Möng Mao is Tai Nuea and Shan language name, also called Möng Mao Lông (Tai Nüa: ᥛᥫᥒᥰ ᥛᥣᥝᥰ ᥘᥨᥒᥴ; Shan: မိူင်းမၢဝ်းလူင်), which means "Great Muang Mao". The "Möng" means country or place.[2] The "Mao" (ᥛᥣᥝᥰ) was evolved from "dizzy" (ᥛᥝᥰ), it is because the mother of legendary king Chao U Ting felt dizzy when she was brought to the sky by a bird.[3] The name "Möng Mao" is still used nowadays, as the official Tai Nuea name of Ruili City (ᥝᥥᥒᥰ ᥛᥫᥒᥰ ᥛᥣᥝᥰ).
Kosambi was an Indian ancient country, Mong Mao used Kosambi as his Buddhistic classical name.[4]"Kosambi" is also called "Guo-zhan-bi" (Tai Nüa: ᥐᥨᥝᥰ ᥓᥛᥱ ᥙᥤᥱ, Chinese: 果占璧) in Ruili, modern Dai people give a new explanation of "Guo-zhan-bi" which is "place that produce fragrant soft rice".[5]
In Chinese literature, Möng Mao was called Luchuan (Chinese: 麓川), first recorded in Yuanshi as the name of the administrative division "Luchuan Circuit" (Chinese: 麓川路).[6] Some of literature also called Mong Mao as Baiyi (Chinese: 百夷), but most of the time this is a collective name of all the ethnic groups in south west of Yunnan, or specifically refers to Dai people.[7]
In Burmese literature, Möng Mao was called Maw[8] or Maw Shan.[9] In the Manipur literature, such as Cheitharol Kumbaba use the name Pong refer to Mong Mao.[10]
History
The chronicle of this region, titled the Möng Mao Chronicle, was written much later.[11] Some scholars identify Möng Mao with the Kingdom of Pong, as well as with the kingdom of Luh Shwan mentioned in Chinese chronicles. Like most of Tai Yai history, the history of the Kingdom of Pong is largely legendary and existing chronicles and traditions include conflicting names and dates which have led to different interpretations.[12]
Möng Mao arose in the power vacuum left after the Kingdom of Dali in Yunnan fell to the Mongol Yuan Dynasty around 1254. The Yuan ruled the region indirectly in what was known as the Native Chieftain System. This kingdom had asserted some unity over the diversity of ethnic groups residing along the southwest frontier of Yunnan.[13]
"Muang Mao" is sometimes used by authors to refer to the entire group of Tai states along the Chinese-Myanmar frontier including Luchuan-Pingmian (麓川平緬), Muang Yang (Chinese: 孟養; pinyin: Mèngyǎng), and Hsenwi (Chinese: 木邦; pinyin: Mùbāng), even though specific place names are almost always used in Ming and Burmese sources.[14]
The center of power shifted frequently between these smaller states or chieftainships. Sometimes they were unified under one strong leader, sometimes they were not. As the Shan scholar Sai Kam Möng observes: "Sometimes one of these [smaller states] strove to be the leading kingdom and sometimes all of them were unified into one single kingdom..." The capital of the kingdom shifted from place to place, but most of them were located near the Nam Mao river (the "Shweli" on most maps today)" [15]
The various versions of the Möng Mao Chronicle provide the lineage of Möng Mao rulers. The Shan chronicle tradition, recorded very early by Elias (1876), provides a long list with the first ruler of Möng Mao dating from 568 A.D.[16] The dates in Elias for later rulers of Möng Mao do not match very well the dates in Ming dynasty sources such as Ming Shilu (Wade, 2005) and Baiyi Zhuan (Wade, 1996) which are considered more reliable from the time of the ruler Si Kefa. Bian-zhang-ga (1990), translated into Thai by Witthayasakphan and Zhao Hongyun (2001), also provides a fairly detailed local chronicle of Möng Mao.
