Sun Ta-chuan, a Puyuma who is lecturing in philosophy at Soochow University, says that, in comparison with the Ami and the Paiwan, the Puyuma were relatively few and have thus preserved an independent existence. Their ability to even rule over other peoples depended, in fact, on some special characteristics of Puyuma culture, among which the most important is the system of palakuwan.
身為卑南族人的東吳大學哲學系講師孫大川博士表示，相對於阿美、排灣族，人口較少的卑南族之所以能獨立自存，甚至凌駕他族，實賴於傳統文化中的若干特質，其中最重要的即是其斯巴達式的「會所制度」。