Inya Institute Spring 2023 Newsletter

The Inya Institute

Quarterly Newsletter Spring 2023

M

yanmar’s currently expanding civil war is bringing to the fore long-standing narratives about its borderlands, which now assume additional critical relevance. As you will read on pp. 3–7, Jangai Jap and Billie Thoidingjam Guarino, two of our CAORC-INYA fellows who hail from Kachin State and Manipur (Northeast India) respectively, reflect on these borderland issues following field work conducted during the summer of 2022 in Thailand for the former, and Northeast India for the latter. Both accounts tell of incredible hardship, acute precarity, but also tenacious resilience and relentless hope.

As we seek to contribute to the crucial conversation on Myanmar’s borderlands – their past, present, and future – the institute, together with partners in Myanmar and neighboring countries, will hold a “Summer Research & Mentoring Workshop Series” scheduled for June 26-July 28, 2023, and an international conference on these themes in mid-2024.

The first event, the workshop series, will be led by a scholar specializing in borderland issues and will involve the participation of six to eight Myanmar junior researchers, interested in developing research papers on the topic. The second event, the conference, will offer this group of researchers an opportunity to present their final papers a year later to international In this issue Reflections from the Field Reflections from the Field Insights News from our staff Current Opportunities at Inya Upcoming Opportunities at Inya Upcoming Events in the U.S. and beyond New Books on Myanmar

www.inyainstitute.org

and Myanmar peers. In the meantime, interim online workshops will help them develop their data collection and analysis, and oral presentation skills.

Also aligned with the need to advance our collective conservation about Myanmar’s borderlands and following last year’s success, our 2023 “Languages of Myanmar Course Series” will introduce learners to the fundamentals of Kachin, Karen, and Shan languages. With increased opportunity to learn languages spoken in the regions will come a greater understanding of the crucial role they have played and will continue to play in the country’s future.

In our Yangon office, we wish to bid farewell to Zin Nyi Nyi Zaw who joined our team as Digital Resource and Information Assistant two years ago at an extremely difficult time. We are very grateful for his work and wish him all the best in his new endeavors now that he and his family have relocated in Taunggyi. Aung Kyaw Phyo has taken over from Zin Nyi. Also new to our team is Pyae Phyo Myint, our Education and Training Manager. Read their profiles on pp. 11–12 and join us in welcoming them to our team!

The Inya Institute Team in Yangon

3 “Pondering over the State in Myanmar” by Dr. J. Jap 5 “Surviving Displacement and the Art of Storytelling in the Borderlands of Myanmar” by Dr. B. Guarino 7 “A Review of Digital Collections of Shan Manuscripts” by Dr. J. Khur-Yearn 11 13 14 15 16

Address in Myanmar: 50 B-1 Thirimingala Street (2) 8th Ward Kamayut Township Yangon, Myanmar +95(0)17537884

Library: It currently holds a little more than 830 titles and offers free access to scholarly works on Myanmar Studies published overseas that are not readily available in the country. It also has original works published on neighboring Southeast Asian countries and textbooks on various fields of social sciences and humanities. Optic fiber wifi connection is also provided without any charge.

Address in the U.S.: c/o Center for Burma Studies 101 Pottenger House 520 College View Court Northern Illinois University DeKalb, IL 60115 USA +1 815-753-0512

Library digital catalog: Access here.

Working hours: 9am-5pm (Mon-Fri)

Director of Publication: Dr. François Tainturier

Digital archive: It features objects, manuscripts, books, paintings, and photographs identified, preserved, and digitized during research projects undertaken by the institute throughout Myanmar and its diverse states and regions. The collections featured here reflect the country’s religious, cultural, and ethnic diversity and the various time periods covered by the institute’s projects developed in collaboration with local partners.

Layout and Formatting: Zin Nyi Nyi Zaw & Aung Kyaw Phyo Administrative Assistant: Chai Mana U.S. Liaison Officer: Carmin Berchiolly Contact us: contact@inyainstitute.org Visit us on Facebook: facebook.com/inyainstitute.org

Digital archive: Access here.

The Inya Institute is a member center of the Council of American Research Centers (CAORC).

It is funded by the U.S. Department of Education under Title VI of the Higher Education Act (2020-2024).

Academic Board

Board of Directors

Maxime Boutry, Centre Asie du Sud-Est, Paris Jane Ferguson, Australian National University Lilian Handlin, Harvard University Bod Hudson, Sydney University Mathias Jenny, Chiang Mai University Ni Ni Khet, University Paris 1-Sorbonne Alexey Kirichenko, Moscow State University Christian Lammerts, Rutgers University Mandy Sadan, University of Warwick San San Hnin Tun, INALCO, Paris Juliane Schober, Arizona State University Nicola Tannebaum, Lehigh University (retd) Alicia Turner, York University, Toronto U Thaw Kaung, Yangon Universities’ Central Library (retd)

President: Catherine Raymond (Northern Illinois University) Treasurer: Alicia Turner (York University, Toronto) Secretary: François Tainturier Jane Ferguson (Australian National University) Lilian Handlin (Harvard University) Nicola Tannenbaum (Lehigh University)(retd) Thamora Fishel (Cornell University)

Ref lec tions f rom the Field Pondering over the State in Myanmar Jangai Jap, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Government at the University of Texas at Austin and a recipient of the 2022 CAORC-INYA Scholars Fellowship. She studies Comparative Politics with a focus on ethnic politics, nationalism, minority-state relations, and civil war with a regional focus on Burma/Myanmar. In her on-going book project, she examines mundane citizen-state encounters and their implications for ethnic minorities’ attachment to the state.

Conducting field research has never come naturally to me. I tend to drag my feet getting out to the field. I struggle to fill up my week with appointments. And I often find myself spending a significant portion of my time in the field dealing with non-research matters (e.g., tracking down delayed/lost luggage, sickness, etc.). But time and time again, being in the field never disappoints. I always (unexpectedly) meet people who are most generous with their time and have extraordinary conversations, providing new insight that could be gleaned only in the field.

While in the field in Myanmar during the summer of 2017, that extraordinaryconversation was with a civil servant. I was on a pre-dissertation research trip.

My research interest then was ethnic minorities’ political representation. The return to electoral politics in 2010 made political representation of ethnic minorities possible, and I had hoped to better understand if and how political representation shapes ethnic minorities’ political behavior and attitudes. But my conversation with the civil servant sparked a new research avenue.

