Eight or ten years ago we heard much of the hard-working, money-loving Madrassi supplanting the Burmese land-owner and cultivator of Lower Burma. But with a somewhat close observation I am convinced he is not succeeding in this much faster than the Burman finds it to his own advantage to allow the black man from across the Bay of Bengal to succeed him. The same thing is true if it comes to larger trading. In such lines as the Burman cares to enter, he gives a good account of himself. If there is one man who will beat him in trade, that man is the Chinaman. There are certain kinds of employment the Burman dislikes, and he avoids them; but in his chosen lines he is not discounted by comparison.
The Burmese are racially very proud. There is a good deal of dignity in this pride, as well as of less worthy elements. Among themselves the Burmese have no caste system, except that of the pagoda slave, hence all kinds of work are honorable. But when the Indian, with his caste system, comes in and classifies life into the infinitesimal distinctions of respectability, and the reverse in all kinds of work whereby all domestic service is put under this caste system, the proud Burman refuses to be a servant! Who can blame him? He is a standing protest against a system that is wholly wrong. In Upper Burma, where he is not so much in competition with the caste man, he takes fairly well to all manner of work.
Even when he competes with the coolie labor of other races he maintains himself. This was strikingly illustrated in cutting the new road up Thandaung three years ago. The officers tried Karen labor till it failed, though the work was in their own hills. Then the Madrassis were brought in, and they gave way after repeated trials. Then, as a last resort, the Burmese coolies came and completed what the other races had failed to accomplish.
It is certainly true that the Burmese race is much respected by most Europeans. I do not think any other Asiatic race is equally respected by foreigners resident in Burma.
The manners of the Burmese are pleasant. The Burman is a friendly man, and approachable. There is none of the exclusive, non-communicative characteristics about him. He will share his house and his food with you always. His religion, while having something of bigotry in it, as almost all religions have, is not offensive to men of other faiths. The toleration by Buddhism of other faiths, perhaps more apparent than real, yet is sufficient to attract much favorable comment in Burma.
One fact much to the Burman’s credit, in comparison with the other races of Asia, is his ability to read; that is, a very large majority of the men read, at least to some extent, and a good many women. Lately in America we have heard the school system of the Chinese much lauded. And since Minister Wu, at Washington, has so distinguished himself and his race by his striking addresses, many people have jumped at the conclusion that an ignorant Chinaman is the exception. But I am told by those who ought to know, that in China only about one man in a hundred, and one woman in ten thousand, can read. The Japanese alone of Asiatic races are more literary than the Burmese.
The Burman is peculiarly proud of his knowledge of the Buddhist doctrines. He calls them the “law.” In consequence of the system of doctrine he upholds, he is unwilling to be taught religion by a man whom he has hitherto believed incompetent to teach. It is this, I believe, which makes him unwilling, as a rule, to be taught Christianity by a Karen. All his racial and religious pride comes up as he faces the suggestion of the Karen teaching him, whom he would always regard in a peculiar way as a “son of the jungle.” He knows the Karen formerly had no social standing and no written language, while his vague demonology was wholly wanting as a system of religious teaching. No, he is not ready to receive Christianity from the Karen.
For hundreds of years the Burmese have been the dominant people in the land of Burma, and the Shans, Chins, and Karens were conquered and dominated by them. They have had some able rulers, and at times have had a strong enough government to wage war with distant people; even with China herself they were often at war.
A Burmese Family