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No. 7	Thai-Yunnan Project Newsletter	December 1989


This NEWSLETTER is edited by Gehan Wijeyewardene and published in the
Department of Anthropology, Research School of Pacific Studies;
printed at Central Printery; the masthead is by Susan Wigham of
Graphic Design (all of The Australian National  University ).The logo
is from a water colour , 'Tai women fishing' by Kang  Huo

Material in this NEWSLETTER may be freely reproduced with due
acknowledgement. Correspondence is welcome and contributions will be
given sympathetic consideration. (All correspondence to The Editor,
Department of Anthropology, RSPacS, ANU, Box  4 GPO, Canberra, ACT
2601, Australia.)

Number Seven  December 1989					ISSN
1032-500X

The Future of the Nation State


	In the last number of the NEWSLETTER we argued that 'it would
be fatal if Thai economic success created conditions which were used
to devastate the resources of her neighbours'. This particular issue
should be looked at in the broader framework of the relations between
states in mainland Southeast Asia as we inexorably move into the
unknown conditions of the 21st Century. The events of the last few
months in Eastern Europe have demonstrated that the certainties of
international relations of the last half century may no longer taken
for granted. Even in our region, despite the intransigence of the
supporters of the Khmer Rouge across the world, change, in the
political climate, in relations between states and the definition and
exercise of rights and obligations across national boundaries will not
only take place, but be a matter of ongoing concern.
	In that last number we drew attention to the ways in which
Thai governments have sought to '...(define) her own boundaries ...
(and) the geopolitical identity of Thailand'. In the last few weeks
another chapter has been added to these endeavours with the signing of
an agreement between the governments of Malaysia and Thailand and Chin
Peng on behalf of the Communist Party of Malaya. Just as the events on
the Lao and Burmese borders referred to in the previous issue, this
agreement does not solve the problems of Thailand's southern border -
but it goes a long way towards it.
	Nevertheless, it would be wrong to think that these events
looked at from a Thai point of view, merely establish the principles
of the nation state in mainland Southeast Asia. There are many aspects
to the investigation of the developing nature of 'the state' in
mainland Southeast Asia, and in its first major publication the
Thai-Yunnan Project (in conjunction with the Institute of southeast
Asian Studies, Singapore) attempts to look at one of these - the
existence of ethnic groups across 'national' boundaries. [Notice of
this book appears elsewhere in this number.] Of the six substantive
studies in the book, three deal with ethnic groups in revolt against
the government of Myanmar (Burma) and also

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Contents
The future of the nation state	1
From peasant to rural trader	2
Seminar report	8
Health care in Sipsongpanna	9
Biomedicine in Thailand	13
Translations
	Medicine among the Dai	14
	Lamaism among the Naxi	14
	Ethnic relations of Xi-meng county	17
	Yunnan-Burma railroad	17
	Si-gang-lih	19
	Wa pottery	20
	Wa script	21
	Wa bibliography	23
The Princess Dara Rasmi	25
News and Correspondence	26
	Architecture	26
	Publications N.E. Thailand	27
	Laos	28
Notice: Ethnic groups across national
	boundaries	28
represented on the Thai side of the border - these are the Tai (Shan),
Mon and Karen. Comments that Ananda Rajah makes in his paper on the
Karen could have very important implications for
our future analysis of inter-state relations in the region.  He
suggests that in the period of rebellion the Karen have operated in
many ways as a 'traditional' state lying between the areas of Burmese
control and Thailand. 'Traditional state' here being a concept opposed
to our contemporary understanding of 'nation state'.
	The issues here are varied and complex, and all we can do is
to suggest that in the exercise of political power intermediate
regions have been an important phenomenon in the contemporary period
and may be likely to be even more so in the future.  If one may be
allowed to talk of the 'classical concept of the nation state',
perhaps it is already superseded in mainland Southeast Asia.
	The test will be the future of Myanmar. Is reconciliation
possible? Will the Mon, the Karen, the Kachin, the Tai, and all the
other groups in rebellion against the government in Rangoon, be
willing to give the republic another chance and under what conditions?
There are many who believe the best that may be hoped for is a
confederacy - and what could that mean? The future seems to presage
new formulations for the sharing of power.
	Again, it is the Thai who appear to be leading the way - not
of course with a view to the future but in dealing with the problems
of the past. In the previous comment ('Identity and Integrity') we
referred to the two towns on the Burmese border, Mae Salong and Ban
Hin Taek (now Thoed Thai) former headquarters of Kuo Min Tang and Khun
Sa. More recent information shows, among other things, that in both
locations the Thai government has compromised in power-sharing to
bring about the elimination of conflict. Both areas are policed by
locally-raised militia - in Mae Salong completely under Kuo Min Tang
control and in Hin Taek nominally part of the Por Chor Dor (Defence of
Borders) administered by the Ministry of the Interior, but in fact
recruited and controlled locally. But Thai cultural penetration
proceeds apace with local co-operation.  Schools in both are now part
of the national system and teach the national language - in Mae Salong
the language was Chinese till very recently.  The Thai wat was built
here only two years ago and it was only a few weeks ago that the
Princess Mother laid the foundations of the cedi.





The dedication at Ban Kriangsak in Mae Salong
General Kriangsak Chamanan, Prime Minister, has show intelligence and
ability in the administration of the nation (which he has
administered) with integrity and justice since BE 2513 eight years
without interruption. He has shown great generosity and sympathy for
the people of this district in helping the people of this region in
the improvement of the economy and products which has brought security
to this border region. This has bestowed great improvement in the
livelihood of the populace and brought them happiness and relieved
them of suffering brought by their wanderings. This has been a great
boon to all inhabitants. We have therefore united to build this house
as a token of our remembrance of his goodness, our respect and love.
Let it be known in future as the 'House of Kriangsak'.

The citizens of Ban Mae Salong have united together to build this
house as a sign of our respect.

		Nai Tuan Si Woen
		With great respect
[trans. G.W.]

* * *

FROM PEASANT TO RURAL TRADER:
THE OX-TRAIN TRADERS OF NORTHERN THAILAND, 1855-1955

Chusit Chuchart

	The purpose of this paper is to examine the institution of
'village trader' or 'ox-train trader' in North Thailand during the
period 1855-1955.  It is an outline of research on this subject using
both documentary sources and interviews.  Material was gathered from
documents in the National Archives, from the reports of European
travellers in North Thailand during the 19th and 20th centuries, and
from other secondary sources.
	Interviews were conducted with over sixty persons who had
either been engaged in this trade or had connection with it.  Most of
these people live in the provinces of Chiangmai, Chiangrai,
Maehongsorn and Nan.  Chiangmai was the major trading centre of the
western part of the northern region (Uttaradit being the centre for
the east).  Land communication in Maehongsorn and Nan developed much
later than in the other provinces, so that ox-train trading continued
till quite recently, and consequently it was much easier in these
provinces to find people who had participated.
	The people concerned were largely villagers engaged in peasant
agriculture who became traders when the harvest was over, though some
were engaged in trade the whole year round.
	The latter too were owners of rice fields but would rent out
their fields for others to cultivate, or, if they decided not to trade
in any year, would cultivate themselves.
	The questions worth investigating are, first, why did these
individuals leave the security of their villages to trade in the
towns, and to what extent did this activity improve their status above
that of the ordinary peasant?  To what extent did the traditional
political and economic system, the culture and modes of thought, act
as obstacles to their activities?  We may also consider whether any
general principles underlie the answers to our questions.
	The reasons the years 1855-1955 are specified are:
1. In 1855 Thailand entered a period of relatively free foreign trade
with the signing of the Bowring Treaty1 between Thailand and the
United Kingdom.  The treaty brought to an end the system of Royal
trading monopolies under which the Royal Treasury was the only
institution empowered to engage in foreign trade, and allowed much
freer trade between Thai nationals and foreigners. Northern Thailand,
during the period 1774-1884, was part of the Principality of
Lannathai,2 a dependency of the Kingdom of Siam and the effects were
felt in Northern Thailand as well (Chusit 1981).
2. After 1855 Thailand changed from a basically subsistence economy to
one based on trade in rice, teak and tin, and at the turn of the
century they were still the main exports.  Imports were mainly
ready-made goods such as clothes, metal tools and equipment and fuel.
Goods reached North Thailand by two routes (Chusit 1980:48-60; Suthy
1975:261-269) -
2.1	The route from Moulmein through Tak, Lampang, Lamphun,
Chiangmai, Chiangrai, or from Moulmein through Tak to Maehongsorn.
These routes used ox-trains or horse-trains or a combination of
bearers and boats.
2.2	The route from Bangkok was by water.  Boats came up the Chao
Phraya past the Mae Nam Ping to Pak Nam Pho in Nakhorn Sawan province.
From there the goods were distributed to the various parts of the
north again by boat.  One major route from Pak Nam Pho was along the
Nan River, through Uttaradit to Nan.  Ox-train traders met the boats
at their destination and bought goods for resale in the villages.

3. After 1855 the political system too underwent changes in step with
the economic changes.  Slaves were freed between 1874 and 1911 and
peasants freed from serfdom between 1905 and 1917, enabling the
development of a free labour force in a capitalist system.  The
peasants, once freed of the traditional obligations of serfdom, were
free to pursue their own livelihood, and this too had its effects on
the development of inter-village trade and the ox-train traders.
	These events all contributed to the development of the ox and
horse caravans and the river trade - particularly during the years
1855-1910.  But during the 1910s there was some decline due to the
introduction of the railway and motor vehicles to the northern region.
The old pattern of trade slowly began to disappear.

The origin of the ox-trains
	We may speculate that trading with ox-trains occurred in the
time of King Mangrai (13th century) and before, though there is no
clear evidence.  In The Laws of King Mangrai there are references to
the use of bearers, carts and boats in trade (Prasert 1978:59-62), but
there appears to be no reference to ox-trains.  But in The Teachings
of Phaya Mangrai  there is a reference to such trade.  The line may be
translated, 'If you trade with oxen, make sure your goods and
equipment are in order' (Sommai:14).  In the manuscript Mangsarop
Chiangmai, a work concerning the forcible resettlement of the citizens
of Chiangmai in Burma by the Burmese king in 1615 and written two or
three years later, there are many references to ox-trains (Singkha
1979:58, 61, 73, 77, 84).
	Though these references seem to indicate that the use of
ox-trains for trade and transport is ancient in the region, before the
19th century the political and economic structure of Lannathai society
placed many limitations on their use, as we shall see in a moment.

Reasons for the use of ox-trains in North Thailand
	On the evidence available, there seem to have been only two
regions of Thailand in which ox-trains were used before the
development of modern communications - these are the North and the
Northeast (Charnbutr 1977:34-35).  The reasons for this are as follows
-
1. Geographical constraints:  North Thailand is a heavily-forested,
mountainous region with numerous inter-montane basins (Sawart 1978:31;
Pendleton 1963:40) which are the main centres of population.  Between
muang, and even between villages, mountains and forests prevent easy
communication.  Before the development of the road and rail system,
the only effective means of transporting goods between neighbouring
population centres was through the use of oxen (and other pack
animals).  Even cart tracks were rare or non-existent.  Villagers kept
cattle for ploughing so these were already available when required.
Training cattle for use in ox-trains was not a difficult task.  No
more than a week was required.  It was not surprising that when the
circumstances were favourable the use of ox-trains rapidly increased
throughout the villages of the north.
2. Political constraints:  The economic and political organization of
Lannathai society before the end of the 19th century, the relationship
between the capital and rural villages, between the rulers and the
serfs, placed the latter in a situation of great inequality.  A share
of what the serfs produced had to be given to the lord as tax (suai
or phasii).  In addition to this, he was liable to be conscripted to
provide labour (Chusit 1980:22-29).  Serfs had no rights in land or
other natural wealth such as mineral ores, forest timber, or other
forest products (Wanchali 1977:77-105).  All these were the property
of the ruler of the muang, caw muang (Prasert 1978:110-119).
	The various taxes which the caw muang collected were not put
to public use in the sense that they went to provide a productive
infrastructure - e.g., roads, reservoirs, dams and canals.  Irrigation
works, since the time of King Mangrai or before, were built by the
communal efforts of the populace or through conscripted labour (Tanabe
1975-6:73-7; Wijeyewardene 1965:258-9).  Taxes were used for the
defence of the muang, for religious purposes or for the requirements
of the palace.  Up to the 18th century there were no roads, no dams,
etc.  These began to be provided at public expense only during the
first half of the 19th century.3
	With the absence of roads between cities and between cities
and villages, the ox-trains were the most important means of transport
and trade.
3. The need among villagers for the supply for certain kinds of goods:
Before the liberalization of trade with Europe during the middle of
the 19th century,4 Thai villages were mostly self-sufficient,
producing most of what they required themselves.  There was some
barter and exchange of goods, but this was limited to goods which they
had difficulty acquiring themselves, such as salt, metal tools,
earthenware, and luxuries desired by the nobility and urban trading
families in the cities, such as gems and silk (Chusit 1980:31-39,
60-66; Suwit 1979:73-4).  Demand for such goods engendered some trade
involving most villages.  Trade and the demand for foreign goods were,
however, given a massive boost by the introduction of freer trade with
Britain in 1855.  The use of ox-trains for trade, which existed in a
modest way before the second half of the 19th century, began then to
slowly increase in volume.