Our discussion was not a research interview. He was telling me about his day at the local government office, people he encountered, problems he helped solve, problems he could not solve, and so on.

From our discussion I realized that people across Myanmar have routine, quotidian interactions with the Myanmar state via civil servants, and the state holds a near monopoly over administrative services ordinary citizens seek. People visit streetlevel bureaucracy to apply for NRC, passports and other government-issued identification documents, to register their

household members, to apply for building permit, to register ownership of a new plot of land and so on. These are mundane but arguably most tangible experiences with the state. What happen in these citizenstate encounters? And what are their implications for minority-state relations?

These became the motivating questions for the new direction of my research.

After a year of conducting field research in Myanmar, I left Yangon in December 2019 for a brief holiday, intending to come back in the new year. However, due to the pandemic and the coup in 2021, I would not be able to conduct field research again until the summer of 2022 when I travelled to Thailand, with the generous support from the CAORC - INYA fellowship.

Figure 1: Survey implementation on the Chin Hills, Fall 2019

Figure 2: Highway to Mae Sot, Summer 2022

3

Residents of the government-controlled children at a local school, and getting a I arrived right when Southeast Asian area routinely visit local government formal employment would be unthinkcountries were relaxing their Covid-19 offices to obtain a National Registration able. Furthermore, for ordinary citizens, protocols. Due to severe weather and these documents are proof that they have other exceptional circumstances, I arrived Card, to register their household members, get documentation of their property rights to operate a small market or work a in Chiang Mai twenty-four hours later farmland, or that they own their properthan my original arrival time and without ownership and so on. But such official any luggage. My luggage would not arrive documentations seem almost unnecessary ties. After all, if your ownership of a piece of land is not recognized, do you really in Chiang Mai for another three weeks… in the liberated areas. If you wanted to buy a piece of land, you just write up the own that land? In a way, these documents when I was in Mae Sot. serve as a form of protection, to a certain My research objective in summer 2022 terms of agreement on an A4 paper and was to better understand what the “state” ask the village chief and a witness to sign extent, from arbitrary whims of the state the paper (in addition to you and your and the elites. These realizations left me is like in the liberated areas, i.e., areas of Myanmar controlled by the ethnic revolu- transacting counterpart). It seems unnec- with unease because they underscore why tionary organizations (EROs). These areas essary to register this transaction to the durable the state can be and how its existauthority governing the area. Here the de ence is propped up by ordinary citizens’ are beyond the reaches of the Myanmar facto state does not appear to have a final compliance with its demands. state, but we know there is political and As I wrapped up my field research social order in such areas in Myanmar and say on who you are, who you are related to beyond (there is an extensive literature on or what you own. In fact, the de facto state and was waiting to board my flight at “rebel governance” in social sciences.) We seems uninterested in doing so. Not need- Suvarnabhumi Airport, I replayed some ing to engage in routinized citizen-state of the meetings and conversations I also know that there is extensive serencounters feels liberating indeed, but I had in the prior weeks. I was relieved vice provision, including healthcare and constantly wondered if the de facto state and thankful that many individuals so education, in the areas under the major generously shared their time with me.

EROs in Myanmar. Moreover, EROs also should behave more like the official state (specifically, in terms of public adminisThe moment that lingered on my mind provide extensive judicial services. Even as I boarded my flight was when I saw residents of government-controlled might tration).

Visiting local government offices is a Myawaddy across Moei/Thaungyin approach the ERO authorities to settle River from Mae Sot. In that moment, I land disputes, inheritance disagreements, reluctant task for most people, yet there is a clear demand for officially recognized am once again reminded of how cruel personal status issues, and so on. At the documents. And the demand for services the coercive state can be, especially same time, a major feature of the state is of the administrative state exists because when it becomes fused with a ruthless making the population and territory it without these irksome documents, the autocratic regime. And I am left with governs legible.1 How do the leaders of these organizations think about their role kind of life an individual wishes to purquestions about whether the adminisas the de facto state in these areas? Beyond sue may not be possible. Without these trative services provided by the state service provision, how do they administer documents, they cannot register their could be de-monopolized. the territories under their control?

During my fieldwork I was able to connect, in person, with key leaders in the major EROs as well as with individuals who have lived in the liberated areas. Those I met in person would then virtually connect me to their friends and colleagues living in the liberated areas.

I learned about what counts as forms of identification, title to land/property ownership, and other forms of official documentation. It became clear very quickly that the de facto state in the liberated areas is much more informal and personal than the state I was used to studying. Given that the EROs are armed revolutionary organizations, this is not surprising—setting up bureaucratized public administraFigure 3: A police station in Laiza, the headquarters of the Kachin Independence Organization tion structure is unlikely to be a priority (Photograph by David Brenner, 2014). for them.

1

Scott, James C. Seeing like a state: How certain schemes to improve the human condition have failed. Yale University Press, 1998.

4

Ref lec tions f rom the Field Surviving Displacement and the Art of Storytelling in the Borderlands of Myanmar Billie Thoidingjam Guarino, Ph.D., is an Independent Scholar. Having grown up in northeastern India, a region plagued by armed conflict for over seven decades, and as a survivor of that conflict, she focuses on exploring inclusive pedagogy vis-à-vis minority literature(s), and intersections of gender with security studies, migration, and conflict in South & Southeast Asia. She conducted her fieldwork in Champhai and Aizawl in Mizoram and Moreh and Chaurachandpur in Manipur.

“People do not know us or Myanmar.

And those who know us seem to have forgotten about our people and us.” - Y1 My task today is to reflect on my time with Myanmar’s “forgotten people” in the borderlands of India and an iteration of their stories, struggles, and the military’s brutality that has rendered them homeless.

As I ponder, vivid memories of the individuals I encountered flood my thoughts.

