IXDO-CIIINA. 



G3 



effected by the Lao people of the Upper Mennro and Middle 

 Mokbong basins. All affect tin- sc-ueml deHignntion of Thai (Tai), 

 that IK, "Free," u Noble/ 1 and their long: contact with tho present 

 inhnbitanto of the " Middle Kingdom " is shown by tho constituent 

 elements of tho Chinese language, of which fifty per cent, arc of 

 Shun origin. The cradle of the SI inn, race line even been traced 

 by Tetriuu do I,aeoiiperio 7 with aomo show of probability, to tho 

 KiuluTig highlands north of Scchueu and south of Shcnai in west 

 and north-west China. 



(Jut fit present the chief home of tho Shans proper .ire the border* 

 laml.s lietwmii Yunnan, Hurronh, ami Siatn. Ernst of tin-' Mr-ping (Upper 

 Mi'ii.iiJi'. JLiul generally En North sun I Ku.it HLlui, they are gionped as l..n in 

 two groat divisions — the I-AU-PliuU-H&ta, or u White- I'ailn eh Lao," ',\lm 

 do not p recti ao tattooing, and the Lau-Phun-Dniii, or u Bl nek -Paunch 

 IjM," who. like- their Milrinone uDighlwura, cover the body with wonder- 

 fully intricate tattoo design*, tlittH giving it n dark or black appearand'. 

 They nr- an hLstorieal |*r-o.jili«, who werr loniu-rly eonstitulnl in an ancient 

 and powerful kingdom, whrwn capital, Vinh-Khianh (Viisn-i'h.aoh was taken 

 find de-M roved liy I hr Siamese nVmUt tin- y<-ar Tin 1 v,v?4<'ru and 



northern ShanH have nilso forfeited their independence to China, Sin.ni, or 

 Ttnmiah, although Hie Shan country betWMQ North Siam and Yunnan 

 {20 1 to "28* Iff. hit.) is practical It autonomous. They arc a semi-civilised 

 people, engaged I'hii-Jly in trade and agriculture, with a knowledge of 

 Tetters, and middlrfala, like all the settled populations of Indo-Cliina. 

 They have domesticated tho elephant and Imtt'do, an 1 peaceful and 

 industrious, and skilled in the production of lacquered ware*, and of 

 silk and cotton fabrics for local use. Trading relations have long been 

 established with China, Shun, Burma! i. and Cainboja, with which 

 countries ihcir ivory, gold dust, tin, gusm, he-. I mzoin, t uw -ilk. ^U'h, 

 and sapan-wood an bartend for cotton cloth, chintzes, silk, opium, hard- 

 ware, nnd porcelain. At present much of this trade is carried on by 

 itinerant Shan and Burmese hawkers, who are met everywhere between 

 the Irawnddy and Mckhnng rivers, organised in small caravans, and 

 well armed, like the Povindahs of Afghanistan. 



Althongh nominal Muddhiats. most of the Shnns and Laos, and even 

 many of the Siamese, are in reality still nature- worshippers, who make 

 offerings of sticks and stones to the local genii mid gunrd their homes 

 against evil spirits by means of brooms, cotton threads, hum hex of herbage, 

 or other curious devices. Some are quite as savage aa the wild tribes, and 

 althongh acquainted with tho use of hre-anns, stiLI use the national cross- 

 bow, a formidable weapon, which will kill a bulhilo with a simple bamboo 

 arrow at considerable distances, in some districts the eoufuoi'Oi of types 

 and usages is so great that the tnio wild tribes can be distinguished from 

 the Shins and Laos only by the large bone, ivory, or wooden ornaments 

 worn in the lobe of the ear /as amongst so many of the Oceanic, African, 

 and American races. In Kuropean accounts of these Mild tribe* the con- 

 fusion is increased by the generic designations niistaken for tribal names 

 applied to them by then uv ili-'l neighbours. Such nre M<u" in Cochin- 

 China^ Afuong in "Tonkin, Pnmn {Ptnowj) in Coniboja, Kh& in tho Lao 

 districts, Tmo in Lower Cochin-China, Lolo on the Yunnan frontier, all 

 of which it-rum nic:m liule more than savagr, wild, or hill irik- in general. 



