Abstract:This paper utilizes the concept of the "Burmese hour" to approach astrological practices in Burma as being not only distinctive but also historically related to Brahmanical astral sciences. First, the "Burmese hour" is examined as a unit of time: the hour (nārī) of twenty-four minutes, prevalent before the colonial-era introduction of the sexagesimal horometrical system. Focusing on the water clock used at the Burmese court (c. 18th–19th), I investigate the connection between this system of time-reckoning and Brahmanical horometrical techniques in India. Next, the "Burmese hour" is addressed through an opposition to the "Moghul hour" and the "British hour." I examine the different working conditions that Brahmin astrologers from Banaras had at the Burmese court compared with those experienced under other "foreign" rulers in early modern and colonial India. Finally, I argue for a closer dialogue between specialists of Burma and South Asia, beyond area studies divisions. Through this dialogue, I propound that the "Burmese hour" has come. It is time to study Burmese astrological practices as being socially diverse and locally distinctive.
{"title":"The Burmese Hour","authors":"C. Guenzi","doi":"10.1353/jbs.2022.0013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/jbs.2022.0013","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This paper utilizes the concept of the \"Burmese hour\" to approach astrological practices in Burma as being not only distinctive but also historically related to Brahmanical astral sciences. First, the \"Burmese hour\" is examined as a unit of time: the hour (nārī) of twenty-four minutes, prevalent before the colonial-era introduction of the sexagesimal horometrical system. Focusing on the water clock used at the Burmese court (c. 18th–19th), I investigate the connection between this system of time-reckoning and Brahmanical horometrical techniques in India. Next, the \"Burmese hour\" is addressed through an opposition to the \"Moghul hour\" and the \"British hour.\" I examine the different working conditions that Brahmin astrologers from Banaras had at the Burmese court compared with those experienced under other \"foreign\" rulers in early modern and colonial India. Finally, I argue for a closer dialogue between specialists of Burma and South Asia, beyond area studies divisions. Through this dialogue, I propound that the \"Burmese hour\" has come. It is time to study Burmese astrological practices as being socially diverse and locally distinctive.","PeriodicalId":53638,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Burma Studies","volume":"26 1","pages":"275 - 310"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-10-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42650462","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
J. Ferguson, R. Saruya, Thanapas Dejpawuttikul, Marie-Eve Reny, M. Matelski, Nang Muay Noan, Linda S. McIntosh, Yuri Takahashi
Abstract:This article looks at what it means to be a girl child and a renunciate in contemporary Myanmar. As Theravada Buddhism is conventionally thought of as the most stringent with concern to the boundaries between monastics and the laity, I complicate these boundaries by examining how child and adolescent nuns play, the highly formalized "adult play," ritual, and the tensions between lay life and nunhood. I look at play as mediating between continuity and transition, between lay and monastic, girl child and young nun. I show how what might be thought of as mundane, or outside the nunnery, can actually strengthen the religious or supramundane, often considered inside the nunnery. Along with play, I also look at how mundane rituals, such as schooling, serve to break down the divide, demonstrating the lay within the monastic, embodied to show that often the lay is used in a manner that does not necessarily take away from the religious but rather can strengthen it; they are often inseparable. The ideal of the nun is that of the genderless renunciant, yet the reality of the thilashin (Myanmar Buddhist nun) is a complex site for examining these phenomena.
{"title":"About the Cover","authors":"J. Ferguson, R. Saruya, Thanapas Dejpawuttikul, Marie-Eve Reny, M. Matelski, Nang Muay Noan, Linda S. McIntosh, Yuri Takahashi","doi":"10.1353/jbs.2022.0000","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/jbs.2022.0000","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This article looks at what it means to be a girl child and a renunciate in contemporary Myanmar. As Theravada Buddhism is conventionally thought of as the most stringent with concern to the boundaries between monastics and the laity, I complicate these boundaries by examining how child and adolescent nuns play, the highly formalized \"adult play,\" ritual, and the tensions between lay life and nunhood. I look at play as mediating between continuity and transition, between lay and monastic, girl child and young nun. I show how what might be thought of as mundane, or outside the nunnery, can actually strengthen the religious or supramundane, often considered inside the nunnery. Along with play, I also look at how mundane rituals, such as schooling, serve to break down the divide, demonstrating the lay within the monastic, embodied to show that often the lay is used in a manner that does not necessarily take away from the religious but rather can strengthen it; they are often inseparable. The ideal of the nun is that of the genderless renunciant, yet the reality of the thilashin (Myanmar Buddhist nun) is a complex site for examining these phenomena.","PeriodicalId":53638,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Burma Studies","volume":"26 1","pages":"1 - 131 - 133 - 138 - 138 - 141 - 142 - 145 - 33 - 35 - 67 - 69 - 93 - 95 - i - iii - ix - x"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44517928","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:This article looks at what it means to be a girl child and a renunciate in contemporary Myanmar. As Theravada Buddhism is conventionally thought of as the most stringent with concern to the boundaries between monastics and the laity, I complicate these boundaries by examining how child and adolescent nuns play, the highly formalized "adult play," ritual, and the tensions between lay life and nunhood. I look at play as mediating between continuity and transition, between lay and monastic, girl child and young nun. I show how what might be thought of as mundane, or outside the nunnery, can actually strengthen the religious or supramundane, often considered inside the nunnery. Along with play, I also look at how mundane rituals, such as schooling, serve to break down the divide, demonstrating the lay within the monastic, embodied to show that often the lay is used in a manner that does not necessarily take away from the religious but rather can strengthen it; they are often inseparable. The ideal of the nun is that of the genderless renunciant, yet the reality of the thilashin (Myanmar Buddhist nun) is a complex site for examining these phenomena.
