Shan
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- For other uses, see Shan (disambiguation).
The Shan are an ethnic group of Southeast Asia. The Shan live primarily in the Shan State of Burma (sometimes known as Myanmar), and in adjacent parts of China, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The Shan number approximately 6 million, but a population census has not been taken.
The Shan dwell mostly on the plains of the Shan Plateau, which is drained by the Salween River. The capital of Shan state is Taunggyi, which is a small city of perhaps 150,000 people. Other main Shan cities include Kengtong and Tachileik.
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History
Although it is widely accepted that Shan peoples have inhabited areas of Burma for a very long time, there are theories that the ethnic group may have originally migrated from the mountains of China's southern Yunnan province. The Shan immigrants into upper Burma were the oldest branch of the Tai ethnic group known as "Tai Long", that is "Great Tai". Later Shan immigrants to Laos and Thailand were called "Tai Noi" which means "Little Tai". (from Shan Human Rights Foundation).
Culture
The Shan are traditionally wet-rice cultivators, shopkeepers, and artisans. Most Shan are Theravada Buddhists and/or observe their traditional religion, which is related to animist practices.
Language
The Shan language is part of the Tai languages group of the Tai-Kadai language family, and is related to Thai and Lao. The southern Shan use an alphabet based on the Burmese alphabet.
Politics
The Shan have been engaged in an intermittent civil war within Myanmar for decades, however there is currently a peace agreement with the main Shan faction. During conflicts, the Shan are often burned out of their villages and forced to flee into Thailand. There, they are not given refugee status, and often work as undocumented laborers. Their legal status in Thailand often leads to non-sustainable wages and unsafe work conditions.
His Royal Highness Prince Hso Khan Pha of Yawnghwe, lives in exile in Canada. He is campaigning for the government of Burma to respect the traditional culture and indigenous lands of the Shan people and he works with Shan exiles abroad helping to provide schooling for displaced Shan children because their parents are unable to provide this. He hopes to provide Shan children with some training in life skills so they can fend for themselves and their families in the future.
The ISO language code for Shan is SHN; the SIL code is SJN.
External links
- H.R.H. Prince Hso Khan Pha of Yawnghwe (http://users.panola.com/AAGHS/help.html)
- Shan Human Rights Foundation (http://www.shanland.org)
- Shan Women's Action Network (SWAN) (http://www.shanwomen.org)