The Palaung Land Website

1. Palaung [Ta'ang] Traditional Culture Dress
2. Spirit Buddhist Image Protect and Serve the Palaung People
3. The Proof of the Ta’ang [Palaung] Ethnic Script Monument in Burma
4. The Chief Cultivation among the Palaung is WHAT – Tea
5. The Trivial Surviving Paddy Farm of the Palaung People
6. The Festival of 20th Celebration of Benglong to Ta’ang of the Palaung in China
7. Tea: The Stalk Market of the Palaung People for their Surviving
8. Proof of the Palaung Tea Seed from the King Alaungsithu of Pagan
9. The Petite Gate Block the Local Traveling and Depress the Local People

1. Palaung [Ta'ang] Traditional Culture Dress

13 TA’ANG DRESSES — The Palaung is descended from Mon-Khmer and mostly live in Northern Shan State and the Kalaw area in Eastern Shan state. These are 13 different dresses of the Palaung people in Burma. They are famous for the tea they grow here. The traditional dress is very brightly colored. The women also wear cane rings around their waists once married and heavy strings of beads as necklaces. The older women shave their heads and wear white hoods. Unlike other tribes, many families will live together in long houses.

2. Spirit Buddhist Image Protect and Serve the Palaung People

SPIRIT IMAGE — The Palaung people are Buddhist. They believe in the tale descending of the Buddhist. These are the famous Buddhist Status Image in the Palaung land. They believe the Spirit of Buddhist protect the people and save or serve the people for peace and justice.

3. The Proof of the Ta’ang [Palaung] Ethnic Script Monument in Burma

LITERATURE MONUMENT — The Palaung, who call themselves “Ta’ang” is about 7 percent of the population. They live in the mountainous region of Namkham, Man Tong, Namhsarn or Tawngpeng in Northern Shan State, but also found in smaller groups in other parts of the Shan States.
The Palaung is descended from Mon-Khmer and they have their own language and culture. There is lots of “The Ta’ang Script Monument” in Burma and China that proves the Palaung people is one the ethnic in Burma and China. There is the Monument in Pha Lin village, Namkham Township, Northern Shan State. It is included 4 languages: Palaung, English, Burmese and Shan. It tells about the history of the Palaung literature and illustrates the Palaung basic vowels and alphabets.

4. The Chief Cultivation among the Palaung is WHAT – Tea

STEM SURVIVING — When people think about tea in Burma and other places, one community springs to mind: the Palaung. Palaung tea can be found in every household and every restaurant – and it is also popular in China, Burma and other countries. For nearly a thousand years, Palaung people have depended on the small green leaves for their livelihood. They are noted for their tea plantation and in the past have been successful in exporting English tea, Shan tea( green tea) and pickled tea.
The tea can be make two types: dry and wet. The dry tea is mostly producing around Namkham Township and the wet tea is mostly producing around Namsarn Township. The famous tea pickled selling in Burma and other countries are mostly coming from the Palaung plantations.
The picking seasons for the tea are: May to June, July to August, September to October and November, each of which has its name. The first picking is always the best, and it is called Shwepyi (Golden Land).

5. The Trivial Surviving Paddy Farm of the Palaung People

PADDY FARM — Most of the Palaung people in mountainous villages cultivate the paddy and tea. There are some of the Palaung people grow the paddy in the plain area, mostly the Shan grows. In the past, there were only one time for a year growing the paddy, it is the raining season, but now the government subsidizes to cultivate two times of the country propaganda called “Sin Shwe Li” (so called new test seed of the paddy) whether it is fixed with the weather in the area or not.

6. The Festival of 20th Celebration of Benglong to Ta’ang of the Palaung in China

DRUM DANCING — The Palaung people from Ruili and Dehong performed the traditional drum dancing at the festival of 20th celebration of Benglong (mean the Dragon) to Ta’ang (the current term and the Palaung people call themselves the Ta’ang) in 2005 which arranged by the Chinese government.
In 1949, the Palaung people those who living in China received the name of Benglong and in 1985 were given present name of De’ang [Ta'ang], at the request of the members of this ethnic group.
The De’ang (Chinese: 德昂族; pinyin: Déáng Zú; also spelt De’ang, Palaung and Benglong) people are an ethnic group. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People’s Republic of China. They also live in Burma (formerly Myanmar), where they are recognized by the government as an ethnic minority within the Shan national race, as well as in Thailand. They speak a Mon-Khmer language of the Palaung group called Palaung or “Ta-ang”.
Most of the houses of the De’ang are of bamboo, with wooden structures. The doors of the houses are always opened towards the east. Each family has its own houses which are usually two stories in height. The first floor is used as a barn and stable, while the second floor serves as living quarters. The women dress differently depending on the area they reside in. Normally they dress in short jackets, black or white in color, decorated with velvet tassels of different colors. Skirts, with drawings in red targets are more commonly worn than trousers. The men dress in blue or white short jackets with wide, long trousers. They cover their heads with white or black handkerchiefs. In some towns the men have tattoos on their body that represent tigers, birds or flowers.

7. Tea: The Stalk Market of the Palaung People for their Surviving

STALK ECONOMY — Tea is the main economy that serve the Palaung people until the current situation and in the future. One of the main surviving way is, they produce the teas and cultivate the tea-plant. These are the tea plantation view points around Namsarn and Namkham Township.
The Palaung tea histories told that the tea seeds were obtained from a magical bird and brought to the region by King Alaungsithu of Pagan (1111-1167). Cultivators, the King ordered that the seeds be planted to the northwest of a local pagoda and that a festival be held annually to commemorate the event. After determining that the Palaung, the majority population in Tawngpeng, originated from a union between a Naga princess and the Sun King, he appointed Bala Kyautha Sao Hkun to head the local administration.
On the lower levels of the hillsides, Palaung and Shan grow tea whilst higher up Kachin and Lisu practice shifting agriculture. Shan predominate in the valleys where rice is the staple crop. A survey conducted in 1896-97 by Mr. W.G. Wooster revealed that the State had 9,199 acres under cultivation of which 5,315 acres were taken up by tea production.
The majority of the tea gardens was located on hillsides and planted at random. Seed is collected in November and sown in nurseries in February or later. Once the plant reaches 2 feet in height, it is planted on cleared slopes in August and September.

The trees are not pruned since the Palaung believe that pruning will cause the trees to die; consequently, they grow freely. Any available space in a garden is filled annually with new trees. The plants are picked for the first time in the fourth year, and they continue to bear useable leaves for a period of ten to twelve years.

8. Proof of the Palaung Tea Seed from the King Alaungsithu of Pagan

TEA STATUS HILL — The King Alaungsithu of Pagan handled the tea seed to the Palaung people and the original status quote of where the King and the Palaung started planted the tea-plan. It is located at the southern of Namsarn Township calls “Loin Seain Rubby Hill”. The festival is celebrated every year in the time of March, hot season.

9. The Petite Gate Block the Local Traveling and Depress the Local People

BLOCK OF TRAVELING — The tiny and gigantic toll gates create the fear for the local people. These are the gates around the Palaung area. The tiny that blocks the local road is located on the haft way of from Namkham to Namphakar. The gigantic is the new one of the main economic trade “Check in and Check out” between Burma and China, located in the Mone Yu Village calls [105 Miles] on the main way from Namkham to Lashio.