Everyone one of them wanted an end to the violence and longed to return home. I remember moments of excitement - first helicopter ride from Aizawl to Champhai, Figure 1. Resilience - collage of artwork by children in shelters in Northeastern India sharing a plate of ‘memu’ with the people in the shelters and having da-nyin-thee with them, crossing across to Myanmar at I adopted ethnographic and qualitative later, the girl was still in the same posithe Zokhawthar border and walking on research methods to conduct phenomeno- tion, her gaze blank, mechanically hewing ‘Burmese soil’ again, etc. logical interviews with protestors, asylum- the wood. I cannot help but wonder about My project investigated the Tatmadaw’s seekers, CDMers [participants to the Civil what she must have gone through. The Disobedience Movement], and PDF [People Tatmadaw has killed, imprisoned, tortured, biopolitical regime and strategy of ‘slow and sexually abused children. According to Defence Forces] members. This approach genocide.’ Rob Nixon employs the term the Human Rights Council report pub“slow violence” in his book, Slow Violence was a crucial and innovative component of the research, as it reflected my personal lished in June 2022, detained children have and the Environmentalism of the Poor, to been subjected to abuse similar to adults.2 background of growing up within a culportray the disregard we exhibit towards Like the adults, the children deal with ture that places importance on storytelling the long-drawn-out and lethal consethe trauma of displacement and loss of and orality in conflict-ridden Manipur. quences of environmental crises, which home and endure harsh living conditions I want to tell the story of the children starkly contrasts with the attentiongrabbing, dramatic messaging that propels asylum seekers. I did not interview them, and limited access to education, healthcare, food, and water. However, they have public mobilization. I incorporated Judith but they were conspicuously present coped better with the trauma they had throughout my research. They were not Butler’s concept of “precariousness” to experienced. Their artworks tell a story highlight asylum-seekers’ inescapable on- actively protesting the military dictaof remarkable resilience and adaptability. tological state of displacement and human torship but exhibited their defiance of They have formed close-knit friendships insecurity. I argued that their persecution authoritarianism and resilience through with other children and learned to rely on their artworks. I documented their art is a result of systemic and structural faceach other for support. It was endearing to made on walls and pages of the records tors, including disciplinary power of imsee that a group of four girls had adopted prisonment, supervision, and surveillance, register that documented people in each a stray kitten in one of the shelters. shelter. and the invisible power of social control Another aspect of storytelling that I I am still disturbed by a young girl who and regulations. I explored corporeal vulnerability, the politicization of bodies, and was shaving a block of wood into kindling. have to highlight is the lack of ethical how the performance of protest can rede- I saw her as we walked in to see the ‘Myan- concerns of Indian ‘parachute journalists’ who visit the northeastern states mar side’ - a stone’s throw away from the fine the boundaries of oppressed bodies and their potential for political resistance. shelter. When we walked back a few hours for ‘scoops.’ The Union Home Ministry Name Changed “Detained children have reportedly experienced many of the same types of abuses that have by used against adults: cutting with knives, beating with fists, guns, and rods, kicking, pulling out fingernails and teeth, burning with cigarette butts, stress positions, mock executions and burials, deprivation of food and water, and being forced to drink toilet water.”

1

2

5

had sent an advisory to “the four northeastern states Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh” to not give asylum except for medical emergencies.

On June 19, 2022, The Print published an article: “‘They’re taking over our hills’: Manipur groups want NRC to weed out Myanmar refugees,” by journalist Sonal Matharu. During her interview with Mary and John, she unintentionally disclosed their location and identity, despite changing their names and taking photos from behind to avoid revealing their faces.

Asylum-seekers who come under the radar of the state are arrested under the Figure 2. Four girls and their kitten in Khuangleng in Champhai District, Mizoram Foreigners Act. On June 28, 2022, nine days after the article was published, the Manipur Police conducted a “massive operation” Europe. As a result, certain gaps emerge in areas plagued by conflict and violence. checking door to door in search of illegal Myanmar nationals, and 80 individuals where people disappear, are forgotten, and Like George Floyd’s last words, “I can’t were apprehended. The adults - 25 men and ignored from our collective and individual breathe,” becoming the refrain and a ralconsciousness – one of these gaps is the lying cry of the Black Lives Movement in 35 women - were imprisoned, while the 20 minors were sent to a juvenile observa- violence and consequent refugee crisis in America, for the people of Myanmar, surMyanmar. viving the military’s violence and living to tion home. These children were still in When the coup happened in Myanmar, tell the tale of the oppression has become the juvenile centers during the time of my and military brutality was exposed, every- an act of resistance. fieldwork. one made the right noises. The situation To conclude my reflections, l draw In 2018, the separation and detenno longer gets enough attention, but that upon the crucial role played by ‘storytion of children from their parents who telling’ and victim-survivor testimonies were seeking asylum in the United States does not mean the violence has ended.

There is an ongoing civil war in parts of in closing the aforementioned gap. The sparked global outrage. Little attention Myanmar, but state-controlled media sup- protesters, members of the PDF, and is paid to detained Burmese children, and there is no public outcry. There is no press all news of violence. Shelling by the performance artists that I studied for my military happens almost every day. Such project play a crucial role in bridging this one to tell their story. There is no one to footage is only available through indigap. One of the most wonderful things share their story, and even the parachute journalists have moved on as their stories vidual uploads on Twitter and Facebook. about storytelling is that a tale’s conclusion is yet to be written, waiting to unfold in are not newsworthy or too controversial, The act of recording and sharing this footage becomes an act of defiance and the future. I hope the story concludes with leaving these stories buried and forgotprotest. The term “resistance” has become my little friends returning home to rebuild ten. While migration and refugee crises have been actively engaged by academics, so idealized that it has become fashionable a Myanmar founded on the principles of for many. However, resistance is often the democracy. activists, journalists, and policymakers, only means of survival for those who live the focus regions are often the US and

Figure 3. Children returning from school at Zokhawthar village in Champhai District, Mizoram. The Young Mizo Association and the Village Council have been instrumental in enrolling children asylum seekers in school and providing uniforms and books.

Figure 4. Zokhawthar-Rihkhawdar bridge. The photo was taken from the Rih (short for Rihkhawdar) in Falam District, Chin State, Myanmar.

6

Insig hts A Review of Digital Collections of Shan Manuscripts Dr Jotika Khur-Yearn is the librarian for Southeast Asia, History, Religion and Philosophy at the Library of SOAS University of London and a Teaching Fellow of the Shan State Buddhist University, Taunggyi, Shan State, Myanmar. His research focuses on classical Shan lik loung poetic texts, many of which are still preserved in traditional locally made Shan manuscripts. This expertise has led to his participation in several projects on cataloguing and preserving old Shan manuscripts during the last two decades. A Co-Principal Investigator of a UCLA-funded documentation project undertaken by the Inya Institute in the Shan State, he puts this project in the larger context of digital collections of Shan manuscripts available worlwide.

