Archive for September, 2010

The Pyu nation

September 29, 2010

Pyu sites

The Pyu nation: introduction

Much has been written about the Pyu but there are not much Pyu writings apart from the few religious writings and the funeral urn inscriptions that has been excavated at various Pyu sites. It is only from our chronicles and archeological findings that the Pyu history is based on. Traditionally, the Pyu walled cities of Tagaung, Beiktahno and Sriksetra and elsewhere were considered to be city states that flourished in different eras and Bagan has been considered as the first Myanmar empire. But according to contemporary Chinese sources, and the recent archeological findings including that of Pyu settlements in lower Myanmar including those near Dawei, the Pyu nation covered the current Myanmar territory and it is the Pyu that established the first Myanmar empire.

The ‘Pyu’ in Chinese records

The Pyu are referred to as the ‘P’iao’ in Chinese texts dated from the 3-9C AD, although they are thought to have called themselves ‘Tircul’. Tircul is used, for example, in the 1102 AD palace inscription of Kyanzittha, where Tircul, Bamar and Mon dancing is described (Blagden and Duroiselle 1921). Variants of Tircul are also mentioned by Perso-Arab authors of the 9th and 10th centuries AD. Bordering Nan-chao, these ‘ kingdoms are at war with China, but the Chinese come out stronger.’ (Luce 1985:46)

Early accounts

A long established trade route between China and India passed through what is now Upper Myanmar. The Han dynasty establishment of a prefecture at Yung-ch’ang in Yunnan in 69AD prompted increased mention of these areas although reference to kingdoms precedes mention of the P’iao. The earliest note is in the work of two envoys, K’ang T’ai and Chu Ying, sent to the court of Funan in southern Cambodia, possibly around 240AD. There they met an emissary from India who gave them information about a number of kingdoms to the west.

Upon their return home, K’ang T’ai in particular included these stories in his report (Briggs 1951:21). One passage mentions <span>a kingdom known as Chin-lin located on a large bay over 2000 li west of Funan. Another 2000 li west was the kingdom of Lin-yang, accessible only overland, not by water. The people of this kingdom were said to be Buddhist. Linking the areas named in the Chinese records with names of archaeological sites continues to pose a challenge to academics.

Chen Yi-Sein, formerly Reader in Chinese at Yangon University, has identified Lin-yang with Beikthano, relying on various linguistic conclusions, some elaborated, about a range of dates and associated placenames. Htin Aung identifies Lin-yang with Halin and Chin-lin with Thaton (1967:7,9). Luce also suggested Thaton as Lin-yang and the presence of Lopburi Khmer from central Thailand, although in other articles adopted a more conservative conclusion that Chin-lin may have been on the Gulf of Martaban or the Gulf of Siam, which would place Lin-yang in either Myanmar or Thailand (Luce 1965:10, Wheatley 1983: 167). Even if this early Chinese text is identified with Beikthano, Taw Sein Ko refers to two ancient capitals by this name, one in Magwe, and the other in the Upper Chindwin (Aung Thaw 1968:5).

Other Chinese texts of about the 4th century AD describe troublesome groups living southwest of Yung-ch’ang. These peoples grew millet, hill-paddy, cotton trees and cinnamon, and produced saltwells, gold, silver, jade, amber, cowrie and tortoise shell. There were rhinoceros and elephant, and monkey hide was used to make armour. The peoples were alleged to be cannibals, who tattooed themselves and used bows and arrows. Further to the southwest, some 3000 li, were “a civilised people, the P’iao, where ‘prince and minister, father and son, elder and younger, have each their order of precedence” (Luce 1960:309). They made their knives and halberds from gold, and produced perfumes, cloves, cowries and a white cloth from the cotton-tree.

The Pyu nation: Sriksetra according to Chinese chronicles

The mention of the Pyu in Chinese sources is seen in the following:

  • chronicles of the monks Hsüan Tsang and I Ching who visited India in the 7th century
  • Old Tang History (Chiu-t’ang-shu)
  • New Tang History (Hsin-t’ang-shu) Shinn-T’ang-Shu and the
  • Man Shu, compiled by Fan Ch’o

I do not have any complete translations of them, even with regard to the Pyu, but only articles quoting them. Here is from what Moore wrote:

For full, see Royal chronologies and finger-marked bricks by Elizabeth Moore

http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs/Moore-bricks.pdf

Later accounts

Over the three hundred years following the 4th century AD, there was little mention of the P’iao.

However, in the 7th century, two monks, Hsüan Tsang and I Ching, travelled to India and in both records Sriksetra is mentioned. Neither monk visited the city, and although the P’iao are not specifically cited, they do refer to a capital called Sriksetra, or ‘field of glory’ located in a country that to the south, “borders on the sea” (Luce 1985: 48).

The later Chinese sources are linked to the fortunes of the kingdom of Nan-chao. As a result of an alliance forged with Tibet in 755AD to defeat the Chinese, the Nan-chao king Ko-lofeng initiated communications with the Pyu. By the end of the century, however, the Tibetan link was broken as Ko-lo-feng’s grandson strengthened ties to the Chinese court. An embassy from Nan-chao to the Chinese court was sent in 800, 802 and 807AD.

Due to these shifting alliances, information about the Pyu capital was included in records of the time such as the Old Tang History (Chiu-t’ang-shu) and the New Tang History (Hsint’ang-shu). Another document of this period is the Man Shu, compiled by Fan Ch’o after gathering information from Pyu soldiers during the 862AD siege of Hanoi (Luce 1960:318, 1985:77). All the sources contain details about the Pyu capital.

“The king’s name is Maharaja မဟာရာဇာ. His chief minister is Mahasena မဟာေသန. [Actually they are not names but designations of the king and chief of staff in ?Sanskrit / Burmese, but Pyu, not Burmese is official language at the time]When he goes on a short journey, the king is borne in a litter of golden cord; when he journeys far, he rides an elephant. His wives and concubines are very numerous; the constant number is a hundred persons. The compass of the city-wall is faced with glazed bricks; it is 160 li in circumference.” (Luce 1960:318)

An account of Beikthano [Tharekhittra, not Beikthano] was recorded in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) Chinese chronicle Man Shu in the chapter ôThe Southern Barbarians as follows:

ôThe circular wall of his (the Pyu King╝s) city is built of greenish glazed titles (brick) and is 160 li. It has 12 gates and three pagodas at each four corners. . . Their house tiles are of lead and zinc. . . They have a hundred monasteries with bricks of vitreous ware, embellished with gold and silver, vermillion, gray colours and red kino.╜ [Taw Sein Kho (1895), The Pottery and Glasware of Burma 1894-95╜,Superintendent of Govt.Printing, Rangoon.]

The li varied at different periods, and during T’ang is thought to have been about 360 metres.

The Man Shu, however, remarks that the time to march around the city was a day, generally taken to be about 50 li (Wheatley 1983: 193). The tiered form of the pyatthat appears to have been used to mark the four corners of the city gates. Inside the walls were more than a hundred Buddhist assembly halls (‘wats’), whose form was similar to the palace of the king.

Pagodas were roofed with tiles of lead and tin and furnished within with embroidered rugs, gold and silver and cinnabar and gum-lac (Wheatley 1983: 177). The population used a silver coinage, and all lived within the city walls. One source noted that there were several tens of thousands of families, a calculation implying up to a 100,000 people. Also recorded in the Man Shu is the respect paid to a white image over 100 feet high:

“In front of the gate of the palace where the king of (this) kingdom dwells, there is a great image seated in the open air, over a hundred feet high, and white as snow. It is their wont to esteem honesty and decency. The people’s nature is friendly and good. They are men of few words. They reverence the Law of the Buddha. Within the city there is absolutely no taking of life. Also there are many astrologers who tell fortunes by the stars.

If two persons go to law with each other, the king at once orders them to burn incense in front of the great image and ponder on their faults: whereupon each of them withdraw. If a disaster should occur, or pestilence, or war, or disturbance, the king also burns incense facing the great image, repents of his transgressions, and takes the blame on himself.

The men mostly wear white tieh. The women on top of their heads make a high coiffure, adorned with gold, silver and real pearls. They wear for show blue skirts of p’o-lo (silk cotton) and throw about them pieces of gauze-silk. When walking, they always hold fans.

Women of noble family will have three persons, of five persons at their side, all holding fans.

When there are persons sent to take letters to the Ho-t’an of the Man borders, they take ‘river-pigs,’ white tieh, and glazed jars for barter or trade.” (Luce 1961:90-1)

The ‘river pigs’ were probably river porpoises, and the tieh a silkcotton cloth.

The New Tang History also mentions the image:

“They wear gold-flowered hats and caps of kingfisher feathers strung with various jewels. The king’s palace has two bells, one of silver and one of gold; when enemies are at hand they burn incense and strike these bells, thus obtaining omens concerning their fate in the coming battle.

There is a great white image, 100 feet high. Those who are engaged in a lawsuit kneel in front of it, think for themselves whether they are right or wrong, and go away…”

The New Tang History and the Man Shu make it clear that Nan-chao held the upper hand in these relations with the ‘P’iao’. For example, Pyus were conscripted to fight with the Nanchao army in the capture of Hanoi in 863 AD.

Fan Ch’o did not visit the Pyu cities but had been sent on a mission to Yunnan the previous year, and later wrote of Pyu exiled to this area:

“In [AD 832] Man [sc.Nan-chao] rebels looted and plundered P’iao kingdom [sc. Halin]. They took prisoner over three thousand of their people. They banished them into servitude at Chê-tung [approx. Yünnan Fu], and told them to fend for themselves. At present their children and grandchildren are still there, subsisting on fish, insects, etc. Such is the end of their people” (Luce 1985:66).

Luce goes on to note reference by the Chinese to the P’iao as “one of the tribes of the ‘Gold Teeth Comfortership’ (1985:66). The ‘Gold Teeth’ tribes perhaps find authentication in the 1999 finding at Shwegugyi Zeidi south of Halin, of an upper jawbone with eight teeth drilled with a pattern of 102 tiny holes filled with gold foil. The jawbone was from a skeleton found under a large stone slab and an associated pillar about 1.5m long, with gold and silver rings, pottery and iron tools (Hudson 2003:10, Win Maung (Tampawaddy) 1999). As this reference indicates, research on the Pyu bringing together Chinese references, chronicles and artefacts is now ongoing, particularly at Halin, but the identification of the Pyu ‘capital’ among the ‘tribes’ at this time is uncertain. Chinese reference to “hills of sand and a desert tract” suggest Halin rather than Sriksetra (Luce 1960: 317).

Halin is cited also in connection with various references to the exact number of gates at Pyu sites. Chronicles record that the number of gates was thirty-two, “a canonically sanctioned multiple of four” (Wheatley 1983: 194). Descriptions of twelve city gates in Chinese texts are taken to imply a rectangular city wall with regular numbers on each face. However, the number of gates at Halin has not been fully explored, and Beikthano so far appears to have four gates on the north face and two on the east and south sides. In addition, there is no reason that a circular wall such as that of Sriksetra cannot have twelve gates, with nine gates there commonly referred to by name, twelve notes on maps today, and twenty-four named by Taw Sein Ko in his early map of the site (1914a:113). The various accounts are worth noting as the same gate configuration would link what are quite different wall and gate forms at the main Pyu enclosed sites.

The figure of thirty-two is also used in the New T’ang History, which lists thirty-two important settlements or tribes subject to the Pyu, eighteen dependencies, and eight or nine garrison towns. None of these have been definitively identified, although one such stockade may have been located near Myingan, near the Chindwin-Ayeyarwaddy confluence.

Nonetheless, the name of the capital is not given, only the notation that in Pyu tradition it was the city of the Buddha’s disciple Sariputra, who came from Rajagaha in Magadha. Elsewhere, however, this has been identified as Yazagyo in the Chindwin valley (Wheatley 1983:194).

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Pinn TaLae king, Emperor YoneHle, Pyay king and the Kokangs

September 25, 2010

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The first Kokang I met is Wendy, although I did not know at the time that she is a Kokang, and also do not know her personally. I saw her while I was attending the 1st M.B. and there were students of the Institute of Dental Medicine and the Institute of Veterinary Sciences attending the same courses with us at the LeikKhone Institute of Medicine 1 Rangoon. There were about 50 dental students to a batch, of which only 10 were female. Wendy was always seen together with Ada in the corridors. The 2 of them were inseparable and noticeable as they were famous. My friend and former neighbor Zaw Tun Maung who also attended the Dental became Ada’s fiancée and this helped us notice Ada and Wendy more. Her full name is Wendy Yang and it was only much later that I came to know that she is a Kokang and of the ruling family.

The second Kokang I met is the brother of my former boss when I went for an interview for my job with the Nansi Bum jade mines. One day in 1993, ko Aung Htay, my former workmate at the BHP-Petroleum (now working with TOTAL) and younger brother of my classmate friend ko Zaw Win contacted me. He had returned from the Nansi Bum jade mines and asked me whether I would like to work there. I was practicing in a clinic in Yangon and decided to give it a try and when I called him back, he said he would arrange for me to meet his brother’s classmate and friend Dr. Thida Thein Shwe, as it was through her that he got the job (although he worked with me and my elder brother ko Khine Soe at the BHP-Petroleum in 1992, and he knew that ko Khine Soe was classmates with his elder brother ko Zaw Win, he did not know that I was also in the same class with them). I told him that I know Thida Thein Shwe personally and that I would contact her myself.

Thida Thein Shwe is the family doctor of the family that run the jade mines and they had asked her to find a doctor for their Nansi Bum jade mines  and she got into contact with ko Aung Htay through our common friend ko Zaw Win. Ma Thida arranged for me to meet the brother of the boss of the Nansi Bum jade mines. The boss / LaoPann / ThaHtay ko Win Naing was not in Yangon at the time and I met his brother who was taking care of their family business.

It was only after I was in the Nansi Bum jade mines that I learned from the boss / LaoPann / ThaHtay ko Win Naing, his manager ko Maung Maung, several supervisors, medic Kyant Kyi Shinn and about half of the crew who are Kokangs that I learned about the Kokangs.

