film when Maui (Maui) teaches the heroine how to sail, but at that time Maui (Maui) made a very disgusting little joke haha, this is left for everyone to discover when watching the film.
Cultural Metaphors
In fact, there are many cultural metaphors throughout the film. For example, the heroine's name Moana means "ocean" in the ancient Polynesian language, and the heart of Te Whiti held by the heroine is carved from a piece of green jade (Pounamu).
The swirling shape is called Koru in Maori, which means growth and rebirth. The shape appears several times in the movie, such as the canoe that the heroine drives.
The Maori interpretation of the totem Koru is "Ka hinga atu he tete-kura - ka hara-mai he tete-kura" When a fern dies, another is reborn to replace him. The swirling Koru represents the new fern shoots.
The Koru ornaments presented by Auckland Airport can be found in various souvenir shops in New Zealand.
Koru is generally worn by women, while the green jade for men is Matau in the shape of a fish hook.
Matau
Fish Hook Totems in various shapes Matau represent safe sailing in the sea and return with a full load. The magical fish hook that can transform the hero demigod Maui in the movie is Matau's incarnation. Maui's hook in the movie was given by the gods, but in Maori mythology, the texture on Maui's magical hook was carved from his grandmother's jawbone. According to legend, he used this hook to pull a large fish from the seabed that later became New Zealand's North Island.
In addition to Koru and Matau, there are many other patterns such as the twisted Pikorua and the bird-headed Manaia, etc. These patterns are very important, they use these patterns to record their stories and legends, engrave totems on tattoos or hang them in ancestral halls. The tattoo on the demigod Maui in the movie records his story.
In addition, the film truly restores the living habits and products of the ancient Polynesians, such as cured pork and coconut, which are their specialties. Including the two pet chickens and pigs raised by the heroine were the main livestock of the ancient Polynesians at that time.
Having said that, let’s talk about the values embodied in the film. On the surface, it seems that in order to save the clan, the heroine finds the story of the demigod Maui returning the heart of Tefiti that had been stolen before. However, why did Maui steal Tefiti's heart in the first place? Because of human greed and Maui's vanity!
Maui was regarded as a hero after giving humans all kinds of resources. In order to continue to be worshipped, he tried his best to meet the needs of human beings, so he went to steal Tefiti's heart. The goddess without the heart of Tefiti became the magma demon Te Ka. This has affected the climate and crop growth of the entire Pacific island, which is why the heroine set sail. This point of view is also very consistent with the ancient Polynesian concept of respecting nature and advocating not over-exploitation of resources.
If you are still interested in ancient Polynesian culture or Maori culture after watching the movie, you can visit the National Museum of New Zealand when you go to New Zealand: Te papa (Te papa), Te papa means treasure of the earth in Maori, which is described in detail. this part of the history. Or choose to visit a Maori cultural show at Te Puia in Rotorua.
Thanks again to the staff at the National Museum of New Zealand and Tourism Rotorua for their great help with Maori culture.
Our ancestors longed for the sea, and curiosity and courage led us to sail far away. I believe that yearning for the universe will take us farther.
View more about Moana reviews
