Читать книгу The Karen People of Burma: A Study in Anthropology and Ethnology - Harry Ignatius Marshall - Страница 3

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To many a visitor to Burma, who views the country from the deck of an Irrawaddy River streamer or from the window of a railway carriage, there appears to be little difference between the Karen and the Burman. This is not strange, for many individuals of the non-Burman tribes wear the Burmese costume and speak the Burmese language; and they present no markedly different characteristics in feature or color of skin. I have often heard the remark that "there is no difference between the Burman and the Karen." It is doubtless because the Government of Burma recognizes that there is a difference in the tribal characteristics, customs, and religion that it has adopted the wise policy of publishing a series of complete studies, of which this purports to be one, of these various peoples. If the reader will have the patience to read these pages, it is hoped that he will realize that, though the Karen have lived for generations in the closest proximity to the Burmese, they preserve their own racial traits, which are quite distinct from those of their more volatile neighbors with whom they have had little in common.

This work deals more particularly with the Sgaw branch of the Karen people. My own experience has been more intimate with this tribe, though I have known many of the other groups. This circumstance, together with the fact that the Bwe and Taungthu peoples have already been described in the Upper Burma Gazetteer, as well as the limitations of space, has led me to limit my discussion to brief references to the other tribes. But I am convinced that in the main the Sgaw exhibit the general characteristics that are truly Karen in the broadest sense of the term. I have also omitted any detailed study of the large mass of Karen folklore, which may possibly be incorporated in some future study.

The reader may notice that I have used the term "Karen," instead of the more usual plural form "Karens," when referring to the tribal name. This is more accurate, for to add the "s" is as misleading in this case as in that of the Lao, who are often mistakenly spoken of as the "Laos." In the transliteration of Karen words I have followed the continental system of spelling, adopting "x" for the guttural which is pronounced like the "ch" in the Scotch "loch," and the dipthong "eu" for the sound which closely resembles the common pronunciation of "er" as in "her." I have accepted the simplified spelling for the tribal names, Pwo and Bwe, in place of the more cumbersome "Pgho" and "Bghai."

It is not without some misgivings that I allow these sheets to go to the publisher. The notes were collected at such intervals as could be taken from my labors as a district missionary, and that at a time when increasing administrative duties precluded my giving such attention to them as I could wish. The return to America on furlough necessitated the completion of the work on the opposite side of the world from the sources of my material, and where, though I enjoyed the privileges of a Graduate Fellowship at the Ohio State University. I had to depend largely on my personal collections, there being no department of Ethnology there.

I wish to acknowledge the assistance which I have had from my wife, whose sympathetic interest and accurate knowledge have been of untold value, and also the help I have received from my missionary colleagues, among whom I should mention my father-in-law, Rev. D. A. W. Smith, D.D.; Rev. C. A. Nichols, D.D., who was first to ask me to undertake the preparation of this work, and Rev. E. N. Harris. Among the many Karen members of the mission staff who have helped in the gathering of materials, I can only mention Thras San Gyi San Kwe, Po Myaing, and Shwe Thee, of Tharrawaddy; Thra Pan Ya Se, of Shwegyin; and Thra Aung Gaing, of Insein, who gave me a full account of the Karen of Siam. The sketches signed "D. P." are the work of a Karen schoolboy from Tavoy, Saw Day Po, who, to his credit it should be said, drew them without having had any instruction in drawing whatever. My thanks are also due to Drs. B. Laufer and Fay Cooper-Cole, of the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, for many valuable suggestions, and to Professors J. A. Leighton and W. H. Siebert, of the Ohio State University, for many kindnesses. To Professor Siebert I am especially indebted for a most painstaking review of my entire manuscript, for its acceptance for publication, and for seeing it through the press of the Ohio State University. Finally, I desire to express my gratitude to the Government of Burma for the privilege of undertaking this work. The necessity for careful observation and thorough investigation has not been without its benefits to me. The undertaking has been exacting and quite instructive, even if it had benefited no one but myself.

This book is, after all, but another by-product of the great missionary enterprise, which seeks to lift the less fortunate peoples of the world to a higher plane of life and enjoyment, and to bring to them the best of our Christian civilization. If this work should help to make the Karen better known and understood and in any way assist them along their upward path, the writer will feel that it has all been a part of the great task to which he has dedicated his life. May the blessing of God rest upon it.