The Kokangs who are ethnic Chinese were originally not from their Kokang region. They were from Nanking and came to settle there after they accompanied their deposed emperor into Myanmar. The emperor had to escape to Ava when he lost against the Manchus and later, when the new Chinese / Manchu emperor demanded him from the Myanmar king, he was handed over to the Chinese / Manchu. The deposed emperor was killed when they got back to Yunnan and his entourage returned back, away from the reach of Chinese authorities and settled in the uninhabited no man’s land between the Chinese kingdom and the Myanmar. Their dialect is closer with Mandarin and different from the Yunan dialect. The area where they live came under the British and within Myanmar when we got independence. The Kokangs live there as an enclave with few living elsewhere until recently. That is why Kokangs are the only Chinese who are classified as Myanmar nationals. They are separate from the Yunans and do not live inside China. They had their representative in the Hluttaw in the Parlimentary period.

Later, I read from the Glass Palace Chronicle မွန္နန္းရာဇဝင္ and the Myanmar Yarzawin ျမန္မာရာဇဝင္ by U Ba Than about the episode in our history regarding the deposed Chinese emperor that sought refuge in Ava. It is like this:

In 1011 ME / 1649 AD, Chinese emperor YoneHle ရုံလွီ demanded tribute from the Myanmar territories of MaingSao မိုင္းေမာ, SiKhwin စည္ခြင္, Theinni , KaingDar ကိုင္းတာ, KyaingTone က်ိဳင္းတုံ, KyaingYone က်ိဳင္းရုံး.

The earlier Chinese emperor had 2 sons. The elder son was the son-in-law of the TaYet တရက္ / Manchu king and after their emperor father passed away, became emperor. After his death the younger brother YoneHle ရုံလွီ proclaimed himself emperor at NannKyein / Nanking with the support of the southern general AnThiWint အံသီဝင့္, eastern general KoneHsinWint ကုံဆင္ဝင့္, AhTainLaw ShweWint အံသိန္ေလာ ေရႊဝင့္.

The former empress and the 7 year old son of the former emperor went to TaYet တရက္ with the western and northern generals. With the support of the TaYet တရက္ king, the 7 year old became emperor at PoKyein ပိုၾကိန္. As their strength is overpowering, YoneHle ရုံလွီ could not stay in NannKyein / Nanking and moved to MaingHse မိုင္းဆည္ and collected tribute from there.

PinnTaLae Minnr ပင္းတလဲ မင္း 1010 – 1023 ME / 1648 – 1661 AD sent 2 armies commanded by MinYeThihaRitz မင္းရဲ သီဟရာဇ္ (son of Mahar UPaRazar မဟာဥပရာဇာ / crown prince) and RazaThinKha ရာဇ သခၤ to Theinni on the 19th waxing moon day of Pyartho ျပာသို 1022 ME / Dec 1660-Jan 1661 and 2 armies led by younger brother AhMyint Min အျမင့္မင္း /king MinYeKyawKhaung ့္မင္းရဲေက်ာ္ေခါင္ and BaNyarKyanTaw ဗညားက်န္းေတာ to MaingMao မိုင္းေမာ on the full moon day of TaBoTwe တပို႕တြဲ / Jan-Feb. Another ZaeYaThinYan ေဇရသင္ရံ  army was also sent to MaingMao မိုင္းေမာ 9 days later. The Chinese withdrew without a fight. The king called back the armies after consolidating the MaingMao SiKhwin မိုင္းေမာ စည္ခြင္ area.

In ??1013 ME / 1651 2nd waning moon day of ThatinKyut သီတင္းကြၽတ္ / October, 3 armies led by younger brother SiPoteTaYar Minn စည္ပုတၱရာမင္း / king ThaKhin NayMyoYeKyaw သခင္ ေနမ်ိဳးရဲေက်ာ္, younger brother ThaKhin NayMyoDutta သခင္ ေနမ်ိဳး ဒတၱ, prince MinYeNaYar မင္းရဲနရာ marched to KyaingYone က်ိဳင္းရုံး.to meet the Chinese army. 2 armies led by TaingTarrMin တိုင္းတာမင္း and MinNandaMeik မင္းနႏၵမိတ္ followed on 2nd waning moon day of ThaSaungMone တန္ေဆာင္မုန္း. They met the Chinese at MaingLyin မိုင္းလ်င္on their way and there were clashes but had to withdraw. The younger brother was called back from the march to KyaingYone က်ိဳင္းရုံး.because of bad situation.  On the return the younger brother SiPoteTaYar Minn စည္ပုတၱရာမင္း / king ThaKhin NayMyoYeKyaw သခင္ ေနမ်ိဳးရဲေက်ာ္  died. One third of the forces also died from illness.

The TaYet တရက္ / Manchus attacked YoneHle ရုံလွီ at MaingHse မိုင္းဆည္. YoneHle lost and withdrew to MaingMyee မိုင္းမ်ည္း while AnThiWin အံသီဝင္ and ThayThwayWin ေသေသြဝင္ stayed as rear guard. While at MaingMyee မိုင္းမ်ည္း YoneHle ရုံလွီ sent message that if permitted to stay in Bhamo ဗန္းေမာ္, he will give 200 viss of gold to the Burmese king. When the Bhamo ဗန္းေမာ္ SaoPha / Saw Bwar ေစာ္ဘြား replied that he dare not pass on the message, the envoys returned.

Another message was sent that YoneHle ရုံလွီ will surrender to the Burmese king and the Bhamo ဗန္းေမာ္ SaoPha / Saw Bwar ေစာ္ဘြား relayed it. The king ordered to bring YoneHle ရုံလွီ safely if hesurrendered arms. YoneHle ရုံလွီ sent his 2 generals to Theinni သိနီၷ MoHne မိုးႏွဲ NyaungShwe ေညာင္ေရႊ and went to Bhamo ဗန္းေမာ္ himself with over 60 အမတ္ ministers / courtiers, over 600 horses and about 700 followers and surrendered. YoneHle ရုံလွီ was taken down on a raft / phaung ေဖာင္ while the horses were taken along the west route. YoneHle ရုံလွီ was first allowed to stay at NgaSintKaing ငစဥ့္ကိုင္ and later at Sagaing HsinMyarrShin စကိုင္းဆင္မ်ားရွင္. When news came that KoneHsinWin ကုံဆင္ဝင္ was destroying the border areas, 2 armies led by RazaKeitTi and ZeyaBaYa ေဇယဘယwere sent on 1021 ME / 1661 AD 8th waxing moon day of Tagu တန္ခူး. They met the Chinese army at WetWun ဝက္ဝံand when the Chinese army attacked suddenly, the armies were in disarray after much loses.

On the 12th waxing moon day of Tagu, 3 armies led by MinYeNaRa မင္းရဲနရ, MyayHte MinGyi ေျမထဲမင္းၾကီး and Myawaddy MinGyi ျမဝတီမင္းၾကီး marched and while preparing to stockgate at YayLaung WetWun ေရေလာင္း ဝက္ဝံ the Chinese army arrived and attacked. There were many loses and the armies had to retreat across the MyitNge ျမစ္ငယ္ river. Many drowned from the weight of armour and MyayHte Min ေျမထဲမင္း also died. The Chinese crossed to the south of MyitNge ျမစ္ငယ္ and again crossed the PannLaung ပန္းေလာင္ river at PaLeik SheinKyaw TaPhetHswe ပလိပ္ရွိန္ေက်ာ္ တဖက္ဆဲြ and reached TaTarOo တံတားဦး. There were no strong defence fortifications at the Naypyitaw ေနျပည္ေတာ္ Ava အင္းဝ. Only a defence along the river from ShanZay ရွမ္းေစ်း, Palu ေတာင္ပလူ, north LayHtatKyaung ေျမာက္ေလးထပ္ေက်ာင္း, besides Maha Muni မဟာမုနိ, TawKyaung ေတာေက်ာင္း, HsinKyone ဆင္က်ဳံး.

The Chinese army attacked the south Palu ေတာင္ပလူ fort but as the defence was good, they attacked the MoeBye မိုးျဗဲ army south of PyatThat monastery. The MoeBye မိုးျဗဲ army fort was breached on the 8th waxing day of Kasone ကဆုန္ / May. The Chinese killed the people, captured the women and took gold and looted. Thiri Zeya KyawHtin သီရိေဇရေက်ာ္ထင္, SanKyaung abbot စံေက်ာင္းဆရာေတာ္ and the fortune telling ေဗဒင္ monk (this monk had foretold 12 years earlier that the Chinese would reach Ava) died. The monasteries were burned and the monks had to flee.

The MoMe မိုးမဲ army fell on the 9th waxing day of Kasone ကဆုန္ / May and the Chinese reached Ava အင္းဝ Inwa on the 11th waxing day of Kasone. The Chinese suffered heavy loses from the firings from the top of the Ava wall and had to withdraw to NgarHsu ငါးဆူ. After the fall of a Chinese general from the canon fire they withdrew from NgarHsu ငါးဆူ to TaTarOo တံတားဦး and after a few days went to MoeNae မိုးနဲ.

When general KoneHsinWin ကုံဆင္ဝင္ reached MoeNae မိုးနဲ AnThiWin အံသီဝင္ and ThayThwayWin ေသေသြဝင္ arrived. The news of another attack planned by AnThiWin အံသီဝင္ and ThayThwayWin ေသေသြဝင္ reached Ava and a defence was prepared from WoneBe Inn ဝမ္းဗယ္အင္း, Taung Palu ေတာင္ပလူ southwest TawKyaung ေတာေက်ာင္း, HsinKyone ဆင္က်ဳံး. in Thadingyut သီတင္းကြၽတ္ October.

Due to the disturbances from the Chinese, there was much hunger among the population and PinnTaLae Minn ပင္းတလဲ မင္း, instead of helping them sold rice to them. The courtiers agreed between themselves and called on the younger brother Pyay king ျပည္မင္း to take over the kingdom.  Pyay king ျပည္မင္း deposed the PinnTaLae Minn ပင္းတလဲ မင္း and took the throne in 1023 ME / 1661.

During the reign of Pyay king ျပည္မင္း, the Chinese were attacked and with heavy loses, the Chinese withdrew. YoneHle ရုံလွီ was called to the HtuParYone ထူပါရုံ pagoda to be given the oath taking ceremony, the MaingHse မိုင္းဆည္ governor thought he would be killed and tried to wrest sword from a soldier and the Chinese attacked the soldiers. This resulted in deaths of many Chinese.

The Manchus came in force and asked for YoneHle ရုံလွီ that year. As the army was exhausted YoneHle ရုံလွီ and his children and grandchildren were handed over. YoneHle ရုံလွီ was taken back and in  was taken back and when they got back to YunanFu, YoneHle ရုံလွီ was killed with a noose on his neck.

The following are the articles about the Kokang that are available on the web:

Kokang

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

KOKANG

The Yang Dynasty

ကိုးကန္႕တို႕၏ သမိုင္းေၾကာင္းအက်ဥ္း

Kokang of Shan State : A Timeline

Kokang and Kachin in the Shan State (1945-1960): A book dripping with gems Saturday, 24 October 2009 13:20 S.H.A.N.

Kokang

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kokang

This article is about the geographical location. For the ethnic group, see Kokang people.

Location of the Kokang region (green) within Shan State (yellow).

Kokang (Burmese: ကိုးကန့်; Chinese: 果敢; Pinyin: Guǒgǎn), formally the First Special Region, is a self-administrative region of Burma (also known as Myanmar). It is located in the northern part of Shan State, with the Salween River to its west, and it shares a border with China‘s Yunnan Province in the east. Its total land area is around 10,000 square kilometres (3,900 sq mi).[1] The capital is Laukkai (Chinese: 老街; Pinyin: Lǎojiē). Kokang is mostly populated by Kokang people, a Han Chinese group living in Burma.

Historically, Kokang was Burma’s feudal state (Chinese: 土司 pinyin: tǔsī) for Burmese Chinese. It was founded by the Yang Clan, a Chinese military house that fled with the Ming loyalists to Yunnan Province in the mid-17th century and later migrated to the Shan State in eastern Burma. From the 1960s to 1989 the area was ruled by the Communist Party of Burma, and after the dissolution of that party in 1989 it became a special region of Burma.

NW Comment:

I observed from the Chinese tv series that the Yang clan always served the Chinese emperors as part of the army and also as important generals. It was the Yang Ming general who accompanied the deposed emperor that settled in the area. Only then did I realize that Wendy, whose full name is Wendy Yang and related to the famous Tommy Yang is of the Yang military clan.

History

The state was officially founded by Yang Shien Tsai (杨献才); who began his reign in 1739 in and around Ta Shwe Htan, then called Shin Da Hu (兴达户), and took the title “Chief of Shin Da Hu”. He was succeeded on his death in 1758 by his son Yang Wei Shin (杨维兴), later referred to as Chief of Kho Kan Shan (科干山).

He expanded his territory tenfold compared to that inherited from his predecessor. After his death in 1795, his son Yang Yon Gen (杨有根) became the chief. He soon renamed the state as Kokang and titled himself Heng of Kokang.

In 1840, Yang Guohua (楊國華) was given the title “the Heriditable Magistrate of Guogan County (世襲果敢縣令)” by the Chinese Qing dynasty.

The Heng was succeeded after his death in 1874 by his younger brother Yang Guo Zhen (杨国正), who ruled peacefully and began relations with Britain upon the annexation of Upper Burma. In 1916 he went blind, and abdicated in favour of his nephew Yang Chun Yon (杨春荣). The new ruler then took the Burmese title Myosa (lit. town eat, given to a prince). He died in 1927 and was succeeded by his son Colonel Sao Yang Wen Pin (杨文炳), Saopha of Kokang.

For the services of Kokang during World War II, it was recognised as separate from Shan State in August 1947 by the British, and the ruler took the title Saopha. He died in 1949 and was succeeded by his son Sao Edward Yang Kyein Tsai who was deposed by the Burmese in 1959.

After the collapse of the Communist Party of Burma in 1989, Kokang was assigned as the autonomous First Special Region of the northern Shan State of Burma.

