Ten years in Burma

by Julius Smith

The Burmese have a distinctly developed racial type. They, like all peoples in Burma, China, and Siam, are of the Mongolian type of men. Their complexion is much lighter than most Indian peoples, and they naturally look upon the black man from across the Bay of Bengal as the “Kalla,” dark of color and an inferior. While they have distinct racial features, they evidently are a blending of the Chinese and the Malay. This has been noticed particularly by comparison between the Burmese and the Filipinos. Visitors to Manila, who are acquainted with the Burmese, say the resemblance to the Filipino is very striking. We know the Filipino has a Chinese and Malay infusion of blood.

The more than six millions of Burmese people are the chief people of this land, whether studied from a governmental, racial, or missionary point of view. To the American interested in missions it is of special importance to remember these people. In America there is just now much interest in carrying the gospel to eight or ten millions of people in the Philippine Islands. This interest is largely because they are under the American flag. Let not the millions of Burmese Buddhists be forgotten while hastening to new fields.

The Shans take second rank among the races of Burma, though much more attention has been given to the Karens by the missionaries. The Shans in appearance are the most like the Chinese of any of the inhabitants of Burma. They are racially closely related to them. Their language, appearance, and dress bear out the resemblance.

The Shans are found widely distributed in Burma; but they live chiefly in the hills in the northeast of the province. Like the Chins, Kachins, and several tribes of the Karens, they seem to prefer residence in the hills. In this they all contrast with the Burmese, who always prefer a home on the plains, and they are never for a long time or in large numbers resident in the hills in any part of Burma. The plains are the richest part of the country, and as the conquering Burmese came down from the north they naturally occupied the fertile portions of the country, and have remained there, the weaker peoples taking to the hills and finding their permanent home in places relatively difficult of access and easy of defense.

The Shans are a strong race, and a little taller than either the Burmese or the Karens. They are raisers of cattle and ponies, and are great traders, bringing the products of the distant hills to the railway centers.

In religion the Shans are Buddhists. They have a written language, and the Bible has been translated into their tongue by the Baptist missionaries.

In matters of moral purity the Shans must be rated very low. By those best informed, it is said that their girls are nearly all corrupted before they are grown. A missionary resident among them for years, told me that the principal chief had in his reception room a picture portraying all the vices known to the human race, placed on the wall in plain view of every one who came to see him. Here men, women, and children, when calling on the chief, looked upon this horrible picture, and discussed it as a commonplace affair.

The missionary, who was the chief physician, told him he would not come to his house again if he did not take that picture down from his walls. The chief expressed surprise, and readily agreed to take the picture away, and explained that he did not know it was wrong to have it there. “Did not know it was wrong!” Can any one regard this absence of the moral sense among an entire people, and not believe in the need of Christian missions? The hundreds of thousands of Shans must be included in the plans for the evangelization of Burma.

The Karens are a distinct people, but of a number of different tribes or divisions. During Burmese domination they were very much oppressed. For the most part they lived in villages apart from the Burmese. Many of them lived far back in the hills, probably for better security, and certainly for freedom from interference on the part of the Burmese. Owing to this exclusive village life for long ages they have become very clannish. The Karen, while admitting that the Burman is the superior man, still preserves his racial pride. His village is very dear to him. Unlike the Burman, who moves annually or monthly, if it suits him, and seems about as much at home in one place as another, the Karen does not easily become dislodged from the village where he was born. Lately there has been some migration from the hills to the richer plains, but still the community life seems to be pretty well preserved.

This village life has its advantages and disadvantages. The cultivation of rice is made in a community. While each man has the field which he clears, it is so ordered that no one in the village is left entirely destitute. The land has been held as a village, and is therefore not easily alienated. The area belonging to a given village is great, especially in the hills, but the amount cultivated is very little.