The Historical Important of the Disapramuk Inscreption, A.D. 1285

The King called a ( war ) council and said: “ Pagan is small. The walls are low. It could not keep a strong force to do the defensive for long. Let us make fortification starting from Badin on the north upstream down to Ywatha. Enough stones and bricks could not be made in time. Pull down pagodas, temples and monasteries for bricks “. In this way 1,000 big temples, 10,000 small temples and 300 brick monasteries were destroyed. Then in one of the big temples the Prophecy of Anonyaza written on a red copper plate was found. It stated that Pagan would be destroyed at the time of king father of Twins. A check was made and one of the concubines did really have twins. The King realized that his effort to put a stand against the Tayoke was futile. He decided to flee down the river. So a fleet was mustered. On 1,000 boats were put the palace treasure; 1,000 cargo boats carried paddy; 1,000 boats of speed travel carried the king’s harem. No more boats were available to carry the servant women. “ Bind their legs and limbs and drown them “ was the Order but through the interception of the Royal Preceptor, these women escaped death. Monks and men were allowed to take their choice of these three hundred women. The King got on board the Golden Barge and went to Bassein of the Talaing Land. General Anantapicci and Yantapicci made another stand at Male by putting up two fortifications on the east of the foot of a range. These two generals possessed some supernatural power of jumping very high and so they jumped into a crowd of enemies to kill and to escape easily. Even then Anatapicci was killed and Yantapicci made an orderly retreat to Pagan where he found that King had fled. He followed the king to Bassein. The invaders came after him as far as Tayoke Hmyaw and finally they gave the chase because of the scarcity of food. So the king earned the name Tayokepyay- He who fled from the Tayokes. ( Mnannan, I, 1967 Reprint, pp351-4 )

It was not difficult for the Pai-I to induce the Yunnan government, 1271, to send an envoy to the Pagan court demanding submission. ( Another envoy was sent ) in 1273, with an imperial letter threatening invasion. ( They never returned to Yunnan ). In 1276, Yunnan reports; “ We have sent persons to discover news of the ambassadors, but the P’u rebels blocked the way. Now the P’u have mostly submitted and the road is already open. The person we sent has found out those ambassadors all reached Mien Safely. ( In 1277 the Burmese came to attack A-ho but after two days fighting they were repulsed). What is chiefly striking about the raid is attempting it. They should have known what a terrible enemy they were bound to provoke. The Mongols were not slow to react. In ( Nov-Dec ) 1277 Yunnan province sent Nasir ed-Din, Comforter and Commander in Chief of the various Roads of Yunnan, at the head of over 3,840 men, consisting of Mongols, Ts’uan, P’o and Mo-so, to invade Mien. ( He ) obtained the submission of over 300 stockades and (36,200 households ). On account of the hot weather the army was withdrawn… Nasir re-Din (perhaps reached Ngasaunggyan). It does not seem likely that he took it… For his army Nasir ed-Din had to rely mostly on Yunnanese levies. Bu both he and the Emperor realized that more troops were needed to effect the conquest of Burma. They were not available till the autumn of 1283. On September 22^nd of that year the army, the size of which we do not know, marched from Yunnan Fu.. On November 7^th it reached Nan-tien. Here it divided into three parts. T’ai-pu proceed at once by the longer route via lo-pi itaties ( Mong Hum). On November 22^nd

, Yagan-tigin left the A-his (Nam Ti) and A-ho ( Ta-p’ing ) route, through Chen-his (Kan-yai) with orders to build 200 boats so as to command the river at Chiang-t’ou. The Commander in Chief, Prince Sangqudar, followed the p’iao-tien route north of the Ta-p’ing. On December 3^rd, proceeding by different routes, they fought ( I imagine it is not mentioned in the Chinese 0 the fatal battle of ( Ngasaunggyan). On December 9^th they captured Chiang-t’ou city, killing over 1,000 men in the fighting.” They “took prisoner 10,000 of its keenest soldiers. “ The first report sent with a map to the Emperor, arrived on February 5^th 1284. it says that they had sent envoys to deliver a summons to the king of Mien, but there was no reply………The Pagan Burmans called their invaders Taruk, presumably because (apart from local levies ) Turkic tribes formed the majority in the Mongol armies. The Pagan Burmans did not yield easily. On May 10^th 1284, we read: “ Quduq Tamar’s army for the invasion of Mien encountered the rebels and was routed. “ Reinforcements had to be sent. On August 26^th 1285, Yunnan report; “ This year we have not yet had time to invade Mien” … In this year 1285, King ( Narathihapati ) decided to submit, in orer to avert a new invasion.