The Winter 2023 newsletter reported performances are involved including the Shan manuscripts being now available for about field trips conducted in late 2022 practice of tattooing and making magical the public at large, it is important to recfirst in Taung-gyi and then in Kengtung for candles. Procedures related to these ritual ognize that there are still challenges ahead identifying manuscript collections at moperformances are usually presented in the and digitization of manuscripts remains a nastic libraries and with a view to digitizing form of instruction manuals and featured long-term effort. them in the future. At this time, it seems in old Shan manuscripts (Terwiel, 2003:33).

Here, I would like to introduce some appropriate to gain a broader picture of In this piece, I discuss the digital collec- digital collections of Shan manuscripts that collections of Shan manuscripts (including tions of Shan manuscripts that I have I have visited and accessed in the past eight those available in digital format) currently accessed over many occasions in the past years or so. The manuscripts that are preserved at institutions outside Myanmar. few years. Digital collections of Shan featured here below are selected samples The review that follows will show that Shan manuscripts have become treasure houses and represent the highlights of these manuscripts (whether in digital format or for me and opened to me the gates to troves digital collections. not) are more readily accessible for research of information about various aspects of There is a notable Shan manuscript from these institutions than at any monas- Shan history, culture, and Buddhism as I in the collection of the Asia and Pacific tic institutions located in the country. The will show here through prominent examMuseum in Warsaw, Poland (Reference no. purpose of our UCLA-funded project on ples. In addition to a greater accessibility MAP 19771; see next page upper picture).

Shan monastic libraries is an attempt to of digital collections of Shan manuscripts, My assumption, based on my assessment redress the situation and ensure that manu- I was also involved in a few cataloguing of the digital version of this manuscript, is scripts held in significant monastic libraries projects of Shan manuscripts; consequently, that while the manuscript is incomplete, of the Shan State are preserved in correct I came across or was made aware of many it was also partly destroyed by a modern conditions and in digital format, and also more collections of Shan manuscripts that artist, who used it as a base/tool to attract accessible to the community of scholars for are still awaiting digitization. collectors. The artist may have used paper research purposes.

It is amazing that we are now living colon to cover the old texts on some pages Before starting this review of collecin and experiencing the digital age. With and make them look like new blank papers tions, let me first offer some background the help of digital technologies, it is much for the images depicting the famous Eight on manuscript cultural practices in the easier for us to get access to old documents Victories of the Buddha. Underneath of Shan State. As it is well known, the tradisuch as manuscripts. Digitization of these images, there are Burmese descriptions tion of making and commissioning Shan materials offers many benefits. It allows written with a modern ball-pen. manuscripts came out of the Buddhist us access to original documents which are The subject of the text is on the teachpractice of merit making and other ritual normally kept in the archives or access ing of Buddhism, with a focus on the performances. These traditions and ritual to special collections usually preserved meditation of the life of a lay person as a practices still exist today even though they under strict rules. In other cases, like Shan messy and suffering one and the life of a are declining rapidly. Because of this tradi- manuscripts which have been traditionally monk as a simple and peaceful one. While tion shared across the area, collections of kept by local communities, digitization also the physical form of the manuscript looks manuscripts can be found all over the Shan allows us access to these sources without to be old, I can also assume that the genre communities. having to travel to remote places which of the text is also of an early style of classiWhile the majority of Shan manuscripts may be also difficult to reach. And yet, even cal Shan poetic literature, known in Shan feature Buddhist texts, other subject fields though digital technologies have become as ‘Langka Sawng Kio’ [Poetry of Two that can be found in these textual sources widely available in the last twenty years Strands], confirming a highly possibilinclude folklore, history, astrology and spir- and many Shan manuscripts from various ity of an old age of the manuscript. It is itual rituals, such as healing, charms, and museum collections in European countries also notable that the script of the text also protection in which many types of ritual have been digitized, with some invaluable looks to be an old form of early Shan writ7

Map 19771: Asia and Pacific Museum, Warsaw,

ing which did not use tonal mark: indeed, Both manuscripts have beautiful, the manuscript’s text does not feature a gilded covers. While the cover of the single tone. manuscript at the British Library is gilded Turning to manuscripts of higher scholar- and decorated with floral arts and inlaid ly significance, I would like to briefly present coloured glasses, the cover of Wat Pa Pao’s two copies of Buddhānussati, or ‘Verses of manuscript is all but gilded without any Recollection on the Buddha’, that can be re- floral art or glass. This type of plain gilded cited as a meditation on the Buddha and the manuscript has been described by Jana Igqualities of his teachings. Both manuscripts unma as “a bar of pure gold”; Igunma also are written in Shan script, with one preserved added that “the idea of pure gold rather at the British Library and the other at Wat Pa refers in a figurative sense to the purity Pao in Chiang Mai, Thailand; both have been and the moral value of the sacred texts digitized and can be fully accessed online as contained in these manuscripts” (Igunma shown in the photos below.

2016 ). Usually such gilded covers were

MS Ref: Or 12040

made possible by sticking several layers of the sa mulberry papers together and then having them painted with red or black lacquer to harden the cover before decorating it further with floral art designs and gold decorations. Manuscripts with gilded covers are an indication of a significant donation of manuscripts from well-to-do people in the communities such as local lords or landlords.

When comparing the texts of the two manuscripts, we can see that more than ninety-nine percent of them are the same. However, it is worth noting

MS Code: 010910102_00 ; Lanna no. 4453]

8

MS Ref: Or 12040

that there is one very important word, a rhyming word, which is missing from the manuscript copy of the British Library. And this missing word is found in the manuscript copy of Wat Pa Pao. This example shows how digitization of manuscripts allows researchers to identify scriptural variations between similar texts and how this new technology offers researchers an opportunity to expand textual research across collections spread around the world, in turn contributing to a philological approach to Buddhism. While each of the manuscripts has its own unique features, some manuscripts also share some commonalities, e.g. the main contents of the texts and the sequence of how data such colophon of the text, including date of composing and the names of the original donors are placed in the overall text. This is clear evidence that all manuscripts are invaluable and all of them ought to be preserved and, ideally, digitized.

MS Code: 010910102_00 ; Lanna no. 4453]

There is another digital manuscript entitled Buddhānussati, which is kept at the Punglong Monastery, Kyaukme township in the northern Shan State of Myanmar (MS No. 92).

