Mai Soong Kha on Tai National Day

The Shan National Day, the 7th. of February symbolises the day when all the Shan Leaders and the peoples of the Shan State got together in 1947 to adopt the Shan flag and the National Anthem. This was a very important occasion because we, as a nation, were about to embark on the most important decision in the history of the Shan State. On the 14th. of February 1947 Shan and other Non-Burman ethnic Leaders signed the "Panglong Agreement" with Bogyoke Aung San, who represented the Burman ethnic state, Burma Proper, to ask the British government for joint independence. A Union Constitution was drafted and passed in 1948, which was witnessed by the British Government Officials. Thus the Union of Burma came into existence.

According to the Agreement and Constitution the Union of Burma was made up of several states and not one single state"Myanmar or Burma" as termed by the military junta, and as perceived by most international communities. The Agreement also stated that all member states should have equal status and equal opportunities and that the Shan State and Karenni State have the right to secede from the Union after a period of ten years which was the year 1958. The Shan and other non-Burman ethnic states put their faith and trust in their more experienced partner, the Burman politicians and were ready to work with them for the benefit of the Union. Alas! The non-Burman ethnic nationals were betrayed and the Panglong Agreement" was dishonoured when the military staged a coup and immobilised our Leaders by putting them in prison. The Costitution was also destroyed and the Union of Burma was dissolved

By destroying the Constitution the military regimes thought they could put the states together by using brutal force but they have not succeeded in the forty years of their regime. The country has not progressed. The only claim that the military dictatorship can make is that they have brought sorrow and suffering to millions of people.


THE PANGLONG AGREEMENT, 1947 (7th February 1947)

A conference having been held at Panglong , attended by certain Members of the Executive Council of the Governor of Burma, all Saohpas and representative of the Shan States, the Kachin Hills and the Chin Hills:

The Members of the conference, believing that freedom will be more speedily achieved by the Shans, the Kachins and the Chins by their immediate co-operation with the Interim Burmese Government:

1.A Representative of the Hill Peoples, selected by the Governor on the recommendation of representatives of the Supreme Council of the United Hill Peoples (SCOUHP), shall be appointed a Counsellor for Frontier Areas shall be given executive authority by similar means.

2.The said Counsellor shall also be appointed a Member of the Governor's Executive Council, without portfolio, and the subject of Frontier Areas brought within the purview of the Executive Council by Constitutional Convention as in the case of Defence and External Affairs. The Counsellor for Frontier Areas shall be given executive authority by similar means.

3.The said Counsellor shall be assisted by two Deputy Counsellors representing races of which he is not a member. While the two Deputy Counsellors should deal in the first instance with the affairs of their respective areas and the Counsellor with all the remaining parts of the Frontier Areas, they should by Constitutional Convention act on the principle of joint responsibility.

4.While the Counsellor, in his capacity of Member of the Executive Council, will be the only representative of the Frontier Areas on the Council, the Deputy Counsellors shall be entitled to attend meetings of the Council when subjects pertaining to the Frontier Areas are discussed.

5.Though the Governor's Executive Council will be augmented as agreed above, it will not operate in respect of the Frontier Areas in any manner which would deprive any portion of those Areas of the autonomy which it now enjoys in internal administration. Full autonomy in internal administration for the Frontier Areas is accepted in principle.

6.Though the question of demarcating and establishing a separated Kachin State within a Unified Burma is one which must be relegated for decision by the Constituent Assembly, it is agreed that such a State is desirable. As a first step towards this end, the Counsellor for Frontier Areas and the Deputy Counsellors shall be consulted in the administration of such areas in the Myitkyina and the Bhamo Districts as are Part II Scheduled Areas under the Government of Burma Act of 1935.

7.Citizens of the Frontier Areas shall enjoy rights and privileges which are regarded as fundamental in democratic countries.

8.The arrangements accepted in this Agreement are without prejudice to the financial autonomy now vested in the Federated Shan States.