The peace mission sent by the Burmese King is recorded in the Disapramuk inscription. But before we go on with this peace mission, I would like to quote here what an inscription we find at Minnanthu ( P1.227 of Inscriptions of Burma ) says:

At Sacchim and Hanlan we made no stay. Having made the Gold Address, we sent it to the Taruk King. The Taruk King said: “ This Gold Address is not from the King nor this learned man his (ambassador ). Anyway call him”. So they called me as being a learned man.

In due course we arrived at ( Santhway). Thereupon the monks who were stopping there gave me a few gifts and said:

“ The ( Mongol Emperor ) would welcome you. He is a good Buddhist. Please tell him that we could not preach the Religion at Pagan (because nobody is there). As for me, having passed the place of these (monks), I reached Yachan` where I stopped for the (Buddhist Lent). In Tachonmahum (November) I went up to Taytu. In Plasuiwe (December) I arrived there.

The Taruk King said: “In these words my profit is also include. Pundit, call the monks who were running hither and thither at the time of your coming and plant rice and beans. When they are full grown, and then send them onto me”. When he had said thus, I was allowed to leave him. But there was some delay in my final return (to Pagan).

Out of gratitude to me for this service, the King (of Pagan) gave me 400 pay (1,100 acre; 445.5 hectares) of land at Hanlan and 400 pay (1,100 acre; 445.5 hectares) of land at Kramu, including both wet and dry cultivation plots and slaves and cattle. All these I dedicate to the Three Gems at the Ceti` to Panpwat Rap- the Turner’s Quarter.

From the evidence that we get from this Disapramuk inscription, we can both add and correct the information that we have gathered from the Burmese chronicles and the Chinese sources. Firstly it is not correct to say that the Pagan King had put to death the Chinese envoys of 1273 although they had never returned to Yunan. In all probability they perished in the fighting with the frontier revels of that time. Secondly the Pagan King took refuge not at Pathein but at a place called Hlan`kla on the west of Pran` which is either Pagan or Pyay. Thirdly the Pagan King sent an envoy in the person of a learned monk called Disa`pramuk who succeeded in getting a truce from the Mongol Emperor and therefore the King gave land and slaves to the monk and a contemporary stone inscription by that monks still stands to bear testimony that the statements in the chronologies are more or less wrong.

REFERENCES AND NOTES

1. Inscription of Burma Portfolio II, London, Oxford University Press 1936.

2. Luce, G.H., “The Early Syam in Burmese History”, JSS, XLVI, ii, December 1978.

3. Mhannan Mahayazawin I, Complied by a Committee of learned Men appointed by the King in 1829, Rangoon, Pyigyi Mandaing Press, 1976 Reprint.

4. Than Tun., “History of Buddhism in Burma, A.D.1000-1300. JBRS., LXII, ii, December 1978.

Discussion

B.R Gopal: On page 8 there is a quotation “Sakaraj 548(=1285)”. But on page 2, you mention “ Sakkaraj 634(= A.D. 1281). Are they correct ?

Than Tun : They are only 4 years apart each other in Christian era, but father apart in Burmese era. May be “Sakaraj 548” (page 8) in the quotation is the typing mistake. It should be around 638.

K.V.Remesh: What is the language of the inscription?

Than Tun: Old Burmese.

A.V. Narasimha Murthy: How faw would those religious inscriptions be useful to study the Mongol invasion?

Than Tun: I rely on Chinese records and Burmese chronicles as well. But those religious inscriptions are more important since they are contemporary, and again they can provide social and economic information about the donors.

G.Lubeigt(Paris): Where were “Badin” and “ Ywath mentioned on page 3 situated?

Than Tun: “ Badin” is somewhere on the north of Pagan And “Ywatha” is much farther south of Pagan, according to the story of the chronicles. But is very hard to tell about these places in details.