KOKANG

http://www.royalark.net/Burma/kokang.htm

BRIEF HISTORY

Kokang was the only Chinese state within Burma. The state owes its origins to the Yang family, who migrated with their followers into Yunan with other Ming loyalists during the second half of the seventeenth century. Being men of military background, they protected the local people and freed the area of bandits. Later they extended their control by fortuitous marriage connections and by waging war on their Shan neighbours. After the defeat of King Thibaw and the annexation of Upper Burma in 1885, attempts were made to settle the border with China. After exhaustive deliberations, this was accomplished in 1897 and Kokang transferred to British sovereignty. The area became a district within the state of Hsenwi North, but remained, in effect, an autonomous sub-state under the Yang Heng.
Copyright© Christopher Buyers Copyright© Christopher Buyers
The Japanese conquest of Burma in 1941 did not initially extend into Kokang. Being close to the Chinese border, the area continued under allied control during most of WW2. The Heng and his family supported the allied cause vigorously throughout the War, suffering many hardships not only at Japanese hands but also from the Chinese Kuomintang “allies”. Largely in recognition of these services, Kokang came to be recognised as a separate Shan state in August 1947, just six months before independence. Thereafter the ruler assumed the Shan title of Saopha (celestial prince).
Copyright© Christopher Buyers Copyright© Christopher Buyers
The state became part of the Union of Burma, and a constituent part of Shan State, at independence in 1948. Several members of the Yang family entered Parliament and served with distinction in several branches of government service. The state experienced considerable unrest after 1949 after the invasion of the border areas by elements of the defeated Kuomintang armies. It took four years before they were disarmed or expelled. When the other Shan rulers decided to surrender political power to an elected Shan administration in 1959, the Saopha of Kokang abdicated his rights to his people directly. However, within four years the coup d’etat by General Ne Win brought further unrest and instability. The increasing repression of the central military government forced local people into rebellion. The Kokang Revolutionary Force came into being and commenced guerilla operations against the Burmese army. These have continued in various forms, ever since. In common with the ruling families of several other Shan states, members of the Yang family have also been very actively involved in the anti-government organisations, the guerilla forces, and the pro-democracy movement.
Copyright© Christopher Buyers Copyright© Christopher Buyers
SALUTE:
None

STYLES & TITLES:
The ruling prince: Sao Yang (personal name), Saopha of Kokang.
The principal consort of the ruling prince, Mahadevi.
The Heir Apparent: Ying Kwan.
The principal consort of the Heir Apparent: Ying Tai.
The other sons and daughters of the ruling prince: none.
Copyright© Christopher Buyers Copyright© Christopher Buyers
RULES OF SUCCESSION:
Male primogeniture.

ORDERS & DECORATIONS:
None.
Copyright© Christopher Buyers Copyright© Christopher Buyers
SOURCES:
Chiefs and Leading Families of the Shan States and Karenni, Second Edition. Government of Burma, Rangoon, 1919.
Jackie Yang Li, The House of Yang, guardians of an unknown frontier. Bookpress, Sydney, Australia, 1997.

Professor Sai Kham Mong, Kokang and Kachin, in the Shan State (1945-1960). Institute of Asian Studies, Bangkok, 2005.

SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
Mie Mie Akerstrom.

Faith Yang-Wolf.

Copyright©  Christopher Buyers

The Yang Dynasty

GENEALOGY

http://www.royalark.net/Burma/kokang2.htm

Yang Gao Sho. b. at Nanking, China, 1622, from a military family in Liu Shui Wan, Da Shi Ban Chau. A succesful wu ju ren and military officer, he followed the last Ming Emperor into Yunnan in Southern China, after the advent of the Manchus. Settled in Shunling, 1657. m. at Dali, 1658, a daughter of a Tea merchant. He d. at Shunling, 1697, having had issue:

  • 1) Yang Zhen.
  • 2) Yang Ying b. 1662. Emigrated from Shunling due to the Manchu persecution of Ming loyalists. Settled at Hung Shito Ho, in Kho Kan Shan (Kokang). m. at Shunling, China, 1682, a daughter of Yang Shu. He d. 1726 (bur. Ho Shao Kyai), having had issue:
    • a) Yang Fu Tsai (Cai).
    • b) Yang Shien Tsai (Cai), Chief of Shin Da Hu – see below.
    • c) Yang Gao Tsai (Cai).

Copyright© Christopher Buyers

1739 – 1758 Yang Shien Tsai (Cai), Chief of Shin Da Hu. b. at Shunling, 1685, son of Yang Ying, by his wife, a daughter of Yang Shu, educ. privately. Settled at Shin Da Hu (now Ta Shwe Htan). Established his rule over the surrounding area in 1739, after ridding the local people from badits. Introduced the first principles of law and government in the area. Established his capital at Kya Tzi Shu (Satishu) He d. at the Yamen, at Kya Tzi Shu, 1758 (bur. Lao Han-Ai), having had issue five sons:

  • 1) Yang Wei Shin [Xing], 2nd Chief of Kho Kan Shan. – see below.
  • 2) Yang Wei Ren.
  • 3) Yang Wei Hsin.
  • 4) Yang Wei Xin.
  • 5) Yang Wei Lin.

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1758 – 1795 Yang Wei Shin [Xing], Chief of Kho Kan Shan, eldest son of Yang Shien Tsai (Cai), Chief of Shin Da Hu, educ. privatey. Succeeded on the death of his father, 1758. Expanded his domains tenfold, from those he inherited from his father. He d.1795 (bur. Lao Han-Ai), having had issue, two sons:

  • 1) Yang Yon Gen, Heng of Kokang – see below.
  • 2) Yang Yang Yon Phan. Conquered and annexed Kyin Ju Ling, together with his nephew, in 1804.

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1795 – 1840 Yang Yon Gen, Heng of Kokang. b. 1770, elder son of Yang Wei Shin [Xing], Chief of Kho Kan Shan, educ. privately. Cdr. of the militia during his father’s reign. Succeeded on the death of his father, 1795. Changed the name of his territory to Kokang and assumed the title of Heng. He d. 1840, having had issue:

  • 1) Yang Guo Hwa, Heng of Kokang – see below.
  • 2) Yang Guo Chang.
  • 3) Yang Guo Mon.
  • 4) Yang Yang Guo Mei.
  • 5) Yang Guo Fan.
  • 6) Yang Guo Zhen [Hkun Lu Kwan], Heng of Kokang – see below.

Copyright© Christopher Buyers

1840 – 1874 Yang Guo Hwa, Heng of Kokang. b. 1814, eldest son of Yang Yon Gen, Heng of Kokang, educ. privately. Succeeded on the death of his father, 1840. He d. at Kya Tzi Shu, Kokang, 1874, having had issue, an only son:

  • 1) Yang Chun Yon [Rong], Heng of Kokang – see below.

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1874 – 1916 Yang Guo Zhen [Hkun Lu Kwan], Heng of Kokang, ATM (22.6.1897). b. 1840, youngest son of Yang Yon Gen, Heng of Kokang, educ. privately. Succeeded on the death of his elder brother, 1874. Came under British protection after China relinquished any jurisdiction over Kokang, 4th February 1897. Became blind and resigned in favour of his nephew, 1916. Rcvd: Delhi Durbar medals (1903 and 1911). m. (first) … m. (second) Lui Shi Siao Pin. He d. at Kya Tzi Shu, Kokang, 1919, having had issue, ten sons:

  • 1) Yang Chuan Da. He d. 1922, having had issue:
    • a) Yang Wen Huan, of Mon Hon.
  • 2) Yang Chuan …
  • 3) Yang Chuan Yong. He d. young, in the small-pox epidemic of 1879.
  • 4) Yang Chuan …
  • 5) Yang Chuan …
  • 6) Yang Chuan …
  • 7) Yang Chuan …
  • 8) Yang Chuan Pei alias Par Lao Yeh. Exiled to Kutkai for intriguing against Sao Yang Wen Pin.
  • 9) Yang Chuan Kyin alias Khun Gui Lao Yeh. b. 1894 (s/o Lui Shi Siao Pin). Exiled to Kutkai by his cousin. He d. at Lashio, 1978.
  • 10) Yang Chuan Pin (s/o Lui Shi Siao Pin).

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1916 – 1927 Yang Chun Yon alias Yang Shwin Yong Tzu Ye [Cha-Tan-Shu] [Lao Lai], Myosa of Kokang, TDM (1.1.1921). b. at Kya Tzi Shu, Kokang, 1878, only son of Yang Guo Hwa, Heng of Kokang, educ. privately. Assisted his uncle in the administration of the state before his accession. Succeeded on his resignation, in accordance with the agreement with his father, 1916. Raised to the hereditary title of Myosa. m. several wives. He d. at the Yamen, Kya Diling, Kokang, 17th January 1927, having had issue, four sons and seven daughters:

  • 1) Yang Wen Pin, Myosa of Kokang – see below.
  • 2) Yang Wen Tsan [Can]. b. 1904. Cdr Kokang Self Defence Force 1942-1943, Acting Myosa during the absence of his brother in India1943-1945. m. three times, including a lady from Malipa. He d. 1997, having had issue, one son and one daughter by his first, three sons and two daughters by his second, and one son and seven daughters by his third wife, including:
    • a) Yang Kyein Shein. b. 1923, educ. Tali Military Sch, China.
    • b) Yang Kyein Yui. b. 1931, educ. Tsu Shong Middle Sch.
    • c) Colonel Yang Kyein Gyi. b. 1937, educ. Guardian Angel’s Convent, Lashio. Joined Kokang Revolutionary Force 1964, later Col and cdr at Tan Wo. He was k. in action against the Burmese army, 1979.
  • 3) Yang Wen Ying. He d. aged three years. Copyright© Christopher Buyers
  • 4) Yang Wen Shon [Xian] [Charlie Yang]. b. 1920, educ. Shan Chief’s Sch., Taungyyi. m. Yang Sung Kying (b. 1920; d. 2006) of Pao Shan. He d. 1999.
  • 1) A daughter. m. …
  • 2) A daughter. m. …
  • 3) A daughter. m. Peng Lao Yeh.
  • 4) A daughter. m. the second son of the Myosa of Mongwun.
  • 5) A daughter. m. Kambawasa Sri Mahavamsa Dharmaraja Sao Shwe , Saopha of Mongpan (b. February 1921), eldest son of Kambawasa Sri Mahavamsa Dharmaraja Sao Hkun On, Saopha of Mongpan, KSM, by his first wife, Sao Nang Yon, Mahadevi. She had issue – see Burma (Mongpan).
  • 6) A daughter. m. second son of Kambawasa Sri Mahavamsa Dharmaraja Sao Hkun On, Saopha of Mongpan, KSM. She had issue – see Burma (Mongpan).

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1927 – 1949 Colonel Sao Yang Wen Pin, Saopha of Kokang, OBE (c. 1.1.1946), TDM (1.1.1936). b. 1897, eldest son of Yang Shwin Yong Tzu Ye [Cha-Tan-Shu] [Lao Lai], Myosa of Kokang, TDM, educ. privately. Succeeded on the death of his father as Myosa of Kokang, 17th January 1927. Installed at Kokang, 1929. Served in WW2 behind enemy lines 1941-1943 (rcvd: MID), deposed, arrested and imprisoned by the Kuomintang 1943-1944, later released and taken to India, where he worked with the Burmese government in exile 1944-1945. Returned to Kokang and resumed direct rule, October 1945. The State of Kokang was recognised as independent of Hsenwi North, 12th August 1947, thereafter assumed the hereditary title of Saopha, 25th August 1947. Col Kokang Self Defence Force 1942. Hon Col Chinese Army. Rcvd: Silver Jubilee medal (1935), Coron medal (1937), MID, 39/45 and Burma stars, British War and Defence (1945) medals, etc. m. (first) Chiang Chu Min, the Myosa Kadaw (b. at Zhenkhan, and m. the Myosa when she was aged fourteen). m. (second) Chiang Pi Ju. He d. 1949, having had issue, nine sons and six daughters:

  • 1) Yang Kyein Yuan (s/o Chiang Chu Min), educ. Anglo-Vernacular Sch., Lashio. He d. young from food poisoning, at Laisho, 1930.
  • 2) Yang Kyein Sai [Edward Yang], Saopha of Kokang – see below.
  • 3) Yang Kyein Sein [Jimmy Yang]. b. at Kya Tzi Shu, Kokang, 14th April 1922 (s/o Chiang Pi Ju), educ. Anglo-Vernacular Sch, Lashio, Shan Chief’s Sch, Taungyyi, Rangoon Univ, and Chiaotung Univ, Chungking, China. Cmsnd. Capt. Chinese Army 1943, served in WW2 at HQ Supreme Army cmnd 1945-1946, COS Kokang Defence Force 1946-1948, Chief Minister of Kokang 1948-1950, Attaché and Foreign Service Officer Union of Burma govt service 1950-1951, Union MP (Kokang) 1952-1962, Chair East Burma Bank Ltd, Mbr Opium Cmsn, founder of the Kokang Revolutionary Force in 1964, Mbr Shan State War Council 1966, Cdr Eastern Cmnd Burmese Resistance Force 1968, Mgr Rincome Hotel, Chiengmai, Thailand 1969-1971, an exile in France 1971-1980, returned to Burma under an amnesty in 1980. m. 1946, Chou Guo Fan [Jean Yang] (b. Kunming, China). He d. at Rangoon, 1985, having had issue, two sons and one daughter:
    • a) Yang Kya Gui [John Yang]. b. 1950, educ. English Methodist High Sch, Rangoon, and the New York Sch of Design, Parsons, New York, USA. Designer with Calvin Klein, Chief Designer for Jack Mulqueen, and MD John Yang Design.
    • b) Yang Kya Wa [David Yang]. b. 1952, educ. English Methodist High Sch, Rangoon.
    • a) Yang Nern Chan [Veda Yang], educ. English Methodist High Sch, Rangoon.
  • 4) Yang Kyein Hsiang b. 1925. He was k. at Fu Guo Yin, 1st October 1942.
  • 5) Yang Kyein Hui [Ah’vu]. b. 1931. m. 1949, Chiang Su Fang (b. at Mongpan), daughter of Kambawasa Sri Mahavamsa Dharmaraja Sao Shwe Kyi, Saopha of Mongpan, by his wife, a daughter of Yang Chun Yon, Myosa of Kokang, TDM. He d. 2003, having had issue, a son:
    • a) Yang Kya … b. 1953.
  • 6) Yang Kyein Shuen [Ah’pao] [Francis Yang]. b. at Kya Di Ling, Kokang, 1937, educ. Guardian Angels Convent, Lashio, St Albert’s High Sch, Maymyo, and Rangoon Univ. Anaesthetist in Manchester since 1979. m. 1969, Sao Lao Kham [Maggie].
  • 7) Yang Kyein Lei [Ah’shi] [Kenneth Yang]. b. 1940, educ. Rangoon Univ. Mathematician. He d. 1981.
  • 8) Yang Kyin … Copyright© Christopher Buyers
  • 9) Yang Kyin …
  • 1) Yang Kyin Mei. b. 1923. m. at Kokang, 1947, Hsin Shiu Tang Man. She d. 1995, having had issue, six sons and two daughters, including:
    • a) Francisca Mie Mie Åkerström, educ. Guardian Angels Convent, Lashio, and the Arts and Science Univ, Rangoon (B.Sc.), and Univ of Örebro, Sweden. m. (first) (div.) … Åkerström, a Swedish national. m. (second) Dr. Folke Johansson, MD, educ. Göteborg Univ, chief of clinic in Göteborg. She had issue, one son and two daughters by her first husband:
      • i) Erik Åkerström.
      • i) Helen Åkerström.
      • ii) Louise Åkerström.
  • 2) Yang Lyin Hsui [Olive Yang]. b. 1927, educ. Guardian Angel’s Conv., Lashio. Took control of Kokang in 1960. Imprisoned by the Burmese authorities at Mandalay 1952-1957 and Insein 1962-1968. m. 1948 (div. 1950) Twan Sao Wen, son of a Tamuying Chief. She had issue one son:
    • a) Jipu. b. 1950.
  • 3) Yang Kyin …She d. young.
  • 4) Yang Kyin Pin [Jane]. b. 1939 (d/o Chiang Chu Min). m. 1959, U Thin Pen. She had issue, one son and one daughter.
  • 5) Yang Kyin Mun [Judy]. b. 1942. m. 1963, U Win Kyi. She had issue, one son and one daughter.
  • 6) Yang Kyin …

