Читать книгу The Karen People of Burma: A Study in Anthropology and Ethnology - Harry Ignatius Marshall - Страница 10

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To describe in detail the costume of every tribe of the Karen would be like going into all the minutiae of the tartans of the Scotch and would of itself fill a volume. There are, however, certain characteristics of dress that prevail more or less widely among the whole people, and I shall endeavor to point these out. The "hse" is found in various forms among almost all hte tribes. This resembles a smock in that it is a loose, unfitted garment, falling from the shoulders over the body. This "hse" is made by sewing together two narrow strips of cloth to form an oblong, inverted "meal-bag." Holes are left in the seams at the upper corners through which the arms are thrust, and another opening is left in the middle seam at the top, which serves as the neck of the garment.

For the men in the Sgaw and Pwo tribes living back in the hills this garment still serves as their entire costume. It reaches from the shoulders to the calves. In the Pegu Hills the Sgaw wear a garment that is white above, except for red selvedge lines along the seams, and has the lower third woven with red. The border between the two colors may be more or less variegated and embroidered. In the Moulmein and Papon districts and to the eastward the garment is made of alternating wide strips of white and red running its whole length.

Among the Bwe tribes the custom is to wear a shorter smock, which fits a little more closely than the one just described. It might be called a tunic. The loin-cloth (sometimes replaced by shorter trousers) is worn with the tunic. Various branches of the Bwe wear different arrangements of colors. The Paku wear a white tunic with a narrow red border around the bottom. In each village this border has a distinctive form. Among the other eastern hill tribes we find the Kerhker, sometimes called the Gai-hko, wearing a tunic embroidered with vertical figures like towers, from the top of which lines radiate like the rays of the rising sun. The Bwe tribes usually wear tunics of vertically striped weaves, some of them, e.g., the Mopgha, with narrow red lines. In the early days they wore scant loin-clothes, but nowadays they wear longer cloths or Shan trousers, like many of the other hill tribes. The Brecs wear short breeches belted in at the waist with a string. These trousers are at first white with narrow red stripes, but soon become a dirty yellow, growing constantly darker with wear and age. The so-called "Pant Bwes" ornament their breeches with radiating lines at the bottom. The Red Karen, who take their name from their red garments, wear short breeches of red cotton and a short close-fitting tunic of the same color. These soon become the color of dirt from the generous accretions of that substance which adhere to them. These people use a blanket, which is red and white striped when new. They discard both the tunic and blanket in warm weather. Cotton is the most common material used, but in Toungoo silk is often used, either alone or with the cotton.

A Bwe Karen Man's Suit, Bwe Karen Hills, Toungoo District {The smock is of white silk with red stripes and embroidery woven in. The loin cloth ("teh ku") is magenta and black. Both are of silk, for every man of any account feels he must have one silk suit.}

In Lower Burma, on the plains, it has become customary for the men to wear Burmese garments. The only time they put on their Karen garments, if they have them, is when they hold their "Bgha" feast. The different tribes to the east wear the Shan costume, with more or less variation, all the way to the Chinese Border.

A Karen Bamboo Comb

The Karen men knot up their long hair on the top of the head or over the right or left ear, according to the custom of their particular locality, fastening it with a small triangular bamboo comb. No other head-dress is worn, except a piece of white muslin or other light-weight cloth, which may be put over the head as a turban or around it like a fillet, unless one should include the ornamental head-bands of the Karenni youth who, before marriage, wear neck-laces of stones that have been handed down from father to son for generations, and ornaments for the head, neck, and ears, consisting of mother-of-pearl buttons interspersed with the shining wings of beautiful green beetles. All these are, however, given up at marriage and become the property of the bride.

In the matter of adopting foreign dress the women are more conservative than the men. Long after every man in a village has taken on the Burmese costume, the women continue to wear their characteristic black smock over their Burmese jacket and "longyi" (skirt).

The Sgaw and Pwo women, after arriving at the age of puberty, wear a smock ("hse") and a shirt ("ni"). Little girls wear a single "hse," falling from their neck to their ankles, at least when it is new. In some villages they wear a white "hse," without any ornament or color, but in other places they wear a black garment ornamented with colored yarns at the neck and around the armholes. In some localities the maidens wear the long white "hse," reaching to the ankles, until they are married; but it is more common for them to put on the skirt and wear a shorter "hse" at about the time they arrive at maturity.