9.The arrangements accepted in this Agreement are without prejudice to the financial assistance which the Kachin Hills and the Union Hills are entitled to receive from the revenues of Burma, and the Exeutive Council will examine with the Frontier Areas Counsellor and Deputy Counsellors the feasibility of adopting for the Kachin Hills and the Chin Hills financial arrangement similar to those between Burma and the Federated Shan States.

2102 Shan (Tai) New year celebrations around the world

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Thailand

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Nam Pid Aung

Nam Pid Aung is a dish that originates from Shan, a Thai ethnic group that lives in northern Thailand and Myanmar. Aung means to fry in the Shan dialect, and the dish makes use of pork and tomatoes, both staples of Shan cooking. Nam Pid Aung is now eaten among all northern Thais, regardless of ethnicity.

Chili Paste
-7 large dried chilies, soaked in warm water until soft
-3 peeled shallots
-1 head of garlic, peeled
-2 tablespoons chopped lemongrass (using only lower white part)
-2 tablespoons of shrimp paste
-1 teaspoon salt

-1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
-2 large cloves of garlic, chopped

-1/2 cup ground pork
-3 tablespoons vegetable oil
-1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

Fresh, crispy vegetables such as cucumber, long beans, wing beans, cabbage, sliced or chopped into bite-size pieces

Pork rinds
Using a mortar and pestle or food processor, blend curry paste ingredients together finely.

With the mortar and pestle, mash the tomatoes into the curry paste.

Heat oil in a wok over low heat. Add chopped garlic and fry until crispy. Add curry paste and tomato mixture and fry, constantly stirring, until the mixture begins to become fragrant, and oil begins to rise and accumulate, 5 to 10 minutes. Add pork and continue to stir until pork is fully cooked and the oil again begins to rise. If mixture seems dry at any point, add water, 1/4 cup at a time. Nam Pid Aung should have the consistency and appearance of a thick, oily spaghetti sauce.

Serve in a bowl, sprinkled with cilantro, and serve with fresh vegetables, pork rinds, and sticky rice.

Than Shew and ASEAN

Shan New Year Story Background

Maisoong Pee Mai Tai 2102!

May the New Year bring good health, security, prosperity, harmony and success to all Tai! And, may the blessings of the Triple Gem be upon and with all Tai!

One may notice I use the word Tai in the title of this email and in the first paragraph. This use is NOT just to keep the way we traditionally call ourselves: we always call ourselves Tai. But this is also to follow the now established international scholastic tradition, which has been studying about "the various Tai people in general".

The international scholars on Tai, use the word "Tai" to mean not only what the Burmese call "Shan" but to include also "Thai" "Laotian" "Tai-Dam" in Vietnam, "Tai-Lue" in Xixuangpanna, China, "Tai-Assam" and so on. Regarding this term, Professor David K. Wyatt of Cornell University, Ithaca, NY says: "[T]he word Tai," is "a cultural and linguistic term used to denote the various Tai people in general, peoples sharing a common linguistic and cultural identities. ..... The Tai peoples [note the plural form] today are widely spread over several million square kilometers of the southeastern corner of the great land mass of Asia.... we arrive at a total of about 70 million people, a linguistic and cultural group comparable in number to the French or Germans." (David K. Wyatt, "Thailand, A Short History", Yale University Press, 1982, pp.1-2.)

This scholarly term is important, indeed vital, if we are to try to understand about Tai New Year. This is exactly because the Tai New Year began long before "the various Tai peoples" started migrating to South and Southeast Asia in 2nd and then 8th AD. The fact that the Tai people had established themselves, more than two thousand years ago, linguistically and culturally is now well known to at least scholars. On this Wyatt, again, writes: "By the last centuries of the first millennium B.C., we must presume that the major linguistic and cultural families of the people that we regard as Southeast Asian had become differentiated, and to some extent physically separated, from one another." (Thailand, A Short History, p. 5).

