THE SHANS OF THE BURMA BORDER
We saw many Shans at the Nam-ting River, for not only was there
a village half a mile beyond our camp, but natives were passing
continually along the trail on their way to and from the Burma
frontier. The village was named Nam-ka. Its chief was absent when we
arrived, but the natives were cordial and agreed to hunt with us; when
the head man returned, however, he was most unfriendly. He forbade the
villagers from coming to our camp and arguments were of no avail. It
soon became evident that only force could change his attitude, and one
morning, with all our servants and _mafus_, we visited his house. He
was informed that unless he ceased his opposition and ordered his men
to assist us in hunting we would take him to Meng-ting for trial before
the mandarin. He grudgingly complied and we had no further trouble.
We found the Shans at Nam-ka to be simple and honest people but
abnormally lazy. During our three weeks' stay not a single trap was
stolen, although the natives prized them highly, and often brought to
us those in which animals had been caught. Shans were continually about
our camp where boxes were left unlocked, but not an article of our
equipment was missed.
[Illustration: A Shan Girl]
[Illustration: A Shan Boy]
The Nam-ka Shans elevated their houses on six-foot poles and built an
open porch in front of the door, while the dwellings at Meng-ting and
farther up the valley were all placed upon the ground. The thatched
roofs overhung several feet and the sides of the houses were open so
that the free passage of air kept them delightfully cool. Moreover,
they were surprisingly clean, for the floors were of split bamboo, and
the inmates, if they wore sandals, left them at the door. In the center
of the single room, on a large flat stone, a small fire always burned,
but much of the cooking was done on the porch where a tiny pavilion had
been erected over the hearth.
The Shans at Nam-ka had "no visible means of support." The extensive
rice paddys indicated that in the past there had been considerable
cultivation but the fields were weed-grown and abandoned. The villagers
purchased all their vegetables from the Mohammedan hunter and two other
Chinese who lived a mile up the trail, or from passing caravans whom
they sometimes entertained. In all probability they lived upon the sale
of smuggled opium for they were only a few miles from the Burma border.
Virtually every Shan we saw in the south was heavily tattooed. Usually
the right leg alone, but sometimes both, were completely covered
from the hip to the knee with intricate designs in black or red. The
ornamentations often extended entirely around the body over the abdomen
and waist, but less frequently on the breast and arms.
All the natives were inordinately proud of these decorations and
usually fastened their wide trousers in such a way as to display them
to the best advantage. We often could persuade a man to pose before the
camera by admiring his tattoo marks and it was most amusing to watch
his childlike pleasure.
The Shan tribe is a large one with many subdivisions, and it is
probable that at one time it inhabited a large part of China south
of the Yangtze River; indeed, there is reason to believe that
the Cantonese Chinamen are chiefly of Shan stock, and the facial
resemblance between the two races certainly is remarkable.
Although the Shans formerly ruled a vast territory in Yün-nan before
its conquest by the Mongol emperors of China in the thirteenth century
A. D., and at one time actually subdued Burma and established a
dynasty of their own, at present the only independent kingdom of the
race is that of Siam. By far the greatest number of Shans live in
semi-independent states tributary to Burma, China, and Siam, and in
Yün-nan inhabit almost all of the southern valleys below an altitude of
4,000 feet.
The reason that the Chinese allow them to hold such an extent of
fertile land is because the low plains are considered unhealthy and the
Chinese cannot, or will not, live there. Whether or not the malarial
fever of the valleys is so exceedingly deadly remains to be proved, but
the Chinese believe it to be so and the result is the same. Where the
Shans are numerous enough to have a chief of their own they live in a
semi-independent state, for although their head man is subordinate to
the district Chinese official, the latter seldom interferes with the
internal affairs of the tribe.
The Shans are a short, strongly-built race with a distinct Mongolian
type of features and rather fair complexions. Their dress varies
decidedly with the region, but the men of the southern part of the
province on the Nam-ting River wear a pair of enormous trousers, so
baggy that they are almost skirtlike, a white jacket, and a large
white or pink turban surmounted by a huge straw hat. The women dress in
a white jacket and skirt of either striped or dark blue cloth; their
turbans are of similar material and may be worn in a high cylinder, a
low oval, or many other shapes according to the particular part of the
province in which they live.