The status of the ox-train traders
	The ox-train traders were rural traders.  They lived in
villages and though trading was in most cases their primary
occupation, their secondary occupation was agriculture.5  Some traded
almost all year round, though between the months of July  and October
the heavy rains made trade difficult and many stopped.  This type of
trader did not engage in rice cultivation himself, but hired others to
cultivate his fields.  Trading was a more profitable enterprise than
rice cultivation, yet in some villages the ox-train traders only
operated after the harvest was over.  Not all villages in the north
had ox-train traders and in those villages which did engage in such
trade it was usually about three or four men who were involved.  There
were a few exceptions, special villages in which many of the
inhabitants were engaged in the trade.  The village of Pa Ngiw in Ban
Pa Pong, Doi Saket district (Chiangmai) was engaged in the miang
(pickled tea) trade, and was such a village.  The villages of Makaphot
and Chiang Khaeng in the Muang district of Nan Province bought mineral
salt from the tambon  of Bor Klya North and Bor Klya South in Pua
district and transported it for sale in the Muang (urban) district of
Nan.  (This trade was extensive before 1950.)  The villages of Muang
Porn, Ban Pang Mu, Ban Khun Yuam, Ban Mae La Noi and Ban Mae La Luang
of Masehongsorn Province were mainly inhabited by Shans who engaged in
trade between Chiangmai and Maehongsorn.  (This trade was extensive
till 1960.)
	The economic position of these traders was better than that of
their fellow villagers.  They possessed better houses, more rice
fields and larger swiddens than others of roughly their place and
time.
	Ox-train traders were mostly conservative in their opinions.
They were bound up in village society and had no desire to expand
their economic activity and operate within the city.  They were too
overawed by the unfamiliar things they saw.  They were also probably
deterred by the use of conscripted labour in the urban society and the
higher level of taxes.  (This was before the changes in the economic
and political structure in the early 20th century.)  Even today,
though circumstances have changed, people's psychology remains the
same - many are not willing to leave their villages and live in the
city.  Capital for these trading ventures was provided by the traders
themselves.  For the most part the idea of borrowing money was not
congenial to them, as they did not like the idea of being in debt.  In
some villages there were those who lent money, but interest rates were
very high, and generally it appears that traders did not borrow
capital to finance their trading enterprises.
	Like other members of their society, ox-train traders believed
in merit and karma.  Merit acquired in this life would have its reward
in a future life, or even later in this one.  Likewise, good fortune
was the result of merit acquired in some past life, or earlier in the
present incarnation.  More pragmatically, they believed that action
brought its own rewards.  The diligent and industrious became rich;
the lazy remained poor.  But even these attitudes were ultimately
based on the foundation of a belief in merit and karma.6

The organization of the ox-trains
	The ox-trains had not merely to travel from one town to
another, they had in the process to cope with a wild countryside made
up of forests, mountains, valleys and passes, all inhabited by many
kinds of dangerous animals.  The caravans were therefore usually made
up of many traders travelling together.  The company would be made up
of 3-5 nai hoi  or ox-train traders [nai hoi - employer, lit. 'master
of a hundred'].
	Each nai hoi  would have 10-60 oxen, sometimes as many as 100.
Each ten oxen needed one man to control them.  A trader with 100 oxen
would have nine employees, he himself taking charge of 10 beasts.
Caravans were composed of different sized teams, some having more,
others less.  The trains travelled at a speed of about 3 kilometres
per hour, though on level ground they might travel somewhat faster.
When compared with horse-trains, they were much slower and their
ability to cope with steep, high terrain was much less.  Horse-trains
perhaps averaged about 4 kilometres per hour.
	Ox-trains set out very early in the morning, about 5.30 am,
and stopped about 10.30 am.  That is, they travelled about five hours
a day and then stopped to prepare their food and allow the oxen to
graze.  Oxen could be used between the ages of 3 and 35 years and
usually carried weights of around 100-140  pounds (44.6-62.5
kilograms) (Hallett 1890:210-213).  Some traders might load their
animals with as much as 65 kilograms, but usually about 50 kilograms.
The cost of an ox was about 20-40 baht  during the period 1932-1945.
After 1945 the price rose rapidly and in 1956 an animal cost between
800-1000 baht.

The major articles of trade
	Before the mid-19th century there was probably not much trade
in the north of Thailand, as villages tended to be mainly
self-sufficient.  Each village provided most of what it needed and it
was only those things which the village could not produce itself or
find in the neighbourhood, that were traded.  Of these the major items
were salt, metal tools, ornaments, silk and such goods (Chusit
1980:31-39; 60-66).  Luxury goods for the most part were traded in the
cities rather than in the villages.
	After the British trade agreement with Burma in 1826 (Maung
Htin Aung 1976:137), ready-made goods from Britain entered Burma at an
increasing rate.  Some portion of these goods crossed the border and
were traded in neighbouring North Thailand.  Traders brought
ready-made goods in from Moulmein (Thipakorawong 1961:196).  In order
to facilitate this trade, in 1856 the Thai and British governments
reached an agreement on the types of currency that could be used.  The
rupee, baht, gold and silver ingots were all recognized as legitimate
currency in the trade between British traders and the inhabitants of
North Thailand.7  The rupee and Thai currency thus became the main
mediums of exchange, replacing the old barter system.
	Trade between Britain and Thailand expanded rapidly after the
Bowring Treaty of 1855.  Britain exported to Thailand woven cotton
goods, fuel, metal tools, etc.  Bangkok was the centre of
distribution, and North Thailand received these goods by way of the
Mae Ping, Nan, Wang and Yum rivers.  The goods which came up by boat
were sold in the markets of the towns and large villages which lay
close to the rivers (Chusit 1980:57-63), while the more distant towns
and villages were served by the ox-train traders who bought goods for
resale.
	The goods most sought after by the inhabitants of the north
during the latter part of the 19th century and the early 20th century
were of three kinds:
1. Factory-produced goods such as ready-made clothes, cloth, thread,
kerosene, matches, candles and metal tools.  The sale of these goods
in the villages destroyed many local industries (Chusit 1980:31-41;
64-7), as the villagers stopped planting cotton, and weaving, gave up
the use of fuel from plants and trees, and used kerosene instead for
lighting.
2. Goods which the villagers could not produce themselves and had to
buy from other areas, sometimes near, sometimes a distance away.  The
most important of these was salt.  Villages in the hills also required
dried and salted fish.
3. Luxury goods such as cosmetics, alcohol, cigarettes, silk and
ornaments.  These things were sold mainly to the nobility and traders
in the towns, rather than to the farmers in the villages.

The major trade routes of the North
	The routes used by traders to bring factory-made goods to the
towns and villages of North Thailand fall into the following three
groups:
1. The land route from Moulmein.  This route passed through Mae Sot,
Tak, Hod to Chiangmai.  From Chiangmai it continued to Wiang Pa Paw,
Chiangrai, Mae Sai and then to the Shan States of Burma and Yunnan in
China.
	Chiangmai was the important centre for this route.  From here
routes led to Lampang and Maehongsorn.8  There were routes connecting
other towns with these centres and with each other.  Besides Thai
traders, there were also Shan and Yunnanese Chinese (Hor) traders.
The latter mostly used horse-trains (Hallett 1890:170-2; 213).
2. The river route from Bangkok to the north.  There were two
important rivers involved in this route:
2.1 The Mae Nam Ping which had Chiangmai as its trade distribution
centre;
2.2 The Mae Nam Nan which had Tha It in Uttaradit Province as the main
distribution centre for the north.
	The river routes connected with the ox-train trade routes, the
main products supplied to the traders from Bangkok being clothes,
thread, kerosene, matches, candles, salt and dried fish.  All boats
came up the Chao Phraya to Nakhorn Sawan.  Here they branched either
up the Mae Ping or the Nan to Chiangmai or Tha It.  Ox-train traders
from Maehongsorn or Chiangrai for example, would buy goods from the
boat traders at Chiangmai for resale in more distant towns and
villages.  Traders from Nan, Phrae or Phayao would do the same at Tha
It.  These traders would bring goods from their home base or buy from
towns and villages on the way, either for sale along the route or to
the boat traders who would take the goods back to Bangkok.  The goods
involved in the return trade were animal horn, animal skins, lac
(krang), honey, sappan wood (maifang), and cutch (siisiat).  These
goods were either forest products or the produce of their own village.

Prices and profits
	Trading with ox-trains often involved long and difficult
journeys; for example, the journey between Mae Sariang and Mae La Noi
districts of Maehongsorn Province and Hot district in Chaingmai took
ten to twelve days.  Traders would buy fish sauce in Hot at 1.25 baht
a bottle (1947 prices) and sell in Mae La Noi at 3.50 baht a bottle.
They would buy salt at 5 baht for twenty litres and sell the same
quantity at 25 baht.
	In the trade between Sa-Moeng district in Chiangmai and the
urban district of Lampang, traders bought kerosene in Lampang Rs. 5
for a twenty litre barrel (1918 prices), transported it to Chiangmai,
a journey of about four days, and sold it in Sa-Moeng for Rs.20.  The
high price was justified by the difficult terrain that had to be
negotiated.
	Information from other areas was similar - i.e., traders would
sell goods at 2-5 times the price they paid.  The justification for
these high margins was the difficulty of the journeys, the time taken
and the amount of capital at risk.
	The customers in any particular village, too, were not
numerous.  In the period 1910-1930, villages ranged in size from 20-40
houses and, assuming an average household size of six, populations of
between 120-240 persons.  The quantity of goods that could be traded
was limited, and consequently profits also limited.

The end of the ox-trains
	The use of ox-trains for trade probably goes back to the time
of King Mangrai.  The period of its greatest development, particularly
as a consequence of trade with Britain, began in the 19th century.
The Moulmein-Chiangmai route was the most important in this trade.
The early years of the 20th century saw a rapid development of land
transport.  In 1914 the northern railway system reached Lampang, in
1921 Chiangmai.  There was in addition the development of the road
system between the bigger towns.  In 1914 work commenced on the roads
between Denchai and Phrae, Lampang, Phayao and Chiangrai, Lamphun and
Chiangmai.  The progress of this construction, however, was slow, as
there were continual problems with funding (Chusit 1982:54-6;
Phornphen 1974:34).  The road systems linking villages to towns fared
even worse.  Thus, though the building of the road system began in
1914, the ox-trains continued well beyond that date, to a decreasing
extent, but well into the 20th century.
	The First National Development Plan (1961-66) and the Second
National Development Plan (1967-71) saw the rapid development of the
road system linking towns to each other and villages to the towns.
The long history of the ox-trains came to an end, being replaced by
the swifter and more convenient road and rail transport.
	The ox-train traders went back to rice cultivation.  Of the 60
or so ox-train traders interviewed throughout North Thailand, only
five (about 8.3%) continued to trade in a small way around the
villages. Nevertheless, these ex-traders had a better economic
position than other rice farmers, though they were less wealthy than
their fellow traders in the towns.  They were respected by their
fellow villagers and were often chosen as headman, kamnan, and
irrigation headman.
	The ox-train traders were rural traders who came from the
ranks of the rice farmers.  They engaged in trade after the harvest in
order to improve their economic position.  The institution continued
for well over a hundred years, probably much longer.  The trade
continued over many generations, based in the villages, for the
traders were unwilling to leave their homes for the unfamiliar
surroundings of the towns.  It could also have been the strong
attachment to the culture of the rural village which kept them there
and prevented them from becoming big traders or big capitalists like
the merchants of the city.  When motor vehicles replaced the
ox-trains, the traders had to return to an agricultural life as their
capital resources did not allow them to venture into motorized
transport.  Motor vehicles required as much as 10 or 15 times more
capital.  Their fear of the cities and lack of capital also prevent
them from re-establishing themselves as traders there.  There was
little they could do but go back to their old way of life in the
village.  They went from farmer to ox-train trader, and finally back
to farmer again when the ox-trains were superseded in the mid-20th
century.

Translated from the Thai by Gehan Wijeyewardene
Bibliography

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Thailand).  Bangkok: Department of Religious Affairs.
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______.  1981.  kaan kamn¨¨t rabob seethakit thun nijom kap phon
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the capitalist economic system and its consequences for peasant
society in north Thailand).  Sangkhomsart  vol. 5, no. 1,
April-September 2524, pp.39-63, University of Chiangmai.
hallett, Holt S.  1890.  A Thousand Miles on an Elephant in the Shan
States.  London: Blackwood and Sons.
kyakol jynjonganan.  1976.  kaan patthganaa kaan khomanakhom thaa» bok
nai ratchasami phrabaat somdet phra cula c¹m klaw caw juu hua  (The
development of land communications during the reign of King
Chulalongkorn).  ma thesis, Sri Nakharinthawirot Prasarnmitr
University.
maung htin aung.  1976.  prawat saat phamaa  (History of Burma).
Translated into Thai by Petchari Sumit.  Bangkok: Social Science
Association of Thailand.
mccarthy, j.  1900.  Surveying and Exploring in Siam.  London: Murray.
pendleton, r.l.  1974.  Thailand: Aspects of Landscape and Life.  New
York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce.
phornphen hantrakul.  1974.  kaan caai chaai »¨¨n phäändin nai
ratchasamai phrabaat somdet phra mo»kut klaw caw juu hua (ph¹¹ s¹¹
2453-2468) (National expenditure in the reign of King Vajirawudh
(1910-1925)).  ma thesis, Chulalongkorn University.
prasert na nakhorn (ed.).  1978.  ma»raisaat (The laws of King
Mangrai) edited and rendered in modern Thai. Bangkok: Sri
Nakharinthawirot Prasarnmitr University.
sawart senanarong.  1978.  phumisaat pratheet thai  (Georgraphy of
Thailand).  Bangkok: Social Science Association of Thailand.
singkha wannasai (ed. and trans.).  1979.  ma»sarop chia»mai  (The
Burmese war against Chiangmai), edited and translated into modern
Thai.  Chiangmai: Chiangmai Book Center.
sommai premcit (ed.).  1976.  kham s¹¹n phraya ma»rai  (The teachings
of King Mangrai), rendered in modern Thai.  Chiangmai: Department of
Sociology and Anthropology, University of Chiangmai.
sunthari asawaiya.  1979.  kaan patthanaa rabob kaan chonprathaan nai
pratheet thai tang tää ph¹¹ s¹¹ 2431-2493  (Development of irrigation
systems in Thailand 1888-1950).  ma thesis, Chulalongkorn University.
sithy prasartset.  1975.  A Study of Production and Trade of Thailand
1855-1940.  phd thesis, University of Sydney.
suwit phaithayawat. 1979.  wiwatthana-akaan sethakit chonlabot nai
phaak klaa» kh¹» pratheet thai rawaa» p¹¹ s¹¹ 2394-2475  (Rural
economic development in central Thailand between 1851 and 1932).  ma
thesis, Chulalongkorn University.
tanabe shigeharu.  1976.  kaan chonprathaan phya kaan kaset nai
prawatsaat seethakit thai  (Irrigation agriculture in Thai economic
history).  Warasarn Thammasart  vol. 5, no. 2.
thipakorawong chao phraya.  1961.  phra ratcha pho»sawadaan kru»
ratanakosin ratchakaan thii 3  (Chronicles of the third reign of the
Bangkok Period), vol. 1.  Bangkok: Kuru Sapha Press.
wanchali bunmi.  1977.  kwaam samphan kap a»krit nai baa» laksana
samai phrabaat somdet phra cula c¹m klaw caw juu hua: kaan paa maai lä
mya» rää  (Some aspects of relations with England during the reign of
King Chulalongkorn: forestry and mining).  ma thesis, Sri
Nakharinthawirot Prasarnmitr University.
wijeyewardene, g.  1965.  A Note on 	Irrigation 	and
Agriculture in a 	North Thai Village, 	Felicitation
Volumes of Southeast Asian 	Studies, vol. 2: 255-259
Bangkok: The 	Siam Society.

