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

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.

Wat Pa Pao (Shan Temple in Chiangmai, Thailand)

Wat Pa Pao is a Buddhist temple situated in the center of the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, just outside the old city wall and moat. It was founded over 400 years ago by a Shan, and today serves as the main community center for Shans in Chiang Mai.

In February 1997, the Abbot of the temple, with other community leaders, set up a foundation at the temple with the aim of promoting the education of Shan people and the preservation of their culture.

The foundation, which is officially registered with the Thai government, is named the Wat Pa Pao Foundation to Support Education, Art, and Culture. With support from the Japanese Embassy, the foundation was able to start an adult education school at the temple.
The Wat Pa Pao Adult Education School was officially opened on 11 October 1998, in conjunction with the Thai Non-formal Education Department. When the school opened, there were 131 students. This has increased to over 187, with a waiting list of many more.

The school teaches a basic Thai curriculum and is intended to provide Shan youth in Chiang Mai with literacy skills that will enable them to improve their job opportunities and future in Thailand. While the classes are in Thai, the various extra-curricular activities are all aimed at promoting the Shan culture. The school has thus proved extremely popular among the Shan youth in Chiang Mai, who have flocked to the classes both to improve their education and to join in community activities aimed at preserving their own culture.

The initial grant from the Japanese Embassy was sufficient only to cover the initial start-up costs of the school, including the building of classrooms and purchase of equipment. Since the opening of the school, the operating costs of the classes, including the teachers' salaries have been covered by private donations to the foundation. Funding is urgently needed to continue to cover the salaries of the teachers, to purchase teaching equipment and to build more classrooms at the temple, so that more students can be accepted. Anyone wishing to donate to this worthwhile project, please contact the following address:

Wat Pa Pao Foundation Wat Pa Pao 58 Maneenopparat Road Sriphoom Sub-district, Muang District, Chiang Mai Thailand

As the focal point for Shan culture in Chiang Mai, Wat Pa Pao hosts many events each year. One of the biggest celebrations each year is the annual Poi Sang Long festival. This year it will be celebrated at Wat Pa Pao during the first week of April.

Wat Pa Pao also has Shan books and magazines available for purchase.

If you would like to contact Wat Pa Pao, you may write, call, fax, or E-mail:

58 Maneenopparat Road,
Sriphoom Sub-District,
Muang District, Chiang Mai
Tel/fax (053) 418046
E-mail: intaviro@ksc.th.com

Shan people in Myanmar

From A.D. 1287 to 1604, the Shan controlled much of northern Burma. This rule ended in 1604 when the Burmese took over the land. In 1886 Burma became part of British India. Years later, in 1922, a new order was established when the British created the Federated Shan States and the Federated Shan States' Council. In 1937 they were given self-government within the British Commonwealth.

The Federated Shan States were made up of 34 states recognized by the British. Traditionally, Shan resided in various territories (states) governed by saophas (princes).

World War II brought hardship, as both the Japanese and the Allies attacked Shan villages, destroying many of them. In 1943, the Japanese captured 32 of the 34 Shan states. The British regained peaceful rule after the war was over, but the sun was about to set on their Empire. The British government no longer had the resources to maintain many of its colonies and decided to begin granting them independence. The question for many Shan leaders was whether to join a union with an independent Burma or to seek their own separate country.

In the end, union with Burma won out. On February 12, 1947, the Burmese nationalist leader Aung San and other ethnic leaders signed the historic Panglong Agreement in the Shan State. This agreement set up guidelines for the governing of ethnic minority groups in the Union of Burma, including the Shan, and gave the Shan State the right to secede from the Union after ten years. Only months after the signing of the agreement, however, Aung San and a number of the other leaders were assassinated, leaving the budding nation in a state of chaos. In order to promote unity, Sao (prince) Shwe Thaike was given the post of the first President of the Union of Burma, which formally achieved its independence in early 1948.