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| To Hopeland and Back The 18th voyage (Day 3) Posted: 18 Apr 2016 09:42 PM PDT Third Day. Saturday, 10 April 2016
A mill does not run with the water that is past. Louis L'Amour, (1915-1985) The Walking Drum The most famous of all the Wu-s (伍) was General Wu Zixu aka Wu Yun, who was a confederate of Sun Zi who wrote The Art of War , more than 2,500 years ago They have a shrine for him at Suzhou, Jiangsu province. All Wu branches consider him as their "First Ancestor."
On my paternal grandmother's side is Hso Khan Fa (1291-1364) of Zelan, whose suzerainty was said to have stretched from Dali in the northeast to Assam in the northwest, and almost all of today's Burma/Myanmar, except maybe Chin, according to J.G. Scott. "The sad thing," I tell my relatives, "is that the glory of the past do not carry us forward. We learn from it, and from it we choose the path to follow. But we have to walk it by ourselves, not depending on the glory of our ancestors to do it for us," quoting Louis L'Amour (another one!): A ship does not sail with yesterday's wind. The Shans also have a saying for this: "Only a tiger can succeed a tiger, that passes a way."
We have a roaring party in the afternoon at Hotel Royal Taunggyi, and another at the Mawk Zarm Hawm restaurant in the evening. My generation, about 20 of us in all, were quite close to each other. But for most of the third and fourth, it is the first introduction to each other. I hope what we have done yesterday and today sets a precedent for the future. | ||||||
| To Hopeland and Back The 18th voyage (Day 2) Posted: 18 Apr 2016 09:20 PM PDT Day Two. Friday, 9 April 2016 People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors. Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Irish political philosopher
Heho, where our plane Air KBZ, touches down at 09:00 used to be "Haiwo" which means a district assigned to present cows to the ruling prince of Yawnghwe as tributes. Nowadays, even Shans, let alone non-Shans, know little or not what it means. However, there are still many places in Shan Shate, whose names begin with "Hai" (tribute): Hai Nang: assigned to present women to serve princesses Hai Niang: assigned to present tea Hai Pa: assigned to present fish Hai Phak: assigned to present meat Hai Kerh: assigned to present salt Hai Ya: assigned to present tobacco The first thing we do after lunch is to visit the Cantonese cemetery which is located southwest of The city. There we find the last resting-place of our paternal grandfather Wu Guangxuo, 1885-1983, better known as A Ping Kung to his neighbors. According to the papers in English he had kept, he came from Canton aka Guangdong in 1909, got married to our paternal grandmother Nang Hseng Gam and had 5 sons, from whom some 200 offspring have descended in successive generations. Actually, Ching Ming, or Ancestor's Day, for this year was already past, 5 April. But had my nieces who are the organizers decided on that day, only a few of us would be able to make it. But thanks to these nieces who live in Taunggyi, some 80 have already confirmed their participation. The problem with us is that most of us, brought up as Shans, have little inkling about the Chinese ritual. But we are lucky to have Sai Win Aung, 58, my youngest brother, who is the only one among us to be know at home with Chinese customs, presides over the brief ceremony. We then visit the hotel, Royal Taunggyi, one that was reportedly opened only 4 months ago, where the gathering is to take place tomorrow. It is said to be owned by one of the former ministers of Shan State government, together with two others from Rangoon. Their names are not mentioned. The hotel clerk is obviously feeling uncomfortable about it. But I just know I'm going to find out sooner or later. And no one should be unduly worried, because the hunting season, since 2011, when the peace process began, is over for me. Well, almost. It's hard to get rid of one's habit, isn't it? |
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