Myanmar  

Many centuries ago the first people migrated from China to Myanmar. The Mon settled in Lower Myanmar in the fertile lowlands of the Ayeyarwady River delta. According to official history the Mon capital occupied the area around Thaton in present-day Myanmar. In the third century BC they came into contact with buddhism during the reign of the Indian emperor Ashoka. Many scholars think that Mon merchants introduced buddhism even before this period by bringing back religious objects and relics from their journey to India. 

In the first century BC other people coming from Tibet started to settle in Upper Myanmar. The Pyu settled in the area of the Ayeyarwady River. Their capital was Sri Ksetra. The Pyu had trade relations with neighbouring states and countries. They practised buddhism mixed with hinduism coming from India. When the river silted up in the eighth century AD they moved their capital north to Halin near the trade road from India to China. The Pyu were dispersed or enslaved by Thai invaders from Yunnan who destroyed their capital in the ninth century AD. 

The fall of the Pyu empire caused a power vacuum in Upper Myanmar. The Bamar or Burmans used it to their advantage. In the course of centuries the Chinese forced them to move from northwestern China into a southern direction. They migrated from southern China to the fertile plain along the middle course of the Ayeyarwady River. They came into conflict with the Mon who had built an extensive irrigation system in the area and engaged on improved agricultural techniques. In the ninth century AD the Bamar founded their own empire around the capital Bagan. The empire entered its golden period some two hundred years later.

In the middle of the eleventh century king Anawratha ascended the throne. This was the beginning of the First Burmese Kingdom. He consolidated the kingdom by drawing several regions around it into vassal status and creating the first centralised government. He conquered the Mon empire of Thaton and kidnapped the holy canon of Theravada Buddhism called the Tripitaka. In this period Bagan was embellished with many temples and pagodas. At the beginning of the twelfth century the empire reached the peak of  its golden period during the reign of king Kyanzittha. Later kings ordered the construction of large sanctuaries as well. But the building activities exhausted the royal treasury.  During the reign of king Narathihapati in the middle of the thirteenth century the empire was in decline. A quarter of a century later the Tartars invaded Bagan and the First Burmese Kingdom collapsed.

The decline of Bagan started a period of chaos which lasted for almost two and a half centuries. The Tartars did not mean to station a large and expensive occupation force in Myanmar and withdrew from the area. The country consisted of several belligerent empires. The Shan took control over a large part of Upper Myanmar with their capital in Ava. The Mon founded a new kingdom in Lower Myanmar where Bago became its royal centre. King Dhammazedi was considered the greatest of the Bago kings at the end of the fifteenth century. He was famous for his piety and his wisdom. In this period a major Buddhist revival took place. and the first diplomatic contact with Europeans was made. Between the Shan kingdom and the Mon kingdom was a tiny Bamar empire called Taungoo.

In the sixteenth century Taungoo developed into the Second Burmese Kingdom which lasted for more than two centuries. King Tabinshwehti was the founder. He profited from the continuous struggle between his royal neighbours. First he defeated the Mon in the delta of the Ayeyarwady River and conquered Bago which he declared the new capital of his kingdom. Then he invaded the Pyu kingdom in the south. Later he defeated king Bayinnaung of the Shan empire and took his capital Ava. In the middle of the sixteenth century he united Lower and Upper Myanmar into one state. He also conducted a war against Thailand and conquered the Siamese capital of Ayutthaya. After his death the Second Burmese Kingdom gradually declined. In the beginning of the seventeenth century the Bamar moved their capital away from Bago to Ava. There they chose to live in isolation from the western powers. In the middle of the eighteenth century the Mon dissipated the Bamar from the south and founded their own kingdom in Bago. Some time later they conquered Ava and put an end to the Second Burmese Kingdom.

The supremacy of the Mon did not last for long. One year after its occupation king Alaungpaya of the Burmese kingdom Shwebo took Ava. From here he began a military offensive against the Mon. In a short time he conquered all lost territory. He was the founder of the Third Burmese Kingdom which lasted for almost one century and a half. The king and his successors were very agressive towards their neighbours in Thailand. His son Hsinbyushin moved the capital of the empire to Ava. The later king Bodawpaya founded a new capital in Amarapura. Under his rule the empire reached to the peak of its power. At the end of the eighteenth century the Burmese kingdom bordered directly to the Indian subcontinent which was dominated by the British. Border conflicts at the start of the nineteenth century led to a series of Anglo-Burmese wars which were fatal to the Burmese empire. One of the last Burmese kings was Mindon. In the second half of the nineteenth century he moved the capital of his diminishing empire to Mandalay. He was one of the few Burmese rulers to establish a working relation with the British and adopted modern ideas from the western powers. 

