CHAPTER XXX.

THE

OFFERING TO THE GOOD INFLUENCES THE SPIRIT IN SLEEP CEREMONY OF TUM KWUN-SPIRIT - WORSHIP OF PING SHANS ARRANGEMENTS FOR LEAVING-VISIT SIAMESE PRINCE-A GATLING GUN AS AN ORNAMENT-RAILWAY ROUTES-NUMBER OF FIGHTINGMEN-DISMISS LOOGALAY-PRETTY PAGODAS-BOXING AND WRESTLING -THE BRIDGE BREAKS-PRESENTS FROM CHOW OO-BOON-A LOVER'S LUTE-LACE PRIZED-DR CUSHING'S VIEWS ON THE PING SHANSCONNECTION WITH SIAM — TAXATION — CORVÉE LABOUR SERFS SLAVES PURCHASED FROM RED KARENS-DEBT SLAVES IN CHAINSRELIGION-FIELD FOR MISSIONARIES.

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ON visiting Mr Wilson, he told me Prince Bigit, the halfbrother of the King of Siam, had arrived, and that great preparations had been made for Tumming his Kwun or Kwan. On my inquiring what Tum kwun meant, he said Tum meant "the act of offering," and kwun the good influences which are supposed to pervade every part of the body, keeping them in good health. Any ailment in any part of the body is put down by the Shans to the departure. of the kuun, or good influence, appertaining to that part.

If a person whilst on a journey, or in the fields, or elsewhere, becomes ill and has to return home, the spirit-doctor, when called in, immediately directs the person's relations or friends to carry offerings to the place where the kwun departed, and, after sacrificing to the kwun, beseech it to return to the sick man's body, and again perform its good offices.1

1 The kwun among the Shans has a resemblance to the ka-la or guardian angel believed in by the Karens. The Karens believe that everything living, vegetable or animal, possesses a ka-la, which still remains with the soul of the plant or animal after its body is destroyed, and accompanies a man to his future abode of bliss or punishment. Its place is on the head or neck of every

374

THE CEREMONY OF TUM KWUN.

The Tum kwun that had occurred was an offering to the kwun of the prince to induce them not to afflict him by taking their departure. At the same time, special offerings were made to the demons to keep them in a good temper, so that no harm might come to him.

A description of the ceremony of Tum kwun as performed on Siamese princes when visiting Zimmé in 1859, and seen by him, was given by Sir Robert Schomburgh, formerly her Majesty's consul at Bangkok, in the Siamese Repository of 1869, which runs as follows:1

"Chao Operat (the second chief of Zimmé) had expressed a wish to present some gifts, according to Lao custom, to the young Princes Ong Teng and Ong Sawat who were with me. The ceremony took place in the large sala adjacent to our residence. The Deputy Viceroy (Chow Ooparat) did not come himself, but sent one of his high nobles accompanied by some other officers of rank.

"Two pyramids of flowers, consisting of three rows, one above the other, but each smaller than the preceding, and the whole about 5 feet high, were carried before the procession. Then came two smaller ones of more intrinsic value, each of the branchlets of the pyramids ending in a kind of network with a rupee in it. There were fifty of these on one tree, and forty-one on the other, the missing one having probably found its way to the fob of one of the attendants, or rather to the corner of his girdle.

One

"The pyramids having been placed in the middle of the sala, a number of dishes with legs of pork, fish, eggs, fruit, vegetables, &c., were placed around them. Ong Teng and Ong Sawat squatted on the ground near the pyramids. of the noblemen then stepped forward, and having seated himself near the young princes, he made his salaam and took a book out of his girdle, and read a homily or prayer of ten tedious pages addressed to Buddha, invoking him to human being. As long as it remains seated in its place the Karen is safe from all attacks of evil spirits; but if it is enticed away by others, or jumps down and wanders away during the body's sleep, then follow sickness and death. If a man is sick or pining away, his spirit is supposed to be wandering, and has to be enticed back with an offering of good.

1 Siam Repository, 1869.

SPIRIT-WORSHIP OF PING SHANS.