* * *
Seminar Report
	The Thai-Yunnan Project held an informal seminar on "Thai
health care Ñ past and present" on Thursday 23rd November.
	Participants included Prof. Serge Genest, a medical
anthropologist from UniversitŽ Laval in Quebec, who is currently
visiting the Project, Dr Jean Mulholland, of the Australian Institute
of Health, Dr Anthony Diller and Dr Baas Terwiel, of the Faculty of
Asian Studies, and Cholthira Satyawadhna, Julia Byford and Scott
Bamber, of the Anthropology Department.
	Prof. Genest is going to Chiangmai in December to conduct
research on patient-doctor communication. Scott Bamber is planning to
commence a study of health care among Tai peoples in Sipsongpanna in
early in 1990. The purpose of the seminar was thus to provide a forum
for the discussion of some of their ideas prior to starting fieldwork.
	Scott Bamber presented a short paper outlining some of the
recent history of Chinese health care policy in relation to minority
peoples, and drawing some parallels with the case of the
state-recognition of regional diversity within Thailand. In the case
of both China and Thailand, medicine was seen to have been used for
political purposes, as a means of legitimising the position of the
state and establishing control over regional areas.
	Serge Genest spoke from the perspective of a long experience
working on medical anthropology in Africa. Reviewing the literature on
biomedicine in Thailand, he noted the apparent wide acceptance
throughout the country of modern health care, which is unusual for a
developing nation. Possible explanations for this rapid acceptance, he
suggested, might lie in the interest shown by members of the royal
family in Western science dating from last century, and in the
participation of women in the health care system.
	From the discussion following these presentations, it was
apparent that the field of Thai health care encompasses a diverse
range of issues. Subjects raised included the role of women in the
Thai health care system, "medicalisation" and the manipulation and
negotiation of health, the political economy of health under communist
and capitalist states, the role of culture-specific practices such as
tattooing in the transmission of disease, and the methodological
difficulties involved in conducting health care research on Tai
minorities in China.

				S.B.

*
Preliminary Notes on Health Care in
Sipsongpanna

Scott Bamber

Introduction

	This project is basically a study of health care among the LŸ,
a Tai people of whom there are some 226,000 living in Sipsongpanna
(Xishuangbanna), in southern Yunnan, People's Republic of China.9 The
focus of the study is the interaction between traditional Tai LŸ
beliefs and practices, and the health care services provided by the
Chinese state.
	In practical terms, the study will involve research in two
main areas, the first consisting of a survey of state-provided health
services in Sipsongpanna, and the second an examination of the health
care beliefs of the Tai LŸ people. This would include the use of, and
attitudes towards, institutionalised medicine, such as the facilities
provided by the state, as well as traditional practitioners. It would
also encompass less-formal aspects of health, which are for the most
part centred on the home, such as 'first-aid', diet, personal hygiene,
and water use.
	Because of the little information available on this aspect of
Tai LŸ culture, and the opportunity it presents for the comparative
study of health and medical practices of Tai peoples elsewhere in
Southeast Asia, this part of the project would be valuable in itself.
However, there are a number of other reasons why this type of
information is useful, in the broader contexts of medical
anthropology, and of Thai studies. In both of these fields, a common
issue is the position of minority groups in a health system set up by
the dominant population. By way of background to the project, I will
here say something of the relationship of these themes to health and
health care in Sipsongpanna.

Tai LŸ and the Chinese Health Care System

	Although much has been written of the Chinese rural health
care system, little appears in the literature about the position of
ethnic minorities.10 The Chinese health system has been generally cast
in terms which make it appear rather monolithic: both illness and
medicine are seen as tangible entities, with little acknowledgement
given to regional or cultural differences in the way they are
perceived. Thus, for example, while it was stated officially that the
traditional medical systems of non-Han groups were also to be included
in the training of barefoot doctors, it is difficult to find any
detailed information about the interaction between the state and
minority medical systems.11
	The information which is available from Chinese sources is
written from the State perspective, and is mainly concerned with
lauding the improvements which have taken place in health in the
region since Liberation in 1949.12 	Thus in one account of health
in Sipsongpanna there are copious references to 'pipa devils' (phii
paa), exorcisms, 'benevolent water' [naam mon] and 'evil vapour' (lom
phit [?]).13 	This source also mentions the training of Dai (Tai LŸ)
people as barefoot doctors, at the production brigade level, as well
as at more highly trained levels, as midwives and fully qualified
doctors.14 Although mention is made of some attempts to integrate
traditional practices with the State health care system,15 the
official approach to Tai LŸ health care appears to have been primarily
in keeping with the prevailing Party ideology. As expressed by the
anthropologist Fei Hsiao Tung, this runs as follows:
Some customs and habits of certain minorities resulted from their
backward modes of production and stood in the way of social progress.
Certain nationalities had various taboos because medical facilities
were lacking.16
	By implication, then, the medical services provided by the
State were considered to be superior to traditional practices, and the
State had the right to determine which traditional beliefs and
practices were acceptable. Traditional beliefs and practices were
tolerated as expedients, pending the transformation of the minority
cultures.
	An important factor affecting state health policy in these
regions was that Sipsongpanna was a frontier region. These southern
frontiers were the last areas to be 'liberated' by the Chinese
Communist Party (CCP), and even after control of major cities and
towns was established in 1950, parts of the region remained insecure
until 1955.17 Consequently, the frontier regions were the site of
intensive efforts to subdue 'bandits', and curry favour with the local
peoples. An important part of this strategy was the initiation of
public health, and medical campaigns.18 Carried out by mobile teams,
and by units of the People's Liberation Army, these campaigns achieved
considerable success, if official reports can be believed, in the
reduction of infectious diseases, and of malaria.19
	Despite this emphasis on health care, a comparison of Yunnan
with other areas of China shows that, as a whole, it is still worse
off (like other peripheral minority areas) than Han areas of China.
The region is among those provinces with the highest death rates, the
lowest life expectancies, and the second-highest birth rates in China.
It topped the country in the incidence of typhoid and paratyphoid
fever, and ranked highly in the prevalence of other water-related
diseases such as dysentery and viral hepatitis, and malaria.20
	There has also been an added complication to this picture in
recent years, which is associated with the breakdown of the commune
system. With the shift towards a system of 'household responsibility',
farmers have been engaged in the growing of produce for private sale.
As a consequence of the increased wealth, and opportunities for gain,
which this has brought to rural areas, the rural health insurance
scheme has broken down. While the wealthier farmers and their families
can seek medical attention in the larger centres, the preventive
aspect of the health system is being neglected.21 This may have
serious implications for the incidence of illness in rural areas.

Medicine as Symbol
	From the overview given above it is not hard to see that
medicine has been used in China to serve purposes which extend beyond
the simple healing of physical illnesses. Medicine has been
deliberately used among minority groups as a tool to aid in the
consolidation of the Chinese state. This touches upon a number of
aspects which have parallels in Thailand, and I'd like briefly to
spell some of these out here.
	As Paul Cohen has pointed out in a recent book, politics and
health are closely-knit in Thailand.22 In particular, I think that the
current revival of interest in traditional medicine in Thailand may be
largely attributed to its use as a symbol of ethnic identity. This
revival has been expressed in the appearance of a large number of
publications on the various types of traditional medicine to be found
in Thailand, including magazines, books, manuals for self-treatment,
and posters. There has also been a good deal of research at university
level, as well as seminars, and the establishment of 'herbal medicine
gardens' at temples, colleges, and various other public sites. In
addition, the use of traditional medicine is being actively promoted
by a number of non-Government organisations (NGOs), especially in
projects in the Northeast.
	An important feature in a number of these activities is the
involvement of the monarch, or members of the royal family. As I've
discussed elsewhere, the involvement of Thai royalty in the promotion
of medicine goes back at least to the second reign.23 It had strong
precedents in Khmer civilisation, with the establishment of a number
of "hospitals" in the twelth century A.D. under Jayavarman VII.24 The
series of medical inscriptions, sculptures, and paintings erected at
Wat Pho, and other temples, during the 1830s at the direction of Rama
III is one of the better-known examples of the interest shown by Thai
royalty in medicine.25 Such expressions of royal interest in medicine
serve a dual purpose: apart from the concern for the well-being of the
population which no doubt motivated him, the crown was also seen to be
doing good for the people. Medicine has thus long served as a powerful
and visible medium for establishing the monarch's position as
benefactor.
	This usage of medicine has become somewhat more complicated in
recent years. The biomedicine widely practised in modern Thailand,
though it cannot be considered as 'Western medicine', nevertheless
remains strongly associated with Europeans. This may partly explain
why, in the nationalistic climate which has developed in the years
since the American military withdrawal from Southeast Asia, along with
other emblems of 'Thai-ness', there has also been a renewed interest
in 'traditional Thai medicine'. Works on traditional medicine have, in
fact, been a feature of the publications produced by the Committee for
the Promotion of Thai Identity of the Department of Education.26 In
such promotions emphasis is placed on the long history of medicine in
Thailand, together with its efficacy, reflecting the ingenuity and
self-sufficiency of the Thai populace.
	In the use of medicine to represent 'tradition', the former
context in which it appeared is often forgotten. This occurs in two
main ways: the neglect of regional differences between peoples within
Thailand, and the isolation of ingredients from their traditional
methods of prescription. These may be clearly seen in the case of the
trial project organised by the Ministry of Public Health in
conjunction with Mahidol University, and funded by the German aid
agency GTZ, which involves the controlled use of 'traditional
medicines' under hospital conditions. The drugs used were selected
after extensive scientific analysis of a range of substances used in
traditional Central Thai medicine. In this case, while the drugs are
no doubt pharmacologically effective, their use may differ
substantially from the way they were used in traditional
prescriptions. Their traditional effectiveness may well have been
based on factors which are highly region or dialect specific, as well
as on the context in which they were taken. For traditionally Thai
prescriptions contained many ingredients, in some cases over a
hundred, and were rarely administered singly, as in the example above.
Further, the preparation and consumption of medicine was usually
accompanied by invocations and magical practices.27 Used out of
context, it is questionable whether they can still be recognised as
'traditional medicine'.
	What appears to be happening in the Ministry of Public Health
project, and in a number of other areas of the promotion of
traditional medicine, is the definition of 'tradition' and its
imposition over the country as a whole. The promotion of a concept of
'traditional Thai medicine' thus contributes, with other institutions
such as religion and education, to the production of a unified version
of Thai-ness.28
	Interestingly, this use of medicine to define identity can
also be adopted by minority groups within the country to suit their
own purposes. As Cohen points out in his recent discussion of the role
of non-government organisations in primary health care, the accent in
a number of areas is on self-reliance and community participation.29
This tends to place emphasis on regional differences, rather than the
sharing of a common medical tradition. Thus in projects such as that
set-up by the Northeast Rural Development Programme (NERDEP) at Phon,
near Khon Kaen, there are active attempts to learn the local
terminology and treatments for illnesses. In this case, texts obtained
from Laos, which bears close linguistic and cultural similarities to
Northeast Thailand, were also employed.
	Thus, to sum up, in Thailand, as in China, medicine has been
used as both a means of legitimising the position of the state, as
well as a device for establishing control over regional areas. At the
same time medicine can also be used by minority groups as a means to
assert their individuality.

Aspects to be followed up in fieldwork
	This then is the context in which the proposed examination of
health care in Sipsongpanna will be undertaken. Some of the main
questions which I will be addressing are, the degree to which the
commune health care system was introduced into the region, the extent
to which medical care in Sipsongpanna is 'autonomous', the role which
traditional health and medical beliefs and practices played and the
attitudes of the Tai LŸ towards the state health care system and the
ways in which it has been introduced. I will also examine the effect
of recent changes in the health system, in the light of the breakdown
of the commune system. Following from the last section, I will also be
looking at the use of medicine as a symbol, in both the assertion of
ethnic identity and in the imposition of state control.