Copyright© Christopher Buyers

1949 – 1959 Sao Edward Yang Kyein Sai, Saopha of Kokang. b. at the Yamen, Kya Diling, Kokang, 1918, second and eldest surviving son of Colonel Sao Yang Wen Pin, Saopha of Kokang, OBE, TDM, educ. Anglo-Vernacular Sch, Lashio, Shan Chief’s Sch, Taungyyi, and Rangoon Univ. Appointed as Heir Apparent with the title of Ying Kwan, 1941. Succeeded on the death of his father, 1949. MHR Parliament of the Union of Burma 1947-1948, Minister for Finance of Shan State 1948, Mbr Union of Burma Chamber of Nationalities (Upper House) 1948-1950, Mbr Union of Burma Chamber of Deputies 1950, Burmese Delegate to the UN General Assembly in New York, 1950. Refused to surrender his powers to the Shan State and abdicated in favour of the people of Kokang instead, 17th May 1959. Retired to Lashio. Confined under house arrest by the military government of Burma 1963-1971. m. at Chanling, Yunan, 1941, Lu Shwin Kyin, Mahadevi (b. 1925; d. at Mayangon, Rangoon, 25th October 2007, bur. there at the Yayway Cemetery), styled Ying Tai 1941-1949, fifth daughter of Lu Shao Shin, sometime Sec of the Finance Ministry, Yunan Province, China, by his wife, Chang Ou Shin. He d. from cancer, at Lashio, 1971, having had issue, two sons and six daughters:

  • 1) Yang Kya Ying [Oscar Yang]. unm.
  • 2) Yang Kya Min [Ernest Yang]. Copyright© Christopher Buyers
  • 1) Yang Li [Jackie Yang Rettie]. b. at Kokang, 1946, educ. St John’s Convent High Sch, and the Arts & Science Univ, Rangoon (MA), and the Australian National Univ (ANU), Canberra, ACT, Australia. Mbr Burmese Pro-Democracy Movement. Author of “The House of Yang, guardians of an unknown frontier” (1997). m. David Rettie, and Australian citizen employed with UNO. She has issue, one son and one daughter:
    • a) Lee Yang Rettie.
    • a) Meiling Rettie.
  • 2) Yang Mon Shon [Laura Yang]. m. Tom Hsin, son of Hsin Shiu Tang Man, by his wife, Yang Kyin Mei, daughter of Colonel Sao Yang Wen Pin, Saopha of Kokang, OBE, TDM. She had issue, one daughter:
    • a) Pailing. Copyright© Christopher Buyers
  • 3) Yang Khuen [Lena Yang]. unm.
  • 4) Yang Hui [Helen Yang]. unm.
  • 5) Yang Mei [Mrs Faith Yang-Wolf]. m. Dr. Guenther Ernst Wolf. She has issue, one son and two daughters:
    • a) Marcus Yang Wolf.
    • a) Lynn Yang Wolf. Copyright© Christopher Buyers
    • b) Ming Yang Wolf.
  • 6) Yang Fei [Elfreda Yang-Goodroe]. b. 1958. m. James W. Goodroe, Jnr (b. 1959), from Virginia, USA. She had issue, three sons and one daughter:
    • a) E. James Goodroe.
    • b) John Goodroe.
    • c) Ronnie Goodroe.
    • a) Cathy Goodroe.

Copyright© Christopher Buyers

END.


ကိုးကန္႕တို႕၏ သမိုင္းေၾကာင္းအက်ဥ္း

from ေဒါင္းမာန္ဟုန္ by than htut


ကိုးကန္႕
ကိုးကန္႕
တရုတ္ၿပည္ မင္မင္းဆက္ကို မန္ခ်ဴးေတြက ၿဖဳတ္ခ်လိုက္တဲ႔အခါမွာ မင္ဘုရင္ႀကီးဟာ ၿမန္မာၿပည္ထဲ ေၿပးဝင္လာတယ္လို႕ ဆိုပါတယ္။ အဲဒီအခ်ိန္ၿမန္မာၿပည္ဟာ ေညာင္းရမ္းဆက္ တနဂၤေႏြမင္း [the TaNinGaNway Minn ruled 1076 – 95 ME / 1714 – 33 AD, much later than the times of emperor YongHle who reached Ava during the rule of PinnTaLae Minnr ပင္းတလဲ မင္း 1010 – 1023 ME / 1648 – 1661 AD according to the Glass Palace Chronicle မွန္နန္းရာဇဝင္ and the Myanmar Yarzawin ျမန္မာရာဇဝင္ by U Ba Than] အုပ္စိုးေနခ်ိန္တဲ႔။ တရုတ္စစ္ေၿပးေတြဟာ ၿမန္မာၿပည္မွာ ခိုလွံဳေနတာသိရေတာ႕ မန္ခ်ဴးေတြက ၿပန္ပို႕ဖို႕ ရာဇသံပို႕တယ္၊ ဒါကိုၿမန္မာမင္းလည္း ေႀကာက္ရြံ႕ၿပီး တရုတ္ဘုရင္ကို မန္ခ်ဳးလက္အပ္လိုက္ပါတယ္။ မေက်နပ္တဲ႔ တရုတ္ဘုရင္ေနာက္လိုက္ေတြဟာ ၿမန္မာၿပည္မွာ ပုန္ကန္ထႀကြခဲ႔ႀကတယ္ ဒီလိုပုန္ကန္ထႀကြခဲ႔လို႕လည္း ေညာင္ရမ္းမင္းဆက္ကို ဟံသာဝတီ ဗညားဒလက ၿဖဳတ္ခ်နိဳင္ခဲ႔လို႕ တိုင္းၿပည္ပ်က္ခဲ႔ရပါတယ္။
ေနာက္ မင္မင္းဆက္ေနာက္လိုက္ တရုတ္ေတြဟာ အခုကိုးကန္႔ေဒသကိုသြားၿပီး ကိုးကန္႔ၿပည္ရယ္လို႕ ထူေထာင္ခဲ႔ႀကပါတယ္။ ကုန္ေဘာင္ေခတ္တေလွ်ာက္လံုး ကိုးကန္႔ဟာ ၿမန္မာမင္းကို ပ႑ာဆက္ခဲ႔ႀကတာပါတယ္။ အဂၤလိပ္နဲ႔ တရုတ္စာခ်ဳပ္ခ်ဳပ္ေတာ႕ အဂ္လိပ္ေတြက ပထမေတာ႕ ကိုးကန္႔နယ္ကို တရုတ္နယ္ထင္ၿပီး တရုတ္ၿပည္ထဲထဲ႔ဆြဲထားေသးတယ္ ေနာက္သိေတာ႕မွ ၿပန္သိမ္းလိုက္တာပါ။
အဂၤလိပ္လက္ေအာက္ဆိုေပမဲ႕ ကိုးကန္႔ေတြဟာ သူေစာ္ဘြားနဲ႔သူ အုပ္ခ်ဳပ္ေနခဲ႔တယ္ အဂၤလိပ္ကလႊတ္လိုက္တဲ႔ ကိုလိုနီဝန္ထမ္းကိုလည္း ေလးေလးစားစားမဆက္ဆံဘူး၊ အဂၤလိပ္ေတြလည္း ဒီေဒသက အက်ိဳးအၿမတ္မရေတာ႕ သိပ္စိတ္မဝင္စားခဲ႔ဘူး။ ဂ်ပန္ေခတ္ေရာက္ေတာ႕ ခ်န္ေကရွိတ္တပ္ေတြနဲ႔ ေပါင္းၿပီး ကိုးကန္႔ေတြ ဂ်ပန္ကိုတိုက္ခဲ႔ႀကတယ္၊ ေနာက္ေတာ႕ တရုတ္ၿဖဴေတြကို တိုက္ဖို႕ၿမန္မာတပ္ေရာက္လာေတာ႕ ၿမန္မာနဲ႔ေပါင္းတယ္။ ေနာက္ဆံုးေတာ႕ ဗ-က-ပ လက္ေအာက္ေရာက္သြားတယ္။ ေနာက္ခြဲထြက္ၿပီး ကိုးကန္႔အဖြဲ႔ၿဖစ္လာတယ္။ နယ္ေၿမ၃ပိုင္းရွိၿပီး ေတာင္ပိုင္းက ေရရွားတယ္ ေက်ာက္ဆန္ေၿမသား၊ ဘိန္းစိုက္တာလြဲ ဘာမွမၿဖစ္ထြန္း၊ အလယ္ပိုင္းက ၿမက္ခင္းေဒသ ၿမင္းေကာင္းေတြထြက္တယ္၊ ေၿမာက္ပိုင္းက စိုက္ပ်ိဳးေရးလုပ္ၿပီး သစ္ေတာ႕သီး သႀကားသီး ဇီးသီး ပန္းသီး မက္မံုသီးေတြစိုက္တယ္။
ကိုးကန္႔ရဲ႕ လူေနမွဳစနစ္က စပါတာလိုပဲ ငယ္ငယ္ကတည္းက တရုတ္စာသင္ေက်ာင္းမွာ အပ္လိုက္တာပဲ၊ ဒီေက်ာင္းက စစ္သင္တန္းေပးတယ္ စာသင္တယ္ အမ်ိဳးသားေရးသီခ်င္းေတြ သင္ေပးတယ္။ ေက်ာင္းထြက္ရင္ မိဘလက္ငုတ္လက္ရင္းဝင္ကူ ေတာင္ယာခုတ္ ဘိန္းစိုက္ ၿမင္းေမြး ၿခံစိုက္ ဘိန္ကုန္ကူး ဒါပဲ။ အခုေတာ႕ လူေနမွဳစနစ္ေတြ ေၿပာင္းေလာက္ၿပီေပါ႔ တရုတ္က တိုးတက္ေနၿပီကိုး။
ကိုးကား- မွဴးသမိန္ ဘံုဘဝ ႀကံဳေတြ႔ရဇာတ္လမ္းမ်ား

ကိုးကန္႔ေခါင္းေဆာင္ ဖုန္ၾကားရွင္ မူးယစ္ေဆးဝါး လုပ္ငန္းေတြမွာ ပတ္သက္တယ္ ဆိုတဲ့ စြပ္စြဲခ်က္က တျခားတျခားေသာ ျငိမ္းခ်မ္းေရး ယူထားတဲ့ အဖြဲ႔အစည္းေခါင္းေဆာင္ပိုင္းေတြ အားလံုးမကင္းဘူးလို႔ ထင္ပါတယ္။ ျမန္မာ စစ္ဗိုလ္ခ်ဳပ္ေတြလည္း မကင္းဘူးလို႔ ထင္ပါတယ္။ အဲဒီကိစၥက အခုမွ မဟုတ္ပါဘူး၊ သူတို႔ေတြ ျငိမ္းခ်မ္းေရး ယူကတည္းက ျဖစ္ေနတာပါ။ ‘ဒါကို အစိုးရကလည္း သိသိၾကီးနဲ႔ ခြင့္ျပဳထားခဲ့တာပါ။ အခုက်မွ မူးယစ္ေဆးဝါး အေၾကာင္းျပဳျပီး ဖမ္းဝရမ္းထုတ္တယ္ ဆို တာ လူၾကားေကာင္းေအာင္ ေျပာတာပါ။တကယ္ အေၾကာင္းရင္းက ျငိမ္းခ်မ္းေရး ယူထားတဲ့ အဖြဲ႔အစည္း အမ်ားစုက အစိုးရရဲ႔ နယ္ျခားေစာင့္ ရဲတပ္ဖြဲ႔ အသြင္ေျပာင္းေရးကို လက္မခံပါဘူး၊ အေလ်ာ့ေပးရင္ သိကၡာက်မယ္။ သူတို႔ စိတ္တိုင္းက် ဆြဲထားတဲ့ အေျခခံ ဥပေဒနဲ႔လည္း မညီေတာ့ဘူး ျဖစ္သြားမယ္။ အားလံုးထဲမွာ အင္းအား အေသးဆံုးလို ယူဆရတဲ့ ကိုးကန္႔တပ္ဖြဲ႔ကို စံနမူနာျပ အေနနဲ႔ ဆံုးမျပလိုက္ရင္ တျခားအဖြဲ႔ေတြပါ ျငိမ္သြားမယ္လို တြက္တယ္။ ‘ဒါေၾကာင့္ အခုက်မွ ကိုးကန္႔ေခါင္းေဆာင္ ၄ ဦးဟာ မူးယစ္ေဆးဝါး နဲ႔ ပတ္သက္ေနတယ္ဆိုျပီး ျပသာနာရွာတာပါ။

Kokang of Shan State : A Timeline

Wednesday, 02 September 2009 08:58 News – Shan Herald Agency for News

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Many readers have told SHAN they had never heard of Kokang until 1989, when the former ethnic forces of the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) mutinied and concluded ceasefire pacts with Rangoon.

