The People

paohpeople.info

The Taunghsu so called by the Shan are well known all over Thailand and Cambodia, and as far as the Lower Mae Khong-about Kassac and the rapids of the thousand Islands. In the Shan Highland plateau, they are cultivators. When they travel abroad they are most commonly known as elephant and horse dealers.



The Taunghsu called themselves pa-oh which immediately suggests Pwo(Pwaoh). The Taunghsu form more than one half the population of the Myelat, and the state of Has-Htumg( His-saing) is so completely Taunghsu that the chief is of that race. Elsewhere they are found in majority, all over the eastern part of the southern Shan state, but they do not spread northwards where there are the black and striped Karen which compose 15% of the population of the Shan state. In Lower Burma they are found in Sittang and Salween river vallies.

There are two distinct groups-the lowland and highland Pa-oh with two dissimilar economic way of life which builds a social gap between the two in their national advancement. The lowland Pa-oh with the construction of railways and roads, find their movement easier and quicker. This elevate their standard of living. The progress made by the lowland Pa-oh is found to exceed far more than that of the highland Pa-oh. Living mostly among the Pwaoh and Sgaoh, the lowland Pa-oh enjoy a more secure and quiet village life than those in villages in proximity to the Burmese villages on the main roads and river banks. A few by force of environment of social pollution, allow themselves to be Burmanized. But the majority maintaining loyalty to their mother tongue and national identity, prevent themselves to be a vanishing race.

Though they are opportune for educational progress, most Pa-oh do not encourage their children continue for higher education, and take less interest in the participation of civil and military services. The few who enter the services bear themselves to be good characters and receive high esteem for their trust worthiness.

On the whole, the lowland Pa-oh are cultivators, and as land owners, they are thrifty and modest not to fall into debt. During the world depression of the thirties, it was found that a very few lands belonging to the Pa-oh farmers lost to the Indian money lenders-the Chettiyars.

The main occupation is growing the staple food paddy. After the harvest, they enter into the cold season cultivation where dew is the deciding factor for good cash crop. After storing paddy for their family yearly consumption in the barns, the surplus paddy is sold to the brokers who collected the paddy in the country and recultivation consists mainly of two crops-peanut and tobacco for cash, and vegetables are grown for home consumption, as a practice to be independent of their neighbors.

Money derived from their cultivation is spent frugally on family welfare but liberally on the enjoyment of festivals and still lavishly on “Merit making” . It has been observed that religious practices are still extravagant and even more elegant as modernization takes place in the country.

As “Law and Order” takes care of the public security, martial arts as a measure for self-defense”, is no more an important exercise. Among the lowland Pa-oh, who, inlarge number, are well-to-do farmers . Like others, they too suffer when the Burmese Socialist Economic Construction comes into force and totalitarian system is imposed on everyone in the country.

The highland Pa-oh to this day adhered to their national tradition and culture, which to such an extent, an indication of conservativism. But still the distribution of population is more in density as compared to that of the neighbouring Shan. As a matter of fact, the highland Pa-oh population is several times more than those in the lowland where there are many Pa-oh big villages (over five hundred houses). Whereas, in the highland, villages are of equal size and located within an equal distance from one of another. The Pa-oh population concentrated mainly in the two districts-Taunggyi and Loilem and area not over 8,000 square miles. The land is a rolling high plateau, interrupted with a few high mountain ranges, stretching from Kong Sang in the North towards the Karenni border in the South, and an expanse of fertile land roughly from Pawnlaung river in the west and Salween river in the reaching Thailand border.

Inlay Lake, noted for its floating villages, is situated in the middle of the land. People of In-lay, known as In-Tha, speak a Burmese dialect, but unlike the Burmans, they are industrious. Each village specialized in a particular trade, such as, gold or silver works, black smithy, weaving and other handicrafts. Besides the home industry, pieces of land constructed in the lake where cultivation of high yield crops are for commercial produce. Fish is abundant here.

Higher on the hill sides live the Yaung-Yo who speaks a different Burmese dialect to that of the In-Tha. They are less developed and live mainly on dry cultivation. Along side the Taung-yo are Pa-Laung who still live in long houses. On the whole, these are the few people who contributed to the growth of the land.