References
Bamber, S., "Trope and Taxonomy: An 	Examination of the
Classification and 	Treatment of Illness in Traditional Thai
Medicine", Ph.D. thesis, Australian 	National University, Canberra,
1989.
Coed�s, G., "L'assistance mŽdicale au Cambodge ˆ 	la fin du XIIe
si�cle", Revue mŽdicale 	Fran�aise d'extr�me-orient, vol.19,
1941, 	pp.405-415.
Cohen, P., "The Politics of Primary Health Care 	in Thailand,
with Special Reference to 	Non-government Organisations", in
Cohen and Purcal (1989), pp.159-176.
Cohen, P., and J. Purcal, eds., The Political 	Economy of Primary
Health Care in 	Southeast Asia, Australian Development 	Studies
Network Ð ASEAN Training 	Centre for Primary Health Care
Development, Canberra, 1989.
Cox, K.R., "Health and Wealth in Rural China", 	in Cohen and Purcal
(1989), pp.43-51.
Fei Hsiao Tung, Towards a People's 	Anthropology, New World Press,
Beijing, 1981.
Jamison, D.T., J.R. Evans, T. King, I. Porter, N. 	Prescott, and
A. Prost, China: the Health 	Sector, The World Bank, Washington,
1984.
Keyes, C.F., Thailand: Buddhist Kingdom as 	Modern Nation-State,
Duang Kamol, 	Bangkok, 1989.
Khrongkan phoei phrae ekalak khong Thai, eds., 	Mo Thai-ya Thai,
Krasuang su'ksathikan, 	Bangkok, 1978.
___Tamra ya charu'k Wat Ratcha'orot lae 	Phra'osot Phra Narai,
Krasuang 	su'ksathikan, Bangkok, 1979.
	Moseley, G.V.H., The Consolidation of 	the South China
Frontier, University of 	California Press, Berkeley, 1973.
Mulholland, J., "Thai Traditional Medicine: 	Ancient Thought and
Practice in a Thai 	Context", Journal of the Siam Society, 	vol.67
(2), 1979, pp.80-115.
Sidel, R., and V.W. Sidel, The Health of China, 	Beacon Press,
Boston, 1982.
	Thongthem Nartchanong, "Thinthan 	khong chaw Tai nai
Sipsongphanna", 	Muang Boran, vol.15, 1989, pp.51-65.
W.H.O., Primary Health Care Ð The Chinese 	Experience: Report of
an Inter-regional 	Seminar, W.H.O., Geneva, 1983.
Wilenski, P., The Delivery of Health Services in 	the People's
Republic of China, 	International Development Research
Centre, Ottawa, 1976.
Zheng Lan, Travels Through Xishuangbanna, 	Foreign Languages
Press, Beijing, 1981.

* * *
Biomedicine in Thailand:
Notes for fieldwork.
Prepared for a seminar of the Thai-Yunnan Project
November 1989

Serge Genest

	Having studied African therapeutic systems for the past ten
years, when I started to read on Thailand I was very impressed by the
place which biomedicine seemed to occupy in that country.  I should
say that the more I gather information on what is going on there, the
more this first impression is reinforced.
	But, on the other hand, there is anthropological documentation
that shows that patients have been able to make practitioners of
biomedicine offer their services in ways that were suitable to them.
These conclusions particularly come out of analyses from the Chiangmai
area (Weiner, 1982, 1984).
	Chiangmai is also the region where, according to another study
(Muecke 1976), women have accepted rather easily to go to hospital for
child delivery, interpreting biomedical practices in terms of their
own traditional beliefs.
	Finally, the professional situation of doctors has been
investigated in a Northern town and gives some insight into the
seemingly unique doctor-patient relationship in this part of the
country (Smith 1982).
	When one tries to put all those descriptions and analyses
together, there seems to be a thesis:  the pervasive presence of
biomedicine and its wide acceptance by the population.  The antithesis
says that practitioners have to adapt their practice to patients'
demands, i.e. to make biomedicine acceptable, practitioners have to
compromise in various circumstances.
	In order to look for a synthesis, or maybe to grasp more fully
the underlying complexity of surface contradictions, one has to go to
the practitioners themselves to get their perceptions of the way the
population behaves towards biomedicine and also to know more about
their actual practices, through interviews and observations.
	As in many researches of this type, history, political economy
and ethnography have to be jointly used to give the most accurate
account of such a complex environment as this one.
	History tells us that right from the beginning of this
century, the royal family of Siam was already interested in Western
medicine.  This has probably much to do with the present situation in
Thailand.  Building of hospitals, teaching of medicine in
universities, though the privilege of the minority, are indices of the
interest shown by the political authorities in the protection of
health and the curing of sickness.
	A recent article on the development of nursing in Thailand
(Muecke and Srisuphan 1989) makes this point quite clear for that
particular profession.  An equivalent survey seems to be still needed
for doctors.
	Statistical figures, even if very often to be used with much
caution, help sometimes to set up reliable questions.  The information
on numbers of people dying and birth delivery in hospitals and clinics
for example could indicate the extent to which people use biomedical
facilities.  But still then, various observations and ethnographic
material would be necessary to document those numbers and make them
significant.
	Investigating the perception by doctors and nurses of the
population's behaviour towards biomedicine as well as at their actual
practices when dealing with patients, the anthropologist will also
need to go for more detailed ethnography.
	It is almost a necessity to refer to trditional medicine when
dealing with the attitudes concerning biomedicine.  How do doctors and
nurses feel about people making use of different kinds of therapies
and how do they react?  Do they send patients to traditional doctors?
Would they themselves members of their family consult such
practitioners?
	Very often, people come to see doctors with their own
diagnoses on what is happening to them, how do practitioners of
biomedicine deal with this?  Do they themselves couch their diagnoses
in terms understandable by their clients?
	Thanks to the theoretical orientations of the last two
decades, it is now clear that one has to look both at women's and
men's behaviours, particularly in comparative therapeutic systems, to
get a fair picture of reality.
	Many of the publications dealing with biomedicine in Thailand,
and more specifically in the Chiangmai region, confirm the role played
by women in this aspect of life and this raises the question as to
women being the main agents in the adhesion to this therapeutic
system.  This question has also to be worked out with doctors and
nurses.
	The lack of experience on a particular area leaves more
questions unanswered than analytical certitudes.  Let me hope that
this first fieldwork in Thailand would start the unending process of
more accurate information leading to more complex questions and a
better understanding of the contradictions going on in the society.

Bibliography

Muecke, M.  1976.  'Health care systems as socializing agents:
childbearing the North Thai and Western ways', Social Science and
Medicine 10:377-383.
Muecke, M. and Srisuphan, W.  1989.  'Born female: the development of
nursing in Thailand', Social Science and Medicine 29(5):643-652.
Smith, H.E.  1982.  'Doctors and society: a Northern Thailand study',
Social Science and Medicine 16:515-526.
Weisberg, D.  1982.  'Northern Thai health care alternatives.  Patient
control and the structure of medical pluralism', Social Science and
Medicine 16:1507-117.
Weisberg, D.  1984.  'Physician's private clinics in a Northern Thai
town - patient-healer "collaboration" and the shape of biomedical
practice', Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry 8:165-186.


Translations

by Irene Bain

MEDICINE AMONG THE DAI
OF XI-SHUANG-BAN-NA

	Many Dai villages contain medical practicioners, known as
Mo-ya (doctors) in the Dai language. The Mo-ya generally collect
medicinal herbs and treat illnesses during breaks from farming. Their
procedures for diagnosing illness are similar to those of the Han;
observation, listening, questioning and taking the pulse. The Mo-ya
first observes the complexion, expressions and movements of the
patient to form an initial impression of the severity of the illness.
Then the pulse is felt on the left and right wrists, at the heart and
at other parts of the body. The Mo-ya  then asks the patient about the
illness before reaching a conclusion and preparing a prescription. The
Mo-ya also perform surgery and can treat difficult diseases with
competence, as well as prevalent local diseases such as malaria,
typhoid, pneumonia, leprosy, dysentry, haemorroids, nervous disorders,
toothaches, night-blindness, haemorrhages, broken bones, bites from
poisonous snakes and disorders of the stomach and intestines.
	The Mo-ya  gather organic and mineral materials which they
process by simple methods to produce medicines which may be taken
internally, applied externally or used as a wash. The Mo-ya do not
learn by apprenticeship but rather by individual reading, research,
experiment and practice. Those skilled at collecting medicines and
those adept at treating disease make their knowledge available in
book-form.

From Cao Cheng-zhang and Zhang Yuan-qing Dai-zu (The Dai) 1984
Beijing: Min-zu Chu-ban She  (Minorities Publishing House) p. 57
*

LAMAISM AMONG THE NA-XI
MINORITY OF LI-JIANG, YUNNAN

Li Jin-chun

	The Na-xi of Li-jiang are adherents of the Ning-ma [a Tibetan
term] branch of Tibetan Buddhism commonly known as red Lamaism [due to
the colour of the Lamas head-dress]. Lamaism spread from Kang-zang
[present-day western Si-chuan and eastern Tibet] south across the
Jin-sha Jiang [River] and into the Li-jiang region occupied by the
Na-xi . According to the section on the "Origin of the Buddha" in The
Travels of Xu Xia-ke, Lamaist religious activity began among the Na-xi
when the Tibetan Er-bao Buddha passed through Li-jiang en route to
Ji-zu Shan in 1550, but lamaseries were only constructed during the
Qing Dynasty. The five famous temples near the Li-jiang County seat
were built during the reigns of Kang-xi [1662-1723], Yong-zheng
[1723-36] and Qian-long [1736-1795] in the Qing Dynasty.
	Fu-guo Si [Temple of the Fortunate Nation], located on Mount
Zhi west of Bai-sha, was once called Jie-tuo Lin [The Forest Far from
the Secular World] but was renamed in the Jia-zhong Period of the Ming
Dynasty. Fu-guo was originally a Han Buddhist temple managed by a
Yunnanese and its architecture resembled that of temples in the
central plains of China; majestic and ordered, with a great hall
backed by the Pavillion of the Buddhist Clouds (Tower of the Five
Winds). During the Wan-li Era [1573-1620] the Emperor bestowed gifts
on the temple which were stored there. To the south was a  circular
hall with a thatched roof and, to the north, a round pavillion. In
front of the pavillion was a tower with intricately carved golden
walls. In the Chong-zhen Era [1628-1644] the hereditary chief Mu-zeng
rested here, and it was also at this time that Xu Xia-ke [a famous
Chinese traveller] spent several days in Nan-wu where he edited and
punctuated a poem written by Mu-zeng. In 1679 it became the first
lamasery in Li-jiang. In the Tong-zhi Era [1862-1875] it was destroyed
by soldiers and rebuilt in the Guang-xu Era [1875-1908].
	Yu-feng Si [Temple of the Jade Peak] was built by Lamas in the
latter years of the Kang-xi Era [1662-1723]. It became famous as the
home of "Wan-duo Shan-cha", the tea of Mount Wan-duo.
	Zhi-yun Si [Temple Pointing to the Clouds], located on Mount
Mu-du in La City, was built with donations collected by Lama Li Xiang
in the Yong-zheng Era [1723-1736].  Later it was destroyed by soldiers
but rebuilt in the fifth year of the Guang-xu Era [1880]. It has a
huge hall, 13 courtyards and an orchard.
	Wen-feng Si [Temple of the Scholarly Peak]...In the Eleventh
Year of the Yong-zheng Era [1734], the Tibetan lama Ge Xuan-bu
practised Buddhism here. In the Fourth Year of Qian-long [1740] the
Si-bao Buddha  came to Li-jiang and noted the favourable geomancy of
the site and asked the offical responsible for scholarly affairs to
collect donations and build a temple. This temple was constructed the
following year...It contains 17 courtyards and is most famous of the
seven great temples of Li-jiang. The 'spirit cave' behind the temple
is the training centre of the 13 large Lama temples of Li-jiang and is
known as "The Meditation Hall".
	Pu-ji Si is located on Mount Pu-ji to the west of the Li-jiang
County Seat. It was constructed in the 36th Year of Qian-long [1772]
and repaired in the Jia-qing and Dao-guang Eras [1800's]. It contains
a hall roofed in copper tiles. [A number of minor temples are now
described].
	During the Qing Dynasty [1644-1911], red Lamaism declined in
Tibet but prospered in Li-jiang, which became an important religious
centre and the southern-most boundary of red Lamaism. The study of
Lamaism in Li-jiang is consequently of great value in understanding
relations between the Na-xi and Tibetans and the spread and
development of Lamaism (particularly the rise and demise of red
Lamaism). By traditional accounts, there were five Buddhas, the Great
Buddha resided in the Chong-pu temple near Lhasa and the other four in
De-ge-ba-pu Si in Xi-kang. The Lama in the Na-xi area, referred to as
Ge-ma- Ba (Gao-ma Ba) was the religious leader. For this reason the
Lama must travel to Chong-pu or to De-ge Temples and worship in order
to gain recognised scholarly status.
	The internal organisation of the five great lamaseries of
Li-jiang was basically similar but there were different ranks and
responsibilities. The Great Lama or Living Buddha known as Lama Gu-ji
in Na-xi, was highest in rank. The position of the Great Lama passed
on by a process of reincarnation. As the reincarnated Living Buddha
was often found in the Li-jiang area, many Great Lama were of Na-xi
ethnicity. Some lamaseries were without Living Buddhas for a period
because the elders did not indicate who should hold the position or
the Living Buddha could not be found. The subordinate to the Living
Buddha who held actual power over the religion was the second Lama,
commonly called the chief official or Ke-mu. He was versed in the
Sutras and Buddhist ceremony and achieved the status of Ke-mu by
election. He officiated at ceremonies, tested the acolytes and taught
the classics to the Living Buddha...An elected Chang-zong was
responsible for managing temple finances...The Dou-ba  were those
monks who had travelled to Tibet or De-ge to offer obesience to the
Buddha and had studied in the Meditation Hall for three years, three
months, three days and three hours in solitary confinement. The
Meditation Hall of Wen-feng Si contained over twenty cells which
catered for monks throughout the Li-jiang area. Discipline for this
period of study was strict: they could only sit cross-legged and must
not lie down to sleep, or leave the lamasery or see visitors from
outside the temple, but only speak with them across a partition. After
graduating from the Meditation Hall the monks were entitled to the
rank of Dou-ba...Those who had travelled to worship the Buddha more
than once attained the rank of Ge-long and were eligable to meditate
in the Meditation Hall and to be elected to various positions. Those
lama who had not travelled to worship the Buddha were responsible for
maintain the vegetable plots or other such tasks.
	The lamasaries enjoyed patronage from the hereditary chiefs
and the administration and were replete with cash and hundreds or
thousands of mu  of rented-fields, forest and villages, making them
the largest landlords of the area. These funds were used to support
the lamas, undertake ceremonies, buy agricultural produce and to
speculate.
	The great majority of red Lama were Na-xi, but the Na-xi did
not regard this as a position of honour; rather as a consequence of
social environment. Some individuals became Lama to seek redemption
from illness but most were persons who had lost both parents, came
from poor families with many mouths to feed or were escaping military
service. For this reason, the occupation of Lama was rarely hereditary
and donations to Lamas from ordinary families were rare. Generally the
Lama teacher and his disciples formed a family and lived in the
village comprisded of Lamas dwelling near the temple. Before 1949 the
difficulty in raising funds for the journey to Tibet delayed the
attainment of scholastic status and the number of monks who desired to
leave the order grew rapidly. There were even cases where an
individual was identified as the Living Buddha but he or his family
opposed the appointment. The common people considered Lamaism to be an
exotic religion which originated outside Li-jiang and was remote from
society.

