Culture of Myanmar
Owing to its history, Burmese culture has significant influence over neighboring countries such as Laos, Siam, Assam and Xishuangbanna regions in China.
For example, the Mandalay style, which developed in the late 1800s, consists of an oval-shaped Buddha with realistic features, including naturally curved eyebrows, smaller but still prominent ears, and a draping robe.
They often deal with everyday life and have political messages (such as subtle criticisms of the capitalist system), partly because, unlike novels, short stories are not censored by the Press Scrutiny Board.
The journalist Ludu U Hla was the author of numerous volumes of ethnic minority folklore, novels about inmates in U Nu-era jails, and biographies of people working in different occupations.
Burmese Historians: Ba Shin, Than Tun, Thant Myint-U, Htin Aung, Sao Saimong, Myoma Myint Kywe, and San C. Po were famous in Burma.
This is, however, a comparatively recent form of greeting, first emerging during British rule in Burma during the 19th to 20th centuries, coined as a Burmese language equivalent to 'hello' or 'how are you.
[12] Similarly, women began wearing hairstyles like amauk (အမောက်), consisting of crested bangs curled at the top, with the traditional hair bun (ဆံထုံး).
[12] This period also saw the introduction of a sheer muslin blouse for women, revealing a corset-like lace bodice called za bawli (ဇာဘော်လီ).
[6] Hpon refers to the cumulative result of past deeds, an idea that power or social position comes from merit earned in previous lives.
Young people would avoid sitting on a higher level than the elders or passing in front of them unless unavoidable, and then only treading softly with a slight bow.
[14] Many workplaces in Myanmar also have shoe-free areas, or restrict footwear altogether, with shoes typically left at the corridor or at the entrance of an office.
[18] Strict enforcement of this custom, however, is partly a legacy of British rule in Burma, during which Europeans refused and were exempted from removing their footwear when entering Buddhist places of worship.
[20] This "shoe question" became a rallying cry for Burmese nationalists, comparable to the cow protection movement in neighboring British India.
[21][18] The Ledi Sayadaw, a prominent Buddhist monk, penned On the Impropriety of Wearing Shoes on Pagoda Platforms, which drew in widespread support for the YMBA's activism.
[22] In 1919, after a two-year battle, Cambridge-educated barrister, Thein Maung, a YMBA member, successfully persuaded the colonial government to issue an order prohibiting footwear on the grounds of religious sites.
[23] Thein Maung's undertaking was in direct response to the actions of Archibald Cochrane, future Governor of Burma, who had kept his shoes on while touring Shwemawdaw Pagoda in Pegu (now Bago) in 1917, much to the indignation of locals.
In August 2017, a Russian tourist was arrested and sentenced to seven months of jail time and hard labor[24] for repeatedly refusing to remove her shoes upon entering pagoda grounds throughout Bagan, as she had violated local customs, per Section 13(1) of the Immigration Act.
Traditionally, a marriage is recognised with or without a ceremony when the man's longyi (sarong) is seen hanging from a rail of the house or if the couple eats from the same plate.
After chanting a few Sanskrit mantras, the Brahmin takes the couple's joined palms out of the bowl and blows the conch shell to end the ceremony.
[30] During the actual funeral, gifts in the form of paper fans containing the deceased person's name, as well as Buddhist scriptures relating to the impermanence of life (anicca) and samsara are distributed to all attendees.
On the seventh day, called yet le (ရက်လည်), a meal is offered to monks, who in turn recite blessings, protective parittas and transfer merit to the deceased, concluded with a Buddhist water libation ceremony.
According to traditional history, King Anawrahta of Bagan adopted Buddhism in 1056 and went to war with the Mon kingdom of Thaton in the south of the country to obtain the Buddhist Canon and learned monks.
Islam reached Burma at approximately the same time, but never gained a foothold outside the geographically isolated seaboard running from modern-day Bangladesh southward to Irrawaddy Delta (modern Rakhine State, formerly Arakan, an independent kingdom until the eighteenth century).
In 2001, after the Taliban's destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan, religiously motivated riots broke out between Buddhists and Muslims across major cities in Burma, including Sittwe, Pyay, Taungoo and Bago.
[36] The current regime's nationalistic policy of Bama san-gyin, which considers Buddhism a key element of Burmese-ness, does provide a systemic bias in favour of Buddhists in terms of preferment in the armed forces and other State structures.
[35] Similar to football, chinlone (Burmese: ခြင်းလုံး) is an indigenous sport that utilises a rattan ball and is played using mainly the feet and the knees, but the head and also the arms may be used except the hands.
The first Burmese sound film was produced in 1932 in Bombay, India with the title Ngwe Pay Lo Ma Ya (Money Can't Buy It) and directed by Tote Kyi.
The film Palè Myetyay (Tear of Pearl), produced in the wake of the Kuomintang invasion of Burma in the 1950s, highlighted the importance of the armed forces or Tatmadaw to the country.
Through various exhibitions, an online presentation and a publication programme, MPA has become known since 2013 for spreading Myanmar's photographic heritage, both on a local and an international level.
MPA also has published books on the history of photography in Myanmar and former Burma and has been engaged in public events and artistic re-evaluation of the archive's collections.