G.Lugeigt: In such case why do you give, 1,100 acres for 400 pay on page II? Multiplying 1.75 acres by 400 makes 700 acres, kinds of pay. One is the ordinary pay, 1.75 acres, and other is the between Lubeigt and Than Tun on the characteristics of the boat used in those days)

Just another pieces of Parabaik kept in Southeast Asia Digital Library of Northern Illinois University.

Subject - Parabaik
Materials - Paper
Place of Origin - Burma
Current Location - Northern Illinois University Libraries, Special Collections
Date - 1850
Measurements - 17 x 46 cm
Technique - Manuscript

Description ( as NIU original short note )
Painted illustrations of Jataka and Ramayana figures, some captioned and allocated to days of the week, astrological calculations. Black script on one side and colored illustrations on the other side of continuous sheet of white paper folded fanwise (13 folds). Outside folds black with red ink. Ms. Donor: Burma Studies Group.

Burma (Myanmar), Southeast Asia Dish, 14th-15th century Decorative object; Ceramic, Stoneware with celadon glaze, 3 x 13 3/8 in. (7.62 x 33.97 cm) Mr. Robert P. Griffing, Jr. Bequest (M.80.32.3) South and Southeast Asian Art Department.
Note: not currently on public view.

Bronze Drums - An Animist Art Form

by
Dr. Richard M. Cooler ,
Professor Emeritus
Art History of Southeast Asia, Northern Illinois University
Original link @ http://www.seasite.niu.edu/burmese/cooler/Chapter_1/Chapter_1.htm

The use and manufacture of bronze drums is the oldest continuous art tradition in Southeast Asia. It began some time before the 6th century BC in northern Vietnam and later spread to other areas such as Burma, Thailand, Indonesia and China. The Karen adopted the use of bronze drums at some time prior to their 8^th century migration from Yunnan into Burma where they settled and continue to live in the low mountains along the Burma - Thailand border. During a long period of adoption and transfer, the drum type was progressively altered from that found in northern Vietnam (Dong Son or Heger Type I) to produce a separate Karen type (Heger Type III). In 1904, Franz Heger developed a categorization for the four types of bronze drums found in Southeast Asia that is still in use today.

Heger’s four drum types

The Karen Drum Type or Heger Type III

The vibrating tympanum is made of bronze and is cast as a continuous piece with the cylinder. Distinguishing features of the Karen type include a less bulbous cylinder so that the cylinder profile is continuous rather than being divided into three distinct parts. Type III has a markedly protruding lip, unlike the earlier Dong Son drums. The decoration of the tympanum continues the tradition of the Dong Son drums in having a star shaped motif at its center with concentric circles of small, two-dimensional motifs extending to the outer perimeter.

Tympanum of a Karen Bronze Drum	Complete Tympanum of a Karen Drum
Detail of Tympanum of a Karen Drum	Detail of Tympanum of a Karen Drum

In Burma the drums are known as frog drums (pha-si), after the images of frogs that invariably appear at four equidistant points around the circumference of the tympanum.

Frog on Tympanum of a Karen Drum

A Karen innovation was the addition of three-dimensional figures to one side of the cylinder so that insects and animals, but never humans, are often represented descending the trunk of a stylized tree.

Stylized tree with snails and elephants

Detail of stylized tree with snails and elephants

Detail showing a complex arrangement of snails, elephants, trees squirrels and other animals.

The frogs on the tympanum vary from one to three and, when appearing in multiples, are stacked atop each other. The number of frogs in each stack on the tympanum usually corresponds to the number of figures on the cylinder such as elephants or snails. The numerous changes of motif in the two- and three-dimensional ornamentation of the drums have been used to establish a relative chronology for the development of the Karen drum type over approximately one thousand years.

The Karens speak several languages that linguists have had difficulty classifying. Karen groups often speak different languages, some of which are not mutually intelligible. Hence, the Karen peoples are an exception to the basic assumption that an ethnic group can be defined by the fact that all its members can converse in a single tongue. There are at least three major cultural and linguistic divisions among the Karen: the Karreni or the Red Karen, who cast the bronze drums, the Pwo Karen, and the Sgaw Karen, as well as a number of other splinter groups who have scattered into the mountains below the Shan Plateau.

Two Red Karen Women

A Sgaw Woman

Two Sgaw Karen couples

These hillside people practice swidden or slash-and-burn agriculture and speak a language that is very different than that of the lowland Burmese. The practice of slash-and-burn agriculture consists of burning the forests and then using the ashes from the burnt timber as fertilizer for the fields.

