The Union daily times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1918-current, 1922-09-04
A Visit to the
Lahus of Yunnan

one Of the hitherto little known tribes
described by Ralph Henderson, an
American wayfarer, whose travel
pictures have been appearing in the
Rangoon Gazette. These sturdy, yet
sociable people live mostly in the
Chinese province of Yunnan, a wild
country bordering on the northeast
frontier of Burma. Referring to
their life and customs, Mr.. Hender-
son writes:
1--WE met more Lahus than any 9TH
er trihesmen, I think Lahu is tho
tribes name for itself, and means the
'tiger-born' race. The tribe is big
one and spills across into Yunnan, or
rather, spills from Yunnan into Bur-
ma, since they originally came from
China. The Lahus live by agricul-
ture, the men doing a little hunting
on the side when they can get hold OF
gun that shoots forward, instead
of backward or in all directions at
once. Every hill man who considers
himself of any Importance at all must
have his gun. There is a factory in
Kengtung where muzzle loading guns
are manufactured A few carpenters
and blacksmiths sit beneath big
banyan tree and make them. When
gun is made, some bold workman
fires it to see if it will go off. If
it does, it is sold at once.
| Up,,t not al hill MAN oro Gu fo,-f,,r
ate as to be able to secure one of
these 'Hsamtun' guns. Many of
them, therefore, make their own.
They make their own powder and
shot, and, when all is finished, have
the self-confidence or temerity to go
hunting with their creation. 1 car
ried a repeating shotgun up there,
and it is not surprising that they re-
garded it with an awe that amount
ed almost to reverence. A friend OF
mine carried an old revolver. He
had paid three dollars for it in AM
erica, and, since that time, the handle
had become broken. He was offered
the equivalent of $65 for it, broken
handle and all, by friendly robber
chief.
"The Lahus have formal and i'm
personal way of making love. The
young men build a fire, and the
maidens another, these fires within
a stones toss of each other. Then
each group sits about its own fire.
and the courting begins. The groups
sing love songs to each other in turn.
This may continue for hours. Then
at last comes song saying the time
has come for parting, and with that
the two groups rise from their fires
and come together for moment. In
this moment, youth may exchange
turbans with the lady of his heart.
These exchanged turbans are worn
for several days, and the whole pro-
ceeding serves the same purpose as
our engagement and engagement
ring. If either party regrets the
4nB7aYf -haa2 sheeenay demand re-
turn 81 turbaNs, and there's an end
to everything. Otherwise, marriage
follows.
"Lahus commonly have large FAM
lilies, and, to save great deal of
mental effort on the part of the pa
rents in devising names for their
progeny, they employ an ingenious
scheme-a kind of calendar of names.
They have cycle of IL days in their
week; dog day, pig day, rat day, COW
day, tiger day, ass day, death day,
crocodile day, sheep day, pony day,
chicken day and louise day. A child
born on dog day is called Master or
Miss Dog; on rat day, Master or Miss
Rat; on sheep day, Master or Miss
Sheep.
"It might be supposed that child
born at midnight Ia rather vague and
inclusive term in land without time
pieces) would catch the baptismal
wheel on dead center, and would be in
a fair way to get two names or none.
Not so. The child is merely Master
or Miss Midnight. What more SIM
pie! To introduce comfortable
amount of variety, the first born is
usually called Master or Miss First.
Commonly the name derived from the
day is also added, and the result is
such a name as Master First Ass, or
Miss Second Pig.
The child whom it's parents expect
to be the last may likewise be called
Master or Miss Last. 1t must be
very annoying to the inventors of the
system that there is at least mo-
dicum of uncertainty in bestowing
the name of Master or Miss Last on
a child. The future cannot be surely
foretold, and consequently it is not
uncommon to find in family two or
even three children bearing the name
asst"