BURMA, THE BEAUTIFUL
In order to appreciate the wide extent of the British Empire in the
East, one needs to travel over the main lines of India and then steam
a thousand miles across the Bay of Bengal to Burma. Landing at
Rangoon, which is the doorway of the land, he reembarks upon one of
the sumptuous Irrawady River boats and steams northward another
thousand miles into the very heart of the country. Thus without
leaving the eastern empire one can spend weeks of most interesting
travel, and pass through territories inhabited by peoples of separate
racial types and of totally different tongues. Perhaps no other region
of the world can furnish such a variety of climes and such marked
contrasts of national habits and costumes. And yet, all this vast
territory has been brought into subjection to the British crown and
furnishes facilities and conveniences of travel which are really
marvellous in the East. Burma is politically and industrially a part
of India.
It is a rich country, with four magnificent rivers reaching nearly its
whole length, furnishing abundant facilities for cheap travel and
commerce, and carrying fertility into all sections of the land.
It is the land of rice, of teak, and of oil. These are the triple
sources of Burmese industry, commerce, and wealth. Never was a land
richer than this in alluvial soil, in refreshing rains, and in
bountiful rivers. It is one great expanse of living, paddy green. The
teak timber furnished by the mighty forests of this land is carried to
many lands. The extent of this trade may be imagined from the
statement that the Bombay-Burma Trading Company in Burma employs three
thousand elephants for hauling its timber to the river. Every two
elephants are under the care of three men; so that there are
forty-five hundred men in charge of these animals alone.
Burma is called the "Land of Pagodas." The first object which attracts
the eye soon after the ship enters the river, and while still twenty
miles from the harbour, is the far-famed pagoda of Schwey Dagon, in
Rangoon. Buddhism is preeminently the faith of Burma. All the people
have been for many centuries its adherents. And the pagoda is the
outward emblem of that faith. What the church is to Christianity, and
the temple is to Hinduism, the pagoda (sometimes called "dagoba") is
to Buddhism. It is the farthest removed from the Christian conception
of a place of worship. In Christianity, large edifices are erected
where the multitude can meet to unite in public worship. In Hinduism,
a temple is largely the abode of the idol, which is the outward emblem
of their god. In it there is no place for public worship or for an
assembled audience. In Buddhism, there is not even a god to worship,
so that there is no interior to the pagoda. It is like the pyramid of
Egypt, one massive solid structure, but of an elongated bell shape.
The highest part of it, corresponding to the handle of the bell, is
called "hti," and is usually covered with precious metal. It is a
reliquary rather than a place of worship; and every pagoda of note is
supposed to be the receptacle of a few hairs or bones of the Buddha!
Indeed, if one believe the members of that faith, the anatomy of that
great man was marvellous and is still very promiscuously distributed
through various lands of the East!
[Illustration: SCHWEY DAGON PAGODA, RANGOON]
The Schwey Dagon pagoda is a very prominent object; for it is not only
three hundred and seventy feet high, but is also built on an
artificial mound which is a hundred and seventy feet in height. It is
elaborately decorated, and its "hti" is mostly of solid gold,
encrusted with precious stones presented to the pagoda by King Mindoon
Min. But while the pagoda itself impresses one with its massive
proportions, it is the exquisite group of numberless little shrines or
temples which surround the pagoda, every one of which holds one or
more large images of the great Buddha, that furnish the rich sense of
beauty and charm which prevail. These little shrines are either built
of marble or of richly carved teak, or of glass mosaic; and every one
tries to excel every other in its delicate charm. And upon nearly
every one of these shrines there are sweet little bells, which, as the
wind blows, seem to respond to spirit hands and ring forth their
gentle peals of sacred music to the great founder of the faith.
Here, also, is a massive bell of forty tons,--the third in size in the
world. It was once carried away by the British and lost in the Rangoon
River. But the people later received permission to search for it. They
found it, and with genuine pride and triumph raised it and restored it
to their pagoda.
It is one of the peculiar ironies of history that in this land of the
Buddha, who was the greatest iconoclast, and who not only abhorred
idolatry but also ignored deity, there should exist to-day numberless
images of him in every town and hamlet. These are of all sizes, from
the immense reclining Buddha of Pegu, which is a hundred and
eighty-two feet long, and is built of brick and mortar, down to the
tiniest figures carried on the persons of individuals. There is no
pagoda or shrine in Burma around which is not found a large number of
these images. They have not the hideous deformity of Hindu idolatry;
but present either the benign and complacent, or the calm and
contemplative, expression which cannot fail to impress itself upon the
national character of the people. And one may say, with confidence,
that in this matter the truth of the proverb is verified,--"Like god,
like people."