The women's dress varies from one tribe to another, and in some instances each village has its particular weave. There is considerable general similarity of the Karen designs to those in the Malay countries, in Borneo, and in the Philippines; but the particular Karen design, among the Sgaw women at least, is that supposed to be derived from the python. The story is that "Naw Mu E," one of the mythical characters of ancient times, was kidnapped by a fabulous White Python and carried off to his den. Later, her husband, hearing of her plight, came and rescued her by sacrificing himself at the mouth of the den, whereon the woman was released and enabled to return to the upper earth again. Various versions of the story exist, one of which is that she was compelled by the python to weave patterns on its skin that still remain, but on being released showed her contempt for it by weaving skirts for herself of the same pattern, thus giving it the gravest insult she could inflict. This pattern soon became general among Karen women.

Other patterns, of which there are many, are called by various names, as seeds, little pagodas, cowries, etc Especially beautiful is the pattern or weave worn by the Mopgha women which consists of a variety of figures in magenta, yellow, and green on a black ground. I have been told that the weaving of the designs for these skirts has become a lost art, none of the young women of the few villages of the Mopgha tribe having learned to weave these garments. The Bwe women usually wear a black "ni" or skirt with a few horizontal stripes of white and red running through the middle.

Women's Garments {(1) A "hko peu" or head-dress of a Sgaw Karen. (2) A smock ("hse") and a skirt ("ni"), Sgaw Karen, from the Pegu Hills, Toungoo District, The smock is embroidered with colored yarns and "Job's Tears." The middle of the skirt shows the python pattern. (3) A Sgaw Karen smock and skirt from Shwegyin District. This smock is trimmed with red braid, except the lower part which is fancily woven ("u").}

The women of all these tribes wear the simplest kind of a skirt; it is a straight slip which, instead of being gathered about the waist, is drawn tight across the back, folded across the front, and the fulness tucked in at the waist line, thus allowing the action of the knees. The garment remains in place remarkably well, although no belt is used. When the women bathe--those on the plains doing so with much more regularity than their sisters in the hills--they bring the top of the skirt up under the armpits and fasten it over the breasts in the same manner as about the waist.

The jackets or smocks of the women present a variety of designs. The most common is the plain black or dark blue "hse" with little or no ornament on it. Sometimes it is decorated with small rosettes or stars of colored yarns or, among the Pwo, with fern-like figures. The prettiest decorations are made with the hard white seeds of various shapes of the plant called Job's Tears (Coix). The variety mostly used are those resembling barberries, called "bwe" in Sgaw Karen and found all over the hills. These are sewed on the finished garment in parallel rows, in rows forming V-shaped figures, or in the forms of stars or rosettes and edging the arm, and neck holes. Red yarns or pieces of red cloth are also sewed on to add to the ornamentation. In Shwegyin we often see a "hse" that is woven with elaborate designs of red and green on a black ground, red tape being sewed in vertical lines on the body of the garment and in horizontal lines over the shoulders. The head-dress of the women is called "hko peu ki" and among the Sgaw women consists of a piece of cloth about two yards long and a foot wide. The middle part is plain white. At either end there is a fancy woven ("u") portion about twenty inches long, red in color and cross at intervals of two inches by transverse lines. In the middle of these colored ends is a white zigzag line representing a serpent. The other lines are in pairs, those equidistant from the zigzag above and below being alike and having their special designations. These names are, however, in archaic form, and their meaning is not well known. There are long white fringes on the ends of the head-dress and shorter colored ones at the ends of the cross lines. When worn, it is twisted about the head in such a way as to form a peak over the forehead with the colored fringes hanging down about the eyes and the long white fringes down the back. In a few villages in the Pegu Hills the women wear circlets ("hko hhlaw") of bamboo or silver, around which they coil their hair. The metal circlets are made of beaten silver a scant inch in width and long enough to go once and a half around the head, being held by a fancy clasp at the back, which keeps the band in place. Such silver circlets are valued at about ten rupees or more, according to the work on them.