Since the Pa-oh are the majority, the national economy is virtually in their hands. Inveterate as they are, the Pa-oh live on the Mother Earth and take good care of it. In their rudiment ways, they conserve the soil by rotation of crops and periodically leave portions of the land for animal grazing, enabling the droppings to scatter in the fields. There are lands for rice, wheat, garlic. Peanut, potatoes, soy bean, all kinds of pulses, and plantations for sain-la (mulberry leaves for Burmese cheroots) tea, coffee and other fruit trees. Fruit trees flourish here so richly that any processing of canned industry would benefit the pa-oh growers. One foreign firm once constructed a canning factory in this area. It was, however, he nationalized and the plant was shifted to Mandalay where tin provision was manufactured for the military use.

A village life is an all day toil in the field and it is uniform everywhere. Morning starts with hustle bustle of womanfloks preparing to go to work. First, early in the morning, they cook and prepare food for the family while the men (heads of the families) chant their daily meditation before the family shrine. With mid-day lunch in the baskets which are slung across their shoulders they gather their hoes and hurry towards their respective fields. Weeding and harrowing are easily done by the hoe, and done the whole day long. There is a break at mid-day during which the workers partake their lunch and have some rest.

The elders, having chores to finish at home, leave late in the morning. First they let loose the cattle penned during the night. The cow dung and excretion of the animals are collected and heaped in the pit prepared for fermentation. This is one method where organic manure is prepared from the refuse of the domestic animals, the Pa-oh rear. The animals are domesticated not for milk or meat, but for the soil of the Mother Earth. These cattle are herded by hired persons who separate one herd from the other in the fields reserved for grazing. The number of heads of the cattle is usually between 90 to 100 and there are three or four herds belonging to a village. In the evening again the elders leave for home early as they have to round up the cattle for the night. The young, however, usually return from the fields at dust time less if they are seen returning while there is day light, neighbours would say they are lazy.

Night time is usually quiet but occasionally interrupted by a mute musical note denoting the name of the girl for courting. Serenade by the teenagers are common on the musical instrument used is the flute attached to the dried shell of gourd fruit. The art is to stimulate the romantic feeling of the girl for courting and only rustic way of life could appreciate it in feeling. The courting custom is made at night time. The man comes up to the house and occupy a place by the hearth which is a communal place where the house-hosts should sit near the fire, to keep themselves warn before going to bed. Nor understaindable he has no business with the elders who in all formality play host to him till it is time for them to retire to bed.

Sometimes, there is only a couple left to themselves, but very often a number of boys and girls sit around the fire place and talk right into the night. There is nothing as hands holding, hugging and kissing. Generally in every village, there is only one rooster for crowing and which gives times signal. By custom, when this rooster starts crowing the young people take their leave and go home. When the man and girl fall in love, the parents or the guardians take charge and made necessary arrangement for their marriage. Formal wedding ceremony is not an elaborate event. Normally, the bride and groom would make their vow in the presence of the elders who would tie of coil strings on their hands while wishing them well and good. The simple formality binds the couple man and wife. Divorce cases are rare and once a man is married, he has no further romantic life to go flirting, as the wife takes care of his comfort and need.

Flirting is generally permitted to take place in the open when working in the fields. The man has to learn to play the flute well if he wishes to be a good flirt. During midday rest, the young flirt would play a particular tune on his flute, calling the name of the girl he wants to flirt with. The girl in the next field across, on hearing the flute music (if played to her) would realize straight that someone is wanting to flirt with her. If she is in the mood, all she has to do is walk up and down in the field, indicating that she too wants to flirt. What follow is the boy continues to play his flute with the love songs. Sometimes they would leave their fields and meet halfway where they would flirt. But, it is a clean flirtation.

The peasant life is not drudgery but equally enjoyed by the Pa-oh. Tenant is not known, and instead “aid and loan” labor system is a traditional communal practice to solve labor problem, when and where extra laborer is needed to finish the work in time. Loan of labor is paid back with an equal amount of labor loaned. Communal labor as to public works such as roads and bridges is undertaken as a responsibility and needs no urge.

With a voluntary sense of duty, the villages are kept clean. Water for public utility and sanitation are provided for in every village. Village monastery is understood to be the symbol of Buddhist establishment where religious festival takes place and commences from. As parents are head of a family, monks in large measure, take great care to maintain the morality of the villagers. Drunkenness and rowdiness are not encouraged in the village. Killing of animals, wild or domestic, as a part of Buddhist teaching, is prohibited in the village vicinity. Should there be any bad character in a village, one in a thousand and incorrigible, the elders and the monks banish the said man for life.

