CHAPTER V

ITINERATING AMONG THE BUDDHIST TAI OF YUNNAN

At last we were ready to begin the journey of itineration and exploration eagerly looked forward to, "up in China." But we were still many days distant from the habitation of the Chinese proper.

Ban Lao, our first stopping place, is a small village of Sam Tuan people. Like many villages of mountaineers, it is at a little distance from the main road, so we slept in a watch-house in a paddy field near the village.

The Sam Tuan belong to the Mon-Hkmer family. This family gets its name from the Mon or Peguans of Burma and western Siam, on the one side, and the Hkmer or Kambodians on the other side of Indo-China. Sir George Scott says of the family that Forbes and Garnier unite in the conclusion that in the earlier ages kindred tribes of the Mon-Hkmer dominated the whole country from the Irrawaddi eastward to the China sea and down to the Gulf of Siam, till they were split and wedged apart by Tai invaders from the north. And of their language he says that it seems probable that it once covered the whole of Farther India.

The Sam Tuan are members of the Wa-Palaung group of the Mon-Hkmer family, whose numerous children we shall be meeting constantly in China as we have met them in Burma, Siam, and the French "Laos" states east of Siam. They are mostly illiterate, as for example the Kamu of the French Laos states, and the wild Wa of Burma. But there are some members of the Wa-Palaung group who are literate, such as the Sen Chun, Sam Tao, and these Sam Tuan. They were originally wild Wa, but have been Buddhists for some six centuries or more, according to their locality.

The Sam Tüan live among the Lü, one of the Tai groups; are literate in the Tai character; are Buddhists of the Yuan type, in contradistinction from the Burmese type on the one hand and the Siamo-Kambodian on the other, and in addition to their own Wa language they speak good Lü. The difference between

the Lü brogue and that of the Chiengmai and Lakawn is about as great as between a Bostonian and a Hoosier, one of accent and the use of a few differentiating localisms: "only that and nothing more." Like all Yuan-monastery people, therefore, wherever found, these former Wa head-hunting savages read and speak the Tai language and follow the Yuan cult of Buddhism. It was like being among our own Tai people by birth to stop over night with them. Their headmen were attentive to our wants, and we conversed pleasantly and left a few tracts.

Ban Lao is in the Long Circle of the Sip Sawng Pannā. This technical phrase may be translated into United States speech. In the Lao language the adjective follows the noun except in the case of numerals. Bān means village. Lao is the name of that particular village. Long Circle is English, its Tai equiv alent being Miang Lũang or Mông Lông, depending upon what "brogue" is used in pronouncing. A Müang or Circle includes all the territory and inhabitants within a given area of some considerable size. The circle is the British designation of a muang or district. There are eighty-six circles, for example, in Kengtung State from which we had just come. Mōng Long is one of the principal circles of the Sip Sawng Pannā. Sip Sawng means twelve, pan a thousand and nā a paddy field.

Just why the original home of the Lü people as a distinct tribe of the great Ai-Lao race should be called Twelve Thousand Paddy Fields I do not know. My conjecture is that originally the whole district consisted of twelve circles, of a thousand fields each.

Noon of the following day found us at the town which is the civil center of the Long Circle, the home-town of its feudal lord. This feudal lord is called "Chao Müang," lord of the circle (literally owner of the circle). The Chao Müang may have, in addition, a rank-title, as Pū-Mün, Pũ Sên, or Chao Hpayā. The Long Circle's lord is a chao hpaya, for his circle is a large one and his rank is high.