One may leave Rangoon in a comfortable train, and in about eighteen
hours reach the old capital of Upper Burma, the beautiful Mandalay,
which is nearly four hundred miles distant. The same journey may be
taken by the river Irrawady if one has more leisure and means; and he
may thus enjoy one of the most beautiful and sumptuous river journeys
in the world.
It was only twenty years ago that this part of the country was seized
by the British without bloodshed, and the foolish and dissolute King
Theebaw was made prisoner for his stupid insolence, and deported, with
his two wives, to India, where they are still spending their days in
retirement. Upper Burma has, however, put on new beauty and prosperity
since the British have taken it over; and the people are abundantly
satisfied with the new regime. Mandalay has also its famed Arrakan
pagoda, which claims to have the only contemporary likeness of Buddha
on earth. It is an immense brazen image; and it is the occupation of
the devout to gild the same with gold-leaf. At least a dozen men and
women can be seen thus constantly expressing their devotion. In a few
years there will be tons of gold thus pasted upon his sacred body! But
alas for the vandalism which lights up its shrine and the calm face of
Buddha by electricity!
Another famous pagoda of Mandalay is the so-called "Four Hundred and
Fifty Pagodas of the Law." This is a kind of Buddhist bible in stone.
It has four hundred and fifty small shrines, every one of which has a
large polished granite slab, upon which is engraved a precept of the
faith; and the whole make up a complete body of the law, which every
member of the faith may come and read at his leisure.
Here, as at all shrines, we notice the beautiful custom of these
Burmese people in practising their public devotion with bouquets of
flowers in their hands. It is touching to see this constant blending
of beauty with piety. The abundant use of the candle, also, in their
worship reminds us of the Romish ritual.
We are taken through the royal gardens and the deserted palaces of
Mandalay, which are constructed largely, as many of the houses of
Burma are, of exquisitely carved teak, rising here and there in
pointed spires, which are indeed beautiful, but which give the
impression of the so-called gingerbread style of architecture.
Upon one who has lived for many years in India there are two things in
Burma which make a deep and a very pleasing impression.
[Illustration: THEEBAW'S PALACE, MANDALAY]
In the first place, the charm of the Burmese woman is marked. She has
none of the cringing, retiring, self-conscious mien of the Hindu
women. She is possessed of liberty and of equality with man. Her
appearance in society is both modest and self-respecting. She is
conscious of her own beauty, and knows how to enhance it with
exquisite taste. She is a great lover of colours, as is the Hindu
woman. But the latter loves only the primitive and elementary colours;
the former, on the other hand, cultivates the delicate shades, and
adorns herself with silks of various tints, such as attract and
fascinate. It is for this reason that Burma is called "The Silken
East." Her dress is clumsy and uncouth in form, and, in this respect,
is incomparably inferior to the graceful cloth of India. But the woman
herself is lovely, and the taste which she displays in her personal
adornment is very attractive. It does not surprise one to know that
not a few Europeans marry these Burmese ladies of beauty. But above
her beauty is that pose of freedom and self-respect which commends her
everywhere. Nor is this assumed. The woman of Burma is "the man of the
family." In business, and in all forms of trade, she is far superior
to her lord, and much of the support and the honour of the family
depends upon her industry, cleverness, and independence. Certainly
Buddhism has produced, in many respects, a higher type of womanhood
than has Hinduism.
Another aspect of life in Burma is one that instantly captivates one
who goes there from India. It is a land free from the trammels of
caste. The trail of this serpent is upon all things in India. It
divides men at all points, and robs social life of much that is sweet
and beautiful in other lands. The great Gautama vehemently attacked
the Brahmanical caste system, and one is glad to see in Burma that
that faith has adhered to this primitive enmity. One rejoices to see
at the temples and on the public streets, everywhere, common eating
and drinking houses, where the people meet for refreshment and for
quiet social chat, without any thought of caste to disturb their
relationship and mar their convivial pleasures.
That which impresses the observant Christian visitor to that land is
the triumph and wonderful achievement of missionary effort there
during the last half century.
All know the works, the sufferings, and the results attained by that
great prophet of Burma, Adoniram Judson. He was a saint of the heroic
mould, and his influence will affect the history of that people for
centuries to come.
The American Baptist Mission overshadows, by its numbers and success,
all other bodies of missionaries in the land. And at the present time
their splendid force of workers is making a deep impress upon the
community.
