CHAPTER XIV.BURMESE HOME LIFE.

The Countess of Dufferin’s fund for the training of female nurses in midwifery, for the benefit of women in the East, is nowhere more sorely needed than it is in Burma, for there are among the Burmans, in connection with that critical period, usages that render some more enlightened method of treatment urgently to be desired. Immediately on the birth of the child, it is the earnest endeavour of those in charge to place the mother as near as possible to a very large fire. Hot bricks are applied, rugs and blankets are piled upon her, irrespective of the state of the weather, in a country where for two months of the year the thermometer stands at 110° in the shade of the verandah. This continues for seven days, and is with a view to dispel the noxious humours supposed to be generated. This treatment, in addition to the drinking of much medicine at the same time, renders that crisis of life more than usually hazardous to the mother.

“EVERY BURMAN YOUTH, AS HE GROWS UP, IS TATTOOED FROM THE WAIST TO THE KNEES.”

The boy goes to the monastery school as soon as he is able to learn, and is there taught to read and write, and is initiated into the teachings of Buddhism. He learns the five universal commandments, the five subsidiary rules, and the Pali formulæ used at the pagoda worship. At the monastery he is made familiar, at the most susceptible period of his life, with the routine of the life of the monks, learning, amongst other things, idleness as a fine art, and he is taught to look upon the condition of the monk as the holiest man can attain in this life. If I were asked which I considered the strongest point Buddhism holds in the midst of the Burmesepeople, I should at once lay my finger on this—the influence of the monastery school on the boys. There can be no doubt that before any great inroads can be made upon Buddhism—before Christianity can have a fair chance of success—the missionary will have to enter into an honourable competition with the monastery schools. These are days of competition. He will have to provide a better and a wider system of vernacular elementary education than the people can get at present, and by providing a better article, he can attract the people to him. Let him fearlessly permeate the teaching through and through withChristian truth(not anti-Buddhism), and he will find that will not lessen, but increase, his popularity. In all Oriental lands the heathen instruction of the indigenous schools is a hindrance to Christianity, but I know of no country where it is more so than in Burma.

Every Burman youth, as he grows up, is tattooed from the waist to the knees.[2]It is considered an indispensable token of manliness for the thighs to be completely covered with various figures of birds, animals, scrolls and letters. This tattooing would be too painful if done all at once. It is done little by little. Besides this universal method of tattooing, other styles are followed. Sometimes the chest is covered with cabalistic squares and symbols in vermilion, in connection with which many foolish superstitions are entertained. The Burmans have a great notion of some kinds of tattooing as special preservatives against wounds from bullets and sword cuts, and as a means of warding off the evils, and securing the advantages, of life. There was a great deal of this in the troublous times through which we passed after the annexation, and until the country settled down. Many of the dacoit leaders made use of this method to increase the confidence of their followers, by making them invulnerable; but nota few who put their trust in this defence found themselves mistaken.

Then there are talismans specially used by Burman dacoits, consisting of charmed or consecrated objects, inserted under their skin, and embedded permanently between the skin and the flesh. Many famed dacoits have long rows of them on their chests.

It is a sign of the ability of this people to take up new ideas, that the Burman tattooers have lately taken to pushing business amongst the English soldiers, who, as a class, are very fond of being decorated in this way. For this purpose these artists have had the tact to leave the patterns fashionable amongst their own countrymen, and have taken to imitating English pictures, devices and emblems. Many a “time-expired” soldier who has served in Burma, now in England, is able to show these decorations (?) on his arms and chest in more than one colour.

The Burmans are a nation of smokers. The children begin at a very tender age, and are not checked. Men, women and children smoke; the most dignified of matrons and the smartest of young damsels not only smoke, but prefer to have their portraits taken cheroot in hand. The Burman can never bring himself to look upon his cigar as out of place, even in the most august presence; it seems a part of himself. If he should drop in to a Christian service he will light up, if you will allow him, as he sits to hear the address.

The staple food of the Burmans is boiled rice, and curry made of vegetables stewed, with the addition of condiments, and meat or fish, if they can get it. Though they are very scrupulous themselves about taking any animal life, they are not at all averse to animal food. Did not the Buddha eat flesh? His last illness is said to have been caused, in extreme age, by a meal of pork, which disagreed with him. The Burmans are coarse feeders. They will readily eat that which has died of itself. We had direct evidence of that one day, when two of us were travelling, and arrived in the evening at a village. A military convoy of elephants, mules and ponies carrying stores, had that day passed through the village, and one of the ponies had died there,and was lying by the roadside. Next day we met the people carrying portions of the flesh, and on inquiry, they told us it was that same pony, and that they were going to eat it. On our return the whole of it was cleared away. Even snakes and lizards do not come amiss to them.