Buddhism and Taoism among the Li-jiang Na-xi:
	The Buddhism of the Han reached Li-jiang before Lamaism,
probably spreading northward from Nan-zhao and Da-li, but stopping on
the southern banks of the Jin-sha Jiang [River]. According to
historical records, there were Han-style temples in Li-jiang such as
Bei-yue Miao [North Yue Temple] during the Tang Dynasty [618-907], but
there are no records of the spread of Buddhism and Taoism into
Li-jiang.  Buddhism flourished in Li-jiang during the Ming Dynasty and
over thirty different types of Buddhist temples were constructed in
the area which now forms Li-jiang County. During the Qing Dynasty
[1644-1911] another sixty temples were completed. Before 1949, almost
all the larger villages contained one or more Buddhist temples. These
honoured Sakyamuni, Maitreya, Kuan-yin Pu-sa [The Goddess of Mercy]
and other Han Buddhist dieties. Temple architecture also replicated
the Han style. Statues carved from wood or stone or moulded from clay
were of fine quality and some temples also contained murals, among
which those of the Bo-li Dian [Glass Palace] and the Da-jue Gong
[Palace of Great Awareness] are famous. Most monks were Na-xi and the
common people frequently burnt incense and prayed for peace at the
temples, especially during festivals. Their economic power was less
than the Lamas and this was reflected in the scale of their temple
construction and the number of monks in their order.  Dispersal of the
temples throughout the Na-xi villages however gave Buddhist monks many
opportunities to recite sutras for the people and facilitated the
transmission of Han culture. Hence Buddhism has influenced the thought
and culture of the Na-xi more profoundly that Lamaism.
	Han Taoism probably arrived in Li-jiang with Buddhism or only
shortly thereafter. During the Ming Dynasty [1368-1644] the hereditary
chief Mu-shi came and paid his respects to the Taoist priests of
Li-jiang. Two Taoist temples (Huang-tian Ge  and Zhen-wu  Ci ) were
constructed. Before 1949 there was a Na-xi village in the Bai-ma
region south of the Li-jiang County seat which proclaimed itself the
descendants of Zhang-tian-shi and would frequently invite Taoist
priests to conduct funeral rites. In general however, the number of
Taoist monks was insufficient to influence Na-xi culture.
	In the last hundred years, Catholicism and other sects of
Christianity have spread to the Na-xi of Li-jiang. Missionaries have
built churches and preached through the villages that God created
everything and the Chinese should burn incense and kow-tow before
wooden spirits and clay statues. They have distributed all kinds of
scriptures, pictures and sweets and sometimes diagnosed and treated
illness free of charge. However, they also collected many Na-xi
cultural relics and plant samples and drew many topographic maps which
angered the Na-xi masses. As a result, there were few converts in
Li-jiang in the period just before Liberation  [1949].
	In conclusion it may be said that the Li-jiang Na-xi region is
multi-cultural and its people adherents to a number of different
religions. This is apparent from the Qing Dynasty murals of Bai-sha Si
[Temple of the White Sands] which contains Buddhist, Taoist and
Lamaist murals and occassionally these images are found in the same
picture. Although the Na-xi have many religions they did not  really
believe them. Following various social reforms and propogation of
athiest teaching after 1949, these religions have become historical
relics and subjects of cultural study.

Source: Na-xi She-hui Li-shi Diao-cha [Investigations of Na-xi Society
and History] Vol. 2 pp. 60-2



*


ETHNIC RELATIONS OF THE XI-MENG COUNTY YUE-SONG WA MINORITY

Tian Ji-zhou et. al. (1957)

	According to old people in Yue-song, when the Wa first arrived
in Yue-song the area was already settled by Dai. At that time, there
was a Dai village close to the western edge of Yue-song in Ben-gu Ba,
a small flood-plain measuring 4-5 miles in length and half a mile wide
between the Mu-gu River and a tributary.  There were another two
villages in  the area between Yue-song Xi-gu and Mu-gu, about  five km
from Yue-song. We went to investigate traces of Dai presence in the
area; a temple site and a type of tea-tree grown by the Dai. The
tea-tree was used to produce a household tea and, as the Wa had no
knowledge of tea-growing, it was probably planted by the Dai. The
hill-top where the Dai temple had been located was now cultivated, but
traces of the two villages could still be seen.
	The Wa of Yue-song say that their relations with the Dai  were
good, but the two groups did not inter-marry. Soon after the Wa
arrived, they told the Dai of paddy-land in Meng-lian and the Dai
migrated there. After the Dai left, their lands were gradually taken
over by the Wa.
	By traditional accounts, the Wa of Yue-song exchanged red deer
with the Dai for paddy-fields shortly after arriving in the Dai area.
At this time the Wa were accustomed to ride horses and the Dai,
red-deer. The Dai later exchanged their red deer for the Wa horses,
and this explains why the Wa no longer have horses. The deer which the
Wa received in exchange, soon escaped. Originally, the Wa grew paddy
and the Dai worked the mountain land. Then the Dai began exchanging
their hill tracts with the Wa and eventually  they controlled all the
paddy land. The Wa use iron, but they probably learnt this from the
Dai. It is evident that relations between the Dai and the Wa are
long-standing and their effects have been profound.
	The La-hu extended their influence to Yue-song during the five
generations of Zha-wen, Zha-beng (son of  Zha-wen), Zha-sai, Zha-yue
and Zhang Guang-ming (son of Zha-yue)  . When the La-hu arrived, they
fought fierce battles with the Wa villages such as Yu-xi, but old
people in Yue-song and Mang-xing say their villages did not experience
fighting. When Zha-we and Zha-beng came to Yue-song they took some
titles of the Wa chiefs and  gave some clothes and other items to the
serf families of their domain. Zha-sai, Zha-yue and Zhang Guang-ming
did likewise. From the time of Zha-wen onward each family of Yue-song
annually gave a bowl of rice to Zhang Guang-ming. Even in 1957,
Yue-song still sent 12 dou [120 litres] of rice to Zhang Guang-ming at
the La-hu New Year.
	The La-hu had a great influence on the Wa and many villagers
in Mang-xing, Yue-song and Ban-shuai  can speak La-hu. The Wa adopted
many tools and production techniques from the La-hu, such as the
knife, heo and plough. By Wa accounts, their relations with the Han
are also long-standing. They say the Han came to Xi-meng and Yue-song
about three generations ago.

From "Xi-meng Xian Yue-song Wa-zu She-hui Jing-ji Diao-cha"
(Socio-economic Survey of the Yue-song Wa Minority of Xi-meng County)
Wa-zu She-hui Li-shi Diao-cha [Investigations of Wa Society and
History] Vol. 2 p. 3

*

BUILDING THE YUNNAN-BURMA RAILROAD
THROUGH WESTERN YUNNAN

Chang Yin-tang
 
[The author lists some of the problems encountered during wartime
railroad construction in the minority areas of the Yunnan-Burma border
region].

a) The problem of in-migration: Western Yunnan is renowned for the
production of opium. As the profits from this crop far exceed those
from other farm produce, merchants make a huge profit. The Chinese
government has prohibited cultivation of the opium poppy, but this has
resulted in residents of central Yunnan migrating to the western
border to continue cultivating the lucrative crop. These border areas
are controlled by local hereditary chiefs [tu-si]. At first only a few
migrant cuiltivators came and settled and they were welcomed, indeed
even encouraged, by the local minority peoples. Local authorities
awarded land to those who migrated as families, but later the land was
only granted if a whole village resettled in the region. Not long
after, the local authorities and the hereditary chieftain from the
Burmese border region reacted to the pressures placed on resources by
this migrant  influx and attempted to restrain migration. It proved
difficult to block the borders however, and the numbers of settlers
moving to grow opium were bolstered by those fleeing military
conscription or corveee labour duty. Consequently, border disputes and
bandit activities have increased.
b) The minorities problem: The majority of opium growers are members
of the ethnic minorities and those who enthusiastically growopium in
the areas of Ye-ren Shan [Savage Mountains] in Teng-heng County (near
the Mekong River at Ban-hong) and Hu-lu-wang are mainly Ka-wa. The
topography and minorities of the north Burma and Yunnan sides of the
border are indistinguishable. The mountain-top dwellers on Ye-ren Shan
and the Ka-chin of north Burma were originally from he same group and
have formed a regiment which has received military training from the
British army. Although the Chinese government has prohibited opium
production, these groups take no notice. If our government were to
resort to military force, this might encourage the minorities to unite
and instigate a political campaign agaist China.
c) Incomplete demarcation of the Yunnan-Burma border: The border near
Hu-ban and Hu-lu-wang to the east has not been designated, despite
several survey investigations by the British and Chinese. Most
residents of this area wish to be part of China, but our government,
which has sovereign rights yet only nominal power, can only watch the
activities of our strong neighbour. Therefore it is extremely
important to develop the economy along the Yunnan-Burma railroad to
improve security. The British have built roads for the purpose of
winning the hearts of residents by guaranteeing their safety, but not
requiring them to contribute toward construction costs. The intention
of the British is to occupy the area after gaining popular support.
Indeed, the British have already established military camps and
fortresses at Lu-fang, Ban-jiao and Hu-suan which are more than 50
miles inside the Chinese side of the Burma border. The economic
influence of the British extends even further inland. The inability of
my country to counteract this activity is very painful. The territory
along the Burmese frontier is barren but the failure to demarcate this
boundary































Map of the disputed Yunnan-Burma border region
The colour-lines represent different interpretations of the border.
Source: Shen-bao Yue-kan (Shen-Bao Monthly) Vol. 3 no. 10, 1934:
63-73. 'The Truth of the Matter in
Ban-Hong', p. 63



adversely affects our national defence and the future of the
Yunnan-Burma railroad. We cannot continue to watch our sovereignty
being nibbled away.
d) Currency problem: Due to the confused political situation in the
border region, it is not possible to create a unified system of
administration. Consequently, a number of different currencies are in
circulation. In the area controlled by the Nationalists [KMT] around
Geng-ma and Xun-ning ban-kai silver coins are still in use, and these
are referred to locally as flower money because of the embossed
flowers on the coins. In the Meng-ding-Hu-ban area, a mixture of
flower-money and rupees are in circulation, and in the area south of
Hu-ban only rupees. This situation places severe restrictions on
intra-area trade. In this respect, the Yunnan-Burma railroad will have
a profound effect on the local economy.
e) Language difficulties: There are a great mixture of languages in
the border area: The majority of residents in Mi-du and Yun-xian are
Tu-jia, Luo-luo and Miao. South of Tou-dao-shui in Geng-ma, Meng-ding
and Hu-ban the majority are Bai-yi, and in the mountains either side
of the Bai-yi live Shan-tou, Li-su, indigenous people, Beng-long and
Ka-wa. At the periodic markets in this area one can hear up to ten
different minorities using different languages. It is not possible to
unify these languages and this impedes trade and causes frequent
disputes.
f) International political problems:  In our struggle to maintain
national independence we have confronted many difficulties. In
constructing the Yunnan-Burma railroad it was necessary to purchase
most of the construction materials overseas and the vast majority
required right of passage through French or British territory. These
countries considered only self-interest. Originally the French
colonial government in Annam showed little sympathy toward repair of
roads leading to Yunnan. Only after the Yunnan-Burma railroad
commenced did it perceive the threat to China-Annam trade and so
offered assistance with transport of materials for the Xu-kun railway,
while at the same time creating difficulties over materials destined
for the Yunnan-Burma railroad. If the Xu-Kun railway is completed
first, this will greatly facilitate trade between China and Annam.
This railroad has since been bombed by Japanese aircraft, but at that
time France and Japan were not yet at war and so the French took no
action; ater they were defeated in the European conflict and unable to
resist. Trade between China and Annam has ceased.
g) Smuggling: The Burma-Cambodia-Yunnan border area is rugged and
there are many entry-points. Officially, merchants must pass through
the roads specified by the Teng-chong customs office but since the
border with Burma is not designated there are numerous illicit
exchanges and smuggling comprises around five per cent of all trade in
the region.
h) Imprecise use of place-names: The use of place-names in the border
region has not been standardised and this further complicates
international boundary disputes. A case in point is the difficulty  in
distinguishing the Kong-ming Mountains, the Gong-ming Mountains, the
Gao-li-gong Mountains and the Gao-liang-gong Mountains. After
investigating these conflicting place-names it was found that most
resulted from migration, so that some place-names were given to new
locations after migrant groups settled. For example, Meng-lang
(Mao-lan) in Yun County and Meng-lang (Ming-lang) in De-dang are
separated by over 200 kms.  At the western extremity of the
Yunnan-Burma Railroad, there are many migrant minority groups, and
reduplication of place-names is particulalry troublesome. For example,
the village of Nan-jian, 22 km east of Meng-ding on the border with
Ban-hong, shares its name with a second Nan-jian 40 km south of Mi-du.
The distance between these two Nan-jian is over 400 km.

From Dian-xi Jing-ji Di-li (The Economic Geography of Western Yunnan)
Kunming: Guo-li Yunnan Da-xue Xi-nan Wen-hua Yan-jiu-shi
(South-western Culture Research Group, National Yunnan University)
1943 pp. 142-7.

