The History of the Shan People of Burma

Throughout Asia there are various different ethnic groups, China being home to some of the best known ethnicities. However, other Asian countries like Burma are home to a range of different ethnic groups living within her borders. The Shan are one of these several groups.

It has been estimated that the Shan population is around six million, around nine percent of Burma’s estimated 50 million people. Since 1935 there has been no nation-wide census of her ethnic groups, making it somewhat impossible to do anything else but roughly estimate. The Burman are the country’s most populated group.

The origins of the Shan people are hard to trace before they appeared in Burma in the 14th century CE and founded the powerful kingdom of Ava. The Shan States themselves were established around the 10th century but were largely absorbed into the Chinese and Burmese kingdoms by the end of the 16th century. Although it cannot be stated with any certainly, scholars believe that the Shan people migrated to Burma from China around 650 BCE where they were known as the Tai-Shan.

Prior to the Shan people establishing their own kingdom, the Indian cultural complex had ruled this region. The “Shan, which had never been directly subjugated by the former Burman kings, found themselves in a new state under the influence of a government that was relentless in its attempts to Burmanize them. Instead of fleeing to remote border areas or being assimilated, many groups chose to rebel. They challenged the validity of an independent nation-state whose definition they did not fit”.

Burma went under British rule in the 17th century, but the Shan were still self-ruled. During World War II, whilst many Burmans went to fight with the Japanese, the Shan (and many other ethnic minorities) stayed and fought for the British. After WWII, the Shan were given independence and became the Shan State in 1948. However, after General Ne Win’s coup d'état in 1962, the Shan State was absorbed back into Burma.  

The Shan people can be divided into four groups – the Tai-Shan (‘Shan Proper’), the Tai Lue, the Tai Khuen and the Tai Neua. There are two main religions among the Shan – Theravada Buddhism and Animalism.

Tattoos is widely practiced among the Shan but are not seen as decorations; for the Shan they are medicine and can be “thought of as analogous to vaccinations against various diseases. They protect their bearers either by causing beings to have loving kindness toward them or by preventing harmful things like bullets or knives from entering their bodies. Men are likely to have tattoos of some sort; women rarely have tattoos other than ones to prevent or cure illness”.

“Tattoos are done in either red or blue/black, depending on the materials used. There are three general classes of tattoos: those that act on others, causing them to like or fear the bearer, acun; those that act on the bearer, increasing his skill with words, yapeya; and tattoos that create a barrier around the person that prevents animals of all sorts from biting, knives from cutting, and bullets from entering the body (kat or pik tattoos). Acun and yapeya tattoos tend to be done in red, while kat tattoos tend to be done in blue/black.

The Shan people are still fighting for their independence. Prince Hso Khan Fa, living in exile in Canada, continues to ask the Burmese government to respect the history and tradition of the Shan people.

Bibliography:

Tannenbaum, Nicola (1987) Tattoos: Invulnerability and Power in Shan Cosmology, American Ethnologist, Blackwell Publishing on behalf of the American Anthropological Association.

Thompson, Curtis M. (1995) Political Stability and Minority Groups in Burma, Geographical Review, American Geographical Society.