Marriage amongst the Burmans is not a very close bond. It is a civil institution, and altogether non-religious, and divorce for trifling causes is common and easy. I know a well-to-do couple who had been married for some years, and lived happily; but at length a difference of opinion unfortunately arose between them, and a quarrel ensued about a mere trifle, affecting the expenditure of a sum not more than a shilling, and after the quarrel they calmly agreed to separate, on the ground of incompatibility of dispositions. Many a man has had several wives, one after another, and parted with them successively. In case of the dissolution of a marriage, the woman retains whatever property she possessed before marriage, together with what she may have gained by her own separate exertions, or inherited.
Polygamy is sanctioned by usage, but is not very common, as it is costly; concubinage is by no means uncommon. The wealthy, such as ministers of state and men in high position, usually kept more than one wife. The king was the worst offender in this respect, for he set a very bad example. King Mindohn, the last king but one, had fifty-three recognised wives, of whom thirty-seven survived him, besides numerous concubines; and he had one hundred and ten children, of whom fifty survived him. He himself, however, in conversation with the English envoy, deplored this bad custom, as productive of much intrigue, revolution and bloodshed in the palace. There was sad confirmation of this after his death, in the two fearful massacres during the reign of King Theebaw, that cut off nearly all the surviving members of the royal family, besides many other innocent persons.
One very peculiar and unseemly custom was for the reigning monarch to espouse, as his principal queen, one of the royal princesses, who was therefore his half-sister. It is undoubtedly a blessing for Burma that such a rule, so hopelessly corrupt and demoralising to the nation, so incompetent to keep order, and so determinedly Oriental, conservative and out of date, has become a thing of the past.
The position of woman in Burma, notwithstanding the blemishes on their social system, is not nearly so down-trodden and degraded as in most Eastern countries. This undoubtedly arises from the fact that there are no zenanas among the Burmans, no keeping of women shut up. They are as free to come and go, and take part in the business of life, as women are in England, and they avail themselves of their liberty, and take a very considerable share in the business that is done. In money matters in the family they have always enjoyed an equality with the other sex, which was only of late years accorded to women in England; that is, the power to retain in their own right for themselves and their heirs the property they possessed before, or gained after, marriage. As the women, as a general rule in Burma, are far more industrious than the men, and quite as shrewd and business-like, this tends towards maintaining a healthy sense of equality with the other sex. If a man has a managing wife who can run a stall in the market, or greatly assist in supporting the family by keeping a shop at home, as is very often the case, the husband will think twice before he leaves her, or provokes her to leave him. The wife and mother sits by, and gives her opinion on things in general, in the family conclave, and hen-pecked husbands are not unknown in Burma.
“MANY OF THE MORE NOTED MONASTERIES ARE QUITE A STUDY OF SUMPTUOUS CARVING IN TEAK WOOD.”
The Burmans are very fond of games. They have an excellent game of football which they very often play, but it is a very different thing from the rough game known in England by that name. English football is too violent an exercise for that climate. It is more on the principle of shuttlecock. Six or eight young men stand around in a circle, with their garments tucked up so as not to impede their movements. A light, hollow wickerwork ball is started by one of them, and the object of the game is to keep it going as long as possible. They must not touch the ball with the hand, but they show great skill and activity in catching it with the foot, either side of the ankle, the heel, the toe, the knee, the shoulder. It is a clever stroke to leap up two or three feet into the air, and meet and kick the ball with the heel, as it is descending; one still more difficult is to leap up, catch the ball between the feet, and jerk it up again into the air before reaching the ground. Each player takes the ball when it is tossed over into his vicinity, and he may keep it going any number of times, before kicking it off across to the other side of the circle. Few games are better calculated to exercise the limbs and render the young men strong on their feet than this.
Boat-racing is another very favourite national amusement. In the racing boats are many rowers, with short paddles, and the races are scenes of wild excitement, both on the part of the competitors and spectators. There is a good deal of betting in connection with these races. The gambling spirit easily takes hold of the Burmans. All games of chance have a great fascination with this excitable, volatile people, and they fall an easy prey to the low, cunning Chinaman, who makes it his business to introduce gambling into the village, and to profit by it.