A swidden field ready for planting

Broadcasting rice in swidden field

The fertilizer lasts for only several years, never more than six, and at that time the Karen must pack and move everything to a new site where a different section of the forest is burned. A number of hillside groups practice slash-and-burn agriculture and periodically move through each other's hereditary territory to new lands. These people move back and forth across the Thai border with little regard for the national boundary. Slash-and-burn agriculture is perilous in that after the forest is burned, seeds must be planted and then rains must occur quickly and consistently until the plants are well established. If this does not happen, the plants will wither and die or insects and animals will eat the seeds. It is not unusual for the Karen to be forced to plant four times in order to reap a single harvest. For the Karen, the bronze drums perform a vital service in inducing the spirits to bring the rains. When there is a drought, the Karens take the drums into the fields where they are played to make the frogs croak because the Karens believe that if the frogs croak, it is sign that rain will surely fall. Therefore, the drums are also known as "Karen Rain Drums"

Bronze drums were used among the Karen as a device to assure prosperity by inducing the spirits to bring rain, by taking the spirit of the dead into the after-fife and by assembling groups including the ancestor spirits for funerals, marriages and house-entering ceremonies. The drums were used to entice the spirits of the ancestors to attend important occasions and during some rituals the drums were the loci or seat of the spirit.

It appears that the oldest use of the drums by the Karen was to accompany the protracted funeral rituals performed for important individuals. The drums were played during the various funeral events and then, among some groups, small bits of the drum were cut away and placed in the hand of the deceased to accompany the spirit into the afterlife. It appears that the drums were never used as containers for secondary burial because there is no instance where Type III drums have been unearthed or found with human remains inside. The drums are considered so potent and powerful that they would disrupt the daily activities of a household so when not in use, they were placed in the forest or in caves, away from human habitation. They were also kept in rice barns where when turned upside down they became containers for seed rice; a practice that was thought to improve the fertility of the rice. Also, since the drums are made of bronze, they helped to deter predations by scavengers such as rats or mice.

When played, the drums were strung up by a cord to a tree limb or a house beam so that the tympanum hung at approximately a forty-five degree angle.

Karen drum being played

The musician placed his big toe in the lower set of lugs to stabilize the drum while striking the tympanum with a padded mallet. Three different tones may be produced if the tympanum is struck at the center, edge, and midpoint. The cylinder was also struck but with long strips of stiff bamboo that produces a sound like a snare drum. The drums were not tuned to a single scale but had individualized sounds, hence they could be used effectively as a signal to summon a specific group to assemble. It is said that a good drum when struck could be heard for up to ten miles in the mountains. The drums were played continuously for long periods of time since the Karen believe that the tonal quality of a drum cannot be properly judged until it is played for several hours.

The drums were a form of currency that could be traded for slaves, goods or services and were often used in marriage exchanges. They were also a symbol of status, and no Karen could be considered wealthy without one. By the late nineteenth century, some important families owned as many as thirty. The failure to return a borrowed drum often led to internecine disputes among the Karen.

a. Animist Drums and Buddhism

Although the drums were cast primarily for use by groups of non-Buddhist hill people, they were used by the Buddhist kings of Burma and Thailand as musical instruments to be played at court and as appropriate gifts to Buddhist temples and monasteries. The first known record of the Karen drum in Burma is found in an inscription of the Mon king Manuha at Thaton, dated 1056 AD. The word for drum in this inscription occurs in a list of musical instruments played at court and is the compound pham klo: pham is Mon while klo is Karen. The ritual use of Karen drums in lowland royal courts and monasteries continued during the centuries that followed and is an important instance of inversion of the direction in which cultural influences usually flow from the lowlands to the hills.

b. Casting the drums

The town of Nwe Daung, 15 km south of Loikaw, capital of Kayah (formerly Karenni) State, is the only recorded casting site in Burma. Shan craftsmen made drums there for the Karens from approximately 1820 until the town burned in 1889. Karen drums were cast by the lost wax technique; a characteritic that sets them apart from the other bronze drum types that were made with moulds. A five metal formula was used to create the alloy consisting of copper, tin, zinc, silver and gold. Most of the material in the drums is tin and copper with only traces of silver and gold. The Karen made several attempts in the first quarter of the twentieth century to revive the casting of drums but none were successful.