In 1886 the British forced Myanmar to accept its colonial administration. They made Yangon the capital of the country. In this period the economic developments accelerated. The British constructed roads and railways and built factories. Rice cultivation in the delta of the Ayeyarwady River led to the largest export of rice in the world. The administration of the Bamar territories was in direct hands of the British. The minorities in the hills and the mountains however were under the authority of the traditional leaders who recognized British sovereignty. This distinction proved to be of an utmost significance for later political developments. Nevertheless various nationalist leaders known as "the thirty comrades" succeeded in unifying various people in a common struggle against British dominance.  The economic exploitation by foreign people and the the negative attitude of the colonial administration towards the Bamar people led to peaceful demonstrations in the first half of the twentieth century with the participation of buddhist monks. The British answer to the demands of this national movement was some kind of restricted autonomy just before the start of the Second World War. 

On 4 january 1948 the proclamation of an independent Union of Burma was official. The democratic socialist Bogyoke Aung San was to be the new leader for he accepted autonomy for various ethnic groups. However he was assassinated by his political opponents just a few months before the proclamation of independence.  His comrade and political protégé U Nu became the first premier of an independant Burma. Right from the start the new government had to face uprisings from communist rebels and insubordinate ethnic minorities. Hence in the late fifties premier U Nu asked the military chief in command Ne Win to take over until the new elections. The military regime was fairly successful in restoring peace and order. After the elections the new U Nu government was not able to cope with the economic recession and the ethnic separation movement. Once again general Ne Win took over. This time a military coup put an end to fourteen years of democracy. The new regime abolished the parliament and suppressed all political opposition. The new rulers acquired large control over economic and financial matters. They closed the borders and therefore chose for international isolation. This situation continues up to the present day.

Because of its isolation Myanmar has preserved many of its old traditions. This is apparent in the way that people dress and put on their make-up. Most men wear a traditional longyi or sarong. This garment is a single piece of cloth which is tied in a knot around the hips. It covers the lower body and the legs. When the front is tucked between the legs and tied to the back it becomes a short. Most children and women in Myanmar put traditional thanaka on their face. It is a yellow sandalwood-like paste made of the thanaka tree. Its bark is ground on a flat circular piece of stone or kyaukpyin and mixed with drops of water until it becomes a paste. The kyaukpyin has a canal all around to receive the ground paste. After application to the face it dries and becomes a clayey substance. It is used as a combination of skin conditioner, sun block and make-up. A light colour of the skin is still considered an ideal of beauty. 

In their spare time the Burmese enjoy a traditional visit with their family to a pagoda nearby where they have lunch together in the open air. Sometimes they make a trip of several days to a pagoda in another part of the country. When visiting a pagoda they admire the impressive architecture, the sculptures and the paintings which give a creative and colourful expression to their beliefs. They also spend the time to pray for Buddha and to offer a sacrifice for the nats or spirits. It is custom after hymn and prayer to beat a ceremonial drum three times to let the nats or spirits know that they meritoriously praised Buddha. Next they touch the ground with the drumstick to send the message to the earth spirits. The Burmese are very superstitious people. They prefer uneven numbers and try to avoid even figures. They also like their future predicted by a bedin-saya or fortune teller who explains to them the signs of the astrological zodiac. Some people have their horoscope written down and framed in a wooden cadre to treasure it in a special place at home. 

Education in Myanmar also has its traditional apects like the shinbyu or the initiation ceremony for boys in monasteric life. At the age of ten the boys are sent to a kyaung or monastery nearby for education. For the ceremony they are dressed in their finest clothes and driven around in a procession of relatives and other guests. Back at home they are dressed in a simple robe and the hair on their heads is shaven as a sign of their initiation in monasteric life. As kyaungthas they participate in household duties together with the other monks. The others teach them buddhist scripture, chant and prayer. This way they learn virtue, obediance and honesty as well as reading, writing and mathematics. When after many years a young man decides to enter the monkhood he becomes a hpongyi. At this occasion he is honoured by his parents because he chooses an excellent life of meditation and poverty which augments the status of his family. For the Burmese people the monks represent the best and the holiest in human life. As a favour they give them food, clothes and other necessities such as a razor, a cup, a filter, an umbrella or an alms bowl.