“THE MOST DIGNIFIED OF MATRONS AND THE SMARTEST OF YOUNG DAMSELS NOT ONLY SMOKE, BUT PREFER TO HAVE THEIR PORTRAITS TAKEN CHEROOT IN HAND.”

They are exceedingly fond of a condiment of fish paste calledngapee. This is fish dried a little in the sun, salted, and then mashed to a pulp. As the fish forngapeeis not properly cured, the effluvium emitted from it is particularly obnoxious, and can be detected a very long way off. The smell might be described as strong, pungent, high; but none of these adjectives serves properly to characterise it. Having never ventured to eat any I cannot describe the taste. Yet this fish paste is so liked by the Burmans that a meal is hardly complete without it. It gives the food a relish.

The Burmans clothe themselves in very bright colours, and in good taste as regards the harmony of the colours. A good deal of what they wear, both silk and cotton cloth, is locally manufactured. The weavers and dyers have some exquisite shades of pink, of red, of primrose, of navy blue, and other colours. They spend more on dress than the natives of India, and less on jewellery. Many of the people wear silk. The women dress their fine, luxuriant jet-black hair very tastefully. It is combed up from all sides very neatly, and made into a coil on the crown of the head. They wear no headdress but a bunch or wreath of flowers. That the Burmans cannot be considered an uncivilised race is clear from the perfect familiarity of their ladies with the mystery of the chignon, and with the manufacture and use of cosmetics for the improvement of the complexion, to say nothing of scents and artificial flowers, also locally made.

The Burmans have some taste, too, in music. They have a fair ear, pick up English tunes without difficulty, and sing them sweetly. Their musical instruments are primitive, and not very elaborate. They have a kind of pipe or clarionet, also a kind of trumpet; but they are greatest in drums. A performer on the drums will have around him in a circle something like a dozen, of different sizes, and varying in pitch, so that he canalmost play a tune on them. For private instrumental solos they have a kind of dulcimer, made of strips of bamboo, which is wonderfully musical and rich in tone, especially considering the material it is made from. It seems strange that the Karens should so excel their neighbours, the other races of Burma, in the capacity for music, especially when we consider that civilisation came to the Karens so late. The relative aptitude for music amongst the different races of the earth, from all one can learn, seems to hinge on something other than the mere extent of the civilisation attained. What does it depend upon?

The Burman artists paint a good many pictures, judging by the great numbers offered for sale and hawked round. The pictures are mostly palace scenes, with kings and queens seated stiffly in state, receiving company, with courtiers standing round, and soldiers posted here and there. Latterly, Thomas Atkins, of the British Infantry, has been the approved type of the soldiery; perhaps with a view to a better sale for the pictures. The artists are adventurous, and willing to attempt anything, and they do not spare the colours, but the pictures are very stiff and the perspective is bad.

The frescoes at the Arakan pagoda in Mandalay, representing the eight hells of Buddhism, are for many reasons a curious study. Those pictures are more of a success from the standpoint of dogmatic theology than from that of high art. The scenes depicted are realistic and definite beyond any manner of doubt. The artist, one would think, had made up his mind to be very “faithful” with us, and to shrink not from depicting what he considered the truth on the subject. Human beings are there seen writhing in torturing fire, fixed on thorns, torn by dogs, dragged by black monsters in human form, thrown by them into torments with pitchforks, or starving by inches, with every bone in their bodies showing, and with faces of unutterable woe. One wretch is represented attempting to climb a tree, his brains being picked out by a bird from above, and his feet being torn off by dogs from beneath; another is seated on the ground, while two men are sawing him in halves, right through the head downwards, the blood all the while flowing in gallons! In one instance, the head,having been entirely severed from the body, is looking on in consternation at the rest of the body being chopped up.

In the matter of sculpture, the numerous marble images of Gautama (Buddha) show considerable ability in execution, especially in the faces, which show regularity of features and true likeness to the human face, as well as the correct expression of calm meditation appropriate to the Buddha; but there is much room for improvement in the general design, and for accuracy and variety in the various details. But we must remember that the sculptor of a Gautama is bound down by conventional canons of taste as to the postures, and as to the expression of the face, which he may not depart from.

In wood-carving, where there is scope for taste and fancy, we get from the Burman really wonderful results. There is nothing in which they excel more than in this, whether it be in the way of small delicate work in picture frames, brackets, and other articles of small and beautiful workmanship, or in the numerous elaborate adornments of the monastery buildings. Many of the more noted monasteries are quite a study of sumptuous carving in teak wood, the whole building in many cases being one mass of scrolls and decorations, with many well-executed figures of men, cattle, horses and supernatural creatures. In the case of some monasteries whole histories are depicted in the carvings.