*

SI-GANG-LIH
 
After 1949, some archaeological discoveries were made in Xi-meng
which included many Neolithic stone knives, axes and rubbing stones,
indicating that the area had a long history of settlement. A cave was
discovered on a mountain near  Bu-la-de (also known as Ba-ge-dai or
Ba-ga-di) , approximately 50 hua-li [25 km] west of Ma-san which the
Wa today still refer to as a sacred site and where religious
ceremonies are held. The popular Wa myth "Si-gang-lih" explains that
the Wa lived at this cave site from early times. From the
"Si-gang-lih" it is possible to understand the Wa life-style at this
time:

The knife handle comes from the bamboo
the A-wa come from "Si-gang".
Our ancestors lived deep in the mountains
and settled at Meng-kan in early times.
The winding waters of the Nan-kang River
carry away the A-wa's sorrows.
Listen to the spring gurgling
drink its clear, sweet mountain waters.
On the heights of Mount Meng-kan
in the depths of its dense forests
we circled round the wild pigs
and speared wild oxen so they fell
We placed mounds of meat on banana leaves
each according with stone weights
Among the heroes of the hunt
Sang Mu-luo is the first,
The arrows from his bow
have pierced both eyes of the turtle-dove
His long knife
has cut the lone boar in two (A ferocious mountain boar which hunts
alone)
San-tuo-ni-mo-er-di-ban (The knife handle comes from the bamboo )
Si-gang-li mo-xi--di-mo (People come from the caves).
The river... ah....
Sang-mu-luo.....

This folk-song explains that the Wa have a long history as a hunting
tribe.

From iXi-meng Wa-zu Zi-zhi-xian Gai-kuang e (Conditions in  the
Xi-meng Wa Autonomous County) Editorial board, 1986 pp. 10-11.
  
*

A DISCUSSION OF SEVERAL ISSUES RELATING TO ANCIENT EARTHERNWARE BASED
ON A STUDY OF POTTERY PRODUCTION BY THE WA OF YUNNAN

Li Yang-song

	This discussion is a first attempt to relate the process of
pottery production among the Wa of Yunnan to questions surrounding
ancient pottery and, in the wider context, to link ethnography with
archaeology.
Pottery clay:
	Clay and water are first kneaded to make an unfired object and
this is dried in the sun  or shade before firing. Most clay is dug
locally and has not necessarily undergone processing before use... At
present the Wa of Ke-lai [in Xi-meng Autonomous County near the
Burmese border] use only clay from the banks of the Nan-ka River.This
clay is coarse because it contains sand and small stones in addition
to minerals and is quite sticky...There is also a comparatively high
ferric oxide component. The clay is dug out and dried in the sun
before being broken up with a wooden mortar and then seived to remove
small pebbles. The clay powder is then mixed with the water to make a
matrix for moulding...
Pottery manufacture:
	Some clues to the ancient method of manufacturing lan-wen
[blue-lined] pottery can be discerned from Wa pottery production. At
present, Wa blue-lined pottery is marked using a wooden paddle which
is incised with parallel furrows. Although these lines are not always
neatly ordered, they cannot be regarded as blue-lined designs (Kao-gu
Tong-xun Archaeological Bulletin, 1958, Vol. 2 Fig. 2-2). Instead, the
lines are stamped onto the outside of the unfired pots. If, however,
these Wa pots are placed along-side those of the Yang-shao culture,
the patterns appear to be identical. It should be mentioned that the
design on the outside of the Wa pots is not merely for decoration or
an imitation of the earliest blue-line pottery, but rather an
essential part of the pot-making process. Cracks frequently result
from hand-moulding of the clay, but imprinting with the linear pattern
from the wooden paddle compresses and strengthens the sides of the
vessel. Both forms use square, incised paddles or cord-wrapped
beaters. Naturally, this requires a certain level of skill to ensure
that the shape and decoration are regular. From this we can
hypothesise that the earliest potters beat the pots by hand, but since
the clay was very sticky, they converted to using wooden paddles and
later still wrapped the paddle with cord  then drew some fine lines on
the surface or used a sharp stone to mark incisions, just as the Wa do
today.
As well as hand-moulding pots, we have discovered that the Wa also
used a coil construction method, a technique also common to the
Neolithic Yang-shao culture. Most pottery produced by the Wa consists
of small tea-pots made from a single piece of clay. The clay coil
method is only employed for producing larger pieces. The Wa first make
a base to which they add row after row of pre-rolled coils. It is
important to maintain the moisture and plasticicity of the clay and to
ensure a good bonding of the layers.Each coil must be allowed to dry
before another coil is added...

	Many of the earliest pots excavated have rounded or
sharply-pointed bases. How can this be explained? Wa pottery
production offers some clues. Most Wa pots have rounded bases and this
is a consequence of the particular pottery production technique
employed. When a pot is being moulded, it is first placed on a concave
cushion so that the clay is easy to turn. Moreover, most of the clay
is turned into pots and wine cups which are easily propped up by using
three stones to form a tripod base. Pottery with sharply-pointed bases
is principally used for wine or water jars. To take a drink, a curved
bamboo tube is inserted into the wine jar and drained into individual
cups by capilliary action.
	Bamboo strips are woven around the outside of the jug to
strengthen it against breakage and a cushion of woven grass or vines
is attached under the pointed base to improve stability. Some string
is also tied around  the neck of the wine-jug to protect against
chipping during use.
	The potters of ancient times sprinkled water with their hands
onto the interior of the pots to produce a layer of clay called the
`pot coat'. The Wa do not use this clay coating method. Instead they
apply sticky "si-ran" to prevent leakage.
Firing:
The earliest kiln sites yet discovered date from the 	Yang-shao and
Long-shan cultures and are situated in Ban-po and Feng County. These
finds indicate that a high standard of firing had already been
achieved. At present, the Ke-lai Wa of Xi-meng lack kilns for firing
pots. Instead, they assemble the dried pots on a level site outside
the village to avoid the possibility of houses being set alight. The
pots for firing are different sizes and the largest are placed at the
base of the heap with the smaller pots piled on top. Since the pots
are irregularly-shaped, there are gaps between each. Firewood is piled
around the pots and ignited. After two or three hours, the fuel is
almost completely consumed and the pots are ready (Kao-gu Archaeology,
1958, Vol. 2 Fig. 3-4). The person in charge of the fire then takes a
stick and fishes the pots from the embers. Another person immediately
marks the mouth or walls of the warm vessel with a brown sticky
substance known as "si-ran" to produce a glaze.  This helps strengthen
the vessel and prevent leakage. The Wa do not posess any other form of
glaze (see Kao-gu Tong-xun, Archaeology Bulletin, 1958 Vol. 2 p. 36).
	After firing, the pottery is carried home. The embers are
extinguished with soil and crops are later grown over the top. As a
result, the area can no longer be distinguished as a pottery
firing-site. This being the case, how can we find the firing sites of
ancient times?
Colour:
	The red, brown and grey colours of Yang-shao pottery or the
combination of red and grey colouring on a single pot indicate that
control of the firing temperature in Yang-shao kilns was
well-advanced. The Wa do not use kilns but fire their pots in the open
air. Since there is abundant oxygen, the resulting pottery is all
ochre -coloured. Firing temperatures are low at around around 800
degrees celcius. The colour of the pots is also determined by the
moisture content of the wood used for fuel. The flecks on Wa pottery
usually result when wood with an uneven moisture content is used for
firing. Pots fired using wet wood will become black or light grey, but
those fired with dry timber will be ochre-coloured.

(From Kao-gu Archaeology, 1959, Vol. 35 no. 5 pp. 250-4.).

*
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF PROMOTING THE WA SCRIPT

Zhao Fu-rong

	The absence of a generally acceptable Wa script has severely
hampered Wa political, economic, cultural and educational development.
	The Wa are distributed across Cang-yuan, Shuang-jiang,
Geng-ma, Zhen-kang and Yong-de in the Mekong [Lan-cang] region, in
Lan-cang, Xi-meng, Meng-lian and Jing-dong in the Si-mao region and in
Sheng-chong and Chang-ning Counties in the Bao-shan region. There are
aslo some Wa in Meng-hai County. The major settlements are located in
the A-Wa mountains which span the Xi-meng Wa Autonomous Region, the
Cang-yuan Autonomous Region and Shuang-jiang, Geng-ma, Lan-cang and
Meng-lian.
	The Wa language is classified in the Wa-De-ang branch of the
Mon-Khmer group of the Austro-Asiatic family of languages. [In China
this group also includes the Beng-long and Bu-lang languages, used by
approximately 370,000 people who are distributed along the southern
borders of Yunnan Province. Research into these languages is
comparatively advanced (Zhong-guo Da Bai-ke-quan-shu.  The Chinese
Encyclopaedia: Ethnic Group 1986:555)].
	The Wa language is split into three comparatively large
dialect groups: Lan-cang, Geng-ma and Shuang-jiang. The Lan-cang
dialect is known as "Bu-rao", that in parts of Xi-meng, Meng-lian and
Lan-cang as "A-Wa" and the dialect spoken in Ban-nuo and Zhen-kang as
Wa.
	For a long period in their history, the Wa lacked a written
script and schooling system. Teaching was via oral transmission and
records were carved in wood and numerals retained on knotted string.
	In the 1930's and early 1940's, M. Vincent Young, an
Englishman with American citizenship and his son came to proselytise
in the A-Wa mountains and devised a La-hu script using the latin
alphabet. In 1938, this script was used abroad to print bibles,
hymn-books and other materials, but the print-run was extremely small
and these books were only distributed in China among converts in a few
tribes in the "Bu-rao" dialect region. The script was not popular
among the Wa because the number of translated words was limited and
unable to give full expression to the language. After 1949, linguists
were sent among the Wa people to work with them in devising a suitable
Wa script based on the latin alphabet, and the result has proved
popular.
	Between 1957 and 1962 this script was crucial in eradicating
illiteracy and promoting universal education. The Yunnan Minorities
Press began printing text-books, picture-books and primary school
readers using the new Wa script as a first step in training local
accounting and teaching staff. During the ten years of social
dissorder [1966-76] the script fell into disuse. After 1976, the
Language Department of the Institute of the Minorities in Yunnan
recommenced specialised Wa classes and a number of local government
institutions reorganised ethnic language promotion units. For example,
in Lan-cang County in the "Bu-rao" dialect region Wa has been taught
in winter slack-season classes, at night-school, and in basic literacy
classes as part of a literacy campaign. Specialist Wa teachers have
been trained and materials translated into the Wa script and there are
now 50 to 60 teachers proficient in the Wa script in this County. Wa
is taught in all primary schools located in predominantly Wa
settlements and these classes have been welcomed by the Wa... The
literacy rate has improved greatly where the Wa script has been used
in literacy campaigns. In Dong-mi Village of Lan-cang County where
La-hu is spoken there are 649 persons or 128 households residing in 6
natural villages. These settlements are extremely poor with an average
of only 200-300 kg of rice per person and many households going
without grain at the New Year. The houses are made of grass and there
is not a tiled-roof house to be seen. Not one family possesses a quilt
and most have only cotton blankets. Bowls are made from wood or bamboo
and the people do not use chop-sticks. Girls already in their teens
have trousers but no tops and some men go to work wrapped in a cotton
blanket because they have no clothes. Agricultural tools comprise only
a hoe and sickle, and in the case of some households only a hoe. There
are no lamps at night, but only the light of the fire. No-one in these
settlements can speak Mandarin Chinese or read Chinese characters.
[The author then attributes economic improvements to the promotion of
the Wa script]...In 1981, average grain consumption per person
increased to 832 kg. compared with the national average of 1,000 kg.
The village specialised in the production of tea and now everyone has
a tile-roofed house and a radio and some even own television sets and
sewing machines. There are new clothes and bedding for all. Village
accountants and tractor-operators have watches and all families have
savings accounts...
	Neglect of the Wa script during the last thirty years has
placed a serious brake on Wa economic development. The "Bu-rao"
dialect region has shown improvement due to the influence of Mandarin
Chinese and because local cadres have emphasised the importance of
promoting minority languages....
	Despite thirty years of economic improvement in minority
settlements however, the discrepency between the more developed parts
of the region and the interior is considerable, and particularly
evident in the "A-Wa" dialect region. Here industry and productive
forces are underdeveloped, abundant resources, such as minerals,
remain unutilised, the labour force is poor and uneducated,
agricultural production is simple and some villages still practise
slash-and-burn agriculture. There is no economic surplus or commodity
exchange and marketing is considered a second-rate form of employment.
It is difficult to commoditise such a society. The level of illiteracy
is also a blockage to development. Table 1 indicates the level of
educational attainment in the three Wa dialect regions in 1985 and
compares these with figures for Yunnan Province and all China. These
deplorable findings reflect neglect of the Wa script and its
promotion. In recent years, agricultural production in the area has
improved but the local population has also increased as has the
numbers of illiterate. In 1964, the Wa numbered 200,277 persons and
this increased to 298,591 by 1982, a 49 per cent increase over 18
years. By 1987, there were over 300,000 Wa.To address this problem of
population increase and land scarcity, it will be necessary to promote
family planning and universal education using the Wa script so that
agricultural production techniques can be improved and a commodity
economy developed.
	In recent years many scholars have offered suggestions for the
promotion of the Wa script and economy but these have received
insufficient attention. Some schools in local areas where Mandarin
Chinese is not even spoken have abandoned promotion of the Wa script
in favour of Chinese characters and results have been poor. Those who
teach in this manner are not acting in accordance with the actual
situation in these areas or with the  desires of the population.
	In literacy campaigns, most classes have been offered using
Chinese characters but the rate of success in eliminating illiteracy
has not approached that attained through the use of the Wa script. In
1981-2 the percentage gaining literacy through participation in
classes was six per cent for those taught with Chinese characters but
27 per cent for those using the Wa script. In 1983 the results were
one per cent for those using Chinese characters and 26 per cent for Wa
script and in 1984-5, 2 per cent for Chinese characters and 28 per
cent for Wa script. The melding between use of  Chinese charactes and
the Wa script will be a matter of several centuries and cannot be
achieved over the short term as is proposed by those who advocate
teaching only the Chinese writing system. We cannot wait until the Wa
can read Chinese characters before promoting advanced scientific
knowledge and techniques...
Table
Region		Percentage of Population
	University	Illiterate-
	Educated	semi-illiterate
All China	0.6	14.6
Yunnan Prov.	0.4	43.0
Lan-cang county	0.1	66.0
Xi-mang county	0.1	76.0
Da-mang-nuo vill.	0.0	91.0
From Zhong-yang Min-zu Xue-yuan Bao (Journal of the National
Minorities Institute,  1989, no. 3 pp. 72-75.)
*
A select bibliography of articles on the Wa of Xi-shuang-ban-na in
Chinese-language journals from the Peoples' Republic of China from the
1930s to the 1980s.