375

protect the young princes during their journey, and to vouchsafe their safe return to their parents and friends.

"The prayer finished, he tore down one of the long cotton threads which were hanging from the branches of the larger pyramids, and taking the end part, about four inches in length, in his hands, he passed the rest from the wrist of Ong Teng to the end of the boy's forefinger, murmuring all the time some sentence or incantation. He then tore off the short end which he had kept in his hand, and threw it away, for in it, according to their superstition, all the evil was embodied, winding, as already mentioned, the long part of the thread around the wrist as a talisman.

"The same operation was gone through with the left hand. Some of the noblemen who were present followed his example, and the second prince, Ong Sawat, having been performed upon in a similar manner, the ceremony was over. Not the slightest decorum was observed during it, the people present talking, smoking, and making jokes while the exhortation was being read."

From Mr Wilson I learnt that the Zimmé Shans believe that all evil and good spirits had their origin in human beings, and that the heavens, hells, and earth are peopled with spirits and ruled over by lords or kings. This belief is similar to that in ancient Chaldea, where, 2000 years before our era, Anu was worshipped as the lord of the heavens, Bel as the lord of the visible world, and Hea as the lord of the sea and the infernal regions.

The spirits in the heavens, or abodes of bliss, are governed by two kings, a court, and deputy-governors and officials, as in the Shan States at present. The kings are known as Phya In (in India called Indra, and in Burmah Thugra or Thagya) and Phya Prom (Brahma). The heavens are peopled by the Tay-wa-boot (male Dewahs), or male angels; the Tay-wa-da (female Dewahs), or female angels; and the departed spirits of all whose merit on earth gave them the right, so long as their stock of merit lasts, to enjoy the heavenly realms.

The good spirits, besides those who are in the heavens, include: Firstly, the Tor-ra-nee, or female angels of the

earth, the ministering angels to all those whose object on earth is the acquisition of virtue and merit. When Phya Mahn (Dewadat), or the devil, with his evil spirits attacked Gaudama, the Tor-ra-nee came to his rescue, and wringing out their hair, caused such a flood as swept away the attacking force. Images of these angels wringing out their long hair are frequently seen in the temples, and their hair is supposed to receive all the scented water and frankincense that is offered to Buddha. It is to gain their assistance that a cup of water is always poured out whenever an offering is

Hanuman, king of monkeys.

Prom or Brahma.

made. Secondly, the deceased spirits of meritorious kings and rulers down to the Kenban, or second officers of a district. Thirdly, the spirits of deceased Buddhist monks. Fourthly, the ancestors to the second generation, male and female, of monks. Fifthly, and lastly, the virtuous and meritorious departed spirits of the rest of society. The deceased rulers are called Pee Soo-a-ban, or guardians of the different districts and villages. The deceased monks are known as Pee Soo-awat, or spirits that protect the temples.

The King of the Earth, Phya Wet Sawan (Vishnu), who

lives in heaven, has control over the good and evil spirits that reside in the world and its atmosphere, and a system of government similar to that in the heavens. His four Tow Chet-to-loke, or ministers who record acts in his three courts and make reports to him, have under them, as agents of justice, the Pee Hai, the spirits of malaria and cholera; the Pee Sook, who are blind and are the spirits of smallpox; and the Pee Pong, who produce rheumatism.

The other evil spirits of the earth are: Firstly, the Pee Mer Mor, which possess sorcerers and soothsayers. These

Phya Lak.

Phya Wet Sawan (Vishnu).

are the spirits of deceased physicians, and people possessed by them are called in in cases of theft or loss. Secondly, the Pee Kah, the wizard-spirits of horse form. Thirdly, the Pee Hong, who are in two classes: the headless, who are the ghosts of decapitated people; and the ones with heads, who are the spirits of those who have been killed by animals. Fourthly, the Pee Pai, who are the spirits of those who die from abortion, miscarriage, or childbirth. If the child dies with the mother, its spirit joins hers in its rambles, endeavouring to harm the living. The first objects