We therefore hope this chronology will help shed some light on this truly fascinating people.

Geography
Kokang lies east of the Salween, between China in the north and east, Shan State proper in the west and Wa in the south. Wa and Kokang are divided by the Namting that flows east to west into the Salween.

Kokang is 2,200 sq.km. known for its tea plantations and opium production. During the British days, it was said to produce 30% of Shan State’s total output (Wa was 60% and Loimaw 10%).

17th century    Kokang founded by the Yangclan loyal to the Ming dynasty who fled to Yunnan. The capital was Ta Xuetang (Ta Shwehtang).

19th century        Became part of British Hsenwi State in northern Shan States

World War II (1939-45)    Fights under Kuomintang forces against Japanese occupiers of Burma.

1947    Secedes from Hsenwi, becomes the 34th principality of Federated Shan States.

1949    Yang Zhensai (Edward Yang) becomes Saofa (One of his sisters is the colorful and manly Yang Jinsiu aka Olive Yang).

1959    Yang Zhensai joins other Saofas in relinquishing traditional power to the Shan State Government

1962    Military coup by Gen Ne Win. Most fomer Saofas including Yang detained.

1963    Jimmy Yang aka Yang Zhensheng aka Sao Ladd, Edward’s brother forms Kokang Revolutionary Force

1964    KRF joins Shan State Army as its Fifth Brigade but later split into several factions.

1967    Peng Jiasheng, one of the Kokang commanders, invited to China to form the Kokang People’s Liberation Army (KPLA)

1968    Communist Party of Burma (CPB), backed by China, enters Shan State. KPLA becomes part of CPB forces

1989    11 March: Peng mutinies, an act followed by Wa, Mongla and Kachin forces. All conclude ceasefire agreement with Burma’s military government

1992    Ousted by Yang Mouliang but returns to power two years later

Latest developments

April    All ceasefire groups told by Naypyitaw ceasefire era is over and they have to transform themselves to Border Guard Forces (BGF), nominally commanded by ethnic officers but run by the Burma Army officers

July    Peng expels 6 executive members including his deputy Bai Souqian and Liu Guoxi. They had reportedly been angry with Peng for unfair distribution of power and were in favor of the BGF status. They defect to the Army

6 August    Junta investigators arrive to look for drug refineries and an arms factory, after allegedly reported by the 6 defectors of their existence. Peng stalls

8 August    Burma Army arrives in force, Kokang army surrounds it. Intercession by China saves the day. Burma Army returns home without finding anything.

10 August    Five pro-Peng officials invited to Lashio and detained. Two sent to Laogai to persuade Peng to attend meeting in Lashio. He declines to come.

21 August    Peace and Democrat Front (PDF) issues statement in support of Peng and urges Naypyitaw to resolve all differences and disagreements peacefully.

22 August    Police serves summons for Peng, his brother Jiafu and his two sons (Daxun and Dali) to appear in court. Again he declines to.

24 August    Police issues arrest for Peng and three others

25 August    Burma Army comes in force and sets up a new provisional executive committee led by Bai Souqian. Peng retreats to the border.

27 August    Fighting, mainly in Laogai and Qingsuihe (Chin Shwe Haw) on the border with Wa.

28 August    Peng issues statement exhorting his allies to rise and fight

29 August    The bulk of Kokang force retreats into China and disarmed by PLA. The remainder continues to fight

Kokang and Kachin in the Shan State (1945-1960): A book dripping with gems Saturday, 24 October 2009 13:20 S.H.A.N.

from www.btunnel.com

Shared by you

The book was published in June 2005, but following the occupation of Kokang in August, became a bestseller when it was put on sale during the International Conference on Shan Studies (ICSS), 15-17 October, held at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University.

Written by Professor Sai Kham Mong and published by the Institute of Asian Studies, the 193 page report was the result of, as said in the preface, “careful use of Burma Government files and documents, material which is beyond the reach of ordinary researchers.”

The book certainly does not disappoint the student who is eager to learn as much as he/she can about Kokang and Kachin of Shan State.

Here are some of the facts that I would like to share with the reader:

On Kokang

Kokang, according to the author, comes from the Shan word, Kao Kang (Nine Guards), which I’m sure other Shan researchers will object by saying it actually means (Nine village headmen) The villages were: Taw Nio, Yang Tang, Pang Song, Pang Yang, Ken Nge, Ken Fan, Ken Pwi, Maw Htai and Mong Hawm. The name Malipa is also used by the locals for Kokang.

Even before the British came, it was one of the 49 Mongs of Hsenwi, on the eastern part of the principality.

On 1 March 1894, after the frontiers got demarcated for the first time in Southeast Asian history, it was ceded to China. However, the new agreement in 1897 between Great Britain and China returned it to the former, the reason why the only Chinese majority locale has been in Burma. It is interesting to note that these territorial agreements also turned over Shan majority areas to China. Obviously, the powers then in existence were thinking in terms of subjects other than ethnicity.

Before WWII, the statelet was governed by a Heng, a title just higher than a Kang (village headman). However, when the war started, Kokang became a Myosa (literally a town eater) and in 1951 he became a Saofa (literally a lord of heaven, the highest title a Shan prince held).

Kokang, he says, was known for three things: the population was almost entirely Chinese, its staple crop was opium poppy and its standing defense force.

One of the major headaches complained by successive governments have therefore been in the administrative sector. “In the state administrative body of Kokang state, the sawbwa (saofa) was the only person knowledgeable in English and Burmese,” it says. “No other officials understand other literature except Chinese.”

Another headache was its hilly region with difficult terrain “where the people depended wholly on rainfall. Major coops like rice and corn grown are enough for only 6 months.” Rice was irrigated in the valleys and on the hills it was grown on terraces. Still the yield was insufficient and the statelet had to import rice from the outside. People there depended almost wholly on opium cultivation, as “the physical feature of the area made opium the only alternative crop that could be easily grown in Kokang.”

The situation was such the Shan State government that came into being following independence “conceived that opium cultivation in Kokang should be allowed until such time suitable as cash crop with yield equal or better value could be found to substitute it.”

However, the issue, he wrote, “could not be resolved because of the implications of the complicated political issues in the Shan State.”

In 1950, KMT forces, defeated by Mao Zedong in China, entered Shan State through Kokang, Wa and Kengtung. At the same time, the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) also set up bases on the western part of Shan State to fight against the elected government. Then in 1952 martial law was declared in Shan State and the Burma Army was sent into fight against the KMT and the CPB and also to nip the brewing Shan resistance in the bud.

Up to 1956, motor roads were non-existent. And the Kunlong bridge over the Salween came into being only after the Burmese military took power in a coup d’état.

During World War II, the Kokang home guards were trained like a regular army. “The trainings were given in rigid Chinese military code and they became experts in mountain paths and seemed infatigable for long journey in the mountainous region.”

It naturally follows that there were 4 kinds of tax levied upon the people:
•    Yearly household tax
•    Paddy tax
•    Opium tax
•    Home guard tax

In 1950, the Prince of Kokang Edward Yang aka Yang Zhensai decided to move to Lashio leaving the administration with his younger brother Yang Zhensheng aka Jimmy Yang aka Sao Ladd. However, the most influential figure in Kokang following his absence was his sister Yang Jinxiu, better known as Olive Yang or called by Shans as Nang Kha Khon (Ms Hairy Legs). And the legend of Olive Yang was thus born.

In 1964, the conference of the commanders of the Burma Army decided that “the question of defense should not be concerned with only the Tatmadaw but also the people of the country.” People’s Defense Forces (Kakweye) “were thus formed in insurgent-infested areas to help the Army whenever military operations were launched against the insurgents.”

Two of the 23 kakweye groups formed at that time were Kokang with 1,374 men and Ving Ngun (Wiang Ngeun) with 578 men, which later became the Wa National Army (WNA).

As for the former, it later split into 3 factions led by:
•    Jimmy Yang who found the Kokang Revolutionary Force and joined the Shan State Army (SSA)
•    Law Hsing Harn (Luo Xinghan) who, except for a brief period in 1973 when the kakweye program was terminated, remained under the leadership of Burma’s ruling military junta
•    Peng Jiasheng (also written Hpon Kya Shin) who joined the CPB to become the Commander of its 404th Regiment and later Commander of its Northeastern Military Region and Central Committee member until his mutiny on 11 March 1989.

The Kokang part ended with the meeting between Prince Yang and Head of Shan State Sao Homfa on 17 May 1959 in Maymyo, where he surrendered all his powers and hereditary rights. One of his demands was to secede from Shan State and place his statelet under the central government.

On Kachin

The book’s second part deals with the story of Kachin sub-states in Shan State.

On the eve of independence in 1947, the Kachin elders requested for the creation of Kachin sub-states inside three principalities of Shan State.

Accordingly, Kachin sub-states in Mongmit, Tawngpeng and Hsenwi states came into existence by the Notification of the Shan State Government issued on 6 July 1948.

Within Hsenwi, there were 45 village tracts that were included in the sub-state such as Hpawnghseng, Mongkoe, Mongpaw, Mongzi, Loi Kang, Tima, and Mong Hawm.

Sao Homfa (Sao Hom Hpa) was not to be disappointed in 1949, when the Karen insurrection started which was joined by Naw Seng, an ex-army captain of the 1st Kachin Rifles, stationed in northern Shan State. The uprising failed in a few months “because most of the Kachin elders remained loyal to the Government of Burma. It was largely due to the foresightedness of Sao Hom Hpa, the Sawbwa of North Hsenwi State,” said Sai Kham Mong. The Kachins of Shan State also fought against the KMTs who had better arms.

But in 1959-60, the situation changed for the worse for Hsenwi’s Kachin sub-states through 2 major events:
•    Reformation of new administration in the wake of the surrender of the Saofas’ hereditary rights (Out of the former 45 circles or village tracts of the sub-state, 2 were merged with Muse township and 14 with Hsenwi township)
•    The new Sino-Burma border agreement, signed on 1 October 1960, that handed over lands cultivated by the Kachins to China

In the area, there were over 100,000 inhabitants and only a fraction of it were able to migrate to other locales leaving behind  those without means of livelihood.

Which helps to explain the existence of the Kachin State based Kachin Independence Army’s 4th Brigade in Shan State.

All in all, we all have to thank Professor Sai Kham Mong and Chulalongkorn University’s Institute of Asian Studies for bringing light to many of the recent historical facts which, but for them, would be still lying hidden in the mountains of the official files.

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The caves of Myanmar

September 19, 2010

Nathamee YetKannSin / angels’ loom 1985 with Aung Ko Oo

HsinChiTaing and MyinnChiTaing 1998

Nathamee YetKannSin / angels’ loom 2000

ThuDaNu prince slaying the spider which captured the angels April 2008

I have been writing “The limestone caves of Myanmar” for some time and the progress has been slow. The topic covers many limestone caves that I have been to and heard about and it will be a long time before I finish this. I now have the notion to change the heading to a broader “The caves of Myanmar” so as to include sandstone and other caves, including the constructed ones (Gu Phayars / cave temples). This will make finishing this topic a very difficult one so I will post the first part after I finish the Pindaya Shwe U-Min HlaingGu cave and post more as I progress.

Narga Setkyar Mahar Wingabar HlaingNgu TawGyi

Recently, I saw on MRTV-4 the Narga Setkyar Mahar Wingabar HlaingNgu TawGyi in PatheinGyi township near Htonebo quarry. It was found and is being developed by the MyaKyauk Sayardaw. The path to the cave is still a trail and the descent into the cave is lined by bamboo handrails and there are only a few Buddha statutes inside near the cave opening. The cave is a long one and the MRTV-4 group did not go beyond the pool of water which lies across the cave. From the commentary, there seems to be more of the cave on the other side of the water although it was not shown.

The cave contains marvelous stalactites, both from above and below and also a few stalactite pillars. There is also a KyaukMauung (hollow / resonant rock) on the wall at one place. The cave’s length was not mentioned and there seems to be an opening on the side at one place and the air does not seem to be deficient of oxygen as evident by the well lighted candles along the side and the absence of labored breathing of the group.

The cave is not near villages and is still unspoilt yet, but as the cave is now being developed as a Buddhist place of worship, archeology will be impossible unless the Archeology department acts quickly.

There was development of the PeikChinnMyaung cave beyond PyinOoLwin around 1990s. The eastern Yoma is a limestone structure and there will be many more large unspoilt caves in the Shan plateau and the Kayah and Karen States and these might contain evidence of Stone Age hunter gatherers. The Padalin cave is not likely to be the only one where human inhabitation occurred.

KyatGu

When I was young, I read an article in one of the magazines, the Shumawa, Myawaddy or NgweTarYi, about a KyatGu which contained coffins as far as one could go inside. I later saw on tv and the internet, caves in China and the Philippines that are used as burial places; one high up on the cliff beside a stream and people had to go up by using pulleys. The KyatGu has always been on my mind and I want to visit it but do not know whether the article is true or not and also where the cave is situated.

KyeePaSat

The first cave I have been to is the KyeePaSat cave at KyaikHtiYoe pagoda. It is not far from the KyaikHtiYoe pagoda and most pilgrims to the KyaikHtiYoe pagoda get to it. The cave lies beneath the KyeePaSat opening on the top of the rock into which people throw coins. The cave is small and can accommodate only about 6 persons and is supposed to reach the Sittaung river but I do not remember having gone inside for any memorable distance in the 4 times I have been from 1965 to 1999.

Pindaya Shwe U-Min HlaingGu

I got to the Pindaya Shwe U-Min HlaingGu cave the first time in 1970 summer with my friends on the trip to Kalaw, ShweNyaung and Taunggyi. We hired a jeep from Kalaw and went there on a day trip. I always stay at Kalaw and go there through Aungban where the road to Pindaya branches inside the town. The restaurant near the road junction is good. There is also a good food shop which serves KhaukHswe, ToHuu, AhKyaws, Mohingha, tea, coffee, etc., before the road intersection to Pindaya.