The significance of this manuscript is that, although it bears the same title, Buddhānussati, as the two manuscripts presented above, the genre or style of writing is rather different. Yet, the text’s content seems similar across of all three manuscripts. This manuscript is dated 1920 (1282 SE; image no. 0011232), but further study is needed to determine whether the date is a copy date or the date of composing. My initial assessment is that this manuscript could be the original work, judging by the fact that there are many corrections of spelling mistakes throughout the manuscript. Further research is needed for determining the name of the author of the text and whether a copy of this text is found somewhere else.

9

This manuscript is part of a digitization project conducted by the Inya Institute in the village of Pung Long village, Kyaukme township, that took place in 2017-2018 and supported by the Gerda Henkel Foundation. I see this digitization project as a special one mainly because the collection is situated in an area where a number of armed groups have been operating for many decades. Recent fighting north of Kyaukme between the armed wing of RCSS, one of the Shan armed groups, and the Ta’ang armed group, TNLA, have led to the displacement of villagers and may also have compromised the integrity of Pung Long Monastery and the paraphernalia preserved there, including its manuscript collections. Following the digitization of its ninety-two manuscripts, I was able to conduct a cataloguing of the collection which is now available at this link. This digital collection is a real treasure house for the history of the monastery and the area which has a rich diversity of ethnicity and cultural heritage.

To sum up, I would like to say that the digital collections of Shan manuscripts are highly significant treasure-houses. I only briefly mentioned the collection of the Asia and Pacific Museum, Warsaw (Poland), which holds 50 manuscripts (all digitized) and that of the British Library which has digitized 10 Shan manuscripts.

Also worth mentioning are the Digital Library of Northern Thai Manuscripts, featuring 178 Shan manuscripts, and that of SOAS, University of London, which has digitized 4 of over 20 Shan manuscripts. As can be seen from this brief review, most Shan manuscripts in digital format are available from institutions located outside Myanmar, there is therefore a need to pursue documentation of collections of manuscripts in the Shan State and digitization of these collections, especially at this time of deep political crisis. Our UCLA-funded project conducted across the Shan State and Northern Thailand aims to partly fill this gap.

References

Websites

Igunma, Jana (2016). ““A bar of pure gold”: Shan Buddhist manuscripts”, Asian and African studies blog, The British Library, UK, published on 25 March 2016. [accessed 26 June 2022].

The British Library, Digitised Manuscripts: https://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/

Khur-Yearn, Jotika (2018). “Working notes on the cataloguing of the digital documents of the monastic collection of Pung Long monastery, Kyaukme, Shan State, Myanmar”; a full final version of the catalogue and the digital collection are kept at the Inya Institute, Yangon, Myanmar (https://archive-inyainstitute.org/).

Inya Institute Digital Archive : https:// archive-inyainstitute.org/

Khur-Yearn, Jotika (2020). “Working notes on the cataloguing of the digital documents of the Burmese collection at the Asia and Pacific Museum, Warsaw, Poland”; a final version of the catalogue and the digital collection are available online at https://manuskrypty. muzeumazji.pl/en-collection-burmese/ .

Terwiel, B. J., & Chāichư̄n Khamdǣngyō̜ttai.

(2003). Shan manuscripts. Stuttgart: F. Steiner.

10

Digital Library of Northern Thai Manuscripts (Lanna): https://iiif.crossasia.org/s/ lanna/

Asia and Pacific Museum, Warzaw, Poland: https://manuskrypty.muzeumazji.pl/encollection-burmese/

News from our Staff

levels, backgrounds and motivation levels. conducting research. This was done by participating as a co-lead researcher in a The discussion time with graduate level research project focusing on the barristudents was particularly demanding as I had to prepare lots of teaching learning ers university level students faced when materials including reading papers, ques- continuing their education after the coup. tions and videos etc. The most memorable That was my very first time leading the team and supervising the research project. time at the Education college was when, The experience I have gained in the edfacing a lack of interest, engagement, and ucation field working for both the public motivation from students upon using traditional textbooks, I decided to conduct and non-profit sectors brings me to work some participatory action research (PAR) at the Inya Institute. As an Education and Training Junior Manager, I am responsible using videos, and other teaching materifor planning, coordinating, developing als, in addition to using textbooks. The insights gained from the experience were training and capacity building activities, including the creation of e-learning modlater shared with my fellow teachers so ules and support materials in collaborathat they can adapt their teaching learntion with the team. So far I have been ing resources instead of only relying on assisting the team in planning and coordioutdated contents. When the Education Pyae Phyoe Myint nating the 2023 ‘Languages of Myanmar’ College was upgraded to the Education Education and Training Manger Course series that will be held in late June Degree College, a new approach to curriculum development was introduced, that together with the Shan, Karen, and Kachin I am Pyae Phyoe Myint and recently language teachers. I have been developing of spiral curriculum, with key concepts joined the Inya Institute becoming the or- presented repeatedly, but with deepening a plan for short-term training courses on ganization’s new Education and Training layers of complexity. This approach also critical thinking skills and social science Manager. Before this, I worked at a nonincluded a fair proportion of projects, case research. Other tasks include the presentaprofit organization for a year and have tion of our library resources by writing studies and quizzes that encourage promore than eight years of work experience spective teachers to acquire new teaching Myanmar language summaries of books in the education sector. Before I move on skills more adapted to the 21st century. held at the institute. The book summaries to further explain about my working expe- In turn, the new approach required the express with clarity and the careful selecrience, I would like to share some inforteachers to do lots of preparation includ- tion of Myanmar words the gist of the mation about my educational background. ing the activity named “lesson study”. I book’s contribution to the general public.

I got a Bachelor of Education from Yangon keenly participated in every lesson study This new experience encourages me to University of Education with a high GPA. conducted by each teacher educator and read more books in order to use the corThen I earned a Master’s degree with a gave supportive ideas to run the teaching rect words and disseminate information specialization in Educational Planning without any ambiguous meaning. I also process smoothly. and Management. I joined the Education The turning point of my life was when I have to help the team with the translation College (now Education Degree College) joined a non-profit organization after the of English language materials into Myas a teacher so as to utilize the knowledge 2021 coup. I gained lots of experience not anmar that are used for short videos on a gained during the Master’s degree course only in teaching but also in research. As variety of research-related matters, like the and share it with undergraduate, graduate a part-time instructor, I developed syllabi one recently completed which offers tips students and in-service teachers. In 2017, for two courses related to leadership and on how to evaluate information sources.

