U Nu

U NU. U Nu's life (1905–1995) extends over decades of profound political and social change in Burma (Myanmar). He was a prominent member of the Thirty Comrades during the struggle for independence and played a historic role in the country's transformation from a British colony to an independent nation-state. He served as Prime Minister of democratic Burma between 1948–1956, 1957–1958, and 1960–1962. U Nu was a gifted politician, a deeply religious man, and a remarkable writer.

U Nu's politics and worldview reflected the values of the early nationalist era in which he grew up. His father was a merchant in Wakema, a town in the delta region of Lower Burma where he was active in the local chapters of the Young Men's Buddhist Association (YMBA) and later in the General Council of Buddhist Associations (GCBA). These anti-colonial organizations equated national identity with Burmese language, culture, and Buddhism, and Nu's father would consent only to enrolling his son at a local Anglo-vernacular government school. Unlike many of his political contemporaries, U Nu never studied abroad. He finished high school in Rangoon and graduated from Rangoon University in 1929. For a number of years he taught English, English history, and Burmese in the national school system.

By 1934, U Nu, now married to Daw Mya Yee, returned to the capital to join the civil service, but soon decided to seek a law degree at Rangoon University. U Nu emerged as a leader in the student strike of 1936, together with Aung San and others in the anti-colonial elite who later also gained prominent positions in the post-independence era. Like many of his peers, Nu adopted the anti-colonial title Thakin (Master). He rose to leadership positions in the pre-war nationalist Dobama Asiayone and the post-war Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL). In the aftermath of Aung San's murder, U Nu became the first Prime Minister of independent Burma in 1948. On several occasions, he withdrew from public life strategically to meditate and thus force a favorable resolution of political struggles.

Ethnic insurgencies, factionalism over the state's role in religious education, and the constitutional amendment to establish Buddhism as Burma's state religion led to Ne Win's final military takeover in 1962. Like the British in 1942, Ne Win imprisoned Nu from 1962–1966. In 1973 U Nu traveled to Thailand and then to exile in India. He was pardoned and returned to Burma in 1980 to oversee the new Pali text editions commissioned by the Mahasangha Nayaka Council. Following the popular uprising and the collapse of Ne Win's regime in 1988, U Nu established an interim government in a futile effort to regain political office. Ne Win's successor regime, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) placed U Nu under house arrest from 1989 until 1992. He passed away on February 14, 1995.

A pragmatist about political ideologies and a skilled negotiator, U Nu advocated democracy or the Burmese Way to Socialism as exigencies dictated. His politics indicated a greater nexus to his Buddhist beliefs as he became increasingly religious in his adult life. As early as his twenties, he took vows to affirm his disciplined actions: to abstain from liquor; to be faithful to his wife; to observe temporary celibacy to effect political outcomes; and in 1948, to remain sexually abstinent. He meditated daily for hours, observed a vegetarian diet, and removed himself from his family's affairs. U Nu's ascetic practices and charisma were significant facets of his public persona.

The inception of parliamentary governance in post-independent Burma coincided with millennial expectations of an imminent, powerful Buddhist ruler (cakkavatti) in the Theravāda world where many believed that the second half of the Buddha's dispensation had begun. In popular Burmese culture, U Nu was often seen as that future king or future Buddha. On the advice of Nehru, he promoted a programmatic Buddhist revival (1947–1958) to further nationalism. The revival was intended to secure world peace and progress, ensure the expansion of the state into tribal areas, bring stability, and institute Buddhism as Burma's state religion. It culminated in the construction of a religious complex, Kaba Aye Pagoda, to house the Buddhist canon (tipitaka) and the convocation of the Sixth Theravāda Buddhist Synod, Buddha Sasana Sanghayana (1954–1956) that was modeled after earlier Buddhist councils, especially King Mindon's Fifth Buddhist Council (1871). Kaba Aye was the site of important state rituals, including the veneration of the Buddha's Tooth relic that had been temporarily conveyed from Sri Lanka to Burma. Such diplomatic exchanges celebrated Buddhist identity among some new Asian nations.

U Nu's political career eclipsed when his policies failed to integrate ethnic minorities into the national community. His government further deteriorated under economic pressures despite, or as his critics assert, because of, U Nu's practice of and the state's support for Buddhism. The political crisis escalated when he could not restrain demands by monks to require Buddhist instruction in public schools and to prohibit ethnic minorities from offering equivalent religious instruction. Ne Win's coup d'etat in 1962 ended parliamentary democracy and limited the role of Buddhism in the modern state until the 1980s.

Writing and translating literature into Burmese (e.g. Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People) was U Nu's first passion in college. He soon gained a reputation as a gifted speech writer and orator, both talents that fostered his rise in politics. He authored plays, novels, translations, political speeches, and essays on Buddhism. Although his written work is extensive, some of it has been termed polemic, underscoring an intended message rather than an art form. His novel, Man, the Wolf of Man, emphasized personal themes, while his best known play, The People Win Through, focused on a communist insurrection and political rule by force as unmoral. He authored other plays like Converting the Elder Brother, a drama about political and personal betrayal, and Thurya, an allegorical fable about political corruption under colonialism. In Saturday's Son, an autobiographical novel, he recounted the turbulent events of his life until 1962. His religious writings primarily followed traditionalist forms. In Buddhism: Theory and Practice he detailed the moral and mental stages of meditation.

Throughout his life, U Nu's religiosity encompassed both modernist meditation and cosmological beliefs. In his 1987 inaugural speech for the Center for Burma Studies at Northern Illinois University, he affirmed the power local spirit lords (nat) exert over worldly matters. U Nu was deeply committed to Buddhist practice as moral legitimation for public office and employed religion to promote national culture and nation building. He achieved a prominent place among charismatic statesmen in twentieth century Asia.

Butwell, R. U Nu of Burma. Stanford, Calif., 1963; reprint 1969.

Mendelson, M. E. Sangha and State in Burma, A Study of Monastic Sectarianism and Leadership. Edited by J. P. Ferguson. Ithaca, N.Y., 1975.

Nu, U. "Burma Looks Ahead." Translation of selected speeches by the Honorable U Nu, Prime Minister of the Union of Burma, delivered on various occasions from 1951 to August 4, 1952. Ministry of Information, Government of the Union of Burma, 1953.

Nu, U. Saturday's Son. Translated by U Law Yone. New Haven, Conn., 1975.

Nu, U. Buddhism: Theory and Practice. Bangkok, 1983.

Nu, U. "Nats." In Crossroads: Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, Vol. 4:1, Special Burma Studies Issue. Singapore, 1988. This speech was delivered on the occasion of the dedication of the Center for Burma Studies, Northern Illinois University, July 30, 1987.

Sarkisyanz, E. Buddhist Backgrounds of the Burmese Revolution. The Hague, 1965.

Smith, D. E. Religion and Politics in Burma. Princeton, 1965.

This is the complete article, containing 1,236 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page).