Saophas
Mong Mao Long, or the white fog of Mong Mao Long, was founded in 56 BC by Hso Hom Hpa, a descendant of the ancient Tai King from Nawng Hsè, who sent his son Hkun Hkam Naw to build the city of Oung Pawng-Hsipaw
Later,the city became vacant. And was pioneered by Hkun Lai, who came from the city of Mong Ri Mong Ram, the city sited in the region called Koshanpye.
The city has gone through many events. Since the reign of Hso Hkan Hpa, their subsequent saopha have assassinated each other. The struggle for the throne led to Hso Kaa Hpa, son of Sao Chang Nyue from Mong Ri Mong Ram (different from Chao Chang Nyue, the 37th saopha of Mong Mao Long) and Mahadevi Phlak Hkam Hsen Mawng, daughter of Sao Tai Lung, the 45th (Sao Pam Myo Pung, his son the 46th saopha, handed over the throne to Hso Kaa Hpa) Hso Kaa Hpa had to evacuated from the Koshanpye. Across the Pad Kai mountain range into Assam in India to established a new kingdom called the Ahom Kingdom.
Mong Mao Long has a total of 81 saophas. Mao Long is currently located near the Burmese border. (located during the Hso Wak Hpa era saopha No.52) in Yunnan Province, which in the past Counting with the provinces in Burma it is a group of Mong Mao Lung, Mongmit, Mongkawng and Bammaw located nearby.
Hso Pa Hpa (Hso Wen Hpa) 1929-1955 son (ruled with Hso Kyang Hpa and Fang Hkuea Shang)
Hso Kyang Hpa (Thao Kying Pan) 1929-1940 (uncle of Hso Pa Hpa (Hso Wen Hpa))
Fang Hkuea Shang 1940-1942 (Hso Pa Hpa (Hso Wen Hpa)'s another uncle) from Mong Hkawn
List of Monarchs
Notes
^(Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 2006: 272) and (Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 392): Tho Chi Bwa was a brother of Lord Tho Han Bwa. (Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 170): Tho Chi Bwa was a son of Tho Khin Bwa, Lord of Maw.
^All the main Burmese chronicles—(Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 2006: 297) (Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 200) and (Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 424)—give the name as Tho Ngan Bwa, the same name as the sawbwa in the 15th century.
^(Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 82, 88): Great grandson of Tho Chi Bwa
^(Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 291) and (Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 91): Both Tho Kyein Bwa and Tho Bok Bwa were still alive in 1451.
^(Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 291) and (Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 91): Both Tho Kyein Bwa and Tho Bok Bwa were still alive in 1451. Tho Bok Bwa was appointed sawbwa of Mohnyin by King Narapati I of Ava.
References
^Sai Kam Mong, 2004, p. 10, citing Jiang Yingliang, 1983
^Yos Santasombat, Lak Chang: A Reconstruction of Tai Identity in Daikong, p. 3-4
^Daniels, 2006, p. 28
^Wade, 2005
^Sai Kam Mong, 2004, p. 10, citing Jiang Yingliang, 1983
^Jane M. Ferguson (2021). Repossessing Shanland: Myanmar, Thailand, and a Nation-State Deferred. University of Wisconsin Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctv2175gx5. ISBN 978-0-299-33300-3. JSTOR j.ctv2175gx5. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
^Aung Tun 2009: 103
^ a bFernquest 2006: 36
Bibliography
Aung Tun, Sai (2009). History of the Shan State: From Its Origins to 1962. Chiang Mai: Silk Worm Books. ISBN 978-974-9511-43-5.
Bian-zhang-ga. (1990). "Hemeng gumeng: Meng Mao gudai zhuwang shi [A History of the Kings of Meng Mao]." In Meng Guozhanbi ji Meng Mao gudai zhuwang shi [History of Kosampi and the kings of Meng Mao]. Gong Xiao Zheng. (tr.) Kunming, Yunnan, Yunnan Minzu Chubanshe.