I started a doctoral degree focusing on I really look forward to taking the role of management. and adapted them followcoping strategies pursued by teachers to ing the students’ feedback before the new education and training junior manager improve their work life balance but it was class starts. The organization offers all to the fullest of my potential including postponed after the coup. instructors lots of liberty in their mandate participating and assisting the team in the Regarding my work experience, I conduct of research projects with local so each of us is responsible for applying worked in both basic education and and international researchers and interns. pedagogy following one’s interests and higher education sectors. My time at the preparing teaching materials to build an Education college was quite exciting and effective teaching learning environment. challenging for me since I had to teach Joining that organization gave me the a wide range of learners of different age chance to pursue my greatest interest: 11

News from our Staff

In the ‘Health Education’ class, teaching was carried out by Medical Doctors, Nurses, Dentists and Pharmacists who shared their experiences and basic health education. The ‘Religion’ class included teaching about eastern & western religions and philosophy of religions. As a final project of the religion class, we made a short film about forgiveness based on one of the Bible’s Psalms. For the ‘Music’ class, the instructor divided students into groups and asked them to write songs on a topic of their choice. The students then had to sing these songs in front of the whole school as a final project. During the second academic year (2017-2018), we were taught Ethics, Research Methods, Aung Kyaw Phyo Gender Studies and English. In addition Digital Resources and Information Assistant to these compulsory subjects and as I also had taken Computer Studies as a major, I learned Programming, Networking, My name is Aung Kyaw Phyo and I am Multimedia, Project Management, System 24-years-old and I am the new Digital Analysis, Web Development and MathResources and Information Assistant at ematics. In the third and final academic the institute. I am Karen ethnic and I live year, I had chosen Music as my minor for in North Dagon with my family. I passed my Bachelor Degree so as to learn music the Matriculation exam in the year of theories and how to play the violin.

2014. And then I joined the Bachelor As a Computer Studies student, I Program at the Myanmar Institute of created a total number of five projects Theology (Liberal Arts Programs) with spanning each of the academic semesters a specialization in Computer Studies. during my time at MIT. I created a typing During the Bachelor programs’ years from tutor software with Python programming 2016 to 2020, I studied many subjects and for the final Python project, WordPress activities and applied my learning through and Drupal for website development. The many practical and group works. three other projects focused on a student During the first academic year, I stud- information system, a celebrity website ied General knowledge related to Civic and an online car rental website with Education, Human Rights, Religions, HTML/CSS, PHP for web development Micro Economics, Health, Computer and final projects.

Music. In the ‘Civic Education and HuDuring the final year, all students are man Rights’ class, I studied the country’s required to do an internship. I worked as constitution, the country’s recent crises an office intern at the Saint Francis Xavier (including that of the Rohingyas), as well Brothers (Department of Printing Press) as domestic international politics, climate which is one of Myanmar’s prominent change and the politics of ethnicity.

Catholic religious organizations. During Together with other MIT students I was that time, I assisted the team in upgrading fortunate to visit the National Parliament digital documents and helped it develop in Nay Pyi Taw; the visit was actually the media design. During the second a compulsory assignment for the Civic semester of the final academic year, the Education class.

Covid-19 outbreak started and all students 12

turned to an online teaching system. On the day of 31 December, 2020, I completed my Bachelor Degree in Computer Studies.

A year before in February 2019, I also had started to study philosophy for one year at Dagon University.

Because of the uncontrollable Covid-19 situation and the 2021 Military Coup in Myanmar, it has been very difficult to get an entry level job after finishing my studies. So I started studying online classes to upgrade my skills and expand my interests. I received several certificates from online learning platforms such as Coursera, Edx, Google Foundation, SME Academy, and the United Nations. I also started some freelance activities as a video editor and online conference admin.

On the first day of July 2022, I started an internship in the Business Development section of MAGI Company, a car rental company located in Yangon. It was a six months’ internship program so I worked until 30 December 2022. I learnt basic concepts of business management, office management, vehicle leasing and maintenance, government processes, accounting and operation. I also worked as a trainee for Openfor.Co as a partnership development associate from November 2022 to December 2022. After finishing my internship, I worked as a part time data collector for the INGOs called New Humanity Myanmar and ACTED and helped the organizations’ team develop a survey about households living in slums in Insein.

I now really look forward to working as the Inya Institute’s new Digital Resources and Information Assistant in a position that will help me combine my interests in the development of web-based resources and materials and my broader interests in Myanmar-related religious, historical and cultural matters.

Current Opportunities at Inya

The Inya Institute is now accepting applications for a Fellow to lead the SumEligibility 1. The fellowship is open to post-doctoral mer 2023 Research and Mentoring program devoted to supporting the study of scholars whose past or current research interests Myanmar’s borderlands.

The Fellow may be based in Thailand, India, or Bangladesh and will lead a series of online workshops sponsored by the institute with a group of 6-8 Myanmar researchers. During the online workshop sessions, the Fellow will mentor the group of Myanmar researchers on the development of their research papers.

The first batch of online sessions will focus on research design, guidance on research methods and field research with all participating Myanmar researchers.

The remaining weeks will involve one-on-one online mentoring sessions with each of the 6-8 Myanmar researchers.

The Fellow will be expected to mentor researchers whose work may address any of the following themes related to Myanmar’s borderlands: • • • • • • • • • • •

legacy of colonial knowledge of borderlands and their communities; ethno-history of borderlands; natural resources and challenges to environmental protection in borderlands; communities, networks, and trade across borders; legal and illegal border migration; humanitarian relief to refugees and public health in borderlands; borders at the time of the Covid-19 pandemic; formal and informal governance of borderlands; externalized economic development of borderlands; formal and non-formal education in borderlands; other themes related to borderlands.

The Inya Institute will cover international airfare (to Thailand, India, or Bangladesh, as per the Fellow’s proposed choice) and additional costs (including domestic travel, local accommodation, meals, internet costs). Within the limits of the time available outside of the Fellow’s mentoring duties, the Fellow may also engage in their own personal research work.

and work align with the study of Myanmar’s borderlands (see list above); 2. The fellowship is open to: (1) U.S. citizens who obtained their PhD degree in the last 10 years in a U.S. university or a university overseas: (2) foreign nationals who obtained their PhD degree in the last 10 years in a U.S. university.