The education of young girls also has traditional elements like the nadwin or ear-boring ceremony. The nadwin means that a girl reaches an age where she gets acquainted with the pleasures in the life of an adolescent woman. At the occasion she is dressed in her finest clothes and seated on a pillow at her home. After boring the lobes of her ears she gets a nice set of earrings and other presents from her relatives and other guests who are invited at the ceremony. The nadwin is together with her marriage one of the most impressive events in the life of a Burmese woman. The ceremony however is for many of less importance than the shinbyu or the hpongyi in the life of a Burmese man.  It reveals a discrimination between both sexes which is also apparent in pagodas where access to an extraordinary statue or relic is prohibited to women. 

A large majority of the people in Myanmar is buddhist although remnants of hinduism and animism are still present in their religious customs. Burmese buddhists believe the universe consists of three regions heaven, earth and hell in well-defined order. In the centre of the universe is Mount Myinmo the highest peak in all the world. Round about the sides of this mountain are ranged the levels of heavenly regions where the dewas or heavenly spirits dwell. Far above the seats of these dewas are ranged the seats of the more perfect beings or byammas, one above the other. And far above them are the seats of the sublime beings on the borders of the supreme nirvana. Below the dewa regions of Mount Myinmo are ranges of mountains, girdling the earth in a perfect ring interposed by seas. In these seas are some large and many small islands inhabited by human beings who live at the most a hundred years. Only here Buddha appears to teach the right way of living which enables the people to progress to the heavenly regions and to nirvana. Down below the earth are situated  the regions of hell where people awaits torture and punishment if they behaved badly. Ascending the ladder from deep hells  through earth to heavenly regions, the spirit meets with existences which are not only more blessed in the degree of enjoyment and material happiness, but also correspondingly more free from fleshly desires and sins. Thanks to meditation and contemplation the abstract truth reveals itself in the highest regions where false  persuasions of joy and sorrow become irrelevant.

In the life of the Burmese people spirits or nats from heaven and earth play a prominent role. They believe there is a spirit in every human, animal and thing. Spirits roam the hills, rivers, lakes and rocks. Every person has a guardian spirit. Every house has a home spirit and every village has a communal spirit. Some nats descend from historic persons who died a violent and unjust death. To the pantheon of the nats also belong some hindu gods and buddhist boddhisattvas. All these spirits have got a formal place in Burmese mythology since the rule of king Anawratha. The worship of nats is however in contradiction with the principles of pure buddhism. Buddhist puritans reject the worship of spirits as superstition. For them hinayana buddhism teaches that alone a natural person can work on his own salvation. Nevertheless the supernatural nats are for many Burmese a pleasant addition to their buddhist beliefs. When the spirits are dissatisfied they can cause misfortune. Likewise they can bring fortune when they are satisfied. That is why they bring sacrificial offerings such as incense, flowers, fruit and money to please the nats. They place these gifts on special altars called the nat-sin.

Religion is a main inspiration for architecture in Myanmar. The country has many pagodas, temples, monasteries and other buddhist buildings. Some of them are called paya or “sanctuary”. The name is used for a pagoda or zedi as well as for a temple or pahto. Many sanctuaries were reconstructed in the course of centuries so its style or shape does not always tell its date of origin. Only temples and pagodas were built of permanent materials consisting of fired brick covered with plaster and decorated with stucco relief. That is why they still remain in a reasonably good condition. The area of Bagan is famous for its many religious monuments which are centuries old. Secular buildings like houses and palaces were constructed of wood just like most monasteries. Only few old structures remain with a non-religious meaning. Some wooden monasteries were later copied in brick structures which give an impression of their original shape and style. Only few original wooden monasteries remain. Their date of origin is at most two or three centuries ago. Their woodcarvings express a delicate form of artisanry.

A pagoda is a religious complex with a stupa or zedi in the centre. Most pagodas are built in a basic pattern and situated on top of a hill representing Mount Myinmo. Staircases on all four sides of the hill lead to a platform on top. Chinthes or mythological griffins guard the entrance at the bottom of each staircase. In the centre of the platform is a stupa surrounded by smaller stupas and pavilions or tazaung. The stupa is a solid structure made of brick. Beneath the stupa is a sealed relic chamber conatining a hair, tooth or bone of Buddha. Large stupas have a basis with square, octagonal and circular terracen from the bottom to the top. The dome is built on these terraces. Its shape has only slightly been changed in the course of many centuries. Early zedi were usually hemispherical or bulbous. The modern style is a curvaceous lower bell merging into a soaring spire. A similar type has the same design but it has a ribbed bowl-shaped disc or amalaka interposed bestween the dome and the finial. Another similar type has a bell-shaped dome on a circular base and a box-like relic chamber or harmika interposed between the dome and the finial. The finial is made of a hti or metal umbrella with wind chimes. On top of the hti is a mast with a banner and a diamond. Often the entire stupa is guilded. Its gold colour reflects the light of the sun which changes from bright white-yellow in the early afternoon to soft orange-red in the evening. 

