Mention is made, in the text of this volume,[708] of the fact that
the primitive rite of blood-covenanting is in practice all along the
Chinese border of the Burman Empire. In illustration of this truth, the
following description of the rite and its linkings, is given by the
Rev. R. M. Luther, of Philadelphia, formerly a missionary among the
Karens, in Burmah. This interesting sketch was received, in its present
form, at too late a date for insertion in its place in the text; hence
its appearance here.
“The blood-covenant is well known, and commonly practised among the
Karens of Burmah. There are three methods of making brotherhood, or
truce, between members of one tribe and those of another.
“The first is the common method of eating together. This, however, is
of but little binding force, being a mere agreement to refrain from
hostilities for a limited time, and the truce thus made is liable to be
broken at the briefest notice.
“The second method is that of planting a tree. The parties to this
covenant select a young and vigorous sapling, plant it with certain
ceremonies, and covenant with each other to keep peace so long as the
tree lives. A covenant thus made is regarded as of greater force than
that effected or sealed by the first method.
“The third method is that of the blood-covenant, properly so-called.
In this covenant the chief stands as the representative of the tribe,
if it be a tribal agreement; or, the father as the representative
of the family, if it be a more limited covenant. The ceremonies are
public and solemn. The most important act is, of course, the mingling
of the blood. Blood is drawn from the thigh of each of the covenanting
parties, and mingled together. Then each dips his finger into the blood
and applies it to his lips. In some cases, it is said that the blood
is actually drunk; but the more common method is that of touching the
lips with the blood-stained finger.[709]
“This covenant is of the utmost force. It covers not merely an
agreement of peace, or truce, but also a promise of mutual assistance
in peace and in war. It also conveys to the covenanting parties mutual
tribal rites. If they are chiefs, the covenant embraces their entire
tribes. If one is a private individual, his immediate family and direct
descendants are included in the agreement.
“I never heard of the blood-covenant being broken. I do not remember
to have inquired particularly on this point, because the way in which
the blood-covenant was spoken of, always implied that its rupture was
an unheard-of thing. It is regarded as a perfectly valid excuse for any
amount of reckless devotion, or of unreasoning sacrifice on behalf of
another, for a Karen to say: ‘_Thui p’aw th’coh li_;’ literally, ‘The
blood,--we have drunk it together.’ An appeal for help on the basis of
the blood-covenant is never disregarded.
“A few of our missionaries have entered into the blood-covenant with
Karen tribes; though most have been deterred, either from never having
visited the ‘debatable land’ where the strong arm of British rule does
not reach, or else, as in most instances, from a repugnance to the
act by which the covenant is sealed. In one instance, at least, where
a missionary did enter into covenant with one of these tribes, the
agreement has been interpreted as covering not only his children, but
one who was so happy as to marry his daughter. In an enforced absence
of fifteen years from the scene of his early missionary labors nothing
has been at once so touching and so painful to the writer, as the
frequent messages and letters asking ‘When will you come back to _your
people_?’ Yet, mine is only the inherited right above mentioned.
“The blood-covenant gives even a foreigner every right which he would
have, if born a member of the tribe. As an instance, the writer once
shot a hawk in a Karen village, just as it was swooping down upon
a chicken. He was surprised to find, an half-hour afterward, that
his personal attendant, a straightforward Mountain Karen, had gone
through the village and ‘collected’ a fat hen from each house. When
remonstrated with, the mountaineer replied, ‘Why, Teacher, it is your
right,--that is our custom,--you are one of us. These people wouldn’t
understand it if I did not ask for a chicken from each house, when you
killed the hawk.’
“In the wilder Karen regions, it is almost impossible to travel unless
one is in blood-covenant with the chiefs, while on the other hand one
is perfectly safe, if in that covenant. The disregard of this fact has
cost valuable lives. When a stranger enters Karen territory, the chiefs
order the paths closed. This is done by tying the long elephant grass
across the paths. On reaching such a signal, the usual inquiry in the
traveling party is, ‘Who is in blood-covenant with this tribe?’ If
one is found, even among the lowest servants, his covenant covers the
party, on the way, as far as to the principal village or hill fortress.
The party goes into camp, and sends this man on as an ambassador.
Usually, guides are sent back to conduct the party at once to the
chief’s house. If no one is in covenant with the tribe, and the wisp of
grass is broken and the party passes on, the lives of the trespassers
are forfeited. A sudden attack in some defile, or a night surprise,
scatters the party and drives the survivors back the way they came.
It is said by the Karens that Mr. Cooper, the famous English explorer
of China and Thibet, was killed ‘because he had broken the grass.’ A
day’s delay for the blood-covenant would have saved his life, and given
him time to complete his most important labors. The men who killed him
would have been his devoted body-guard, ready and willing to give their
lives in defence of his. If the Karen account of his death is true, it
is most unfortunate that he entered the Karen country from China (where
the blood-covenant does not now prevail), and so was ignorant of the
fact that by so slight a concession to Karen custom he could obtain a
guarantee of safe conduct for at least a thousand miles.”
Another account of the blood-covenant rite in Burmah is kindly
furnished to me, by the Rev. Dr. M. H. Bixby, of Providence, Rhode
Island; who was also for some years a missionary among the Karens. He
says:
“In my first journey over the mountains of Burmah, into Shanland,
toward Western China, I passed through several tribes of wild Karens
among whom the practice of ‘covenanting by blood’ prevailed.
“‘If you mean what you say,’ said the old chief of the Gecho tribe to
me, referring to my professions of friendship, ‘You will drink truth
with me.’ ‘Well, what is drinking truth?’ I said. In reply, he said:
‘This is our custom. Each chief pierces his arm--draws blood--mingles
it in a vessel with whisky, and drinks of it; both promising to be true
and faithful to each other, down to the seventh generation.’
“After the chiefs had drunk of the mingled blood and whisky, each one
of their followers drunk of it also, and were thereby included in the
covenant of friendship.
“A company of Shans laid a plot to kill me and my company in Shanland,
for the purpose of plunder. They entered into covenant with each other
by drinking the blood of their leader mingled with whisky, or a kind of
beer made from rice.
“Those wild mountain tribes have strange traditions which indicate that
they once had the Old Testament Scriptures, although now they have no
written language. Some of the Karen tribes have a written language,
given them by the missionaries.
“The covenant, also, exists in modified forms, in which the blood is
omitted.”