Karen drums casting - 1923

During the late 19th century, non-Karen hill people, attracted to the area by the prospect of work with British teak loggers, bought large numbers of Karen drums and transported them to Thailand and Laos. Consequently, their owners frequently incorrectly identify their drums as being indigenous to these countries.

Object types - Tattooing manual / manuscript

Materials- Paper
Techniques - Drawn
Production place - Made in Burma
Date - 19thC

---

Description
One (of five) pages of a tattoo manuscript. The manuscript is a digest of tattoo designs for a potential client to choose from, and would have been used by the tattooer to advertise his range of work.

In the top half, this page has two frontally faced tigers, in drawn in black ink and coloured in red and yellow, respectively. Their torsoes are divided into grids of auspicious symbols. Around them are lines of text. In the lower half are a series of smaller prancing tigers, also with auspicious symbols marked around them. The botttom quadrant of the page is delineated in red ink and shows two more cursory animal figures and some text.

These five acquisitions (2005.6-23.01-05) constitute pages from the same illustrated manuscript, obtained from three different sources. The leaves, though now separated, were presumably ordered originally as a "parabaik". The pages have all now been glazed and taped at the edges.

The basic format is of rows of animals (mostly tigers but chicks and monkeys are also seen) along with text (in black ink though red is seen in two cases). In some instances the text is embedded in, or around, the animal. In one instance, the outline of the animal's body is made up only of auspicious letters and numbers. The tigers prowl across the page in rows, for the most part coloured in yellow and orange - or in a combination of the two. In one section of the manuscript the body of the tiger is dissected into individual circles filled with auspicious numbers -one circle for each of the four legs, one for the head and one for the tail. Magic squares are evident throughout, and at one point (.05) there are two rows of animals standing above concentric circles, presumably the planets (the peacock [sun] and rabbit [moon] are clear).

Inscriptions
Inscription Type: inscription
Inscription Script: Burmese
Inscription Language: Burmese
Inscription Comment: page/s of illustrated manuscript
Current Location - British Museum, London

Dimensions
Length: 43 centimetres (glazed)
Width: 29 centimetres (glazed)

Condition
Each page is very worm-eaten, though for the most part not destructive of the overall design and legibility of the manuscript.

Curator's comments
Tattooing is a ritual component prevalent throughout South East Asia, including Burma and Cambodia. For a full discussion of the art of ritual tattooing in Cambodia see, Bernon, "Yantra et Mantra", Phnom-Penh, 1998. Olivier de Bernon's well-designed book on the subject reveals how many similarities there are between the arts in Cambodia and Burma and how both systems of magic stem ultimately from India via Thailand.

In her magesterial survey of Burmese culture, "Burmese Crafts, Past and Present", Sylvia Fraser-Lu writes, " Virtually every young man, from a prince of the realm to a village farm boy, delighted in being adorned from the waist to the knee with artistic blueish-black effigies of powerful agile creatures, such as cats, tigers, monkeys and ogres surrounded by a flowering tracery of protective letters from the Burmese alaphabet...The primary function of tattooing was talismanic. It added to male charismsa by offering the bearer a number of advantages, such as invulnerability against all sorts of weaponry, protection against evil spirits and disease, and success in love affairs." (p.138)

Tattooing and the concomitant construction of auspicious space are important aspects of traditional Burmese scoiety and many objects already in the collection illustrate this feature. Tattooing equipment and tattoo diagrams on cloth have been aquired in recent years as also have other objects from elsewhere in Southeast Asia which are convered in similar indications of auspiciousness. The use of magic squares helpfully links these pages to Cambodian notions of what is protective.

Burmese paintings of various types are represented in the collection, but until now nothing of this very striking type has been acquired. These pages make very useful and complementary additions to the collections as well as our abilities to speak about Burmese culture.

Object types - Tattooing manual / manuscript

Materials - Paper
Techniques - Drawn
Production place - Made in Burma
Date - 19thC

---

Description
One (of five) pages of a tattoo manuscript. The manuscript is a digest of tattoo designs for a potential client to choose from, and would have been used by the tattooer to advertise his range of work.