Application requirement

1. Completed application form including information about the selected country, location for running the online mentoring sessions, and statement detailing past or current research on Myanmar’s borderlands, and its relevance to one or more of the topics listed above (max. 1,200 words); 2. Proposed Work Schedule showing how the online mentoring sessions will be conducted throughout the fellowship period; 3. Proposed Itemized Budget with Budget Narrative; Allowable costs include airfare, ground transportation (in the U.S. and selected country), lodging, meals and incidental expenses, and internet costs; 4. Curriculum Vitae; 5. One Academic Reference Letter; The applicant is responsible for notifying the referee of their request for letter and for ensuring the letter is submitted to the Inya Institute by the deadline.

All documents must be sent by email to the following email address: contact@inyainstitute.org

Fellowship Benefits Following the Summer 2023 research and mentoring program, the Inya InstiIn addition to a stipend covering international tute will organize a conference in 2024 in Thailand on ‘Myanmar’s borderlands: travel, ground transportation, lodging, local subpast, present, and future’ in which both the Fellow and the Myanmar researchers sistence, and internet costs, the Fellow will receive US $4,800 as teaching and mentorship fees. will participate and present their papers.

Full information: https://www.inyainstitute.org/2023-summer-researchmentoring-fellowship/

Deadline and Notification

Applications must be sent by March 17, 2023 (11:59 PM EST).

Awards will be announced by April 21, 2023.

The Summer 2023 Research and Mentoring Fellowship is funded by the U.S. Department of Education under Title VI of the Higher Education Act.

13

Upcoming Opportunity at Inya 2023 Languages of Myanmar Course Series Karen – S’gaw

July 2-20 (EDT) July 3-21 (MM & Thailand Time)

Kachin – Jinghpaw

June 18-July 6 (EDT) June 19-July 7 (MM & Thailand Time)

Shan – Tai Long

July 2-20 (EDT) July 3-21 (MM &Thailand Time)

Online registration for International Applicants opening soon!

What

Stay Tuned to this page!

The Inya Institute is pleased to announce its 2023 language course series on three prominent languages spoken in Myanmar: (1) Kachin – Jinghpaw; (2) Karen - S’gaw; and (3) Shan - Tai long.

The three-week language course will equip participants with the essential skills needed to communicate confidently and effectively in Shan language in a broad range of situations. Our team of language teachers received training from and had course materials reviewed by U.S. trained language instructors.

Who

No prior knowledge of these languages is required.

The language course is open to undergraduate, graduate, postgraduate students, professionals, researchers, and NGO workers of any nationality, wherever they are based in Myanmar, Southeast Asia or the U.S. The language of instruction will be English.

When

Karen-S’gaw Language classes will be held online: Kachin-Jinghpaw Language classes will be held online: Shan-Tai Long Language classes will be held online: • U.S. EDT: from 9:30 pm to 11:00 pm, Sundays • U.S. EDT: from 8:30 pm to 10:00 pm, Sundays to • U.S. EDT: from 9:30pm to 11:00pm, Sundays to Thursdays, June 18 - July 6, 2023; to Thursdays, July 2-20, 2023; Thursdays, July 2-20, 2023; • Thailand Time: from 8:30am to 10:00am, • Thailand Time: from 7:30am to 9:00am, Mon- • Thailand Time: from 8:30 am to 10:00 am, days to Fridays, June 19 - July 7, 2023; Mondays to Fridays, July 3-21, 2023; Mondays to Fridays, July 3-21, 2023; • Myanmar Time: from 8:00am to 9:30am, • Myanmar Time: from 7:00 am to 8:30 am, Mon- • Myanmar Time: from 8:00 am to 9:30 am, days to Fridays, June 19 - July 7, 2023.

Mondays to Fridays, July 3-21, 2023.

Mondays to Fridays, July 3-21, 2023.

• For International participants, the course fee will be $80 (undergraduate students) and $380 (any other applicants).

Payment of the course fee will be through Paypal and will help to cover the cost of the language teachers’ tuition. It will have to be made two weeks before the language course starts. Graduate students in difficult financial situation may benefit from a fee reduction and are invited to contact us: contact@inyainstitute.org

How

To apply, please go to the following link: https://www.inyainstitute.org/2023-languages-of-myanmar-course-series/ • For Myanmar participants (whether based in Myanmar or elsewhere), the course will be free of charge.

To apply, please go to the following link and fill in the Google Form here.

Application deadline: May 26, 2023, 4 pm, Myanmar Time We look forward to your participation!

The 2023 ‘Languages of Myanmar’ Course Series is partly funded by the U.S. Department of Education under Title VI of the Higher Education Act.

14

Upcoming Events across the U.S. and beyond April Event 1. CSEAS Graduate Colloquium Lecture: Resistance, Accommodation, Violence, and the Role of Local Administrators in Post-coup Myanmar Location: Northern Illinois University, Zoom Date: April 7, 2023 at 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm in Central Time (US & Canada) Lecturer: Ardeth Maung Thawnghmung More info here Zoom registration here

2. Democracy and Ethnic War in Southeast Asia

Location: AS8 04-04 Seminar Room, FASS NUS Date: 10 April, 2023 at 3:00 - 4:30 pm Speaker: Prof. Jacques Bertrand Chaired by: A/P Douglas Kammen After 2011, there were reasons to think that Myanmar might be growing more democratic, and that dialogue between rulers and ethnic minorities might alleviate the latter’s long-standing rebellions.

Instead, in 2021, a military coup ended democratic reform, triggered mass opposition, and plunged Myanmar back into civil war. In ostensibly democratic Indonesia and the Philippines, on the other hand, rebellions respectively by the Moros and the Acehnese have transitioned to peace. Yet, it would be too simplistic to conclude that democracy alleviates or even resolves ethnic conflict. Although democratic institutions and negotiations can help to resolve deep and enduring conflicts, he concludes, they can also be used and have been used, mainly by the state, to manipulate and undermine insurgent ethnic minority groups. The presentation will discuss and illustrate these insights by comparing cases in the three countries.