The Karen make blankets of the same cloth that they use for their garments. They use two strips of white edged with red selvedges, each piece being four yards long. These are sewed together lengthwise, and then one outer edge is sewed up to provide a half-open sleeping-bag. The fringes of the open end are drawn up over the head.

Women's Head-dress

On the whole, the Karen are very careful about exposing their persons. The women have always worn the closed skirts and not the open "tamein," which was formerly in vogue among the Burmese. They seldom go without their jackets, though in the hills older women now and then leave them off. Little children run about more or less naked. Boys often find their garments a bother and thrust them aside, but men usually are very careful about keeping their loins covered. When working, the men, who wear the "hse" or smock, pull the right arm inside the armhole and extend it again through the wide neckhole, so that the right arm and shoulder are entirely free for chopping or doing any other work at hand. They sometimes lower the whole garment to the waistline, where they knot it up in Burman fashion and thus leave the upper part of the body free. The Brecs are the poorest tribe of Karen and wear the scantiest clothing consisting of short trousers. Often these are much the worse for wear. These people have rough small blankets, which they throw around themselves in cold weather. But more often they appear without them. The Karen on the palins bathe daily, doing so in their skirts ("longyi"), as do the Burmese. After the bath they slip the fresh garment over the wet one, which they allow to fall off as they fasten the other in place.

Karen Skirts and Bags {No. 1 is a Mopgha Karen skirt, a black ground with silk embroidery in magenta, yellow, green, and red. The younger women have lost the art of weaving these garments. No. 2 is a Tavoy Sgaw Karen skirt woven in imitation of a popular Burmese pattern. The bags, Nos. 3 and 4, are Sgaw Karen, and No. 5 is Bwe.}

The wet garment is then pounded on a stone or soused up and down in the water a few times, and that is about all the laundering it gets. White jackets are washed out with soap and, in the towns, are given to the Indian washermen ("dhobies") for proper "doing up."

For protection from the rain the Karen use the wide-spreading fronds of the palm, which are nature's models for the paper umbrellas of the Chinese and Burmese. Workers in the paddy-fields make raincoats out of thatch woven on flexible bark fibre stays, which they tie across their shoulders. Three or four layers of the thatch make a protection that reaches to the knees. For a hat they tie a bit of palm leaf over the head, or wear a round umbrella- shaped hat like those made by the Shan and Burmese out of the sheathes of the Cocoanut-palm or of bamboo. While transplanting rice on the plains a rain cover is made of these same sheathes or of tough large leaves covered with a network of thin bamboo splints bound with rattan. These covers are scoop-shaped and hang from the head down the back, causing a company of cultivators, bent over their work while wearing them, to look like long-legged tortoises wading in the mud.

Every Karen carries a bag ("hteu") slung over his shoulder as a part of his outfit. It is his pocket, in which he carries everything from money to the small game he has shot. The bag is woven in two parts. One, which forms the straps, consists of a strip from four to six inches wide and five or six feet long. Both ends are fringed. The other piece is from six to eight inches wide and from two to three feet in length. Each end of the long piece is folded lengthwise in the middle and sewed together, thus forming the corners of the bag. The short piece is folded crosswise in the middle and sewed to these corners or ends, thus forming the sides of the bag. The hemmed ends of the short piece from the edges of the mouth of the bag. The cloth woven for these bags is usually red with lengthwise stripes of white, yellow, or black. Different tribes have their different patterns and shades of color. The Karen do not ornament their bags so highly as do the Kachin tribes in Upper Burma. Every Karen woman and girl has some sort of a necklace. It may be a few seeds of the Job's Tears strung together, or some glass beads purchased from wandering peddlers, or silver beads made by Burmese silversmiths who visit the Karen villages during the dry season to pick up odd jobs. A common variety of beads is made by pounding out little disks of silver and rounding them into beads, according to the shape of the disk. Some of these finished beads are an inch in length and half an inch in diameter at the middle, tapering off to almost a point at the ends. When strung, they sometimes form chains so long that they encircle the neck several times and hang down over the bosom.

Bracelets of silver are, like the beads mentioned above, pounded out of coins (rupees) for the girls and young women, who not infrequently wear anklets of the same material. Even little boys sometimes wear silver bracelets and ankelts.