This page is larger than the others and has slightly different detail. In additon to a considerable amount of text, there are images of a tiger, a dragon, an elephant and a (Burmese) Nat-like figure. They stand above concentric circles with animals presumably representing the planets (the peacock [sun] and rabbit [moon] are clear). On the other side of this page, the body of a tiger is dissected into individual circles filled with auspicious numbers -one circle for each of the four legs, one for the head and one for the tail. Magic squares are evident throughout.

These five acquisitions (2005.6-23.01-05) constitute pages from the same illustrated manuscript, obtained from three different sources. The leaves, though now separated, were presumably ordered originally as a "parabaik". The pages have all now been glazed and taped at the edges.

The basic format is of rows of animals (mostly tigers but chicks and monkeys are also seen) along with text (in black ink though red is seen in two cases). In some instances the text is embedded in, or around, the animal. In one instance, the outline of the animal's body is made up only of auspicious letters and numbers. The tigers prowl across the page in rows, for the most part coloured in yellow and orange - or in a combination of the two.

Inscriptions
Inscription Type: inscription
Inscription Script: Burmese
Inscription Language: Burmese
Inscription Comment: page/s of illustrated manuscript


Dimensions
Length: 43 centimetres (glazed)
Width: 29 centimetres (glazed)

Current Location - British Museum, London
Condition
Each page is very worm-eaten, though for the most part not destructive of the overall design and legibility of the manuscript.

Curator's comments
Tattooing is a ritual component prevalent throughout South East Asia, including Burma and Cambodia. For a full discussion of the art of ritual tattooing in Cambodia see, Bernon, "Yantra et Mantra", Phnom-Penh, 1998. Olivier de Bernon's well-designed book on the subject reveals how many similarities there are between the arts in Cambodia and Burma and how both systems of magic stem ultimately from India via Thailand.

In "Burmese Crafts, Past and Present", Sylvia Fraser-Lu writes, " Virtually every young man, from a prince of the realm to a village farm boy, delighted in being adorned from the waist to the knee with artistic blueish-black effigies of powerful agile creatures, such as cats, tigers, monkeys and ogres surrounded by a flowering tracery of protective letters from the Burmese alaphabet...The primary function of tattooing was talismanic. It added to male charismsa by offering the bearer a number of advantages, such as invulnerability against all sorts of weaponry, protection against evil spirits and disease, and success in love affairs." (p.138)

Tattooing and the concomitant construction of auspicious space are important aspects of traditional Burmese society and many objects already in the collection illustrate this feature. Tattooing equipment and tattoo diagrams on cloth have been aquired in recent years as also have other objects from elsewhere in Southeast Asia which are convered in similar indications of auspiciousness. The use of magic squares helpfully links these pages to Cambodian notions of what is protective.

Burmese paintings of various types are represented in the collection, but until now nothing of this very striking type has been acquired. These pages make very useful and complementary additions to the collections as well as our abilities to speak about Burmese culture.

Object types - tattooing manual / manuscript

Materials - Paper
Techniques - Drawn
Production place - Made in Burma
Date - 19thC

---

Description
One (of five) pages of a tattoo manuscript. The manuscript is a digest of tattoo designs for a potential client to choose from, and would have been used by the tattooer to advertise his range of work.

Here monkeys and a bird appear in addition to tigers. There are magic squares all around and the figures of the animals are interspersed with text.

These five acquisitions (2005.6-23.01-05) constitute pages from the same illustrated manuscript, obtained from three different sources. The leaves, though now separated, were presumably ordered originally as a "parabaik". The pages have all now been glazed and taped at the edges.

The basic format is of rows of animals (mostly tigers but chicks and monkeys are also seen) along with text (in black ink though red is seen in two cases). In some instances the text is embedded in, or around, the animal. In one instance, the outline of the animal's body is made up only of auspicious letters and numbers. The tigers prowl across the page in rows, for the most part coloured in yellow and orange - or in a combination of the two. In one section of the manuscript the body of the tiger is dissected into individual circles filled with auspicious numbers -one circle for each of the four legs, one for the head and one for the tail. Magic squares are evident throughout, and at one point (.05) there are two rows of animals standing above concentric circles, presumably the planets (the peacock [sun] and rabbit [moon] are clear). (TRB)

Inscriptions
Inscription Type: inscription
Inscription Script: Burmese
Inscription Language: Burmese
Inscription Comment: page/s of illustrated manuscript


Dimensions
Length: 43 centimetres (glazed)
Width: 29 centimetres (glazed)

Current Location - British Museum, London
Condition
Each page is very worm-eaten, though for the most part not destructive of the overall design and legibility of the manuscript.