But their success has been mostly achieved among a very peculiar
hill-tribe of that country,--the Karens. It was long after the
Baptists had begun work there that this low hill-tribe, of less than
two million people, was in the lowest depths of barbarism. Their
language was not reduced to writing, and consequently, they had no
literature whatever. But they had one interesting tradition. It had
come down to them, generation after generation, that their bible had
been lost, and that some day the Great Spirit would send a fair
brother from the West to restore unto them the message of God which
had disappeared. The "Fair Brother" came in the person of the American
missionary; and his message was received in the assured faith that it
was divinely sent and was the long-lost tradition of their tribe. From
that day forward, thousands of the Karen tribe have everywhere
accepted the Gospel of the Christ, until there are, at the present
time, connected with that mission alone, more than one hundred and
fifty thousand Karen converts.
And this is by no means all of the wonderful story of the regeneration
of this barbarous tribe. Either by a very wise missionary
statesmanship, or by a rare inspiration, such as we do not see
elsewhere in the East, these people have almost entirely assumed the
financial burdens of their own religious training and institutions,
and are always quick, even beyond their means, to respond to every
Gospel claim upon their purse. The story of their offerings, in view
of their extreme poverty, is marvellous in its self-denial and
outgoing generosity. The writer spent a few days at the missionary
centre in the outskirts of Rangoon. Upon that compound there was a
memorial church that had cost $30,000, of which the Karen Christians
had given all, save a grant made by government for a few adjoining
class-rooms. Three bungalows and other buildings of value are also
found there, and the whole property is owned, not by the mission, but
by the Karens themselves. Ten miles away from this is the largest
theological seminary in the East, with more than one hundred and forty
students under training. For the maintenance of this, again, those
poor Karen Christians gladly impose upon themselves a family tax, and
have the sweet consciousness that their youth are being trained for
Christian service through their own self-denying endeavour.
These people were in social scale so low that they had practically no
music of their own. They have therefore readily taken to western
music. And it is astonishing to hear how well they sing our western
tunes, and even render solos and quartettes at public European
functions in a way that calls forth hearty encores. It is verily the
birth of a nation in a day. So that in this land of many wonders the
movement among the Karen people seems to be the most wonderful of all.
Among the Karens, Ko San Ye stands forth as a unique figure of intense
interest. He has been called the "Moody" of Burma. He is absolutely
illiterate. When about thirty years old, he lost his wife and his only
child; and finding no comfort in his ancestral demonolatry, he turned
to Buddhism for relief and retired to a mountain retreat and became
known and esteemed among his people as a devout ascetic and a holy
man. With the offerings of his people he built two pagodas and a
monastery. But his soul found no rest there. In 1890, he was baptized
as a Christian, with one hundred and forty of his followers. He then
obtained a grant of twenty thousand acres of waste land from
government, and established a village which now numbers several
hundred houses. His influence over his own people is amazing, and is
the result of superstitious reverence and awe.
He regretted that his ignorance prevented him from preaching the
Gospel; but he thought that his influence over the people should be
rightly used in the Lord's service. So he devoted himself to the
collection of funds for religious purposes among his people. And in
this work he has had almost fatal success, for his fellow-Christian
Karens have responded to his appeals for money to the extent of at
least $130,000. In view of the exceeding poverty of the people, this
sum seems almost fabulous. Mr. Ko San Ye is known by all to be
perfectly disinterested in the use of the money intrusted to him. Not
a cent sticks to his hands; and he reverently and truthfully speaks of
it as the "Lord's money." But his judgment is not commensurate with
his piety. Even the most friendly cannot say that he has wisely
administered this sacred trust of his poor brethren. He has erected
churches, schools, and rest-houses which are altogether too sumptuous
for the people. He spent thousands in the purchase of a fine
steam-launch for the convenience of his people on the river side. He
then purchased a rice-mill which brings a fair income to the mission.
He has added to these two fine and expensive automobiles, in the
smaller of which the writer had, for him, the unique pleasure of a
delightful spin through the city of Rangoon and its suburbs, under the
guidance of a Karen chauffeur! It was his first automobile ride; and
to think of it as being enjoyed in a vehicle bought by poor Christians
of Burma! Strange to say, the people continue to repose implicit
confidence in him, even to the extent of mortgaging their property, in
order to add to this public fund. It is to be hoped that this good man
may soon submit more to missionary guidance.
Ko San Ye is but an interesting episode in the wonderful progress of a
nation from the depth of barbarism to Christian privilege and
civilized life. The missionaries often dare not have him present
during the baptism of new converts, lest they should think that they
were baptized in the name of Ko San Ye rather than in the name of
Christ! And yet it is said that the two leading characteristics of
this strange man are his humility and his unselfishness!
The Karens, with all their lowliness and barbarous antecedents, are
excellent material to work upon, and are responding with wonderful
eagerness to the missionary endeavour made in their behalf, and are
already, in many noble qualities, revealing to the native Christians
of the East the way of ascent to nobility of character and to the
highest Christian possession.