A temple or pahto is a square or rectangular building with one or several buddha statues. There are basically two kinds of temples. The early hollow square type has just one entrance to a vaulted inner area. The interior is dimly lit by small perforated windows. At the back of the wall is a Buddha statue. The trapezium roof transforms into a dome. This type is often called a gu or ku which  means “cave” in Pali. The later central pillar type has a square central pillar with niches on all four of its sides containing Buddha statues. This type has four entrances and is often one or two storeys high. Along the central pillar there are one or more vaulted archways or galleries. The interior is brightly lit by large windows and entrances on all four sides. The square plan of the temple was later modified by having a vestibule or portico, sometimes on one side alone, but sometimes on all four sides. The superstructure above the main hall consists of a number of receding terraces surmounted either by a large stupa or a sikhara which is a spire with a curvilinear form or a less usual pyramidal form with straight sides. 

Burmese sculpture consists primarily of religious temple reliefs and Buddha statues. The earliest remaining Buddha statues are from the Pyu era. At the decline of the Bagan empire many statues have been lost. Artists developed since the fourteenth century a typical Burmese style of sculpture. All fingers and toes of Buddha have the same length and his ear lobes reach to his shoulders. Sculptors picture Buddha in four basic postures: walking (offering refuge), standing (teaching), sitting (meditating) and reclining (dying). Another iconographical key element  is the figure's mudra’s or hand position. The Dhyana mudra or meditation position shows a sitting Buddha with both hands resting palms-up in his lap. In the case of a Bhumisparca mudra Buddha's right hand rests on his knee with his fingers touching the ground while his left hand rests in his lap. This position symbolises his determination to resist evil distractions preventing him from gaining enlightenment. The Abhaya mudra is a symbol of protection which Buddha gives to his followers. In this posture one or both hands extend forward with palms out and fingers pointing upward. This mudra is commonly seen in conjunction with standing or walking Buddhas, and occasionally with sitting images. The Vara mudra shows a sitting or standing Buddha blessing his followers. The fingers of the right hand point downward and the palm of his hand is outward. The Vitarka mudra symbolises the public discourse on Buddhist doctrines. The thumb and forefinger of the right hand hand form a circle with the other fingers curving outward. A sitting posture is most common with these mudras though it is occasionally seen in standing images. The Dana mudra shows a standing Buddha with one or both hands extended forward with palms up and parallel to the ground. It signifies  the offering of dhamma or buddhist teachings to the world. In the colonial period traditional architecture and sculpture were in decline. With the exile of Burmese royalty a cultural stimulus and financial support for the arts disappeared. 

The Burmese theatre or pwe comprises dance and drama amongst others. Its subject is on the one hand based upon the jatakas or the legends of Buddha's life and on the other hand upon the yamazat or the Burmese version of the hindu epic Ramayana. Classical Burmese dance drama originated at the royal court in the eighteenth century. Its roots however were not indigenous. The monarchs of the Third Burmese Kingdom took an interest in dance drama during their conquests in Thailand. There they were charmed by the dancing performances at the courts of their royal neighbours. These performances were influenced by the dances in former Angkor in present-day Cambodia. The most Burmese of dances feature solo performances by female dancers who wear strikingly colourful dresses with long white trains which they kick into the air with their heels. The arm and head movements are all strictly regulated. Each posture and each gesture has a meaning.

Part of the Burmese theatre is the marionette theatre or yokthe pwe which originated at Bagan in the eleventh century. In this period it was not allowed for men and women to act together on stage. Hence marionettes replaced real actors and actresses. Since then the popularity of marionette shows had its ups and downs. In the period of the Third Burmese Kingdom it was very popular at the royal court. At present it has lost much of it glory. Sometimes the military regime does not allow a performance because the puppeteers criticize political abuse and social disorder. The wooden marionettes are about seventy centimetres long. It requires great skill to play a marionette. Some of the marionettes have sixty strings to move every part of the body. In a performance appear many persons including a king, an astrologer, a nat, a hermit and a sorcerer.

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