Shan
The Shan are an ethnic group in Southeast Asia belonging to the Tai-Kadai language family. "Shan" is probably a Chinese designation for this ethnic Tai group. They call themselves Tai, Tai Luang ("luang" meaning "greater" or "main"), or Tai Mao [Luang] (according to their ancient capital Muang Mao). They were generally called Tai Yai by the Siamese ("yai" also meaning "greater"). The Shan live mainly in the Shan states of Myanmar (Burma), where they have a population of 3.2 million. Other Shan live in southern China and as political refugees in Thailand, Europe, and the United States.
Culturally, the Shan are closely related to the Lao, the Lue, and the Khon Muang (or Yuan). Like these ethnic groups, the Shan profess Theravada Buddhism as well as traditional ancestor and spirit cults. Traditionally, the main economic product was rice, but also important were vegetables and fruits, animal breeding (cattle, buffalo, pigs, chickens, elephants), silk, and cotton and handicrafts such as weaving, silverwork, woodcarving, and Hsa paper production. The region of the Shan states also ranks among the world's highest in opium production. After the military coup of 1962, when the Union of Burma was brought under a military regime, the sociopolitical and economic structures of the Shan changed radically.
History
The Shan, who migrated to the southwest from southern China (Nanchao) probably before the tenth or twelfth century, founded the Mao Luang kingdom in the early thirteenth century as the result of a forced unification of numerous small Shan states (muang or mong). The Mao Luang kingdom maintained considerable power until it was challenged by the Burmese in 1604 after the kingdom had been weakened during a long series of wars with China. However, only some of the many Shan principalities came under Burmese control; others continued to exist as independent or semi-independent Shan states (mong Tai).
During the colonial period, the Shan aristocracy negotiated protectorate agreements with the British and in 1922 founded the Federated Shan States. During World War II, the Shan states came under Japanese occupation. In 1947, the Shan rulers signed the Panglong Agreement, by which the Shan states officially became part of the Union of Burma for a trial period of ten years. The Panglong Agreement was the cornerstone of the Union of Burma, and the Shan prince Chao Shwe Thaike became provisional president. After that period, according to the agreement, they should have been free to secede, but they were hindered when the military under the Burman General Ne Win took power in 1958. With the military coup in 1962, a great part of the leading Shan aristocracy was arrested or assassinated, and the Shan states finally came under full control of the military government, which to date is being opposed by a Shan armed resistance.
Further Reading
Adams, Nel. (2000) "Remembering the Tai of the Shan States." Tai Culture—International Review on Tai Cultural Studies 5, 1: 143–162.
Mangrai, Sao Saimong. (1965) The Shan States and the British Annexation. Cornell Data Papers, no. 57. Ithaca, NY: Southeast Asia Program, Cornell University.
Milne, Leslie. (1910) Shans at Home: With Two Chapters on Shan History and Literature. London: J. Murray.
Shan Human Rights Foundation, ed. (1994) The Shan Case: Rooting Out the Myth of the Golden Triangle. Rev. ed. Maehongson, Thailand: Shan Human Rights Foundation.
Tannenbaum, Nicola Beth. (1995) Who Can Compete against the World? Power-Protection and Buddhism in Shan Worldview. Ann Arbor, MI: Association for Asian Studies.
Yawnghwe, Chao Tzang. (1987) The Shan of Burma: Memoirs of a Shan Exile. Singapore: ISEAS.
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