Ling Chun-sheng
	1934	A discussion of the Ban-hong incident from a political
geography perspective, Shi-dai Gong-lun no. 113.
Li Sheng-zhuang
	1934	The truth of the problem of Ban-hong, Yunnan, Shen-bao
Yue-kan Vol. 3 no. 10.
Yang-Guang-can
	1934	Ban Nong and Ban-hong invaded by the English, Bian-ze
Ban-yue-kan Vol. 1 no. 3.
Zhao Kang-jie
	1934	My view of the Ban Hong problem, Min-zu Za-zhi Vol. 2
no. 8.
Ning Min
	1934	The English invasion of Ban-hong on the Yunnan border,
Xin Qing-hai Vol. 2 no. 4 (April).
Ji Zhu-qing
	1934	The English occupation of Ban-hong and the problem of
developing the South-west, Xin Ya-xi-ya Vol. 7 no. 4 (April).
Shi Yin
	1934	The consequences of the Ban-hong incident, Dong-fang
Za-zhi Vol. 31, no. 9 (May).
Lin-tian Zi-lang (trans. Ni Ke-kuan)
	1934	The current situation in Yunnan and the Ban-hong
incident, Guo-wen Zhou-bao Vol. 11 no. 33.
Cang Min
	1936	English soldiers attack the Ka-wa on the Yunnan
border, Bian-shi Yan-jiu (Research on Border Affairs) Vol. 4 no. 4
(August).
Dian Sheng
	1936	The Ka-wa, Dong-fang Za-zhi Vol. 33 no. 18
(September).
Liang Ge-lin
	1945	Mount Ka-wa and the K-awa people, Zhong-yang Ri-bao
23, 24 June.
Guo Fang-jiu
	1951	The Ka-wa people of the Yunnan border, Xi-nan Min-zu
Tong-xun no. 4.
 Liu Yuan-dong
	1951	A diary of travels in the Ka-wa Mountains, Liu-xing
Za-zhi Vol. 25 no. 8.
Tang Xi-min
	1953	Spring in the Ka-wa Mountains, Xin Guan-cha no. 13.
Shi Jue-min
	1953	Mu Li at the Ban-hong conference, Bian-shi Yan-jiu
Vol. 2 no. 1 (August).
Yuan Dong
	1954	Border of the motherland; the Ka-wa Mountains, Lu-xing
Za-zhi no. 14 (June).
Yang De-qi
	1954	New life for the Ka-wa tribe, Lu-xing Za-zhi no. 6.
Anon
	1954	Medical Service Unit in the Ka-wa Mountains, Pu-er bao
28.11.
Tan Tian-deng
	1955	Random notes on the Ka-wa Mountains, Min-zu Gong-zuo
Zi-liao Bao no. 1.
Xiao Fei-tong
	1955	Conditions in Ka-wa society, Zhong-guo Min-zu Wen-ti
Ji-kan Vol. 2 (October).
Peng Jing-feng
	1956	Winters' night in the Ka-wa Mountains, Bian-ji Wen-yi
no. 2.
Liu Gen
	1956	Achievements in production over the last three years
in Xi-meng District, Si-mao Bao  (the Si-mao newspaper) 25 July.
Mao Xing-yao
	1956	The children who board at Xi-meng schools (the Ka-wa),
Si-mao Bao 27 July.
Anon
	1956	A brief introduction to my countrys' minorities (12),
the Ka-wa, Guang-ming Ri-bao (Guang-ming Daily) 23 November.
Anon
	1956	The Ka-wa, Ren-zu Ri-bao 22 December.
Anon
	1957	The Ka-wa (an introduction to ethnic minorities),
Min-zu Gong-zuo Zi-liao Yue-bao no. 2.
	Xiao Di
	1958	Travelling to the Ka-wa Mountains, Xin Guan-cha no.
158 (April).
Anon
	1957	The controversy over the nature of Wa society, Yunnan
Ri-bao (Yunnan Daily) July.
Anon
	1957	The fraternal minorities of the motherland: the Ka-wa,
Nei Meng-gu Ri-bao (Inner Mongolia Daily) 15 July.
Tang Yu-long
	1957	Random notes on a survey of the Ka-wa Mountains,
Yunnan Ri-bao (Yunnan Daily) 6 December.
Gu Zong-zhen
	1958	Survey research on the patriarchial slave system of
the Xi-meng Wa, Hong-ci Jiao-shi (Red Teacher) January.
Chen Shi-kui
	1958	The patriarchial slave system of the Xi-meng Wa,
Yunnan Da-xue Xue-bao no. 3.
Anon
	1958	Some problems concerning the socio-economic conditions
of the Xi-meng County Ka-wa during socialist reform, Min-zu Yan-jiu
no. 3.
Li Xiang-song
	1958	The state of pottery manufacture by the Wa of Yunnan,
Kao-gu Tong-xun no. 2.
Liang Fen
	1958	The Wa make a direct leap towareds socialism, Min-zu
Tuan-jie no. 3.
Anon
	1958	Ka-wa peasants make rain fall from heaven, Yunnan
Ri-bao 1 September.
Yang Guang-hai
	1959	The Ka-wa people of the Xi-meng Mountains, Lu-xing Jia
Vol. 5 no. 34.
Li Xiang-song,
	1961: "Wa funeral customs shed light on 	funeral
customs in ancient China", Kao-	gu no. 7
Li Qiao,
	1962: "The Ka-wa's new century", Ren-	min Wen-xue, July.
Wang Mao-xiu,
	1965: "The A-wa advance with `liberasted 	reason",
Guang-ming Ri-bao, 9th 	November
China News Agency Draft:
	1965: "Establishment of the Geng-ma 	Dai and Wa Autonomous
County in 	Yunnan", 26th October.
	Li Cheng,
	1975: "A historical gazetteer of Yunnan 	ethnic
minorities (no. four) The Wa", Si-	xiang Zhan-xian, No. 1
Li Dao-yong,
	1978: "Explaining `Wo-lang' [ a type of 	village
leader]", Zhong-yang Min-zu Xue-	yuan Xue-bao No. 3
Gu Guan-qiong,
	1978: "Problems concerning the nature of
pre-revolutionary Wa society", Zhong-	yang Min-zu Xue-yuan Xue-bao,
no. 3
Liu Yong-ti,
	1979, "A brief introduction to Wa 	literature", Si-xiang
Zhan-xian, no. 1
	Song En-chang,
	1980, "The topography of the Xi-meng 	Wa area", Jing-ji
Wen-ti Tan-suo [Study 	of Economic Problems] no. 1
Mao, Di-yun,
	1980: "An introduction to dancing of the 	minorities: An
introduction to the dances 	of the Wa", Wu-dao, no. 2
Anonymous,
	1980: "A new generation of the A-Wa", 	Yunnan Ri-bao, 25th
March
Anonymous,
	1984: "The mountsain villages of the Wa 	minority are
on the golden road: Nan-la 	Commune", Min-zu Gong-zuo, no. 5
Yang Jian-jun,
	1984, "The A-wa are beginning cultural 	development", Min-zu
Gong-zuo, no. 12
Wang You-ming,
	1984: "My views on using the Wa script 	to promote education
in Wa minority 	areas", Min-zu Gong-zuo, no. 12
Zhang Yun,
	1984: "A brief introduction to Cang-yuan 	Wa Minority
Autonomous County", 	Min-zu Gong-zuo, no. 2
Song En-chang,
	1984: "The origin of customary law 	among the Wa of
Xi-meng [County]", 	Si-xiang Zhan-xian, no. 6
Yun Chu,
	1985: "A preliminary analysis of the 	custom of killing and
communally 	consuming oxen among the Wa of Yue-	song, Xi-meng
County", Min-zu Gong-	zuo, no. 9
Anonymous,
	1985: "The dynamism of the 300-odd 	individual commercial
and industrial 	households of Mt. Wa in Xi-meng  	[County]",
Min-zu Gong-zuo, no. 10
Yu Hua and Zhi Yu,
	1985: "An initial investigation of 	relations between
Yunnanese and the Wa 	and Beng Minorities", Min-zu-xue yu
Xian-dai-hua, no. 1
Li Xiang-song,
	1985: "Chicken-bone divination among 	the Wa of Xi-meng
[County]", Min-zu-	xue Yan-jiu, no. 3

[arranged according to year of publication]

* * *
More on the Princess Dara Rasmi

	In 'The Prince and the Moulmein Market Girl' (Number Five,
June 1989: 26-8) I included some comments on the Princess Dara Rasmi.
A recent issue of the Thai journal Silpawatthanatham (Number 13,
October 2532) has an article which takes a rather different view of
the princess and the court of King Chulalongkorn. Below are some
translated extracts from the article and brief comments.
	Phrarachachaiya Caw Dara Rasmi kap phra rachachobai
"khrongrak" phya "khrong-myang" by Sansani Wirasilpchai pp.52-59. [The
title may be translated 'The Royal Consort Caw Dara Rasmi and the
Royal Strategy of the "control of love" for the "control of the
state"']
	The princess was fourteen when she was sent to the Royal
Palace in Bangkok and her father the Prince of Chiangmai gave her into
the custody of Prince Damrong.
On that occasion Caw Inthawichayanon was very concerned that as his
royal daughter was so young she would not know how to behave in the
proper way. Krom Phraya Damrong Rachanuphab relates how Phracaw
Inthawichayanon gave his royal daughter into his care with the words
[in a representation of kham mŸang] 'Royal Lord I put Nang Yng [the
name by which she was known to family and friends] in your care. If
she does anything improper or incorrect (thaa tham anjang ba thuuk ba
tong sadet caw ko cong riak tua maa keek hua aw toe)[note that the
Thai 'keek' is used and not the kham mŸang 'wat'] Royal Lord, please
summon her and give her a knock on the head.'
	On the death of his daughter the king is reported to have
said,
I am to blame. My daughter should have been made a princess, but I
forget to confer [the title] (luuk khaw khuan pen caw faa) and she
died.
The article also says,
 The palace of the royal consort was different from other palaces,
that is, it was like a little kingdom of Chiangmai, from their dress,
the princess and her courtiers were wont to wear sin, they spoke kham
mŸang and ate northern type food. Though their customs were different
from that of other palaces, there was no one who disdained them,
because the royal consort always conducted herself with great
propriety.
This view is at odds with other sources.

Gehan Wijeyewardene

* * *

News and Correspondence

Professor Jane Hanks writes expressing the shock so many of us feel at
the death of Jennifer Cushman.
Her enthusiastic support of A.A.S's Khosana publication on Southeast
Asian matters gave us great encouragement at a time when there were
difficulties. In her memory, I would like to make the enclosed
contribution to the expenses of the Thai-Yunnan Project Newsletter.
On behalf of the project, the editor conveys his gratitude to
Professor Hanks.

*
Professor Clarence Aasen, Dean of Architecture at 	the University
of Wellington writes that 	he is commencing a long term research
project on Chinese influences on 	architecture and urban form in
Thailand.
	He would be interested in hearing from 	anyone undertaking
similar research.

[Professor Aasen's letter prompts me to reproduce a few paragraphs
from a recent article in The New York Review of Books. Editor.
Architecture in contemporary Bangkok
	For anyone concerned with contemporary architecture a tour of
Japan is, of course, essential. But a visit to Bangkok can also be
instructive. ... the road from the airport soon passes a Toshiba
factory's fa�ade with columns of concrete simulating red brick. There
are large, colorful signboards advertising new middle-class suburban
housing estates, some uncannily reminiscent of Quinlan Terry. Then the
high-rise buildings of the city come ito view, mainly faceless glass
and concrete slabs. One as it ascends, breaks out into all the colours
of the rainbow from red to blue. Another is crowned by a Palladian
style church-cum villa with, for good measure, an attached open
pavilion that combines the Athenian Tower of the Windsand the Choragic
Monument of Lysikrates.
	The twenty-one story headquarters of the Bank of Asia - by the
well-known Thai architect Sumet Jumsai who denies that he is a
Post-Modern - has been given the appearance of a robot with menacing
eyes and, up its flanks, gigantic hexagonal nuts framing windows. And
a tour of the city-center reveals a fantastic range of Western styles
- a bank, for instance, amid the clamoring gongs and bells and noodle
stalls of downtown Surawongse, disports huge Corinthian half-columns
framing a Gothic rose window. To penetrate the new and heavily guarded
residential areas of this extraordinary metropolis is difficult; but
advertisements offer houses described as "Roman Imperial,white House,
Tudor Traditional and Post-Modern Paradise."
	What makes recent architecture in Bangkok so stimulating is,
however, its rationale. Since Thailand was never colonized, classical
architecture arouses no unhappy memories of a subjugated past. Nor
does it to a Thai (i.e., a Buddhist), have the slightest glimmering of
the meaning that it has for Westerners educated in the traditions of
Christinaity and classicism.
	The classical approach was first introduced in the late
nineteenth century by King Rama V Chulalongkorn (travestied in The
King and I). Until then all secular and most religious buildings had
been built in wood in traditional styles. The form of the beautiful
Thai templewith its high-pitched roof, evolved at least as early as
the fifteenth century, has been followed to the present day without a
break. (Only the building materials have changed with the use of
reinforced concrete for the piers.) But as domestic buildings of wood
were either burned down or rotted away they were replaced by street
upon street of drab utilitarian structures. New large-scale commercial
buildings began to spring up in the 1950s and from the early 1980s
their faceless anonymity had begun to be replaced by something that,
to Thai eyes, is exotically Western.
	Classical temples have no deeper meaning or emotional
resonance for them than do pagodas for us, so they can usethem
heedlessly, quite simply for their decorative effect and for their
exotic air of Western wealth and consumer abundance. In other words,
their Post-Modern buildings are reverse images of ours. So far from
being expressions of Western cultural dominance, they illustrate how
in architecture, as in other ways, the East now exploits the West for
its own ends, taking and adopting what it can use, and discarding what
seems immaterial. And there is money in Post-Modern classicism in
Bangkok. The Palladian fantasy topping the apartment block by Ong Ard
is said to be rented for $10,000 per month.