Peter Simms and his wife Sao Sanda Ywanghwe, in their acclaimed work The Kingdoms of Laos echo this opinion when they write: “When we come to the earliest accounts of the Tai, which are to be found in the Chinese chronicles in the sixth century B.C, around the time of the Buddha, the Tai had already created a distinct way of life.” (Peter and Sanda Simms "The Kingdoms of Laos: Six Hundred years of History", Curzon Press, London, 1999, p.2.)

In fact, the identification of this distinctness of the Tai in the "middle of the sixth century B.C" was also earlier made by William Dodd, the author of "The Tai Race, Elder Brother of the Chinese". (See also, Joachim Schlesinger, "Tai Groups of Thailand", White Lotus, Chiang Mai, 2001, Ch. 3: Hypothesis about the Origins of the Tai Race.)

This culturally distinct feature would have to include the way we communicate among ourselves. Among them were an administration system, agricultural know-how, a belief system and a calendar. The Tai were, until recently, known for their feudal system of administration. On agriculture, even the Burmese acknowledge that they had learnt agricultural know-how such as farming and horse breeding from the Tai. (For more see Maynmar Nain-gnan thamaing by U Hla Pe for the middle schools in Burma. This textbook was replaced after 1974.)

Little known though is about our calendar. Not about its existence but about its extensive use and its influence. How could we have a distinct administration system if we did not have our own system of calendar? The Tai calendar, I deduce, must have been similar to the Chinese in some way but differed from it in another. The similarity may be in the way we calculate the year using animals as symbols. For instance, pi sur, pi ma (Tiger Year, Horse Year) etc. which the Thai and the Chinese still use. We Shan people also use this. There are 12 animals, indicating, perhaps, the Chinese must have had a 12-months year.

The difference between the Tai and the Chinese calendar though may lie in the way we calculate months. The way the months are formed in Tai calendar (I do not know about the Chinese on this.) is well explained by Professor Wyatt in his other work Nan Chronicle (Cornell University, Ithaca, 1994) which is the translation and remarks on the chronicle of the province of Nan, in the present northern Thailand. He has an appendix on the way we calculate the months. We WERE very fond of the number 60 (sixty) and one month HAD 60 days. So, there were only six months a year.

The fact that we were FOND of the number 60 is also evident in the Tai-Khun's particular way calculating "one round of years". According to the Tai-Khun chronicles extant today, there was one round/cycle of years every sixty years. (Now in Thailand, 12 years is one round/cycle, and if you are thirty six year old, you complete the third round. There was, for instance, a big Birth Day celebration for Princess Sirindhorn on her 36th Birthday. This may even be argued as the Chinese influence on the Thai on this matter.)

For many Tai peoples, however, this use of sixty cyclical-years was retained even after the Tai-Khun had adopted the Chula Sakkaraja from the Mon through Lanna. Sao Saimong Mangrai, a Cambridge graduate, in his famous work, Padaeng Chronicle and The Jengtung State Chronicle TRanslated (University of Michigan, 2002, Second Edition, pp. 53-57) has a note on this. There is also a chart of the sixty cyclical year provided in this book.

The way the sixty cyclical years is calculated in the Tai-Khun calendar is, however, far from being unique to this important branch of the Tai. In fact, as indicated earlier, the Tai all over used this system in their calculation of days that form a month: there were sixty days in one Tai month. The terms used in the Tai-Khun chronicles and those employed by the Tai peoples in other parts of Asia were exactly the same. This is evident in Sao Gang Sur's famous book, Jatissara Nyan (The Knowledge of Past and Future Lives).

In his book, the Tai scholar Sao Garng Sur explained how to form days into month by matching “mother-year” and “children-year”. There are "ten mother-years" (mea pi), and "twelve children-years" (luk pi). Despite their names as "the mother-" and "children- year", the terms were in fact used to count days and months, not year, at least by the time he wrote his work, which was about one hundred and sixty years ago. (The author of a Shan novel, Khun Sam Law Nang Oo Pem, was his daughter. Her name, as you all know, was Nang Kham Gu.).