Disks of silver, with rude figures of peacocks, elephants, and other Burmese figures, are often seen hanging from strings around the necks of children. Coins are also used in the same way. These are usually said to be simply for ornament, but I have occasionally wondered whether they might not have some magical purpose as well.

Among all the Karen tribes the most peculiar adornments are those of the Padaung women. These are rings of brass wire about a third of an inch in diameter, worn around the neck for the purpose of forcing up the chin and lengthening that member. As the process of elongation is slow, only a few rings are used at first; but as time goes on others are added, until the high metal collar thus formed consists of from twenty to twenty-five rings. The greater the length of the neck, the greater the beauty they think. The appearance of these women is grotesque, for their heads appear abnormally small above their long necks; and their bodies, around which flap their loose garments, also seem disproportionate.[6-2] They can sleep only with their heads hanging over a high bamboo pillow, on which they rest their brass-armored necks. These rings are like those forming the brass corsets worn by the Iban women of Borneo, only the latter wear them lower down.

The Red Karen women wear, besides a profusion of beads around the neck, a girdle or many girdles of seeds and beads of various kinds and coils of lacquered rattans. These rattans are also worn as rings around the legs just above the calves. They often bulge out an inch or two from the leg and cause the women to walk with a stride "like a pair of compasses" and to experience some difficulty in sitting down. Indeed, it is necessary for them in sitting to stretch out the legs straight in front of them.[6-3] It is not uncommon to see similar garters, if one may call them so, worn by many of the Karen, but usually they are made of a few strands of rattan interwoven in a neat band of about a half an inch in width. Some say that they wear these simply for ornament, and others think that they find them useful in walking long distances. In fact these leg-bands perform somewhat the function of the rubber stocking of the West.

A Padaung Couple, the Wife with Neck-rings and Leg-rings {A large share of Padaung wealth is lavished on feminine attire. The brass rings around their legs and necks often weigh twenty pounds. This lady is not very stylish, for her neck has not been stretched enough. The longer the neck, the more attractive the lady.}

Among some of the Karen tribes to the east brass or other wire rings are worn on the legs, either from the ankles up over the calves, or from the knees up the thighs, or with only one or two rings at invertals on the legs. The arms are also more or less laden with brass circlets, as may be seen from Scott's description.[6-4]

Earrings are worn by both Karen men and women, but are usually in the form of plugs instead of rings. The silver ear plug of the Sgaw resembles a spool with one end flaring out more widely than the other. The larger end may be nearly two inches in diameter at the rim, tapering down to a little less than an inch in diameter where it joins the cylindrical part which fits the hole in the ear-lobe. The men wear plugs that have the ends covered over with a plate of silver, while the plugs worn by the women are left open. Through these openings leaves or flowers are often inserted. Sometimes plugs made of a rolled strip of palm leaf fill the holes in the ear-lobes, these holes being rarely more than an inch in diameter. When the holes for the ear plugs are in process of being enlarged, the little rolls of palm leaf are as tightly wrapped and as large as possible when inserted. They then tend to loosen, and in so doing stretch the lobe. Sections of a stem of bamboo are sometimes worn by hill people in the lobes of their ears or in the absence of anything else, a buttonaire of orchids or other flowers found in the jungle. More than once have I seen orchids that would bring fancy prices in a Western city fringing the dirty face of some half-naked urchin.

Women's Earrings

Karen men not uncommonly wear beads or strings about their necks, besides other ornaments on their arms and legs. But perhaps the ornament peculiar to them consists of the boar's tusk comb, such as their ancestor, "Htwa Meh Pa," made after he had killed the mythical boar. This is worn behind the ear, hanging down as a sort of earring. The comb, which is not unlike the ordinary Karen comb, is made of strips of the outer shell of the bamboo, each about two inches long, and held together by a sealing-wax produced from the gum of a tree. The upper or pointed end of the comb is made small enough to be inserted into the open end of the tusk, where it is fixed in place with wax. (See Frontispiece, which shows how a comb is worn.)

A Boar's Tusk Comb

Karen Girls In Burmese Costume {This illustrates the way in which the women secure their skirts by drawing them tightly to one side and then folding back the slack and tucking it in on the opposite side.}