Daniels, Christian (2006) "Historical memories of a Chinese adventurer in a Tay chronicle; Usurpation of the throne of a Tay polity in Yunnan, 1573–1584," International Journal of Asian Studies, 3, 1 (2006), pp. 21–48.
Elias, N. (1876) Introductory Sketch of the History of the Shans in Upper Burma and Western Yunnan. Calcutta: Foreign Department Press. (Recent facsimile Reprint by Thai government in Chiang Mai University library).
Fernquest, Jon (Autumn 2006). "Crucible of War: Burma and the Ming in the Tai Frontier Zone (1382–1454)" (PDF). SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research. 4 (2).
Translated by 龚肃政 (Gong Suzheng); Explained by 杨永生 (Yang Yongsheng) (1988). "银云瑞雾的勐果占璧简史 (Yin yun rui wu de meng guo zhan bi jian shi)" [Chronicle of Guo-zhan-bi]. 勐果占璧及勐卯古代诸王史 (Meng guo zhan bi ji meng mao gu dai zhu wang shi) (in Chinese). Kunming: Yunnan Nationalities Publishing House. pp. 1–51. ISBN 7-5367-0352-X.
G. E. Harvey (1925). History of Burma: From the Earliest Times to 10 March 1824. London: Frank Cass & Co. Ltd.
胡绍华 (Hu Shaohua) (1984). "试述"百夷"含义的历史演变" [A discuss of the historical evolution of the meaning of "Baiyi"]. 中央民族学院学报 (Journal of Minzu University of China) (in Chinese) (3): 85–89. doi:10.15970/j.cnki.1005-8575.1984.03.022.
Jiang Yingliang (1983) Daizu Shi [History of the Dai ethnicity], Chengdu: Sichuan Renmin Chubanshe.
Kala, U (2006) [1724]. Maha Yazawin (in Burmese). Vol. 1–3 (4th printing ed.). Yangon: Ya-Pyei Publishing.
Kam Mong, Sai (2004) The History and Development of the Shan Scripts, Chiang Mai; Silkworm Books.
Liew, Foon Ming. (1996) "The Luchuan-Pingmian Campaigns (1436–1449): In the Light of Official Chinese Historiography". Oriens Extremus 39/2, pp. 162–203.
孟尊贤 (Meng Zunxian) (2007). 傣汉词典 (Dai han ci dian) [Tai Nuea - Chinese Dictionary] (in Chinese). Kunming: Yunnan Nationalities Publishing House. ISBN 978-7-5367-3790-7.
Saroj Nalini Arambam Parratt (2005). The Court Chronicle of the Kings of Manipur: The Cheitharon Kumpapa. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-203-44427-2.
Taw Sein Ko (1899). Inscriptions of Pagan, Pinya and Ava: Translation, with Notes. Rangoon: Government Printing, Burma.
Wade, Geoff (1996) "The Bai Yi Zhuan: A Chinese Account of Tai Society in the 14th Century," 14th Conference of the International Association of Historians of Asia (IAHA), Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand [Includes a complete translation and introduction to the Ming travelogue "Bai-yi Zhuan", a copy can be found at the Thailand Information Center at Chulalongkorn Central Library)
Wade, Geoff. tr. (2005) Southeast Asia in the Ming Shi-lu: an open access resource, Singapore: Asia Research Institute and the Singapore E-Press, National University of Singapore, http://epress.nus.edu.sg/msl/
Witthayasakphan, Sompong and Zhao Hongyun (translators and editors) (2001) Phongsawadan Muang Tai (Khreua Muang ku muang), Chiang Mai: Silkworm. (Translation of Mong Mao chronicle into the Thai language)
尤中 (You Zhong) (1987). "明朝"三征麓川"叙论" [Introduction of Three Conquests Luchuan by Ming]. 思想战线 (Thinking) (in Chinese) (4): 58–64+57.
External links
Crucible of War: Burma and the Ming in the Tai Frontier Zone (1382–1454), by Jon Fernquest