One scholar, Sai Fa, told me that Pi Mai Tai was officially in use in the two of the six famous Tai kingdoms, Mong Loong and Mong Pa. However, I have yet to search find any evidence either to support or reject it. However, not just how it all began but also how we stopped using our Tai Year remain a puzzle awaiting to be resolved through further study. Our get-together on this New Year should create us some impetus for this important historical and anthropological work.

by : Sao Dhamma

Buddhism in Keng Tung

Buddhism in Kengtung:

Preface:This article undertakes to explore the history of Buddhism in Kengtung for two reasons: first, to celebrate the award of the Aggamahasaddhammajotikadhaja title to the most Venerable Khemacara, the abbot of Wat Jeng Yuen and the head of the Kengtung Theravada Sangha, by the government of Myanmar on 4th January 2002 (for his biography, please refer to a separate article), and secondly to preserve the rich history of Buddhism in Myanmar as a whole.

The subject, the history of Buddhism in Kengtung, is a challenging one that requires extensive research on the part of many scholars and the dedication of many hearts. Sao Saimong Mangrai, once a visiting professor at Cambridge University, England, and research scholar at Cornell University and Michigan University, USA, and Professor Donald Swearer have done some important work related to this subject. To describe my own effort in writing this article, I can but quote the words of Sao Saimong Mangrai: “A beginning has been made” and “it is for future scholars” to advance the subject further.

Kengtung
Since the 13th century, Kengtung has been the largest muang2 in Shan State with an area of 12,00 square miles3, and remains so at present in the eastern Shan State of the Union of Myanmar. Lying between two famous rivers, the Mekhong and the Salween, Kengtung “is a series of (mountain) ranges running north and south, (and) of an average height of 5000 feet, with peaks rising to above 7000”4 Sir James Scott, the British political commissioner in Shan States during the colonial rule, recorded that Kengtung used to export cotton to China and that gold was panned in most of the streams of Kengtung.5 The city was built by King Mangrai6 in 1262, who also became ruler of Chiangsen Kingdom with its capital at Chiangrai from 1296, and then Lanna Kingdom at Chiangmai.7 this followed the destruction of the Nangchao kingdom8 of the Tai by the Mongol Emperor, Kublai Khan in 1253.9 For over eight hundred years, Kengtung was ruled by a Saopha. The last one, Sao Sai Luang, passed away peaceful in Yangon in 1997. saophas of Kengtung where fondly addressed by their people as Braya (lord), Somdej Bra Pensao, “his roya masjesty”, Sao Yodkhamom, “lord above the head”, Saonurho, “lord above the head” or Saopendin, “lord of the earth”10. as described above, Kengtung was the biggest princedom in the former Shan States. Her successive rulers were pious Buddhists who energetically supported the religion of the Buddha. The Tai of Kengtung have developed a culture of their own distinct from their Tai brethren elsewhere. They came to be known as Tai-Khun or Khun after the river Khun situated outside the city, and culturally shared many common features with sibsongpanna and Lanna.

The introduction of budddhism to Kengtung
The Mahavihara Tradition of Arahat Mahinda

The exact date of the arrival of Buddhism in Kengtung is still a subject that awaits scholarly investigation. So far, we can only state that since the Nanchao period (8th-13th A.D) the majority of the Tai people, to which the Tai-Khun belongs, have not professed any organized faith other than buddhis,.11

Historical and archaeological evidence shows that King Mangrai, the founder of Kengtung, was a “staunch supporter” of Buddhism. Among the Buddhist monuments he built was “Wat Chiangman (Chiangman Monastery) in the northeast corner of the modern city of Chiangmai.”12 The fact that he was not a convert suggests the earlier existence of Buddhism in Kengtung and his other Kingdoms.