COLUMBUS, OHIO

AUGUST 30, 1920

GENERAL TOPICS HABITAT AND TRIBAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE KAREN THE ORIGIN OF THE KAREN PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS MENTAL AND MORAL CHARACTERISTICS LANGUAGE DRESS AND ORNAMENTS MEASURES OF TIME AND SPACE. KAREN ASTRONOMY DOMESTIC LIFE THE KAREN VILLAGE-HOUSE FOOD AND ITS PREPARATION AGRICULTURAL PURSUITS AND OTHER OCCUPATIONS HUNTING AND FISHING SPINNING, DYEING, AND WEAVING. MAT-MAKING AND BASKETRY BRONZE DRUMS SOCIAL CONDITIONS LAWS AND PRECEPTS WARFARE AND WEAPONS MUSIC, MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS AND DANCING BIRTH CUSTOMS, CHILDHOOD MARRIAGE CUSTOMS FUNERAL CUSTOMS RELIGIOUS LIFE RELIGIOUS CONCEPTIONS SUPERNATURAL AND MYTHICAL BEINGS PROPITIATORY SACRIFICES AND HEALING OFFERINGS FEASTS TO THE "BGHA" MOUNT "THAW THI." RELIGIOUS CULTS MAGIC DIVINATIONS TABU DEVELOPMENT OF THE KAREN PEOPLE GROWTH OF CHRISTIANITY AMONG THE KAREN PROGRESS OF THE KAREN RACE GLOSSARY OF KAREN WORDS BIBLIOGRAPHY FOOTNOTESILLUSTRATIONS A Sgaw Karen Youth with His Harp (Frontispiece) A Creek of the Irrawaddy Delta A Mountain Stream in Burma A Path through the Bamboo Jungle, Pegua Hills The Morning Mist in the Toungoo Hills Karen Hill Men Coming Down to the Plains Karen Men from the Hills, Tharrawaddy District Karen Family with Traces of Negrito Blood Sgaw Karen Young Bloods, Ngape Eh Village, Tharrawaddy Hills Karen Boys Playmates: Karen Boys and the Sons of the Author A Paku Schoolgirl, Toungoo A Karen Belle A Bwe Karen Man's Suit A Karen Bamboo Comb Women's Garments Women's Head-dress Karen Skirts and Bags A Padaung Couple, the Wife with Neck-rings and Leg-rings Women's Earrings A Boar's Tusk Comb Karen Girls in Burmese Costume Two Sgaw Karen Maidens The Gateway of a Village Stockade Part of a Mountain Karen Village, Tharrawaddy District Stockade and Gateway of the Village, Re Tho, Tharrawaddy District Plan of Shataw Village, Tharrawaddy District A Torch with Its Stand Plan of a Karen Family-room Sideview of a Bamboo Karen House, Kaindagyi Pounding Paddy in a Mortar The Fireplace in a Hill Karen House Karen Tobacco Pipes and a Piston for Breaking Betel-nut Offerings and Traps on the Edge of a Field A Hillside Plot Cut Ready for Burning A Paddy-bin for Storing Grain in the Field Off for the Fields with Baskets and Bags Plowing a Paddy Field in Lower Burma Women Transplanting Paddy Reaping Paddy with Sickles A Threshing-floor on the Plains Winnowing Paddy Fanning Paddy Sgaw Karen Women Carrying Grain in Large Baskets Karen Houses on the Plains Turning the Buffaloes Out to Graze Setting a Spring trap, Pegu Hills A Box Trap for Catching Birds A Large Fish-trap Climbing the Toddy-palm Cylindrical Fish-traps Bottle-shaped Fish-trap Ginning Cotton in the Pegu Hills Batting Cotton into Smooth Layers with a Bow A Karen Girl at a Burmese Loom The Karen Loom A Karen Matron Weaving under Her House Karen Bronze Drum, Nabaain Village, Tharrawaddy District A "Rubbing" Showing the Pattern of the Head of the Nabaain Drum Bronze Drum from Kondagyi, Tharrawaddy District Head of the Kondagyi Drum Bronze Drum Owned by Rev. A. V. B. Crumb Head of Mr. Crumb's Drum Bringing Water for the Visitor, Nabaain Village, Tharrawaddy District Young Women Bringing in Bamboo Fuel, Tharrawaddy Hills Plains Women Bathing in the Irrawaddy, in the Lee of the High-sterned Burmese Boat Carrying Water in Bamboo Joints Dipping Water from a Shallow Stream Buffaloes at Their Daily Bath Karens of Three Generations on the Plains Karen Girls of the Plains Carrying Water in Earthen Pots A Sgaw Karen Orchestra, Tharrawaddy Hills Karen Jew's harps A Karen Guitar Playing the "Paw Ku" or Karen Xylophone An Exhibition Performance on the Xylophone Musical Score of a Karen "Hta" or Poem A Child Riding on Its Mother's Hip The Friends of the Bridegroom The Bridegroom's Company Entering the Bride's Village The Wedding Party Karen Girls of the Plains, Tharrawaddy District Christian Converts, Ngape Eh Village, Tharrawaddy District Sgaw Karen Young Women Arrangement of Pestles for a Funeral Game Another Arrangement of Pestles for a Funeral Game A Sketch of a Tree Used in the Funeral Games Climbing the Cocoanut-palm A Hill Village in Transition A Karen Village on the Plains A Bwe Karen Christian Village, Toungoo District Karen Girls Pounding Paddy in a Mortar Out-of-doors A Bwe Karen Prophet A Hut Erected in a Forest Clearing by a Self-styled Prophet as the Center of a New Karen Religious Cult of Short Duration A Sgaw Karen Grandmother Karen Villagers, Tharrawaddy District Utensils for the Sacred "Bgha" Feast of a Pwo Karen Family, Bassein District Village School-children with Their Teacher Paku Karen Schoolgirls Field-day, Tharrawaddy Karen High School Chicken Bones Used in Divination A Christian Karen Village School, Tharrawaddy District Two Karen Christian Pastors Karen Theological Students A Christian Village School, Prome District The Chapel and Schoolhouse of the American Baptist Mission High School, Tharrawaddy District Schoolgirls at Calisthenics, Tharrawaddy Karen High School Schoolboys Lined up for Drill A Karen Teacher and Lahu Boys Rev. Thra Maung Yin, of Bassein Karen Military Police

A Sgaw Karen Youth with His Harp {In the olden days every youth loved his harp and carried it with him constantly. On such instrument as these they played the accompaniments to their old epic "htas," which have been preserved for generations. The boar's tusk comb hangs down behind this boy's ear.}