{"title":"Ritual and Play in Buddhist Nun-Making: Girlhood, Nunhood, and the Shaping of the \"Little Teacher\" in Today's Myanmar","authors":"R. Saruya","doi":"10.1353/jbs.2022.0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/jbs.2022.0002","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This article looks at what it means to be a girl child and a renunciate in contemporary Myanmar. As Theravada Buddhism is conventionally thought of as the most stringent with concern to the boundaries between monastics and the laity, I complicate these boundaries by examining how child and adolescent nuns play, the highly formalized \"adult play,\" ritual, and the tensions between lay life and nunhood. I look at play as mediating between continuity and transition, between lay and monastic, girl child and young nun. I show how what might be thought of as mundane, or outside the nunnery, can actually strengthen the religious or supramundane, often considered inside the nunnery. Along with play, I also look at how mundane rituals, such as schooling, serve to break down the divide, demonstrating the lay within the monastic, embodied to show that often the lay is used in a manner that does not necessarily take away from the religious but rather can strengthen it; they are often inseparable. The ideal of the nun is that of the genderless renunciant, yet the reality of the thilashin (Myanmar Buddhist nun) is a complex site for examining these phenomena.","PeriodicalId":53638,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Burma Studies","volume":"26 1","pages":"1 - 33"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46960744","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:This research explores young ethnic women's activities, experiences, and leadership aspirations within Myanmar civil society organizations (CSOs), and the influence of the COVID pandemic on their life and work. Ethnic women working for CSOs face a number of challenges not only from various power holders but also from within their own communities and organizations. Meanwhile, they carve out opportunities for themselves as young civil society workers. Many show aspirations to become community leaders or politicians. This research was set up in collaboration with two organizations based in Myanmar. Interviews were held in July 2020 with fourteen young ethnic women who had previously been involved in women's leadership trainings, to explore how they experienced their position within civil society after completion of these programs. Apart from their ethnic and gender identities, a number of intersecting identity factors such as age, life stage, education level, and place of origin were taken into account. Differences in experiences were found not only among the known identity factors but also between individual women from different communities, and between those working on the community level and in more formal nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). We end with a number of recommendations for CSOs and their partners and donors.
{"title":"Grassroots Roles and Leadership Aspirations: The Experiences of Young Ethnic Women in Myanmar Civil Society Organizations","authors":"M. Matelski, Nang Muay Noan","doi":"10.1353/jbs.2022.0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/jbs.2022.0005","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This research explores young ethnic women's activities, experiences, and leadership aspirations within Myanmar civil society organizations (CSOs), and the influence of the COVID pandemic on their life and work. Ethnic women working for CSOs face a number of challenges not only from various power holders but also from within their own communities and organizations. Meanwhile, they carve out opportunities for themselves as young civil society workers. Many show aspirations to become community leaders or politicians. This research was set up in collaboration with two organizations based in Myanmar. Interviews were held in July 2020 with fourteen young ethnic women who had previously been involved in women's leadership trainings, to explore how they experienced their position within civil society after completion of these programs. Apart from their ethnic and gender identities, a number of intersecting identity factors such as age, life stage, education level, and place of origin were taken into account. Differences in experiences were found not only among the known identity factors but also between individual women from different communities, and between those working on the community level and in more formal nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). We end with a number of recommendations for CSOs and their partners and donors.","PeriodicalId":53638,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Burma Studies","volume":"26 1","pages":"131 - 95"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41864976","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:Between the late nineteenth century and the 1930s, the transmission of ethnohistorical knowledge between Colonial Burma and the Siamese State entered a new phase. Modern Burmese history was investigated and written by Siamese elites and state administrators. This article focuses on the transmission and reflection of ethnohistorical knowledge through Prince Damrong Rajanubhab's 1936 travel writing, published in 1946 as เที่ยวเมืองพม่า (Thiao Mueang Phama). The English translation Journey through Burma in 1936 was published in 1991. Critical and contextual reading methods are used to show Prince Damrong's historical perceptions of Burma and the changes in his narration about the country. This article also discusses the development of Prince Damrong's historical vision of Thai identity, pointing to historical actions of the Burmese as sources of Siam's lost heritage and the cultural fusion of "Suvannabhumi peoples." Thus, the text provided the Thais an alternative discourse about their neighbor country, transforming it from an intimate nation parallel with a discourse of archenemy in Thai nationalist history. This narrative also influenced cultural practices among the Thai upper and middle classes, as it has been demonstrated through television programs, historical-cultural tourism business, and, especially, the knowledge production by contemporary Thai Southeast Asianists.