Leading a simple life, the dress the Pa-oh prefer, is made plain from black colouued material, preferable of high quality. Man wears a pair of pants, girdled at the waist, over a shirt on top of which is worn a jacket. The woman wears a garment, a sort aof camisole, under a smock-frock and over it is a cardigan of velvet or serge, and black of dark blue are favorite colures. To keep herself warn and to prevent insect bites, legging are used. Both man and woman war turbans of bold color with prominent patterns in variety, done up in fashion particularly not in the same style as that of the Shan. The head dress of a woman is elaborate, and the turban is fashion to symbolize the head of a flying dragon ( the matriarchal symbolic). The hair is done up in a chignon and a large hair pin denotes the status of wealth the wearer has.

All Pa-oh are cultivators, and such as they are, there is no distinction in class behavior among them. All possess the means of production and each is independent in the economic life. Not one is hampered by any social discrimination. Among the people a classless society is prevailed, and as Buddhists, the concept of being rich or poor depends on the amount of merits one contributes in life.

“Merit making” is the pivot of the Pa-oh economic life. They are not extravagant in taste and enjoy religious festivals. They make pilgrimage to distant religious centers to worship and give donation- the practice which is meant “merit making”. After they would return home and resume the daily toil- to work and save up for another “merit making”.

Significantly, monastery is the mainstream of Pa-oh culture and traditional custom. Monastery plays the largest part in the molding of cohesiveness and national spirit without which national units would not have been possible. It, however, is not only established to conduct religious ceremony but to promote and guide the people in moral armament and social security.

There are many monks who follow the steps of their predecessors and continue to do research in the know ledge of herbal, and from it they teach the native herbalists and their medication. Normally, the medicine is extracted from the herb (root, stem and leave) and prepared as a powdered condiment. In some cases, boiled herb water is used as fomentation and ablution in cases of pain and burn. The condensation of hard-boiled herb-water is used as medicine in chronic diseases. Though the preparation is not perfect form medication, it has produced good result where no modem medical aid could reach people in remote places.

When and where modem health programmed covers and an area, the general public health in that certain area, has improved remarkably. However, it is yet early to dispense with the herbalists and their medication. It is deplorable that the infant mortality rate is high and the span of life is very short. The death rate of middle age is very high because the demand of hard labor of them is acute.

The knowledge and incentive of martial arts come from the monastery which is the centre of every festival. There, in the monastery, are sets of drums and gongs, big and small. A variety to suit any occasion called for. The beating of drums and gongs, the band is played by villagers. The band is practiced and played and to complete the exercise, one of two persons would roll up their trousers and step out to perform the arts as taught to them in their early age. It is the monks who induce the art to the youngsters with the fundamental of self-defense.

Historically, the reputation of the Pa-oh swordsmanship had been played down. There were many instances where Pa-oh swordsmen were engaged in battles. Ba Yin Naung, the warrior, mobilized a contingent of Pa-oh swordsmen in the attack and occupation of Ava and Alaung Paya with his Pa-oh cavalry in the invasion of Siam.

From the monastery, young Pa-oh are induced with the desire that self-defence is an essential art for manhood. As they grow older and in their teens, they undergo a series of training under capable masters. The training is done in the jungle. First, the lesson of freehand art is taught, then with stick or staff; when this art is mastered, sword fencing is taught last and for gradation. On graduation, each student is to fight his way through the gates where swordsmen are planted to cut him down. The art itself is a combination of Karate and judo, but locally is known as “lai dong and Lai swa”.

The characteristic traits of the Pa-oh people are: loyalty, honesty, and their love of a peaceful life. Their taste is simples though their hospitality (like all members of the Karen race) is proverbial. As cultivators, they are industrious and learn the hard way to conserve the land they till so that they would be self-sufficient and may not be in want to feed themselves. They understand the value of independence from their toil.
On the whole, the simple life they persue helps them to be humble and gracious. The learn to suffer silently whatever hard ship mated out to them. But when human self-restraint comes under stress and strain, it snaps to let loose uncontrollable temper. The Pa-oh are not the exception. The turn of history is like the writing on the wall; for, the destiny of a people is defined by its own men of principle who, in time of crucial period, stand up for the right to lead their own people.