Shan scholar challenges Nanchao not Tai theory

No.04 - 11/2006
9 November 2006
History/ General
 
Shan scholar challenges Nanchao not Tai theory
 
Another Shan historian has come out to question the current theory among academics that Nanchao, the ancient kingdom in today's Yunnan province, was merely "a pan-Tai/Shan pipe dream" in his new work soon to be published.

Sai Aung Tun, 73, one of the most respected few Shans of Burma, argues, "It is as yet too early to pass judgement on whether Nanchao was  not or was a Tai (also known as) Ai Lao creation," quoting noted Thai scholar Prince Dhani: I have to be convinced by more definite details before I accept the new theory.
 
He points out to the fact that Nanchao, translated by the Chinese as "Southern Prince", is known by the Tai as "Lan-Sao" which means a million rulers or many rulers, which corresponds with other known Tai kingdoms further south: Lanna ( a million rice fields) in today's Thailand and Lanxang (a million elephants) in today's Laos.
 
He also contends the argument by some scholars that there was no rule among the Tai for using the last element of the father's name as the first element of the name of the son has much merit, "because such a system actually prevailed among Tai Mao (Shans of the Mao Valley) or the Dehong Tai (Shans of the Dehong Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan) in the past." Shans there also used family names, he says.
 
The new theory claims that Nanchao was Lolo. This was first questioned by the late Shan scholar and resistance leader Chao Tzang Yawnghwe (1939-2004) in The Shan of Burma: "If Nanchao was Lolo, why was it the Tai, not the Lolo, who founded new kingdoms when Nanchao declined?", he asked rhetorically drawing attention to the fact that several kingdoms stretching from northeast India to the upper Tonkin in the tail period of the Nanchao empire, "and more importantly, all these Tai or Thai kingdoms touched upon were not very far from Nanchao's southern rim."
 
Nanchao, founded in 650, was destroyed by the Mongol forces of Kublai Khan in 1253. It was briefly retaken by the Shan king Surkhanfah (1291-1364) when Beijing, weakened by widespread rebellions against Mongol rule, was unable to extend authority to its southern periphery.
 
A brief history of Shan State: From the earliest times to the 1960s is a research project supported by the Toyota Foundation.