Buddhism in Kengtung has its root in the great Theravada tradition of the Mahavihara in Ceylon, established by Arahat Mahinda, son of Emperor Asoka, who came to teach the Dhamma in the Island under King Devanam Piyatissa in the 3rd B.C.13 The tradition came to Kengtung via Martaban (now Moktama, in Mon State) and Chiangsen, Thailand.14

The Ramannadesa, of which Martaban formed a part, was earlier known as Suvannabhumi and became the centre of Buddhism after it had adopted Buddhism from one of the Asokan missions led by Thera Sona and Uttara. (King Anawratha (Anirudha) (1044,77), who took 32 sets of the Tipitaka from Thaton, Ramannadesa in 1057, had been in touch with the development of Buddhism in Ceylon throughout his reign.) Kalyani Sima in Bago, built by King Dhammazedi (1472-92), is the most visible landmark of the King Dhammazedi of Pegu sent monks to Ceylonese Theravada tradition in Myanmar. In fact, even before King Dhammazedi of Pegu sent monks to Ceylon for a re-ordination, the Ceylonese Theravada traditions were followed in the Ramannadesa. Four of the five old fraternities mentioned in the kalyani insvriptions were traditions from Ceylon. 15 They are reported to have been banned by King Dhammazedi, who subsequently established a fresh contact with the Ceylonese Theravada order.

Chaingsen, the earliest thai kingdom, was contemporary to Dvaravati (6-11th A.D), the Mon principality within the Khmer Empire. The Sinhalese tradition of Buddhism, known as lankavamsa, came to Chiangsen first via Sukhothai and then Ayuthaya. Sukhothai (1219-1350 A.D) first adopted Ceylonese Theravada buddhism in 1276 from Kakhon Sridhammarat, where monks of Ceylon began propagating the Dhamma a decade or so earlier, together with the local monks who had been educated in Ceylon. This Ceylonese sect was invited to Sukhothai (Sukhodaya) by the king who had heard of their good practice and thorough knowledge of the Tipitaka. King Ram khamheng Inscrption (dated 1276) thus say: “King Ram Khamheng gave donations to the Supreme Patriarch, to every senior monks and to wise monks learned in the Three Baskets – of all whom are greater than any previous teachers of old in the city. Every one of these monks came from Nakonsridhammaraj.”16 Jinakalamali, composed in Pali in 1516 A.D, relates the important missions of the monk Sumana, who had visited Martaban, Ramannadesa, where he had learnt Sinhalese Buddhism, which he later introduced to the newly emergent kingdom of sukhodaya.

Theravada Buddhism came to Chaingsen through the effort of Sumana Mahathera (1030-110 A.D) who with another bhikkhu named Anomadassi studied the Tipitaka in Martaban before returning to Sukhothai. Professor S.J Tambiah writes in his ever popular work, the World Conqueror and the World Renouncer that a Pali chronicle of Thailand, Mulasasana, recounts “Sinhalese sect in Ramannadesa at Pan near Martaban, the leader of the forest dwelling sect honoured by Sinhalese king with the title of Mahasami”, and then speaks “of the two Taai monks, Anomadassi and Sumana who made a visit to Pan to study under Mahasami and to be re-ordained (their action followed by other Thai monks) and of Sumana returning to Sukhodaya at King Lo Tai’s request in order to found the order of Sinhalese monks”. 18 Sumana Mahathera later came to Chiangmai to propagate the Dhamma.

According to padaeng Chronicle written in Mong (Tai-Khun) scripts in Kengtung, Buddhism as practiced in Martaban was brought to Kengtung via Chiangmai around the turn of the 10th ventury A.D by Sumana Mahathera. 19 This suggests that when King Mangrai made himself the ruler of Kengtung, there had already flourished Theravada teachings among the people. But, at the same time this statement appears contradictory to the historical fact that Chiangmai came into existence only “on Thursday, 12 April 1296” 20 And so how could Buddhism have sxisted in Kengtung when Kengtung itself had not been founded? If we take into consideration that the northern part of Thailand had prospered long before 1296 as a part of Dvaravati, Chiangmai therefore must have been in existence before King Mangrai made it the capital of his kingdom. This may be called Pre-Mangrai Chiangmai where people had good connections with Ramannadesa as far as Buddhism was concerned. Charles F.Keyes argues that “the earliest mention of Tai is in an inscription of the eleventh century A.D, but it is almost certain that Tai had been moving into the area of central mainland Southeast. Asia well before that time, perhaps since the seventh century, there was most probably a substantial Tai-speaking population living in the domains of the Mon-Buddhist kingdom of Dvaravati.” And that they “may have been organized as tribal peoples under petty chiefs?”