Beyond Aungban, there is a place with many pine trees where many movie scenes are shot. Before reaching Pindaya, there is a side road which joins the Yangon – Mandalay highway and one which passes by the Padalin cave where there are wall paintings and artifacts of people who lived 10,000 years ago.

I had always thought that the  Pindaya Shwe U-Min HlaingGu cave lies north of Pindaya but it was only recently that I learned that it is south to the town. The road to Pindaya must have entered it from the south and I remember passing the town and getting around the BokeTaLoke lake to reach the Pindaya Shwe U-Min HlaingGu cave which lies outside the town. On my last visit there in 2007, there is now a road bypassing Pindaya town and reaches the Pindaya Shwe U-Min HlaingGu cave directly.

There are large Nyaung / Banyan trees on the road to the cave which are unlike any Nyaung / Banyan tree I have known elsewhere. This area is the place where local pilgrims stay during the pagoda festivals. The road climbs the hillside and there is a parking lot near the southernmost of the 3 caves which is the largest and the main cave. On my last visit in 2007, there stands a large spider statute and the price who is aiming his bow and arrow at the spider. Local legend says that the NatThamees / female angels bathed at the BokeTaLoke / PoneTaLoke lake and one day, the spider caught them and kept them in the cave. They were rescued by the ThuDaNu prince who slayed the spider.

The main cave contains a stupa / SayTi near the entrance. It is supposed to be built by king Asoka / ThriDhammar ArThawKa MinnGyi and rebuilt by king AhLaung Sithu. There are over 8000 Buddha statutes in the cave and the earliest ones dates from the late 18th centuary AD, according to specialists, from the Buddha images. There is no evidence of earlier times. Only the Buddha images from the early KoneBaung period to modern times.

The cave opening was enlarged during the early 20th centuary and some Buddha images near the entrance were damaged. The Buddha TaTaung is a teak pillar composed of 4 planks on which was sculptured 1140 Buddha images. There is a maze of Buddha images near the main stupa. The Yadanar Muni standing Buddha statute has been adorned with rings on the fingers. There are 2 ChwayHtwet KoTaws / HnitHsu of sandstone sitting Buddha images that are coated with ThitSay / SitSay / laquer which have moisture on the surface from seepage or maybe condensation of atmospheric air.

From the cave entrance, there is a tunnel which goes 290 feet into the hill. It was formed by the water flow in ancient times inside the limestone. The eastern Yoma (Shan plateau, Kayah, Karen, Mon and the Thanintharyi) became land 230 – 210 million years BP (before present) so the limestones were formed under the seabed a long time earlier. The tunnel is quite large and over 10 feet high. It is here that I saw stalectites for the first time in my life. There are both KyaukSet PannSwe and KyaukSet MoeHmyaw and even those that have met and are now a large pillar KyaukSetTaing / stallectite pillar which is estimated to be 200 m. years age.

The KyaukSet MoeHmyaw Ceti (stupa) is near a stallectite post.

There are HsinChiTaing and MyinnChiTaing at one place. I was asked how elephants could enter the cave and the answer is that those with supernatural powers can bring elephants inside. There is also the question of how elephants could climb up to the cave entrance, let alone get inside.

On the wall at one place are KyaukSi KyaukMauung, where there were poles to strike them to make sounds. But they have been removed about 2 years ago on the advice of the specialist who said that the vibrations can damage the tunnel and one cannot demonstrate it anymore.

One place is called the Nathamee YetKannSin / angels’ loom. The wall is shaped like a loom at that place.

There is also a small bridge on the path at one place although there is no water underneath nowadays. There once was water and without the bridge no one could get inside. The place is called NatYayKan / angels’ pond. There is also a NatYayTwinn / angels’ well.

The tunnel ends at 290 ft from the entrance. The legend is that it once connects with the HgnetPyitTaung tunnel in Bagan and that it is now closed by the lime.

MoTaWa Gu

It was also during my Kalaw Taunggyi trip with my friends in 1970 that I got to the MoTaWa Gu at Taunggyi for the first time, thanks to our friend San Lin who got there ahead of us. I got there again in either of the 1998 and 2000 trips (I am uncertain which trip it was) with my family but the MoTaWa Gu was very different from the earlier visit.

We stayed in Kalaw for a few days during which we went to the house of a son of a Sawbwa / SaoPha who was a friend of Nyunt Than’s family. We were invited to dinner and we went there again.

We visited this house during our walk around the town and it was in the part on the west side but I do not remember exactly. He lived there with his sisters and they all were around 40 – 50 at the time. Their dining table was a circular one and had a rotating centre piece and it was the first time I have seen such a dining table. During our talk before dinner, we mentioned about our walk to MyinTaik the nearest railway station in the direction of Thazi. We went there accompanying U Tun Aung, a friend of my father who was also having a vacation in Kalaw. He is a great walker and walks or bicycles whenever he can, rather than take a ride in a car, and even goes bicycling to distant towns by himself or with his friends (his bicycling story was portrayed in the Shwe Thway children journal around 1980s). He (our host) then told us not to enter the old mines near Kalaw if we ever get there as it has not been in use a long time and would be dangerous. Although man made, it would be like a tunnel and a long cave. We did not get there as U Tun Aung has returned.

Our group consisted of 6 classmates attending the 1st M.B. at the time and we stayed in an empty railways quarters on the hill near the Kalaw station, eating at the station Htamin Hsaing / food shop. We came from Rangoon by train as the 3 of us got free railways pass as my (my elder brother Khine Soe is also my classmate) father and the father of Min Lwin worked in the Railways. After Kalaw, we went to stay overnight in a room at the NyaungShwe station, visiting InnLay.

Then we went to Taunggyi and stayed at the Haw / Sawbwa’s house of our Kalaw dinner host. It was in HawKone and having meals was a problem as there were no food shops nearby so we had to walk a long way to the main road and then take a bus ride to the market where there were restaurants and food shops. While there, we met another friend San Lin, who was attending the Rangoon Institute of Technology (he and all 6 of us were Paulians, who passed the 10th Standard from the SHS 6 Botataung in 1969; we were classmates since our 4th – 6th Standards; I met Chit Sein and Percy / Tin Myint in 4th Standard, Nyunt Than, Min Lwin and San Lin in the 6th Standard). San Lin was in Taunggyi, visiting his father who was an engineer in the Construction Corporation / Public Works Department. His father told us not to follow his son. His words were: “do not follow that AhYuu / lunatic”.

However, San Lin had already told us he would take us to the MoTaWa Gu near WaPyarr. From his house (it was his father’s quarters) we took the bus (actually, it was a Ranger Hino truck converted for public transport as a Taunggyi city bus by the RTC, Road Transport Corporation) to the terminal near the Taunggyi College. It was at WaPyarr and from there we had to walk a long time to reach the cave.

There were several Buddha statutes at the opening of the cave and several people taking care of the the MoTaWa PhaYarr / pagoda. We donated cash for an hour’s lighting and went inside after paying homage to the Buddha statute. The cave was about 12 feet in diameter near the opening, but got smaller as we went inside but could walk upright most of the way although we had to go in one after another. At one point, there is a hole in the floor with a stairs and we climbed down about 10 feet to find another tunnel. This one had flowing water and ended after a short distance. I do not remember going in both directions so maybe the other end began near the ladder’s foot. There were several other visitors around there and we had much difficulty passing one another in tight places. We climbed up the stairs and continued along the main passage again.

The wall electric bulbs lighted the tunnel until we reached a small Buddha statute. Here, the electricity light ended and we continued with our torches (we had only 2). The tunnel became smaller and we had to bend down and even crawl at one point but it became larger and we could walk again further inside. I was breathless from the effort and so were others too. After some distance, the tunnel opened up into a large cave and the torch lights could not reach the walls after a few feet. We tried lighting the candles but the matches did not light up. We knew the oxygen level was very low at the point. As we had only 2 torches for the 7 of us, we dared not go further and returned to the mouth cave and back to Taunggyi.

On my visits to the Southern Shan State in 1998 and 2000, I drove there myself and stayed at Kalaw and toured Pindaya, KoneLone and Loikaw in 1998, but only to the Pindaya in 2000 before going to Taunggyi. There, either in 1998 or the 2000, I inquired the way to the MoTaWa Gu and visited it again. This time we had to stop the car near a monastery and I walked to the MoTaWa Gu with my 2 sons. There was a steep climb down which seemed unfamiliar. The route seems to be a different one from the one we were taken along in 1970.

When we got to the MoTaWa Gu it was not as in 1970. There were no caretakers and apart from some boys playing there, the place was deserted. We entered the cave which was without any electricity and after entering a short distance, we came against a brick wall which closed the tunnel completely. Some disaster must have happened in the meantime so that the cave had been closed by the authorities. I had planned to explore the cave at least up to the place I had reached previously and had taken along torches. I returned very much disappointed.

Kawtgun cave

Kawtgun lies 45 miles northeast of Mawlamyaing and 12 miles southwest of Pa-an. There are numerous (thousands of) Buddha figurines including many on the 80 feet long wall. I got there in 1999 on my return from KyaikKhaMi, Setse after visiting Mawlamyaing through Pa-an via the new Mawlamyaing-Pa-an road over the new Attaran and Jyaing bridges. Although I had been to Mawlamyaing during my childhood, this was my first time to Pa-an. I had intended to go to ThaMaNya but on arrival at Pa-an, I heard that the Sayardaw had gone to Thailand and was not in ThaMaNya. We returned and visited the KyaikHtiYoe on the way back. I never reached the ThaMaNya as the Sayardaw passed away before I could make another trip that way again (I still have not visited there again).

The oldest of the Buddha statutes of Kawtgun are dated to be of 7th century A.D., although there are many of later dates. It would be contemporary with the Pyu (1st century BC to 9th century AD) and the Vesali / Waytharli (327 – 818 AD) of Rakhine. The Thuwunnabumi / Suvanabhumi is said to be located not far from Thaton near the present AhYetThaMa and TaikKaLarr villages. Suvanabhumi existed long before Buddha’s time in the 6th century B.C., as it is mentioned in the ZaNetKa Jataka that ZaNetKa went to Suvanabhumi across the seas to find wealth. ZaNetKa Jataka is one of the 10 previous human lives of Buddha and must be a very long time prior to the 6th century B.C. As Kawtgun is dated to be of 7th century A.D., it was established much later than the time when Suvannabhumi flourished.

There is a sandstone inscription in ancient Mon.

The larger statutes are of sandstone and the small ones on the walls are votive tablets. Some of the medium sized statutes on the walls are very similar in style to those at the AhKaukTaung at HtoneBo, near Pyay.

There is also a bamboo pole said to be more than 100 years old without putrefying.

The cave is a limestone cave as limestone is the main structure of the eastern yoma. Many caves of Myanmar are limestone caves as it is easily eroded by water which flows throught the cracks.

Hanthawaddy Kingdom, kingdom of the Mon people, who were powerful in Myanmar (Burma) from the 9th to the 11th and from the 13th to the 16th century and for a brief period in the mid-18th century. The Mon migrated southward from western China and settled in the Chao Phraya River basin (of southern Thailand) about the 6th century AD. Their early kingdoms, Dvaravati and Haripunjaya (qq.v.), had ties with the ancient Cambodian kingdom of Funan and with China and were also strongly influenced by Khmer civilization.

After the Mon moved westward into the Irrawaddy River delta of southern Myanmar in the ensuing centuries, they acquired Theravada Buddhism, their state religion, from Ceylon and South India, and they adopted the Indian Pali script. By 825 they had firmly established themselves in southern and southeastern Myanmar and founded the cities of Pegu and Thaton.

Kawtgun cave

to be continued later

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Naypyitaw The Abode of Kings

September 12, 2010

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walk inside

 

When I first heard about the construction about the Naypyitaw, I was skeptical as the area area is far from Yangon and the nature of the move of the government there with the problems met by the staff who had to go there, leaving their families in Yangon and others those who have to go there for their personal or official duties reinforced my attitude. Later, when electricity problems in Yangon became worse and worse, hearing about the 24 hours electricity and the street lights at the Naypyitaw did not improve my view on the Naypyitaw.

When I went to Bagan-Nyaung Oo by bus in May 2009 I passed through the Naypyitaw in the dark and apart from the well lighted broad streets, some roundabouts, the new Pyinmanar bus depot and the well lighted east west main road crossing the Yangon Mandalay highway with no traffic I did not see anything. It was also the same on the return but as it was past midnight I was sleepy and even saw less.

When the night  train on which we returned from Mandalay in November 2009 stopped at the Naypyitaw station, I woked up and I noticed the grandness of it and the lighted roads that crossed the rail tract and also the Uppatasanti Pagoda for the first time.

When I heard that my cousin ma ma Po from Pathein visited Naypyitaw, I was surprised and even remarked what there is to see!

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit Naypyitaw accompanying Pyone as she had to go there to the Health Ministry. This time, as we stayed there 2 half days, and visited the Ministry of Health, the new pagoda, water park and the zoo, I know more about Naypyitaw, especially as both trips on bus through the Naypyitaw was in full daylight.

The capital is built on a grand scale with modern and far flung projects many still uncompleted. There will be more hotels and sports stadiums for the coming SEA games too and I read about an ice skating complex, the first permanent one in Myanmar (I witnessed the Holiday on Ice show at the Aung San stadium football ground, sponsored by the American embassy when I was young).

The Naypyitaw highway is planned to be a double 4-lane highway connecting HtaukKyan and Naypyitaw. It began north of HtaukKyan and bypasses all towns on the Yangon Mandalay highway. There are paddy fields on the road side at first near Yangon / Hlegu but later on the road goes through uncultivated areas. It is still unfinished and there are only 2 double lane roads although the land for extra 2 lanes has been prepared, but there is not sufficient traffic at present even for the 2 double lane highway.

The road is made of concrete and is not tarred yet, over 1 year after its opening. There are no banking at curves and many vehicles including a highway bus had overturned at curves. The road is also said to be slippery when there is a drizzle and many who are not familiar with the curves have met accidents and deaths on this highway.

The first access road I noticed was to NyaungLayBin, through PhaDo. The first stop was near the road to Phyuu where there is a rest and food centre and at least a fuel shop. The parking lot of the Phyuu rest and food centre is a very large one that can accommodate many vehicles. There are also many food centres that are well constructed.