Honour, Hugh: 'The battle over post-modern buildings' NYRB XXXV (14)
Sept. 29, 1988: 27-33.]
*
Professor H. Leedom Lefferts writes of his research,
I have the distinct impression that inadequate attention has been paid
to the role of ... textile exchange and trade in the past and the
links to the present an examination of this trade might provide. (One
hypothesis could be that textiles formed a major means by which social
systems were organized by 'higher-ups', both in terms of textiles
distributed by these phu yay, and textiles sent in to fulfill tribute
requests. That movement of textiles and power provides a way to
understand the current expansion of village textiles in the Thai
state. I wrote a paper that touched on this subject, 'The kings as
Gods: Textiles in the Thai State' [Textiles as Primary Sources:
Proceedings of the First Symposium of the Textile Society of America
Minneapolis Art Institute, 16-18 September 1988, co-ordinated by John
E. Vollmer, 1989: 78-85]) ... I have been doing some research on the
role of textiles in tribute, the different kinds of cloth involved,
and where it appears these textiles went. I'd be interested in knowing
if someone has done any research on this or allied subjects.

He also brings our attention to two recent publications.
... a new Isan-Thai-English Dictionary compiled by Dr. Preecha
Phinthong 1989. Printed at Darnsutha Press, distributed by Kled Thai,
1074 pp., price: Bt. 375
	Dr. Preecha, for most terms, has included a famous quotation
or use of the word in question. [It also includes] special sections on
differences in the pronunciation ... in different parts of the region.
E-sarn Mural Paintings published by The Committee to Survey and
Photograph E-Sarn Murals 1989, financed by the Toyota Foundation. Text
and captions in English and Thai, 308 pp., 110 b & w illustrations and
90 pp. colour plates. Orders from non-Thai addresses in US$ only check
payable to Ajan Pairoj Samosorn, Department of Humanities, Faculty of
Humanities and Social Sciences, Khon Khaen University, Khon Khaen
40002, Thailand. $40 sea mail, $55 air.
*
Geoff Wade writes from Hong Kong,
I have recently read your (Gehan Wijeyewardene's) discussion of 'lak
myang' in your Place and Emotion and, in turn, have also had a look at
Terwiel's article on the 'City Pillar'. I was immediately reminded of
two bronze cowrie containers excavated at Mt. Shi-zai at Jin-ning,
Yun-nan, both of which depict scenes involving a pillar and
sacrifices. The cowrie containers date from the last two centuries
B.C., so obviously they pre-date Hindu influence.
I enclose photocopies of the two scenes. You will note that the pillar
seems to be a central aspect of the ceremony(ies?) depicted and
presumably is related to the persons bound (for sacrifice?) nearby.
The serpent coiled round the pillar might suggest that it is of
totemic significance. Could the people surrounding the pillar be
making offerings to it (as symbol of the local political authority?).
Bronze drums, throughout history, seem to have been an indicator of a
local centre of political power.
Could these pillars have been the precursors of 'lak myang'?

Gehan Wijeyewardene, thanks Geoff Wade, and writes,
In the book referred to I discussed, with some sympathy, the view put
forward by Paul Mus that a neolithic cult of a tree or stone
representing the power of the soil is pervasive throughout 'Monsoon
Asia'. If this were the case we might hypothesize a common ancestry
for all the 'tree', 'stone', 'pillar' cults of the region. One might
go even further and say that universally there are tendencies to make
these, or similar, associations. There may, of course, be much more
specific historical connections between the bronze drums referred to
and the Thai (Tai) 'lak myang', though these seem to me to be almost
impossible to establish.

He has also drawn our attention to a number of recent publications
which may be of interest to readers:
1) Zhang Xiong, 1989: Zhong-guo Zhong-nan Min-zu Shi ( History of the
minorities in central and southern China). Published by Guang-xi
Ren-min Chu-ban She (Guang-xi Peoples' Publishing House), Nan-ning,
335 pages. This book contains chapters on "Minorities of central and
south China during the Wei-Jin and Nan-bei [535-581 AD] Dynasties"
(pp. 70-143), in the Tang and Song Dynasties (pp. 144-239) and Yuan,
Ming and Qing Dynasties (pp.242-330).
2) A four-page mimeographed bibliography of works concerning the
Chu-xiong Yi Mniority of Yunnan compiled by Mr Liu Yao-han, a Research
Fellow of the Institute of Nationality Studies at the Chinese Academy
of Social Sciences, Yunnan. Mr Liu is also director of the Institute
of Yi culture, Yunnan. Copies may be obtained by writing to the
Thai-Yunnan Project Newsletter.
3) Fan Hong-gui and Gu You-zhi, 1989: Zhuang-zu Lun-gao (A collection
of papers on the Zhuang minority), Guang-xi Ren-min Chu-ban She
(Guang-xi Peoples' Publishing House), Nan-ning, 313 pages. This book
contains articles on Zhuang historical research, ethnic relations
between the Zhuang and Han, the Zhuang sense of a Zhuang identity,
Zhuang-Thai relations, Zhuang-Vietnam relations, the system of land
ownership, brass drums, Zhuang funeral customs and Zhuang frog
worship. In terms of geographical coverage, articles are drawn from
work in Guang-xi, Thailand and Vietnam.
*
Charles F. Keyes, writes enclosing a copy of a report to Laos made by
him and Karl Hutterer. There is much of interest in the report, but we
cite here only a couple of brief paragraphs from the section on Xieng
Khouang. Sections on the National Library, the palmleaf manuscript
project and scholarly publication in Laos will be published in The
Bulletin of the Committee on research Materials on Southeast Asia.
Even twenty years later, the dominant impression one has of the
lowland areas of Xieng Khouang province is of a country ravished by
war. As we flew in and out of the capital by Air Lao helicopters and
as we drove around the province, we were struck by a landscape
pockmarked everywhere by bomb craters. Many of the houses and
buildings we saw seemed like temporary structures, often made in part
with pieces of metal which had been left behind after the war. We saw,
for example, houses built on piles made of bomb casings. The major
source of cash income for the province comes from the sale of scrap
metal ...
...
We travelled to a Hmong village, Ban Nong Tua, located near old Xieng
Khouang. We were impressed by relative prosperity of this village,
evident in the quality of the houses and especially in the silver
jewelry of the women. The village seemed as well off as any Charles
Keyes has visited in northern Thailand. Villagers told us that they
follow the old religion and maintain traditional customs. They put on
a performance for us which included Hmong girls singing, a man
performing on the polyphonic reed instrument known as the khaen in
Lao, and Hmong girls and boys playing a version of the ball game.
He will commence research on the theme 'The "Who are the Thai?"
debate: construction and deconstruction of national and ethnic
identities.'
* * *
Book notice
The Thai-Yunnan Project announces the publication of
Ethnic Groups across National Boundaries in Mainland Southeast Asia
(tentative title)
by the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore in early 1990.
Contents
Introduction: Definition, Innovation and History.
		Gehan Wijeyewardene
Language and Ethnicity: the Mon in Burma and Thailand.	Christian
Bauer
Thailand and the Tai: Versions of Ethnic Identity		Gehan
Wijeyewardene
A Comparative Study of Structure and Contradiction of the
Austroasiatic System in the Thai-Yunnan Periphery.
		Cholthira Satyawadhna
Ethnicity, Nationalism and the Nation-State: the Karen in Burma and
Thailand.
		Ananda Rajah
Captialism and the Structure of Yao Descent Units in China and
Thailand: a Comparison of Youling (1938) and Pulangka (1968).
		Douglas Miles
Squatters or Refugees: Development and the Hmong.	Nicholas Tapp

Afterword: 'Ethnicity" and Anthropology.
		Rozanna Lilley
1National Library of Thailand, Documents of the Fourth Reign,
Culasakarat 1217 (1855) No.14.
2King Mangrai (1262-1311), the founder of the Mangrai Dynasty
(1296-1558), founded Chiangmai and made it the centre of the dominions
of Lannathai in 1296.  His heirs and successors ruled as kings of
Lannathai for about 262 years, when the kingdom lost its independence
to Burma in 1558.  The country was governed by Burmese for about 170
years.  Independence was regained in 1727, but the Burmese again
conquered parts of Lannathai in 1761.  The people of Lannathai, in
alliance with the Thai army, drove the Burmese out of Chiangmai in
1774.  Lannathai was a Thai dependency between 1774 and 1884, when it
was incorporated into the Thai kingdom.
3For an account of developments in the infrastructure see Sunthari
1979; for communications Kyakol 1976.
4Britain was the first country to sign a trade treaty with Thailand,
in 1855.  The treaty allowed trade through the Royal Treasury.
5For this paper, specific data is used from interviews with the
following persons (name, age, district and province are given): Kaew
Caikwang, 90, Mae Rim, Chiangmai; Duan Ninkaew, 76, Doi Saket,
Chiangmai; Kaew Khitchob, 89, Mae Chan, Chiangrai; Chamnuan Sirinam,
83, Doi Daket, Chiangmai; Samran Carunkitpracharom, 65, Amphur Muang,
Nan; Suriya Khampai, 86, Amphur Muang, Maehongsorn; Thap Nanthawong,
80, Amphur Muang, Nan; Duang Kaewani, 66, Mae Taeng, Chiangmai; Ma
Mangloi, 53, Mae Taeng, Chiangmai; Mi Panyakham, 65, Wiang Papao,
Chiangrai; Khankaew Phromkorn, 82, Doi Saket, Chiangmai; Khampan
Suwantha, 57, Amphur Muang, Nan; Bunsom Thatchai, 43, Amphur Muang
Maehongsorn.  Ages are at date of interview - 1981.
6This is inferred from most of the interviews, from all provinces.
7National Documents Division.  Publications of the Fifth Reign.
Ministry of Communications 26/13 krom myyn mahis¹¹n ratchaharythai
kraab bankhom thuun phra baat somdet phra cula c¹m  klaw caw juu hua
24 November 121 Ratanakosin Era (1903) (Krommamuen Mahisorn
Ratchaharythai to his Majesty King Chulalongkorn).
8National Documents Division, Ministry of Fine Arts, Publications of
the Sixth Reign.  Ministry of Communications 5.3/2 Mr L. Wyler caw
krom rot fai kraab thuun phra caw boromawong th¹¹ krom lua» nareet
worarit  1111 p.. 20 November 2455 (1912).  (Mr L. Wyler, Head of the
Railway Department to Prince Krom Luang Naret Worarit.)  Publications
of the Sixth Reign, Ministry of Communications 5.3/8 banthyk rya» kaan
t¹¹ thaa. rot fai caak nakh¹¹n lampaa» pai nakh¹¹n chian¹mai
(Papers relating to the extension of the railway from Lampang to
Chiangmai) 6 August 2461 (1918).
9	Figures from Thongthaem (1989), p.51.
10	See W.H.O. (1983), p.18 [Primary Health Care: the Chinese
Experience].
11	Sidel (1982) mentions that in 1980 there existed "25 colleges
for training doctors of traditional Chinese medicine as well as Uygur,
Mongolian, and Tibetan medicine" (p.68). See also Jamison et al (1984)
who argue that "official policy does not discriminate in favour of any
particular system of traditional medicine (p.46). 'The distinctive
body of medical theory and practice developed over the centuries on
the Tibetan plateau is today a precious medical heritage of the
Tibetan people and an important part of Chinese traditional medicine
as a whole " (Cai Jingfeng, "Tibetan Traditional Medicine", China
Reconstructs, March 1982).
12	Following Liberation in 1949, one of the early priorities of
the Chinese government was the development of a health system to serve
the rural population. The result was a health care system based on
four main principles: a commitment to health for all people;
prevention of disease; the use of traditional medicine in conjunction
with modern medicine; and the use of mass movements for carrying out
health work (Wilenski (1976), p.7.).
13	Zheng (1981), pp.25-31.
14	According to Zheng (1981), "27.5% of the 800 fully qualified
medical personnel [in Xishuangbanna] come from minority nationals,
while the percentage for 2,700 paramedics (barefoot doctors) and
midwives is 80" (p.29).
15	Barefoot doctors are said to have employed ("in the interest
of thrift and cure") herbal medicines, "having learned to prescribe
from traditional doctors and peasant practitioners". They were also
engaged in the collection and testing of folk remedies (ibid.
pp.28-29).
16	Fei (1981), p.30.
17	Moseley (1973), pp.35-36.
18	Moseley (1973), pp.41, 108-110.
19	Ibid.; Zheng (1981), pp.25-28.
20	Jamison et al (1984), pp.14-15, 141, and appendices.
21	Cox (1989), pp.44-51.
22	Cohen (1989), p.172.
23	Bamber (1989).
24	Coed�s (1941).
25	Bamber (1989).
26	Khrongkan phoei phrae ekalak khong Thai (1978; 1979).
27	See Mulholland (1979), p.106.
28	See Keyes (1989), p.201.
29	Cohen (1989).

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