When the ancestors of the Thao tribe settled down near Sun Moon Lake, they discovered a luxuriant Bishop Wood growing by the water of Guanghua Island. The ancestors swore an oath,“May our descendants call this place their home, and flourish like this Bishop Wood. May our tribe be blessed with a baby boy whenever the tree sprouts a new leaf, so that our people may forever thrive.”

And so, the Thao took up residence in the Shuishalian area. However, the Han people living nearby were also eyeing the fertile land of Shuishalian. The leader of the Han told everyone,“Let us be the new masters of Shuishalian, and chase the Thao out of this land.”After many confrontations between the Thao and the Han, a terrible war broke out. A Thao elder prayed to the Bishop Wood,“Oh, great tree spirit! The Han people are coming to attack us. Please protect the lives of our villagers to let our bloodline continue.”And so, the Thao won the battle with the help of the great tree spirit.

The Han people were furious at being defeated. Once they learned of the Bishop Wood’s magic, they instructed two of their people,“Go and fell the tree with an axe in the dark of the night. I want to see how powerful this tree spirit is!”The Bishop Wood proved to be magical, for though it was hurt, the tree miraculously healed the following day. The leader of the Han kept thinking of a way to destroy the Bishop Wood. One day, after falling asleep, he seemed to hear a voice telling him,“Liaoyajing is Bishop Wood’s nemesis.”The next day, the leader sent his men to find the “Liaoyajing”, which turned out to be a saw.

He immediately asked his men to bring the saw to the foot of the great tree. He said,“Cut down this tree quickly using the saw! Then, use long copper nails to nail its roots down firmly, and spatter the tree with black dog’s blood. I want to make sure it is completely destroyed.”In the end, the great Bishop Wood was utterly destroyed. The Thao population began to dwindle from that time and a plague killed many strong men. The Thao had to leave Shuishalian and live scattered across different lands.

　　邵族的祖先在日月潭定居後，便在光華島的水邊發現一棵枝葉茂盛的茄苳樹，祖先們就立下誓言說：「願我族子孫長居此地，勢力就像茄苳樹年年萌芽的嫩葉，每當長出一片新葉，就代表族裡添了一名壯丁，邵族將永遠茁壯強盛。」
　　自此邵族人就在水沙連地區生活，但是居住在附近的漢人，也虎視眈眈這塊肥沃的土地，漢人首領對大家說：「我們要成為水沙連的新霸主，將邵族趕出這塊土地。」在雙方多次的衝突後，可怕的戰爭爆發了，邵族長老請求茄苳樹說：「偉大的樹靈啊！漢人就要來攻打我們了，請保佑族人的性命，讓邵族血脈永遠傳承。」於是，邵族就在樹王的庇佑下擊退漢人。
　　打了敗仗的漢人十分憤怒，在探聽到茄苳樹王靈驗的威力後，就指派兩個人說：「你們摸黑，帶著斧頭把這棵樹給砍斷，我倒要看看這大樹有多厲害！」茄苳樹不虧是棵神奇的樹，雖然被砍傷了，但是第二天竟然又恢復原狀。漢人首領日夜都在想破壞茄苳樹的方法，有一晚首領睡著後，隱約聽見有個聲音對他說：「撩牙精是茄苳樹王的剋星。」第二天首領馬上派人去找尋「撩牙精」，原來撩牙精所指的就是鋸子。
　　首領馬上派人帶著鋸子來到茄苳樹下，他說：「快用鋸子把這顆樹鋸倒，再用長銅釘把樹根釘得牢牢的，還要灑黑狗血，我要讓這棵樹再也活不過來。」最後，茄苳樹王就被徹底毀滅了，從此邵族的勢力不但走下坡，瘟疫的流行也讓族裡失去好多壯丁，邵族人只好離開水沙連，分散到各地生活。