So, Pre-Mangrai Chiangmai may have been under small chieftains and culturally was much influenced by Haripunjaya (Lampun) which was, according to Camadevi, founded in the 8th A.D.22 This logic applies, also, to Buddhism in Kengtung in the Pre-Mangrai era.
We have lernt of the development of Buddhism in Kengtung through the writings of the Red Forest Sect. as no written record by lineage of Sumana Mahathera himself was left, it is hard to determine the actual monastic practice in the Sunmana Mahathera tradition. Nevertheless, a general understanding of the state of Buddhism in the early tradition can be obtained by studying sources on history of Buddhism n neighboring countries. But that is beyond the scope of this paper. We may therefore rely on the Padaeng Stone Incvription (PSI), Padaeng Chronicle (PC) and Jengtung Chronicle (JC) which, no doubt, favour the second mission led by Somacitta Thera because they were written by the disciples of Somacitta Thera. The PSI dates 1451 A.D and is in the Ramkhamheang Tahi scripts. But we have no verified information as to the dates of the two chronicles.

The Second Mission and Present Sangha in Kengtung

The second mission of the Ceylonese Theravad fraternity from Chiangsen arrived in Kengtung in the early year of the reign of Braya (also pronounced as Phya) Dhamma Culamani (1441-1456). 25 It is said that the father of Dhamma Culamani, Braya Rattabheri (1416-1441), buit the city in a new site in the south of the old one with moats and walls for the defence of the city. There was a demon in the vicinity who was so angry with the king’s encroachment of his area that he haunted the new palace for over ten years. The Braya invited bhikkhus of Sondok Jenlom and Jenglae, one after another, to come and recite the holy suttas to expel the demon. But that was to no avail and the bhikkhus were defeated. On learning of this incident, Nanagambhira Mahathera, now the head of the Sangha in Chiangsen, deputed his senior disciple Somacitta and four other bhikkhus to Kengtung where they first stayed at Hroy-yen. They came to be heard of by the Braya Dhamma Culamani after their encounter with boys of Sondokgham grazing cattle where they resided. They where invited to the palace by Braya Dhamma Culamani and asked to do holy changing for three days and three nights. Medical protection was now given to the Graya and his people because of their strict adherence to the vinaya, “the monastic rules”, and their correct way of chanting the suttas. Their effective chanting protected the people twice later from fire and flood. The Bray built them a monastery called Mahavanaram. Soon, Somacitta thera and his party informed the Braya of their wish to return to Chaingsen. The Braya, instead, persuaded them to stay saying that he would invite their teacher, Nanagambhira Mahathera to come to Kengtung. On their arrival, a new monastery was built by Bray Dhamma Culamani and the populace for Nanagambhira Mahthera and his disciples. The monastery was know as Sihalarattarama, or Wat Padaeng, where the famous chronicle of Buddhism inKengtung seens to have been composed. As Alesander B. Griswold writes in his preface to the translation work by Sao Saimong that this chronicle may be studied with Jinakalamall and “several of its dates can be verified or corrected by reference to those given in a stone inscription whichis preserved in the Red Forest (Padaeng) Monastery itself.” Wat Padaeng thus has been the focus of history of Buddhism I Kengtung since the reign of Braya Dhamma Culamani. Wat Padaeng was also the name of the monastery of Nanagambhira Mahathera in Chiangsen. As we shall see in the next paragraph there was yet another. Wat Padaeng in Chiangmai where the Sangharaja resided. During the founding of the Mahavihara tradition of Ceylon in Kengtung for the second time, we can note the emphasis non the learning of the holy scriptures in this forest tradition, because at Wat Padaeng two libraries wehre constructed almost immediately inside the monastery. 24



