Myanmar is a land rich with
cultural traditions, and
folktales and legends give an
extra touch of enchantment. The
Myanmar people are on the whole
humorous and hopeful and even
the poor are too proud to wallow
in self-pity. However, although
they enjoy the slapstick comedy
or witty repar- tees of
classical theatre, by
traditional the height of
entertainment is the tragic
parts when the leading
characters fall into suffering.
The end of course is always a
happy
Old parabeik or folding book
painting of Ma Shwe U at her
loom, wooed by one of the two
Spirit brothers
one of the good rewarded and
evil, punished. One tragic
legend the people love is
the story of Ma Shwe U. It did
not have a nor- mal happy ending
but when the beautiful country
girl becomes a revered patroness
of weavers, it is to be
considered an honourable status.
She lives on in the hearts of
the people and her story is
endlessly immortalised in
carvings or paintings or in
marionette plays.
She is believed to have lived
nearly a thousand years ago. As
it is still the tradition in
some parts of the country she
wove at her loom when she is
free of house or farm work. She
was engaged to a forester named
Ko Yin Maung.
Just
before the story began two
brothers, who were serving at
the court of Bagan under King
Anawrahta, had been executed for
some misdemeanours and they had
become Spirits. The younger
brother before his death has
been unsuccessfully courting Ma
Shwe U and he continued to do so
as a spirit. Ma Shwe U still
spurned his advances and in
fury, he sent out his spirit
tiger to kill her. It dragged
her away with his jaws around
her slim waist as she sat at her
loom. She became a Spirit as did
her lover Ko Yin Maung who died
of heart- break on her death.
People
believe that her gentle an
gracious spirit lives on to look
after weavel or those working in
garment industrie' Unlike some
other spirits, Ma Shwe U is nevE
cruel or demanding, through the
medium of expensive food or
gifts.
The scene of her being dragged
away b the tiger has been
portrayed a great man times all
through the centuries. One can
see carved wood, or on the feet
of round ston mortars used to
grind the Thanakha makeu paste,
featured in the painted folding
boo~ called yoke sone parabeik,
or on wall pain' ings. Her tale
is often told on the classical
stag but the most popular was
when it was pel formed in
marionette theatre in the old
day
Nowadays no puppeteer can matc
the skill of the masters of the
past, for the would set up a
small loom on stage wit a pretty
puppet actually making the loor
work. As she sang while she
wove, the loor clacking in
rhythm with her moving hand the
tiger puppet, handled by another
maste would slowly appear from
behind the curtain It would
first stalk his prey from the
drur circle of the orchestra
leader which is alwa} set out in
front of the stage on the
ground.
Right: papier mache tiger
carrying
Ma Shwe
U at Manuha Temple
festival, Bagan
Bottom: Ivory dagger hilt
The tiger would walk along the
rim of the circular frame,
balancing on the top of the
narrow wooden slats.
After
a few turns, while the orchestra
played a heart-pounding
crescendo and the audience
became roused to near- hysteria,
the tiger would jump onto the
stage and stalk its prey. By
now, the more excitable members
of the audience would be
screaming warnings at the wooden
Ma Shwe U placidly sitting at
her loom. The tiger would
finally pounce on the Ma Shwe U
marionette and by means of
strings manipulated by its
handler, carry her off in its
jaws and disappear behind the
curtains.
It
is said that for this play the
drum circle had to be placed far
enough from the reach of the
audience for if not, people
sympathetic to Ma Shwe U's fate
often grabbed the tiger puppet
and tore it to pieces.
What a tragic story but what a
beautiful one. Whether she
really existed or not, no one
could say, but she lives on in
the hearts of the Myanmar and
her story is told time and again
and handed from one generation
to the next. D
Acknowledgement Enchanting
MyanmarTravel Magazine sincerely
thanks U Tin Win (Beikthano
Gallery), U Than Tun (Heritage
Gallery) and U Maung Naing (Naing
Store) Bog yoke Aung San Market
for their invaluable help in
making this article possible.