Near Naypyitaw, paddy fields and villages are seen again.

At the toll gate at Naypyitaw, the highway goes on to Mandalay, and those who want to visit Naypyitaw has to exit the highway. The Myoma Zay is the first stop on reaching Naypyitaw. Later, I had the first view of the Naypyitaw (Shwedagon replica; the name Uppatasanti Pagoda is too difficult for me to remember).

We stayed at the Shwe Taung hotel in Pyinmanar. It has been recommended by a friend who frequently goes to the Naypyitaw on business and she also made the reservation for us and told us where to get off the bus: the Myinn Yoke / horse statute. She also told us the trishaw rate to the Shwe Taung hotel (500 K for 2). There were motorcycle taxis but their rate is higher (1000 K for each). After checking in and a bath, we went to the Ministry of Health on 2 motorcycle taxis. It was a 12 mile trip and we passed by the Uppatasanti Pagoda on the way there.

After finishing the work at the Directorate of Medical Education with the help of our friend Helen Maung Gyi, we visited another friend ko Swe Win. We did not meet other friends: Aye Aye Thaw was abroad on official business and Ohmar San and ko Sein Win are quite far from the Directorate. We also met the elder daughter of Judy Kyin at Helen’s office (she came along with Helen for her EC) and later that evening in the park. We (my elder brother ko Khine Soe and me) grew up like family with Judy, Emily, Cho Cho and Stevie / Thein Lwin (now surgeon) as auntie ma Kyin Ti was my mother’s few best friends and we met every few weeks when we accompanied our parents to their home.

When we got out of the Health ministry, it was around 4 and I asked the motorcycle taximen that I want to visit the Uppatasanti Pagoda and the white elephant and later the park that evening after dinner. They took us there.

Like all other modern government pagodas, the Uppatasanti Pagoda is a hollow pagoda, not a temple nor a stupa. The view from the pagoda was great.

We had to wait till 5 pm to see the white elephant as it was too hot for the elephant to come out before 5, even in August. The female white elephant was caught not long ago in MaungTaw, Rakhine and recently brought to the Naypyitaw by sea and road from Sittway and ceremonies performed for it. Although 38 years old, it is smaller than what I expected.

Afterwards, the motorcycle taximen told us that it would be better to visit the park rather than go back to Pyinmanar and then going there again. Off we went back to the roundabout on the way to the Health ministry, but they made a south turn and we passed by the Municipal hotel and reached the park.

The park is a very huge complex and is very grand. The motorcycle taximen took us around the park as guides and we got to all the interesting places in the park.

There is a ThitKaNet boat over 150 years found in a creek near Naypyitaw, the NgaLaik chaung on 2 May 2007 shown at the water park, Naypyitaw. It was made from a single ThitKaNet / thingan net tree log and is over 43 ft long. It was used during king Pagan while he stayed near Pyinmanar

There are 2 artificial waterfalls at the water park: one is constructed on a real hill and there are 3 falls there and one can take a walk inside (at one point, it passes by the opening under a waterfall and as the wind is blowing, all were sprayed with water droplets); the other is a 3 step water fall with large pools for bathing and water slides.

There are statutes of dwarfs near the steel rope bridge which is swinging in the middle. Beyond it is the water fountain which dances to the music. We had dinner (Shan noodle and HsiKyet noodle) at the shop nearby while listening to the music and watching the water fountain dance. There is a step seating ampheatre on the other side where people can sit and enjoy the scene. When it becomes dark, there are colored lights and the water fountain becomes very beautiful.

Next, we went to the tower and nearby, there is a lake and the lights along the shore changes colours and runs in ant-clockwise direction. The  hill top tower is the highest point of the park from where one can have a bird’s eye view of the Naypyitaw and the park. The hill has acoustic effect of sound of birds and tigers roaring with tiger statutes.

From the tower top, we could seethe Naypyitaw Hall, the open air Academy giving ceremony theater near the Naypyitaw Hall and the Naypyitaw by night views including the Junction Ocean supermarket.

The water park  is a Fantasyland in central Myanmar, the Abode of Kings / Naypitaw. On the way back to the water fountain, we pass by an Octopus statute whose tentacles have rings for swings that are still not in place

It is a place for children’s delight and there is a pond with artificial palm trees. We then had a water fountain by night view.

The next morning, after breakfast, we went to the Naypyitaw zoo which is north of Yezin village far from Naypyitaw. We hired a motorcycle, one of the 2 that took us around the previous day and we went there by ourselves. The zoo is north of the main 8 lane vip road between the Naypyitaw offices and the NanTawYar at the foot of the hills to the east. It took me about 40 mins drive by motorcycle (hired) although the m/c carriers said it is a 25 min drive. We had only 1 hour time there and had to tour with a tricycle inside.There are motorcycles, toke toke / tricycles (6-8 pax) and cabbies (12-16 pax; 4 seats) to tour inside. It is very huge and it will take at least half a day if one goes around walking . The TaingYinTharr KyayYwar is adjacent (further east) to the zoo and one can enter it through the gate in the adjoining fence or directly without visiting the zoo.

There are penguins (kept in air con) and white tigers and all animals are kept in open spaces whenever possible. Apart from them we saw: otters, a crocodile, spotted deers one a tame one which is not afraid of strangers while the other one ran away, Hsat ဆတ္, vultures, 2 white tigers, white breasted Asian bears, KyoeKyar ၾကိဳးၾကာ, Cranes, lion and lion cubs, coloured fish, 2 leopards, a black and a white MyaukHlweKyaw ေမ်ာက္လႊဲေက်ာ္, star turtles ၾကယ္ လိပ္, and Ngamoeyeik crocodiles ငမိုးရိပ္ မိေခ်ာင္း and and night animals. There are other animals there too, but we did not have the time to see all.

There is also a NetKhatTayar PyaKhann နကၡတ္တာရာျပခန္း.

Transport inside the zoo is a must if one does not want to walk half a day. There are motorcycles, toke toke / tricycles (6-8 pax) and cabbies (12-16 pax; 4 seats) to tour inside. The tricycle dropped us at the last stop near the main entrance where there were penguins and night animals and after watching we walked back to the entrance just in time for lunch and checkout before we went to the bus depot on our return.

here are some comments on my Naypyitaw post in FB

Maung Nyo Thank you. It’s a brand new city in the jungle. What an idea!

Alvin Sumedha Lee I had early glimpses of the new city when someone posted some pictures on a blog (I cannot remember which blog now) about 2 years ago. Then those pictures were removed a few days later. I remember feeling nostalgic because some of the buildings meant for residential quarters looked like Singapore’s residential buildings many years ago when I was a kid. Thanks for sharing your pictures.

Nyi Win

when I saw the Naypyitaw and its grandness, the movie and novel “Adventurers” came to my mind
Dax, when he returned from Europe, a grown up, after his father’s death, was met by the El Suprermo, who was his father’s comrade in revolution
He was taken to the …Presidential palace and when he showed surprise and asked where the slums that were there are, the Supremo replied: this palace is for all the people

Cho Win Basic needs is most important rather than super structures

Maung Nyo Dear Cho Win, I agree with you. Spending money on a show city in time of people’s poverty and starvation is irresponsible.

Nyi Win

recently, I saw on MRTV, a North Korean tv program about the fireworks celebrations for the 50th anniversary of their Liberation
it was very grand and impressive
the spectators are well dressed ones in full military uniform, clapping in uniso…n
there are no civilians seen in the show
with the state of poverty and hunger in N Korea, the extravagant celebration is a sad one
the money should be spent wisely on feeding, teaching and promoting the health of the people
and this program is shown to promote N Korea
hiding their dirty work at the Martyr’s mausoleum desecrating our Martyrs and intruding on our sovereignty
powerful leaders, well fed and surrounded by toadies, do not see reality, especially when their media is controlled, leading to wrong decisions
they might not know the suffering of their people
as was in the immediate post Nargis period

Maung Nyo Hear, hear!

Patrick Khoo Thanks for your photos. Do they allow anybody to visit?

Nyi Win

Patrick,
I think so, as many expatriates are visiting there on business
and maybe touring too
the hotels are said to be good (I stayed at one in Pyinmanar)
the Kumudra which my company uses have rooms which cost 20,000 30,000 40,000 K and more …for locals
the hotels in Naypyitaw looks grand
there is a mountain top hotel on the edge of the Shan Yoma outside Naypyitaw in operation too
I watched a tv program about it
GRAND!!!
and might cost a fortune to stay there
and maybe about half an hour drive from Naypyitaw

Nyi Win

ko Alfred, I am sorry I did not tell anyone about my visit and missed fulfilling your wish
although the trip there to the Health ministry was planned, the decision to tour there was made on the spot to visit the Uppatasanti Pagoda, water par…k and the zoo

Maung Nyo Thank you for the photos. The Nayphidaw Zoo look good. Maybe people there might be enjoying it and visitors may mistake them for the zoo’s inhabitants!

Joan Mya Thin Khine Doctor, you should organize a Photo show of your collection one.. you’ve been to many places and had so many nice and memorable photos….

Nyi Win

Joan, thanks for our encouragement
my photos are amateur ones taken by a Canon IXUS 400 old model (pre 2004) in the medium mode so as not to have photos larger than 500 kb
also ko Khin Soe’s old Panasonic of similar qualtiy
I am having a phot…oshow here on FB for all FB members to see
and at my blog: Nyiwin’s blog
https://nyiwin.wordpress.com/
for others who are not on FB

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Yangon circular train

September 10, 2010

Recently, I went to Kamaryut by circular train from the Hledan station which is just a few minutes walk from home. I expected a long wait and was prepared to take a bus if there is no train within half an hour. Luckily, as I was asking the ticket clerk about the next train to Kamaryut station, he replied that it was due and as I heard the train coming from the right direction, I quickly bought the ticket and was surprised to find that it cost only 10 kyats. Later on, I was more surprised to learn that the ticket covers the distance from Hledan station to Okkalapa (the minimum bus fare is 50 kyats for a portion of the route).

I quickly got on the train and there were few passengers on the coach and it was an easy ride to the next station. The coach is quite run down but still of newer age than the ones I rode during the 1960s. There, I asked the 2 next trains back before I went to my parents in law house and returned in time for the first train, but it was late and when I got on the last coach, it was crowded. However, crowding on the circular train is nothing compared to the buses and the MRT in Kuala Lumpur during office hours. There were the usual vendors too: betel and cigarette vendor, grapes vendor, fried snacks vendor, indigenous medicine vendor_the usual scene without which a ride on the circular train would be incomplete.

Back at the Hledan station, I noticed KyweKawThee vendor, children’s toy vendor, fast food vendor, kitchen utensils vendor on the platform and in front of the ticket counter and there were also other food shops near the station beyond the rail tracks on the far side. I had walked and enjoyed the view at the Hledan station many times in the past while I accompanied Pyone to her clinic which was situated nearby.

I have not taken a ride on the circular train for a long time and this recent trip brings out childhood memories when I attended the St. Paul’s High School. We lived at the Ahlone railways quarters at the time and our house is just beside the Mission station. My brother and I attended school by circular rail when we reached the 5th Standard. We had to get up and be ready for the 06:03 train. If we missed it, there is a 06:15 train. The next train is too late for school which begins at 07:00 and we had to be in class in time after a walk from the Central station.

School is over by noon and we walked to the Central station and took the 12:40 train or the 13:08 train. Sometimes, we walked to the Scott market for haircut or some purchases and took the second train from the AhLanPya PhaYarr Lann station there.

There were many friends who went to school with us:

Zaw Tun Maung lived near the corner of the Ahlone road and Fytche / Baho road and was our classmate. We played football together but I was not good at it. He later became a dentist and is now in the USA.

Kyaw Khine who also lived in the Ahlone railways quarters and moved to my school after it was nationalized and became the State High School No. 6, Botataung, from the SHS 1 Dagon / English Methodist High School. He was our school goalkeeper. One day after school, as we were waiting for the train to leave, someone pulled his KhaBonSa and his school longyi dropped down. Instead of picking it up, he called the prankster back to pick up his longyi and waited like that for a few minutes until the prankster had to return and pick up the longyi he had pulled down. Kyaw Khine later became a seaman.

Myo Thaike Tun who lived at the corner of Forest road and Mission road and used the Gymkhama station. He became a trader and sold medicine and I met him frequently after I became a doctor. The last time I met him was at the wedding of my niece about 5 years ago.

There were also others from other stations_Hume road / Hone Lann station and Kemmendine stations_ and schools including those from SHS 1 Latha who got on the train at the AhLanPya PhaYarr Lann station but they were not close.

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HtokeKant Thein Temple

September 8, 2010

The HtokeKant Thein is near the famous ShitThaung pagoda and is situated on a height of 200 feet. One has to go up the 18 steps of the stone stairs. The ordination hall is surmounted by a stupa and and surrounded by 4 smaller ones at each corner.  The form of the pagoda is like that of the ShitThaung pagoda. The hall is constructed with stone blocks while the stupas are built with bricks. The west side is semi-circular in shape and a Sabbath hall is attached to its southwest. The whole structure is 64 feet high.

The donor is king Mong Phalaung who built it in 1571. The reason was that the country was in a state of turmoil and governers and high officials were going to revolt against the king. The temple was built to prevent the fall of the country by fulfilling a common saying at the time: when a house is worn, support it with a pole; when a country is disintegrating, support its beams / htoke

To reunite the country and to be able to govern efficiently, the royal astrologers advised the king to build the temple with the donation of governors, landlords, officials and the common people. That is why the images of the governors, landlords and officials with their wives were carved inside it.

There are 2 inner pavements inside the structure. Going clockwise, one reaches the relic chamber at the end. The chamber is built at the height of 16 feet. The room is said to be the place where the Buddhist Archbishop and senior Sanghas of the kingdom met to discuss the religious affairs. The first inner pavement is 9 ft high and 6 ft wide while the second is 14 ft high and 11 ft wide.

By studying the costumes and ornaments such as the crown, headdresses, coiffure, necklaces, ear-rings, pendants, wristlets, rings, hairpins,the crown, headdresses, coiffure, necklaces, ear-rings, pendants, wristlets, rings, hairpins, upper garments, baldrics, waistbands, etc, one can know about the status of the persons concerned during the middle period of Mrauk U dynasty. In fact, the HtokeKant temple is a museum of traditional costumes of Mrauk U period. The figures in the temple epitomize the various Mrauk U period costumes and ornaments.