In all this Lü country there is an officer in each district whose special duty it is to care for the entertainment of travelers of other races than the Tai. By the Lü he is called Paw Möng, Father of the Circle. When we entered the official town of the Long Circle, our muleteers who were leading our party, made the mistake of stopping and unloading the packs at a market

stall and loading up their stomachs, before going to the Paw Möng. It was a short-sighted policy thus to neglect the official etiquette which would secure my own and their prestige, and with it future meals and much comfort. We did not get the proper escorts and other attentions we were entitled to until we reached the capital of the Sip Sawng Pannā, several days later It was a lesson the muleteers did not forget. The Paw Möng took his time to escort us to the Chao Hypaya and the latter took his time to finish his dinner in a very leisurely manner before attending to our needs. But he was courteous when he did come out of his dining room to us, and we got from him what we actually needed.

The Chao Hypaya and others remembered the visit to the place which was made by Dr. McGilvary and Rev. Mr. Irwin, in 1893. And they were very cordial in their invitation for us to stay at the town some time to preach and teach. We did preach for over an hour, and let go over three hundred copies of our precious Tai literature. Then we called a halt, although the calls almost amounted to demands. We feared lest we should run short of literature before the end of our journey. That journey would be long-just how long we did not know. And the rains would be on before its completion, After dinner we started on again.

Like all other Tai official towns, that of the Long Circle is situated in a plain, although many villages of non-Tai hill peoples are found within the circle. The plain is about twenty miles long and prosperous looking. Like Dr. McGilvary, we were struck with the stone masonry in the town and by the long line of fine villages we passed through. The Lü people of this plain are large and look well-fed and well-groomed. Very little opium is used by them, we were told; and their own appearance and that of their whole district seemed confirmatory. Officials told us that the circle contains about seventy Lü villages, about twenty Ahka or Kaw, and about three of four cach of Sâm Tüan Musö (Lahū), Yao, and Miao.

We stayed that night and the next day, Sunday, in a monastery in the village of Ban Yang Kuang, which being interpreted is "Wide Pond Village." It is a typical one of those prosperous Lü villages in the Long Plain. We never spent a busier Sunday than we did there. Early in the morning I managed to let the abbot catch me reading one of the Tai palm-leaf books belonging

to the monastery. This commanded his respect, and I heard him tell many of his parishioners that day the wonderful fact that "the foreigner" not only speaks Lü, but he reads it! He soon got into a discussion with me, which ended by his becoming eager to see and hear more. I gave him three books, and brought out a few more for the villagers. They were soon taken. Then we had gramophone and the picture chart of scenes in the life of Jesus, with explanations for some two hours. I did not have any trained evangelist with me, and had to do all the work myself. We managed to get in a brief service for our Christian party, which was attended by the abbot and some others. I ran away to a paddy field to get a few free breaths and take some notes. I found a crowd awaiting me upon return, to hear the gramo phone-mostly people from a neighboring village. We then had supper, a visit from the headman of the village, and some of his "leaders" with talk and more gramophone. Lato at night we retired, leaving a disappointed crowd clamoring for a fourth gramophone entertainment. No one but God knows how many heard that day for the first time the story of Jesus and His power to save from sin.

Our next night, March 28, was spent with the Lü people of Ban Kōa Sung, High Bridge Village. During the day we had passed out of the Long Circle into that of the capital of the Sip Sawng Panna, Chieng Rung by name; the Kenghung of British maps. Again we slept in a monastery. Apparently nearly the whole population of the high bridge village, an eager crowd of typical Lü men, women, and children, listened after supper to gramo and gospel till the lateness of the hour compelled me to dismiss them. Some of the villagers here remembered the visit of Dr. McGilvary and Mr. Irwin, seventeen years before. Some had visited us in Kengtung (properly Chiengtung, like the other Chiengs) and had obtained books there. Never before do I remember seeing such an impression produced by the announcement that "The Coming One" had already come. We let them have only a few books, by this time we could easily have dis posed of a pony load of literature.

The next day, Tuesday, March 29, we arrived before noon at the capital town, Chieng Rung. Profiting by their experience in Mong Long, the muleteers took us directly to the home of the Paw Möng, He was absent but his wife sent for him. Meanwhile she shewed herself as perfectly at ease and conven