More info here

3. An Attempt to Reconcile the Disputing parties?

The Burmese Saṅgharāja Ñeyyadhamma’s letter to the non-confusionists in Sri Lanka

Location: Cornell University Date: April 14, 2023 at 10:00am to 11:00am Lecturer: Petra Kieffer-Pülz Between 1803 and 1813 five ordination lineages were introduced from Burma to Sri Lanka that formed the Amarapuranikāya. In 1851 a dispute

concerning the legal validity of the monastic boundary (sīmā) of Balapiṭiya in the southwest of Sri Lanka arose amongst two of them. This was a serious matter, since a sīmā is the basis for all administrative and legally binding activity of a Buddhist monastic community (saṅgha), including ordination. Since the parties were not able to resolve the conflict themselves, and since their ordination lineage was ultimately based on a Burmese ordination tradition, they turned for help to the highest authority of the Burmese Buddhist monastic community. The group who considered the sīmā of Balapiṭiya confused with the village boundary, and, hence, legally invalid, sent the first delegation (1857–1858).

More info here Zoom registration here

4. Perilous Homelands: The Rohingya Crisis and The Violence of National Territory

Location: Cornell University Date: April 27, 2023 at 4:30 pm Speaker: David Ludden The Rohingya survival crisis – in borderlands of Myanmar and Bangladesh -- has disappeared from the headlines, but Rohingyas remain one of the largest stateless populations in the world. Their suffering can be understood as an extreme example of the violence inflicted by national territory around the world. In South Asia, “partition” is the keyword in that violent history: it denotes the forced expulsion of people deemed foreign to the nation and the forced inclusion of people living on land claimed by nations during the demolition of British India.

Rohingyas are among the latest and most brutalized victims of this imposition of national state boundaries on mobile imperial spaces during the ongoing global process of decolonization.

More info here

5. CSEAS Lecture Series: Merchants, Magistrates, and Mendicants: Unofficial European Settlers in Burma, 1850 - 1890 Location: Northern Illinois University Date: April 28, 2023 at 12:00 pm in Central Time (US and Canada) Lecturer: Trude Jacobsen Gidaszewski More info here Zoom registration here

June Event 1. 15th International Burma Studies Conference Envisioning Myanmar: Crisis, Change, Continuity

Location: University of Zurich Date: June 9-11, 2023 Tatmadaw’s 2021 coup d’etat precipitated a crisis for Myanmar and its people.

Scholars are taking stock of how the coup has reshaped a wide range of issues, encompassing conflict, livelihoods, gender relations, and the environment. But although crises tear apart, they can also mend. New social relations are being formed among people and groups who were once divided, and as a result, new aspirations for the country are taking root. As scholars continue their support for research and educational endeavours, they too participate in co-creating these new futures.

More info here

Conference Event in July 1. 2023 Myanmar Update From Coup to Revolution

Location: Australian National University Date: July 21-22, 2023 The 2023 Update Conference hosted by the ANU Myanmar Research Centre seeks to explore the complexities of the revolutionary struggle; the effects of the coup on the state and economy; and, the myriad ways in which the people in Myanmar are coping with deepening violence and poverty. How has the coup and the popular response to it reshaped Myanmar politics? How are new armed groups forming, and how are they sustained? What has happened to the civil disobedience movement? What are the social, economic, and psychological implications of continued violence? How is the diaspora contributing to the revolution? How can foreign governments and the international aid community best support resistance to dictatorship? We aim to address these kinds of questions, among others, in this conference.

More info here.

New Books On Myanmar the motifs, designs, and patterns that appear repetitively on silver pieces. Accompanied by detailed photographs and explanatory texts, this groundbreaking volume proposes a new way of looking at Burmese silver.

century genocides bring this horrific history up to the present moment: the genocide perpetrated by the government during Argentina’s “Dirty War,” the genocide of the Yazidis by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), genocidal violence against the Rohingya in Myanmar, and China’s genocide of the Uyghurs. Powerful survivor testimonies bring the essays to life and help readers grapple with the difficult lessons presented throughout the book.

Winning by Process: The State and Neutralization of Ethnic Minorities in Myanmar

Jacques Bertrand, Alexandre Pelletier and Ardeth Maung Thawnghmung Cornell University Press, 2022 Winning by Process asks why the peace process stalled in the decade from 2011 to 2021 despite a liberalizing regime, a national ceasefire agreement, and a multilateral peace dialogue between the state and ethnic minorities. Winning by Process argues that stalled conflicts are more than pauses or stalemates. Winning by process represents the state’s ability to gain advantage by manipulating the rules of negotiation, bargaining process, and sites of power and resources. The Myanmar case shows how the process can shift the balance of power in negotiations intended to bring an end to civil war.

Buddhism and Comparative Constitutional Law Tom Ginsburg and Benjamin Schonthal Cambridge University Press, 2022 Buddhism and Comparative Constitutional Law offers the first comprehensive account of the entanglements of Buddhism and constitutional law in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Tibet, Bhutan, China, Mongolia, Korea, and Japan. Bringing together an interdisciplinary team of experts, the volume offers a complex portrait of “the Buddhist-constitutional complex,” demonstrating the intricate and powerful ways in which Buddhist and constitutional ideas merged, interacted and co-evolved.

Burmese Silver from the Colonial Period

Alexandra Green Ad Ilissvm Publisher, 2022 A stunning catalog of an exceptional collection of rare Burmese silver. Green examines silver from a local perspective, drawing on Burmese texts and information that allows for a nuanced view of

Centuries of Genocide: Critical Essays and Eyewitness Accounts, Fifth Edition Samuel Totten University of Toronto Press, 2022 Four new case studies of twenty-first16

Rethinking Community in Myanmar: Practices of We-Formation Among Muslims and Hindus in Urban Yangon

Judith Beyer NIAS Press, 2022 This is the first anthropological monograph of Muslim and Hindu lives in contemporary Myanmar. In it, Judith Beyer introduces the concept of “weformation” as a fundamental yet underexplored capacity of humans to relate to one another outside of and apart from demarcated ethno-religious lines and corporate groups. Rethinking Community in Myanmar develops a theoretical and methodological approach that reconciles individuality and intersubjectivity and that is applicable far beyond the Southeast Asian context. Its focus on we-formation also offers insights into the dynamics of resistance to the attempted military coup of 2021. The newly formed civil disobedience movement derives its power not only from having a common enemy, but also from each individual’s determination to live freely in a more just society.