Headdresses of 40 kinds, baldric 9, girdles 5, rings 81, necklaces 9, 60 types of pendant stars, 20 types of bracelets, string of flowers 5, 8 kinds of hairpin, hair-clip pendants 8, toe-rings 7 and shawls 5. There were 64 varieties of coiffure / hairdo.

Originally, the images in the niches of the inner pavement and that of the relic chamber were cast ones. After the fall of the city they all were removed. The present images were like those from the ShitTaung temple: brought from nearby places by the donors to be worshipped.

The image in the relic chamber is 5 ft 7 in high and the robe is knotted on the breast. It was brought from Munthamee mraung hillock in 1970.

The temple is floored, roofed, vaulted and arched with stone blocks. Owing to the construction with stone blocks and its massive size it is the feat of the Rakhine architects of the time.

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Rock temples of Bagan

September 5, 2010

 

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P AKO LZW NanPhayar 97

 

P AKO LZW in front of the KyaukKuu U-Min 2003

 

Most stupas and temples of Bagan are built with bricks. There was even a school of thought that the dry weather of Bagan was due to forests being cleared from baking the bricks for the many Bagan pagodas but this is not true. There is evidence that Bagan weather during the time of Bagan Empire was the same as it is now and that many bricks were transported from distant parts of the empire. I will write about the topic later.

There are few rock pagodas in Bagan. One is the Shweseegone pagoda, a stupa, whose construction began during the time of king Anawratha / Anuruddar but completed only during the time of king KyanSitTharr / Kalan SitTharr. There are only 2 temples in Bagan built with rock: the NannPhayarr near the Manuha pagoda in MyinnKaBar and the KyaukKuu U-Min east of Nyaung U.

I have been to the Manuha pagoda since the first time I got to Bagan in 1969 and again also in 1975 but only heard of the NannPhayarr near it when I first worked with the Road to Mandalay. It has very good stone sculptures and is one of the places where all tourists are taken to by tour guides. It is built of rock bricks and is a small temple with only one opening and with few windows that closed with perforated slabs so that it is dark inside. There are stone statutes on pillars that have Hindu deities. It shows mixed religion of the time. The KyarPann, KyarNwe and the Brama sculptures are very life like.

It is said to be built on the site where the king Manuha resided during his captivity, hence the name NannPhayarr.

In the book History of the17 Bagan pagodas by the MyaTaung Sayardaw, it is written: Manuha / MaKuHta’s son ThuDhammarit; ThuDhammarit’s son AhThaWut Dhammar;  AhThaWut Dhammar’s son NargaThaMann; this NargaThaMann is the great grandson of king Manuha / MaKuHta and was a minister during the time of king Narapati Sithu. He built the temple in the memory of his great grandfather king Manuha.

Sayar Zawgyi wrote:

တိုင္တိုင္းမ်က္ႏွာ

ေက်ာက္သားလႊာတြင္ ကာယတုတ္ခိုင္ခန္႕ခန္႕ထိုင္လ်က္ ၾကာကိုင္ဝဲယာ

ယိမ္းႏြဲ႕ကာျဖင့္

မဟာ ျဗဟဟာမ

ပန္လက္ရာမွၾကာေကာ ့ၾကာေကြး

တေမာ့ေသးကိုေငးရျပန္၏ ညီေငးမိ

I had been to the NannPhayarr many times accompanying the tours while with the Road to Mandalay, but on my last visit to Bagan in 2009, it was locked and I could not enter it to view the sculptures and my camera’s battery was not good so I could not take outside photos.

This NargaThaMann the great grandson of king Manuha / MaKuHta was a controversial person and is supposed to be either the father of AhLaung SiThu 1113 – 1160, involved in an insurrection against king AhLaung SiThu or as in this case, a minister during the time of king Narapati Sithu 1165 – 1211 by different sources. The last 2 could be mention of different episodes of the same person but the first assertion is in conflict with the traditional view that king Kyansitthar married his daughter ShweEinThe to SawLu’s son Saw Ywann.

The KyaukKuu U-Min / Kyauk Gu U-Min is east of Nyaung U and lies at a distance on the bank of the Ayeyarwaddy. I first heard about it and got there while I was with the Road to Mandalay. The guests are not taken there as travel time by boat takes too long and the road is not good at the time. The staff of the Road to Mandalay planned for a trip during a time when there were no guests and I went along with them. They hired a boat as with their previous trip in the previous season. We had to walk from the river bank near the mouth of a dry stream and visited the temple. It is a 3 storey building built with rock bricks and there are light holes in the flat roof and the upper 2 floors for illumination. It is built adjacent to a cliff and the roof is level with the cliff top.

The 2nd time I got there was also while I was with the Road to Mandalay. I went there alone on bicycle beyond Nyaung U and it was a hard ride as the road was not good and it is far. When I got there at the cliff top entrance, the gate was locked and I had to shout a long time before a monk (the abbot) came with dogs and a DhaMa. He threatened me with the DhaMa, saying that I am a thief and a nogood person AhLaGarr Kaung. He thought I was a Buddha statute thief and it took quite some time for me to calm the abbot and explain that a thief would have climbed over the wall and entered in secrecy whereas I, a good person called out for the gate to be opened. The monk let me in and took me to the monastery nearby. There, he offered me jaggery and tea.and I explained who I was. He gave me the “visitor’s book” on which I wrote about my visit. I offered alms and asked for permission to tour the pagoda. It was the 2nd time I came near death or grevious hurt (the first was while I was driving to Mandalay and a near major accident occurred at the level crossing near the 30th Light Infantry Regiment north PyinPoneGyi).

The 3rd time I got there was also while I was still with the Road to Mandalay in 1997. There was a week without tours and as I could not get enough time to return home, my family came to Mandalay for a trip to Mandalay, Ava, Sagaing, PyinOoLwin and Bagan. At Bagan, we hired a van and went to the KyaukKuu U-Min.

The last time I got there was during our 2003 Beinthano-Magway-Minbu-ShweSetTaw-KyaungTawYar-Bagan-Popa-Pyay-Sriksetra trip. I drove the whole trip as usual as I do not believe others in my family can drive as safely as I can. I feel unsafe if anyone of them is driving even in Yangon so I cannot let them drive for me on highways. This time, there is new Nyaung U – Myingyan road and we could reach the KyaukKuu U-Min via a side road from the highway and the road is much better.

The KyaukKuu U-Min was built by king Narapati Sithu. The PhonePann, ChuuPann, ChuuNwe, Keinnayar sculptures on the corner posts and the engravings on the outer walls are much to be admired and tourists who came with tour books get to the KyaukKuu U-Min although normal tours does not include it in their iteniaries.

There is also a legend regarding the name of the pagoda. The PanTiTa MaHtai, disciple of the HngetPyitTaung Reverend Sayardaw Ottarar Ziwa MaHtai was falsely accused by a woman and to prove his innocence, the PanTiTa MaHtai made an oath on top of the NatThaMee KamParr / angel cliff in front of the king and populace that “if he were of good character, the machete / Dhama and the sharpening stone shall swim upriver“and he threw them into the Ayeyarwaddy.  The machete / Dhama and the sharpening stone, instead of sinking, were afloat and moved upriver. The king and populace became very of the PanTiTa MaHtai and built a stone and brick temple at the cliff where the  MaHtai resided. As the sharpening stone / DahThwayKyauk swam upriver, it was called KyaukKuu U-Min and as the machete / Dhama swam upriver, there was a DhamaKuu Phayar.

On my last visit to Bagan in 2009, I did not get to the KyaukKuu U-Min as I went there by bus and hired a car for only their standard places.

These 2 rock temples were built during the time of king Narapati Sithu / Sithu 2.

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Bagan territory

September 5, 2010

the Khayaings and Taiks of Bagan era

There were 4 Bagans in succession:

Thamudarit king 127-152 A.D. Sasana 671-696   /  188-213 A.D. [nephew of ThuPyinyaNargaraSeinda last king of SriKhittra ] established nation in (29 Myanmar era) 107 A.D. at YoneHlutKyun. 13 years after the fall of Sriksetra

Son in law PyuSawHti 167-242 AD of Tagaung descent was crown prince.

ThayLeKyaung king 344 -387 A.D. built Thripyisaya in 266 ME [405 A.D.] Sasana 888 A.B.

PopaSawYahanMin 613-640 A.D. reduced the Myanmar calendar 562-560=2 640 A.D and built TampaWaddi

PyinPyarMin 846-878 built present day Bagan

Although Bagan was first established in in 29 ME 107 AD after the disarray in Sriksetra, it coexisted with the Pyu Empire until its destruction by the Nanchao in the 9th century A.D.

Bagan is composed of KhaRaings and Taiks.

Only the original areas are classified as KhaRaings and they include_

11 MyitTharr / LaeTwinn KhaRaings also called 11 villages:

PinLae_at the southernmost,

PyiManarr / MyitMaNarr_on the west bank of PannLaung river, just north of KuMae

MyitTharr_east of PannLaung river,

YaNgone / YwaMoneGyi / YaMone_on the west bank of PannLaung river, between it and the Samon river,

MyinKhoneTaing_on the east bank of PannLaung river,and controls the land to the Shan foothills,

PaNan­_west of Kyaukse, on the east bank of PannLaung river

TaMote / TaMoteHsoe_at the confluence of the Zawgyi and PannLaung rivers,

ThinTauung_north of Kyaukse, west of Zawgyi river, near SunYaeKan

MetKhaYar_at the confluence of the Zawgyi and MyitNge rivers,

TaPyetThar_ west of MetKhaYar, near HseYwar and OhhHteinTaung and

KhanHmu / KhanHlu / KhanLuu / Mon / MonKharaing_ at the confluence of the PannLaung and MyitNge rivers

6 Kharaings west of the Ayeyarwaddy in Minbu area including Saku, MaPinSaRa, LeiKaing, SaLinn

TaungPyone Kharaing in the area north of Mandalay

Apart from these, none others are called Kharaings and the Kharaings are the original Bamar and Bagan territories.

Next are the Taiks and they are considered to be areas won over for further settlement as the word Taik means “attack”. The Taiks include_

The area down river of Monywa on the Chindwin river and Tagaung on the Ayeyarwaddy river and from south to north they are: LaTae Taik, MokeHsoeChone Taik, MokeHsoeBo Taik, PinSe Taik and NyanThar Taik

There are 10 PinGyi Taiks west of the Chindwin river

TaMaKhar Taik at the upper Yaw river

PaHsit Taik near the 6 Kharaings west of the Ayeyarwaddy in Minbu area

MoneTaungTaik south of the Mone river

The PyiTawThar Kyuun / KyuunTaw near MiChaungYae is the southernmost Taik area.

The aeas beyond the Taiks are called NaingNgan.

Bamar / Bagan territory only included the KhaRaings and Taiks until Anawratha 1044 – 1077 expanded Bagan and built the 2nd ynmar Empire.

Anawratha reached the following during his travels:

Bengalarr and had rock statutes of musicians playing Si / drum, Saung / harp, Nyinn, LinnKwinn / , See, Sote, SiPote, MuYoe, TaPoe, many Khayar / trumpets, Hne / flute, PaLway / flute and dancers made (which came to life and played when king Alaung Sithu / Sithu 1 reached there.

NyaunfShwe Inn / Inlay where he built PawRiThut pagoda

GanDarLaRit Tayoke country to get the Buddha tooth (did not get it)

16 years after acsencion, Anawratha built the following 43 towns so as there will be no confusion between Tampawaddy and Kanbawza of the Maw Shans: KaungSin, KaungTon, NgaYone, NgaYinn, ShweGu, YinnKhe, MoeTatt, KaHtar, HtiKyinn, MyaTaung, TaGaung, HinnMaMaw, KyanHnyat, SanPaeNaGo, NgaSintKuu, KoneTharYar, MaGwayTaYarAung, Oate, YayNantThar, NaGaMauk, YinnMarTae, SoneMyo, TonePone, MaDaYar, ThetKaeKyinn, WaYinnDoke, TaungPyoneGyi, MyoTin, LaHae, ShintMaTet, MetKhaYar, TaOhn, MyinSaing, MyitTharr, HaingTet, TharGaRa, NyaungYann, ShweMyo, PetPar, MyoHla, KaeLinn, Hswar, BarYarNaThi

The LaeTwinn 11 villages Anawratha developed are: PinLae, MyitMaNarr, MyitTharr, MyinKhoneTaing, YaMone, PaNan, MetKhaYar, TaPyetThar, ThinTauung, TaMoteHsoe and KhanLuu

The Bagan territory during the times of king Anawratha is:

PaDeikKaYar Kalarr country to the west

NgaTuu NgaNarr YayTwinMee to the northwest

GanDarLaRit Tayoke country to the north

KaWainTa PannThay country to the northeast

SaTeitTa PinKar country to the east

ArYawSa Jyun country to the east

The Bagan territory during the time of king Sithu -2 / Narapati Sithu is:

Thanlwin to the east

MiShaGiri to the west

NgaSaunggyan to the north

TaLaing ThaYay / and Dawei to the south

The Bagan territories that insurrected during the time of king KyawSwar are:

Rakhine Dhanyawaddy, MiShaGiri, Thet, Myone, PannTaWar

NgaPaMon of Pegu revolted along with the 32 towns taking the name of TaRaPhyarr

WaReYu of Mottama along with the 32 towns

Yodayar / Ayutthhia, ThaNinTharYi, ThaukKaTae / Sukothai, PeikThaLauk / Phisanu, LaKunn, TheeMarr, AhKyaw, MaingSan, LinnZinn / Vientiane, LaWite, MyetHnaMae

ZinnMae / Chaingmai Yuun country with 57 towns

KyaingTon / Kengtung Gon country with 20 towns

KyaingYone with 12 towns

The towns east of Thanlwin: MaingMaw, SiKhwin, HoThar, LarThar, MoeNarr, SanDarr, MoeWuun, KyaingMarr, MaingMyinn

Only the 9 SawLon Shan countries west of Thanlwin and Pathein 32 towns were under KyawSwar’s rule.

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