{"title":"From Archenemy of the Nation to the Intimate Other: Prince Damrong Rajanubhab's Journey through Burma and the Colonial Ecumene","authors":"Thanapas Dejpawuttikul","doi":"10.1353/jbs.2022.0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/jbs.2022.0003","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Between the late nineteenth century and the 1930s, the transmission of ethnohistorical knowledge between Colonial Burma and the Siamese State entered a new phase. Modern Burmese history was investigated and written by Siamese elites and state administrators. This article focuses on the transmission and reflection of ethnohistorical knowledge through Prince Damrong Rajanubhab's 1936 travel writing, published in 1946 as เที่ยวเมืองพม่า (Thiao Mueang Phama). The English translation Journey through Burma in 1936 was published in 1991. Critical and contextual reading methods are used to show Prince Damrong's historical perceptions of Burma and the changes in his narration about the country. This article also discusses the development of Prince Damrong's historical vision of Thai identity, pointing to historical actions of the Burmese as sources of Siam's lost heritage and the cultural fusion of \"Suvannabhumi peoples.\" Thus, the text provided the Thais an alternative discourse about their neighbor country, transforming it from an intimate nation parallel with a discourse of archenemy in Thai nationalist history. This narrative also influenced cultural practices among the Thai upper and middle classes, as it has been demonstrated through television programs, historical-cultural tourism business, and, especially, the knowledge production by contemporary Thai Southeast Asianists.","PeriodicalId":53638,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Burma Studies","volume":"26 1","pages":"35 - 67"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42035111","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:Under Ne Win's rule, Burma lacked a strong military. The army's capacity was only upgraded considerably in the late 1980s and early 1990s. What accounts for its late expansion? I argue that Burma's military upgrade depended on a threat to the regime that would incite autocrats to divert limited resources toward strengthening the army. That threat did not materialize until military rule was unsettled by a social revolution in 1988. Lacking the technology to produce warfare, military development also required strong ties to a state with the capacity to support Burma's expansion. That state was China. The ebb and flow in diplomatic relations between Rangoon and Beijing in the 1960s and 1970s, and China's isolation and military weakness under Mao Zedong made it unlikely to provide military support to Burma then. By the late 1980s, however, Rangoon and Beijing's relations had improved significantly, and China's capacity as a weapons provider had also increased. Burma could, from then on, easily access China's arms market.
{"title":"Military Rule with a Weak Army: Myanmar's Late Expansion","authors":"Marie-Eve Reny","doi":"10.1353/jbs.2022.0004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/jbs.2022.0004","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Under Ne Win's rule, Burma lacked a strong military. The army's capacity was only upgraded considerably in the late 1980s and early 1990s. What accounts for its late expansion? I argue that Burma's military upgrade depended on a threat to the regime that would incite autocrats to divert limited resources toward strengthening the army. That threat did not materialize until military rule was unsettled by a social revolution in 1988. Lacking the technology to produce warfare, military development also required strong ties to a state with the capacity to support Burma's expansion. That state was China. The ebb and flow in diplomatic relations between Rangoon and Beijing in the 1960s and 1970s, and China's isolation and military weakness under Mao Zedong made it unlikely to provide military support to Burma then. By the late 1980s, however, Rangoon and Beijing's relations had improved significantly, and China's capacity as a weapons provider had also increased. Burma could, from then on, easily access China's arms market.","PeriodicalId":53638,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Burma Studies","volume":"26 1","pages":"69 - 93"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47401980","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
straddle the of fi cial lines that have fl uctuated over the centuries and in certain places remain contentious today.
跨越了几个世纪以来起伏不定的界限，在某些地方至今仍有争议。
{"title":"The Borderlands of Asia: Culture, Place, Poetry by Mark Bender (review)","authors":"Yuri Takahashi","doi":"10.1353/jbs.2022.0008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/jbs.2022.0008","url":null,"abstract":"straddle the of fi cial lines that have fl uctuated over the centuries and in certain places remain contentious today.","PeriodicalId":53638,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Burma Studies","volume":"26 1","pages":"142 - 145"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42421630","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Textiles in Burman Culture by Sylvia Fraser-Lu (review)","authors":"Linda S. McIntosh","doi":"10.1353/jbs.2022.0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/jbs.2022.0006","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":53638,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Burma Studies","volume":"26 1","pages":"133 - 138"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48268372","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Wa of Myanmar and China's Quest for Global Dominance by Bertil Lintner (review)","authors":"J. Ferguson","doi":"10.1353/jbs.2022.0007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/jbs.2022.0007","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":53638,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Burma Studies","volume":"26 1","pages":"138 - 141"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41510855","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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