Curator's comments
Tattooing is a ritual component prevalent throughout South East Asia, including Burma and Cambodia. For a full discussion of the art of ritual tattooing in Cambodia see, Bernon, "Yantra et Mantra", Phnom-Penh, 1998. Olivier de Bernon's well-designed book on the subject reveals how many similarities there are between the arts in Cambodia and Burma and how both systems of magic stem ultimately from India via Thailand.

In her magesterial survey of Burmese culture, "Burmese Crafts, Past and Present", Sylvia Fraser-Lu writes, " Virtually every young man, from a prince of the realm to a village farm boy, delighted in being adorned from the waist to the knee with artistic blueish-black effigies of powerful agile creatures, such as cats, tigers, monkeys and ogres surrounded by a flowering tracery of protective letters from the Burmese alaphabet...The primary function of tattooing was talismanic. It added to male charismsa by offering the bearer a number of advantages, such as invulnerability against all sorts of weaponry, protection against evil spirits and disease, and success in love affairs." (p.138)

Tattooing and the concomitant construction of auspicious space are important aspects of traditional Burmese scoiety and many objects already in the collection illustrate this feature. Tattooing equipment and tattoo diagrams on cloth have been aquired in recent years as also have other objects from elsewhere in Southeast Asia which are convered in similar indications of auspiciousness. The use of magic squares helpfully links these pages to Cambodian notions of what is protective.

Burmese paintings of various types are represented in the collection, but until now nothing of this very striking type has been acquired. These pages make very useful and complementary additions to the collections as well as our abilities to speak about Burmese culture.

Object types - Tattooing manual
manuscript - Drawing

Materials - Paper
Techniques- Drawn
Production place- Made in Burma
Date -19thC

---

Description
One (of five) pages of a tattoo manuscript, in Burmese. The manuscript is a digest of tattoo designs for a potential client to choose from, and would have been used by the tattooer to advertise his range of work.

This page is larger than the others and has slightly different detail. In additon to a considerable amount of text, there are images of a tiger, a dragon, an elephant and a (Burmese) Nat-like figure. They stand above concentric circles with animals presumably representing the planets (the peacock [sun] and rabbit [moon] are clear). On the other side of this page, the body of a tiger is dissected into individual circles filled with auspicious numbers -one circle for each of the four legs, one for the head and one for the tail. Magic squares are evident throughout.

The basic format is of rows of animals (mostly tigers but chicks and monkeys are also seen) along with text (in black ink though red is seen in two cases). In some instances the text is embedded in, or around, the animal. In one instance, the outline of the animal's body is made up only of auspicious letters and numbers. The tigers prowl across the page in rows, for the most part coloured in yellow and orange - or in a combination of the two.

Dimensions
Length: 43 centimetres (glazed)
Width: 29 centimetres (glazed)

Current Location - British Museum, London

Condition
Each page is very worm-eaten, though for the most part not destructive of the overall design and legibility of the manuscript.

Curator's comments
These five acquisitions (2005.6-23.01-05) constitute pages from the same illustrated manuscript. The leaves, though now separated, were presumably ordered originally as a "parabaik". The pages have all now been glazed and taped at the edges. Tattooing is a ritual component prevalent throughout South East Asia, including Burma and Cambodia. For a full discussion of the art of ritual tattooing in Cambodia see, Bernon, "Yantra et Mantra", Phnom-Penh, 1998. Olivier de Bernon's well-designed book on the subject reveals how many similarities there are between the arts in Cambodia and Burma and how both systems of magic stem ultimately from India via Thailand.

