The Puyuma tribesmen, with a population of about 62,110, are scattered in an area surrounding Taitung City. They are plain dwellers, much influenced by early contacts with Chinese. Their tribal area is bordered by the Rukai, the Paiwan, and the Ami, with an outlet to the Pacific. Their culture has much in common with that of the Ami: Matriarchal, social classes constructed by age-strata, much use of communal halls, farming and fishing, etc.
    The Puyuma were the first to be influenced by China and have the highest degree of culture of all the tribes. Their melodies are rather more fluid than those of other tribes. The scale is pentatonic and the range is wide, wish some pieces over an octave. The Puyuma have an exceptionally large number of incantation songs.

     The traits of Puyuma folk songs are:
(1) They are not as strong in character as the Bunun or the Tsou, not as open-hearted as the Paiwan, neither as optimistic as the Ami; but they have the long-lasting, peaceful, and naive quality, common to all other tribes.
(2) Some of the songs still retain primitive recitatives, but most has already become melodious.
(3) There is no head-hunting songs; they are basically a small, peaceful tribe.
(4) The tonal system is pentatonic, possibly belonging to a same cultural origin with the Ami.
(5) Beside harvest festivals, they have witch ceremonies and adulthood ceremonies (the monkey festival).
(6) All of their songs are homophonic.