Keng Tung City, Shan State
Nanagambhira MahatheraNanagambhira Mahathera, who established the Ceylonese Mahavihara Theravada tradition for the second time in Kengtung, went to Rohana Janapada of Ceylon to study the true doctrine after he and his colleagues had doubts on some Pali grammatical points that were considered to render the ordination procedure inbalid. On the recommentdation of his preceptor, Dhammakitti Mahathera, he went to Sulhothai with five other bhikkhus. There he met the king and his religious tutor, the rajaguru who then asked him to go to Ceylon to lern the true teaching to solve the above dispute. He was given a courtier and another five bhikkhus to accompany him to Ceylon in 1419. having consulted with the members of the Order in the Rohana Janapada led by surinda Mahathera, he and his colleagues decided to seek a new ordination under the head of the Rohana Janapada Sangha, Maha Sudassana Mahathera. 25 Grammatical correctness of the natticatuttha khammavaca seems to have formed the focus of the discussions Nanagambhira had with many Ceylonese monks. 26 As can be expected, the Padaeng chronicle blames Sumana Mahathera for everything that went wrong. From Ceylon and then Ayuthaya, Nanagambhira arrived back in Chiangsen in 1434. here a monastery called Wat Padaeng (Red Forest monastery) was built for him by the Braya, local chief. 27 The name of the monastery indicates that a revival of forest traditions was underway. The situation of the monastery outside the city also suggests that they belonged to the Ceylonese sect. on the structure of the monasteries, Prince Damrong remarks: “The monasteries (outside the town) were regarded as important for the Ceylonese sect. they included the Mango Grove Monastery where the Supreme Paiarch of Sukhothai redided and the Red Forest Monastery, the residence of the Pariarch of Chiangmai”28

As Prince Damrong observed, there came to be two fraternities when a Ceylonese sect, langavamsa, was established in sukhothai and Chiangmai. Kengtung also came to have two traditions, Sondok fraternity and Padaeng fraternity, with the arrival of the second mission. As the two traditions gradually merged in Sukhothai and Chiangmai, only one fraternity was to remain in Kengtung. But, according to the Padaeng Chronicle, this was because the Sondok (Garden or Puppharama sect) left their monastery on recognizing the superiority of the newly established Padaeng (Rd Forest or Sihalarattarama) tradition. This new form of Buddhism is reported to have spread to Tai people of other areas such as Sibsongbanna, Lu, Monglaem, Mongka, Mongmaen, Mongting, Kungma.

Some Salient Features of Buddhism in Kengtung

This topic deserves a separate article on its own. We may cite but a few examples here. Following in the traditions of Nanagambhira Mahthera, who sailed to Ceylon because of a dispute on Pali grammatical points and Pali pronunciation, the Kengtung and Sinhalese Sangha have similar pronunciation of Pali. The pleasing chanting of the great meditator and forest dweller, Khuva Woonzoom, also known as Mong Pong Sayadaw, belongs to this great tradition. Chanting of the paritta among the Sangha in Myanmar generally differs from one monastery to another. This is not the case with the Kengtung Sangha, who has preserved chanting with great care.

In the Kengtung tradition, the begging for forgiveness, Okasa or Awkatha, is in Pali. So is the offering of homage to the Triple Gem, Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha.
The structure of every monastery is the same, with cetiya (pagada), vihara (main hall) and bodhi tree, as in Ceylon. This subject is discussed in detail by Sao Saimong in his pioneering work on the Padaeng Chronicle. Most important of all is that the Sangha in Kengtung have a well-formed administrative structure, the head of which is called Annadhamma (pronounced as ayatham), “the most well versed in the Dhamma”.

The Budhhist Literature of Kengtung is vast and was, possibly, until the turn of the last century, one of the most progressing branches of Buddhist literatures in Southeast Asia. According Sao Saimong Mangrai, the Visddhimagga, by the great Pali commentator, Buddhaghosa Mahathera, had long been translated into Tai-Khun language probably before its counterparts in Thai, English and the Myanmar language. Among the transtations of the Visuddhimagga in the latter three language, the English translation, by Professor Pe Maung Tin, was the first. It was completed in 1923. GABamoli bhikkhu, an English monk ordained in Sri Lanka, transtated it for the second time in 1956 and is now widely in use. The transtations into Myanmar and Thai were undertaken only a few years after the celebration of the 2500th Years of Buddhism (1956). However, it is yet to determine the exact date of the Tai-Khun translation.