In "Burmese Crafts, Past and Present", Sylvia Fraser-Lu writes, " Virtually every young man, from a prince of the realm to a village farm boy, delighted in being adorned from the waist to the knee with artistic blueish-black effigies of powerful agile creatures, such as cats, tigers, monkeys and ogres surrounded by a flowering tracery of protective letters from the Burmese alaphabet...The primary function of tattooing was talismanic. It added to male charismsa by offering the bearer a number of advantages, such as invulnerability against all sorts of weaponry, protection against evil spirits and disease, and success in love affairs." (p.138)

Tattooing and the concomitant construction of auspicious space are important aspects of traditional Burmese society and many objects already in the collection illustrate this feature. Tattooing equipment and tattoo diagrams on cloth have been aquired in recent years as also have other objects from elsewhere in Southeast Asia which are convered in similar indications of auspiciousness. The use of magic squares helpfully links these pages to Cambodian notions of what is protective.

Burmese paintings of various types are represented in the collection, but until now nothing of this very striking type has been acquired. These pages make very useful and complementary additions to the collections as well as our abilities to speak about Burmese culture.

Object types - Plaque

Materials - Terracotta
Techniques- Moulded
Production place- Made in Burma (Pyu)

Date - 8thC-10thC (this date according to Guy 2002; Luce suggests 10th-11thC)

---

Description
Terracotta votive plaque, pressed from a mould and depicting the Buddha of the past, the historical Buddha, and a bodhisattva, according to Luce, Maitreya. The plaque is shaped in an arch-like structure and the three figures are seated on lotus thrones below which are decorative designs. On the reverse can be seen the veins of a leaf, probably of a peepul tree, on which the plaque has been pressed while drying.

Inscriptions
Inscription Type: inscription
Inscription Script: Pyu
Inscription Position: bottom
Inscription Language: Pyu
Inscription Transliteration: Budha mga: psu: khnu
Inscription Comment: for transliteration see Luce 1969; p100

Inscription Type: inscription
Inscription Script: English
Inscription Position: reverse
Inscription Language: English
Inscription Content: U Mya 105
Inscription Comment: written in red felt-tip pen. This probably refers to figure 105 in a book on terracotta votive tablets.


Dimensions
Height: 8 centimetres
Width: 6.5 centimetres

Current Location - British Museum, London
Condition - Good

Curator's comments
Bibliography: Guy 2002 Burma, Art and Archaeology; Chapter 3. Offering up a rare jewel. p.28, fig 3.7. BMP.

Web Version | Mobile Version

OCTOBER 9 - 10 10AM - 7PM VIEWING VENUEView map ARTSPACE@Helutrans 39 Keppel Road, #02-04 Tanjong Pagar Distripark, Singapore On view are also a selection of Asian Contemporary Art and Chinese Modern Paintings. AUCTION 29 November 10AM VENUE Grand Hall Hong Kong Exhibition & Convention Centre No. 1 Expo Drive, Wan Chai Hong Kong ENQUIRIES Florence Wee fwee@christies.com +65 6235 3828 Walter Spies (Germany 1895 - 1942) Balinesische Legende I Nyoman Masriadi (Indonesia b. 1973) Trombone Painted in 1929 Estimate on request Painted in 2010 HK$780,000 - 1,404,000 US$100,000 - 180,000

Christies.com | Christies Live | Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe

TAGUNDAING Burma/Myanmar Mandalay Period, 19th Century Carved wood lacquered gilded with mirror inlay h. 72 in., w. 14 1/2 in., d. 5 3/4 in. pagodas Current Location - Northern Illinois University Collection Gift of Konrad and Sarah Bekker, 1987 BC87.01.13

The gallery’s small Tagundaing is a continuation of the ancient Indian practice of erecting monumental columns which symbolize the spread of the Buddhist faith. In Burma, these great Buddhist flagstaffs were raised in monastery compounds to celebrate the submission of local animistic gods to the triumphant Buddhist doctrine and law. Ranging anywhere from 60-80 feet in height, the Tagundaings were usually surmounted by ornamental mythical animals such as the Hintha bird, seen here atop the miniature Tagundaing. Frequently, the base of a large Tagundaing is set between piles carved in the form of mythical Thadya Nats. Originating from animistic practices, Thadaya and Thadya-min Nats are benevolent, and sometimes mischievous, cloud-dwelling spirits believed by some to be the ancestors of the Burmese people. At the foot of the flagstaff is the Earth Goddess wringing her hair. She is quite commonly represented associated with the flagstaff on ancient manuscripts, on woven manuscript wrapping ribbon sasygyo as well as on the oldest Tagundaing found in Pagan. Her placement there may indicate symbolically the recognition of her role in assisting the local Burmese population towards accepting Buddhism.