Kong Posh: Burmese Women

Burmese Women

Sham S.Misri

In theory, Burmese Buddhism is purest form of religion, unchanged since it was brought to Burma by Asoka’s missionaries, and it is possible that some of the more learned monks follow “the way” indicated by Gawdama; but as a rule, the Buddhism of Burman is so lost in flood of superstition that it is rarely found on the surface. The Burmese have, however, learnt from their religion the virtues of tolerance, charitableness, kind-heartedness, and hospitality to a degree beyond most other races. Even the casual visitor to their country is impressed with their romantic character and envies their happy disposition.

As in other Buddhist countries marriage in Burma is purely secular affair. The parties agree to become man and wife and that is quite sufficient. If there is any ceremony at all, the most important observance is the eating out of the same dish, just as the Japanese drink out of the same sake cup. The wife retains her maiden name and her separate property. Divorce is equally simple and free. In the villages an application to the elders by either party procures a divorce attested in writing: the party claiming the divorce leaving the common home. Each retains the property he or she had before the marriage and half of what has been accumulated during the time they have been husband and wife. In any event, the wife takes the female children and the husband the male children. There seems to be no law against plurality of wives nor any stigma attached to having two or three wives under the same roof. In these customs the Burmese and Japanese agree, and in Burma as in Japan the family life of the peasants is open to the observation of any traveller.

Burmese women have many attractions. They are passionate and affectionate. They are cheerful, bright, clever in their own affairs and n business, sharp in making bargain, excellent house keepers, and generally faithful wives. They are seldom public prostitutes, but a girl may be brought from her parents. The negotiations are usually conducted with the mother, who is keener at driving a good bargain; and when the contact is made the girl is kept as a concubine, and does not lose caste by assenting to such an arrangement. During her concubinage she is treated as, and usually called, a “wife,” and she frequently brings her mother and the children of previous “marriages” to live at the house of her new “husband.”

The costume of Burmese woman ordinarily consists of two pieces; the engyi and lungyi. The former is a loose double breasted jacket with mandarins sleeves and falls over the lungyi, which, whenever the wearer can afford it, is of thin silk and is simply a square of about five feet with ends usually sewn together so that it is put on like a petticoat and folded in over the right hip. Women usually go barefooted, but sometimes wear clogs resembling the Japanese geta, or ornamental slippers with a pointed toe-cap which holds all but the little toe. Decorated with a certain amount of jewellery, with a scarf around her neck, a wreath of flowers in her well brushed hair, and a bunch of “Christmas orchids” falling over her right ear, the Burmese girl makes rather an effective picture; but you must be careful not to annoy her by aiming your camera at her, as she has an idea that with it you may be able to see through her clothes, a liberty which as modest and moral girl she can’t allow. The older women generally wear one or two switches or tails of false hair, and rub the face and neck over with white powder when making their toilet.

Source:[The Romantic East, Burma, Assam and Kashmir-Walter Del Mar ]