Marriage amongst the Burmans is not a very close bond. It is a civil institution, and altogether non-religious, and divorce for trifling causes is common and easy. I know a well-to-do couple who had been married for some years, and lived happily; but at length a difference of opinion unfortunately arose between them, and a quarrel ensued about a mere trifle, affecting the expenditure of a sum not more than a shilling, and after the quarrel they calmly agreed to separate, on the ground of incompatibility of dispositions. Many a man has had several wives, one after another, and parted with them successively. In case of the dissolution of a marriage, the woman retains whatever property she possessed before marriage, together with what she may have gained by her own separate exertions, or inherited.

Polygamy is sanctioned by usage, but is not very common, as itis costly; concubinage is by no means uncommon. The wealthy, such as ministers of state and men in high position, usually kept more than one wife. The king was the worst offender in this respect, for he set a very bad example. King Mindohn, the last king but one, had fifty-three recognised wives, of whom thirty-seven survived him, besides numerous concubines; and he had one hundred and ten children, of whom fifty survived him. He himself, however, in conversation with the English envoy, deplored this bad custom, as productive of much intrigue, revolution and bloodshed in the palace. There was sad confirmation of this after his death, in the two fearful massacres during the reign of King Theebaw, that cut off nearly all the surviving members of the royal family, besides many other innocent persons.

One very peculiar and unseemly custom was for the reigning monarch to espouse, as his principal queen, one of the royal princesses, who was therefore his half-sister. It is undoubtedly a blessing for Burma that such a rule, so hopelessly corrupt and demoralising to the nation, so incompetent to keep order, and so determinedly Oriental, conservative and out of date, has become a thing of the past.

The position of woman in Burma, notwithstanding the blemishes on their social system, is not nearly so down-trodden and degraded as in most Eastern countries. This undoubtedly arises from the fact that there are no zenanas among the Burmans, no keeping of women shut up. They are as free to come and go, and take part in the business of life, as women are in England, and they avail themselves of their liberty, and take a very considerable share in the business that is done. In money matters in the family they have always enjoyed an equality with the other sex, which was only of late years accorded to women in England; that is, the power to retain in their own right for themselves and their heirs the property they possessed before, or gained after, marriage. As the women, as a general rule in Burma, are far more industrious than the men, and quite as shrewd and business-like, this tends towards maintaining a healthy sense of equality with the other sex. If a man has a managing wife who can run a stall in the market, or greatly assist in supporting the family by keeping a shop athome, as is very often the case, the husband will think twice before he leaves her, or provokes her to leave him. The wife and mother sits by, and gives her opinion on things in general, in the family conclave, and hen-pecked husbands are not unknown in Burma.

“MANY OF THE MORE NOTED MONASTERIES ARE QUITE A STUDY OF SUMPTUOUS CARVING IN TEAK WOOD.”

The Burmans are very fond of games. They have an excellent game of football which they very often play, but it is a very different thing from the rough game known in England by that name. English football is too violent an exercise for that climate. It is more on the principle of shuttlecock. Six or eight young men stand around in a circle, with their garments tucked up so as not to impede their movements. A light, hollow wickerwork ball is started by one of them, and the object of the game is to keep it going as long as possible. They must not touch the ball with the hand, but they show great skill and activity in catching it with the foot, either side of the ankle, the heel, the toe, the knee, the shoulder. It is a clever stroke to leap up two or three feet into the air, and meet and kick the ball with the heel, as it is descending; one still more difficult is to leap up, catch the ball between the feet, and jerk it up again into the air before reaching the ground. Each player takes the ball when it is tossed over into his vicinity, and he may keep it going any number of times, before kicking it off across to the other side of the circle. Few games are better calculated to exercise the limbs and render the young men strong on their feet than this.

Boat-racing is another very favourite national amusement. In the racing boats are many rowers, with short paddles, and the races are scenes of wild excitement, both on the part of the competitors and spectators. There is a good deal of betting in connection with these races. The gambling spirit easily takes hold of the Burmans. All games of chance have a great fascination with this excitable, volatile people, and they fall an easy prey to the low, cunning Chinaman, who makes it his business to introduce gambling into the village, and to profit by it.