Extensive quotation of Kaccayana’s Pali grammar n the Padaeng Chronicle shows the impressive scholarship of the Sangha in Kengtung at the time. kaccayana’s Pali grammar, simply known at present as great grammar (thatda-gyi) is one of the most studies texts in Myanmar since the Pagan prriod. professor Madhav Deshpande, a Pali scholar at the Linguistic Department, Michigan University, “was often surprised to find the rules accurately quoted in the text (Padaeng Chronicle) in spite of (the) repeated copying that it must have undergone”. 31 Judging from the way the Vessantara Jataka has been developed, it is not hard to imagine that active buddhist scholarship existed before in Kengtung. the Kengtung version of the Vessantara jataka is now being studied by a postgraduate student as a part of his research at the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. we hope to learn more of the Kengtung Buddhist literatures as the scholarship on the subjects advances.

End note:

1. The Thai pronounce and thus spell as Chiangtung. Sao Saimong Mangrai uses also Jengtung in his transtation of Jengtung Chronicle (for his explanation see p. 200), which is the pronunciation of the city and state by the people of Kengtung themselves. however, he also employs Kengtung in the text itself. The Burmese pronounce it Kyaington. In this article Kengtung is used throughout because if has long been a standard spelling. Kengtung has a classical name in Pali, khemarattha, "Safe Kingdom" or "the Kingdom of Peace" to translate khema in the light of the famous Mangala Sutta of the Suttanipata. Kengtung city itself is known classically as Tungapura.

by : Sao Dr. Dhammasami

Mai Soong Pee Mai Tai (Happy Shan New Year)

Welcoming the Shan New Year 2102

Welcoming the New Year is one of the oldest and gayest customs celebrated the world over. In the concept of the world, the definition of “The New Year” means that the time of the previous year has passed by and the Happy New Year has begun. The New Year Festival is celebrated in various countries according to the customs and traditions of the people there. “Pee Maue Tai” is the traditional New Year of the Tai (Shan) people. For this year, this event falls on 8 December 2007, which corresponds to the first day of the first lunar month (the first waxing moon of the Loen Tseng). All the Tai will celebrate the festival with special greetings and best wishes for the Tai New Year 2102 (Tai Era) with full happiness.

“Mai Soong” means to be progressive, be advanced (as in status, well-being) and is used as a greeting phrase. “Pee” means year, “Mai” means new, and “Tai” for Tai people in the world. All the Tai welcome all nationalities to visit “Tai New Year Festival” in every Tai villages, Tai towns, Tai cities, and Tai countries.

In most countries, depending on the different national traditions, people celebrate the New Year on different days and in different manners. Some celebrate in April, some in January, etc. During New Year’s Day, some throw water on each other, some pray for best wishes, some dance together, some perform a ceremony of pouring water on respected persons or the objects of worship, some enjoy a playful festival, some shoot off guns and fireworks at dawn or midnight.


Shan New Year in Muse, Shan State
For some the New Year involves scaring away evil spirits, thus giving the new year a fresh start. It marks the beginning of the year. New Year’s Day is thought of as a good time to make New Year’s resolutions – the resolve to do better in the year just beginning than you did in the year just ended. Although they differ as to the time from which they reckon the commencement of the year, Egyptians, the Jews, the Romans, the Islams, the Chinese, the Japanese, the Tai and others all regard it as a day of special solemnity.

Because of advances in this age of globalization, greetings and best wishes for a Happy New Year can easily be sent by E-mail to friends and relatives all over the world. From web sites, researchers can gain more knowledge about the New Year’s Day. For remembrance of the happy Tai New Year, please give a bundle of “mok kwang” (cherry) flower to your sweet heart.