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Ta’ang celebrate literature and culture
Posted By : Aei Pone
Post Date : 28 March
2013
March 26th commemorated the 10th anniversary
of the Ta’ang Literature Conference and
Shwe Phe Tea season festival. The festival was held in Mantung Township
in northern Shan state.
The celebration boasted about 10,000 attendees
and was held to increase awareness of Ta’ang literature and culture, according
to Tha Win Kyaw, a member of the Ta’ang Literature and Culture Organization and
the main organizer of the celebration. The festivities lasted from March 23 -
March 26.
Preservation of the Ta’ang culture and unity
within the group were the main topics of discussion during the conference.
Several attendees highlighted the importance of improved Ta’ang
literature and resurgence of ethnic pride.
Coordinator Tha Win Kyaw, commented that the
conference is usually held every 4 years, marking this anniversary as more than
40 years since the inception of the festivities. The conference was started by
Tha Paul San in 1972. It was during this
initial conference, the Ta’ang adopted
the Samlong language, one of the two main languages of the Ta’ang people (the
other being Rumai), as the universal text for literature within the ethnic
group.
In 1963,
the Palaung State Liberation Party (PSLP) started their struggle for equal
rights for the Ta'ang (Palaung) people, signing a cease-fire agreement with the
Myanmar government in 1991.
During
colonization of Myanmar’s southern regions, the Ta’ang people, fought against
outside forces and struggled for partial-autonomy. In the years of fighting for
rights, Taung-Paing Saw Bwa Khun Pan Sein collaborated with General Aung San. It
was during this time, the Palaung Nationalities United League was formed in
1946, but was later abolished by the Revolutionary Council of the military
regime in 1962.
The
Palaung National Force was formed on January 12th 1963. The then PSLF president, Tha Eik Phone is responsible for assigning Samlong as
the dominant language for the ethnic group’s literature; a tradition that is
still embraced.
The
Palaung National Force organized an armed revolution, resulting in the
formation of the 1976 Palaung State Liberation Army (PSLA) under the leadership
of Chairperson Tar Khon Taung, which defended the southern parts of the Palaung
regions. Upon the abolition of the PSLA, the Ta’ang National Party (TNP) was
formed with the former party members from the former PSLA and won 6 seats in
the parliament in 2010 election.
At present the Ta’ang people continue in their
struggle to preserve their culture and promote unity amongst their various
peoples.
Promotion of a common text and increased
participation in literature is expected to strengthen the ethnic group and
increase cultural awareness. The desire of the group is to proliferate Samlong
literature and hopefully organize a Ta’ang National Day in the future.
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