The Burmans are also exceedingly fond of the drama. For every conceivable event that can by any ingenuity be made a special occasion, there must be what is called apwè. I haveknown apwèin honour of a birth, and I have known one given to celebrate a death—the execution of a noted dacoit leader, who had been a great curse to the neighbourhood, and had long defied justice—and for almost any occasion occupying an intermediate position between the two, one of these dramatic performances would not be out of place. There are no permanent buildings used as theatres. The performance takes place in the open street. The temporary erection used as the stage is constructed of the useful and indispensable bamboo. It is set up in the street, and extends frequently halfway across it. The rest of the thoroughfare is blocked up with the couches the spectators bring from their homes to sit upon; and traffic is almost suspended in that direction for the time being. All this preparation takes place during the day. The play begins after dark, and goes on until towards sunrise. Temporary stalls for the sale of food are set up at the edge of the crowd, and the people by hundreds make a night of it. The dramas are founded on tales which Gautama (Buddha) told of his five hundred and ten previous existences, or on events in the lives of kings and heroes. The dialogue is chiefly recitative, interspersed with solos, choruses and dancing. Instrumental music accompanies the singing. There is always the clown or jester on these occasions, who has his turn in the course of the performance, and roars of laughter greet the broad jokes he furnishes. The whole performance is free. The custom is for some person to hire the players, and bear the expense of the entertainment, inviting his friends, and throwing it open to all. Pickled tea is handed round among the guests on these occasions as a kind of dessert, mixed with salt, garlic, assafœtida and a few grains of millet seed. It has an anti-soporific effect, and so serves to keep them awake, to listen to the drama.

The Burman is a firm believer in amusement, in relaxation, in holidays. He sees no good in a too strenuous and incessant application to the serious business of life. He likes to take life easily, and to see plenty of change. Even his religious duties usually blend amusement with the seeking after merit. The numerous festivals and religious observances serve for frequent holidays, and whatever he may fancy in the way of diversion. TheBurman is indolent, casual, unstable and uncertain, and not to be depended upon. He does not readily conform to discipline or restraint, and it is found very difficult to make a soldier or a policeman of him. It is difficult to get him into a routine of any kind. He makes a very indifferent servant. In Burma the British Government cannot depend upon Burmans in the constitution of the police force, but finds it necessary to man the greater part of the police ranks with natives of India, enlisted chiefly from among the fighting races of the Punjab.

In mitigation of the indictment against the Burman that he is loose, careless and lazy, it is urged that he is fettered by the multiplicity of lucky and unlucky days, and various astrological difficulties, which we do not appreciate. But when every allowance is made for these things, it must be found a true bill against him. Thisisone of the weak points in his character.

Even in school life this feature of the national character abundantly manifests itself. The boys, instead of keeping to one school, are fond of attending school after school, changing from one to another, until they have gone the round of all within their reach, when they will start to go the round again. One might almost suppose they thought there was a school where they could learn by magic, and that they were in search of that school. Such a crying evil has this become in Burma, that stringent rules have had to be framed by the Department of Public Instruction to check this incessant migration.

If the Burman has the faults of a careless, happy-go-lucky race, he has the virtues also. He has been called the Irishman of the East. His manners have the ease and the polish of a “gentleman born.” He is most affable and approachable, and in religion tolerant of the opinions of others. He is hospitable, and will help the destitute stranger without making too many inquiries. I met one day in Mandalay an English sailor, who had made his way up from Rangoon with another man. They had done the last two hundred miles on foot. They were both quite destitute, and yet they had travelled all that distance, for the most part of it far from any Englishman, and that, too, when the country was in a most disturbed state on account of dacoits,and without knowing a word of Burmese. They had simply passed on from village to village, their wants being supplied by the Burmans where they halted. That this should have been possible speaks well for the kind-hearted hospitality of the Burmans.

If it is one of the marks of a gentleman to be able in an easy and natural manner to place himself on a level with you, the Burman has this in a high degree. The native of India makes a twofold mistake here. His outlandish notions of etiquette lead him to cringe and crouch before the European, to an extent which is sometimes offensive, whilst at the same time his caste leads him in his heart of hearts to hold himself immeasurably above him. The Burman makes neither of these mistakes. With fine tact he steers a medium course, and ranges himself alongside.

The first Burmese servant I had, a typical Burman, was a fine illustration of this capacity of the race to “make themselves at home” with the foreigner. He did me the honour to take a fancy to my tooth brush. I was not aware of it. He did not purloin it, he only made use of it. The way it came to light was the discovery of him one day, standing before the looking-glass, in the act of using the implement in the orthodox manner. How long the two of us had been using the tooth brush conjointly I cannot say, for I never cared to inquire. I preferred to think it was only that once! He had it to himself ever after.

A story is told that aptly illustrates that buoyancy of temperament which constitutes one feature of the Burmese easy-going character. Some years ago a fire occurred in Mandalay—no uncommon thing. Amongst the bamboo houses it spread with terrible swiftness, until a large number were destroyed. Yet the very next evening they were observed to have rigged up a rude stage among the charred stumps of their house posts, and they spent the night in witnessing one of their dramatic performances, and laughing heartily as usual at the jests of the clown. Few people would have had the heart to go through with thatpwèunder the circumstances.

With a rich country, a sparse population, and a warm climate,the conditions of life are easy. The Burman has no struggle to get a living. Riches have little attraction for him. He has no desire to hoard. What he has to spare he spends, either in building a monastery, or a pagoda, or on some humbler work of merit which shall secure him an advantage in the next birth.

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