A SURVEY OF THE HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN BURMA BEFORE THE BRITISH CONQUEST AND AFTER‘ PART 1 By U KAUNG ** * A thesis accepted for the Master of Arts degree in Education the University of London in May, 1929- Examiners: Professor J. Dover Wilson, Professor of Education, University of London, and Mr. A.E. Twentyman: External Examiner: Mr. Arthur Mayhew. ** Late Director of Education and Chairman of the Burma Historical Commission. XLVI, ii, Dec. 1963 Copyright® 1998 - Myanmar Book Centre & Book Promotion & Service Ltd, Bangkok, Thailand.(INTRODUCTION My father U Kaung, studied in England for over three years as a Burma State Scholar, after having obtained the Bachelor of Arts degree in English Honours from the University of Rangoon. The Diploma in Teaching from King's College, London he achieved after the first year and from 1928 to 1929 he undertook research as a post graduate for the M.A. in Education. In 1929 at the age of 25 he completed the present thesis on the History of Education in Burma Before the British Conquest and After, and it was accepted by the ‘University of London.as ‘a worthy contribution to the literature on the philosophy and history of education,’ with a First Class award in the Thesis Section. The Burma State Scholarship authorities of the ttme encouraged intellec- tual ability and favoured the broadening of experience that comes from contact with other nations and peoples. Qn learning that my father stood first in the M. A. in Education Examination of the University of London, they ‘extended the scholarship by nine months with a bonus of fifty pounds ‘as a reward for good work and to enable him to travel and study the educational systems of Denmark, Germany, France and the British Isles with particular reference to rural education in which he intended to specialize’’. 1 Throughout his crowded career, my father remained a scholar at heart, longing fervently for the time when he would be free from onerous adminis- trative duties and able to devote his leisure to studying and writing on Burma and the Burmese people that he loved. But it was not to be. He died in 1957 while in Calcutta on governmental duties. This thesis alone remained of his work, and he had intended to revise and publish it eventually to fill the glaring gap for material on the history of education in Burma. It is now being published, without the chance of further revisions but bing a survey and a history, like teak well seasoned, it does not, I hope, need the gloss of current polish. Oaly the bibliography has been revised with a view of providing fuller entries. Dr. Nyi Nyi, a scholar in education himself, encouraged me to have the thesis published. To him and to Thakin Kyaw Sein and the many friends of my father, I tender my gratitude. My family and I would also like to thank the Editor and the Executive Committee of the Burma Research Society for devoting exclusively this number of the journal to my father's survey on the History of Education in Burma. THAW KAUNG, Hon. Librarian, Burma Research Society, 3rd September 1963. JBRS, XLVI, ii, Dec. 1963 Copyright® 1998 - Myanmar Book Centre & Book Promotion & Service Ltd, Bangkok, ThailandCONTENTS Introduction Summary Prefatory Notes I. EDUCATION IN BURMA BEFORE THE BRITISH CONQUEST Monastery and Lay Schools (i) Monastic Education Gil) Lay Schools The Beginnings of Christian Missionary Education 1600-1824 (A) Introductory Remarks (B) The Roman Catholic Mission 1721-1824 I, EDUCATION IN BURMA AFTER THE BRITISH CONQUEST Page Roman Catholi¢ and American Baptist Mission Schools 1824-53 58 Introductory Remarks 39 (A) Roman Catholic Mission Schools 1824-53 61 (B) Amarisan Baptist Mission Schools 1824-53 64 4, Education Under the British Government n (A) The Departmental System rR (B) Vernacular Education 1867-1922 7 Appendix ve 82 Bibliography WS JBRS, XLVI, ii, Dec. 1963 Copyright® 1998 - Myanmar Book Centre & Book Promotion & Service Ltd, Bangkok, Thailand,SUMMARY The thesis deals with education in Burma before the British Conquest (Chaps. I-II) and of the foundations of the present grant-in-aid system on the three existing types of schools which the Government found when it established its Education Department in 1867 (Chaps. III and IV). Education in Burma was carried on, from the time of the introduc- tion of the religion into the country sometime before the 10th century until the establishment of English schools after the conquest in 1826, principally by the free schools of the Buddhist monasteries. The origin of this form of education, its nature and scope are discussed. It was an education which was entirely suited to the Burmese people, and in harmony with their life. Its aim was to give religious culture, and not to prepare the pupils for worldly success in the narrow sense. This aim was achieved through the suitable life and environment of the monastery itself, the influence of the monk teachers, and the books studied. But being a monastic system it did not provide for the education of girls. Therefore for girls, free Lay Schools, kept by men and women for “merit” seem to have existed at least for about a hundred years before the British Conquest. These schools also prepared the boys for the Monastery Schools. The education they provided was similar to that of the monasteries, except that the standard reached was lower because they could not retain their pupils for as long a period as the former. The two varieties of schools together supplied both elementary and higher education in Burmese, Pali and the native sciences. Apart from these schools, some Christian Missionary Schools existed since the 17th century (Chap. ID). But until more favourable condi- tions for missionary work were secured through the conquest of the country by a Christian nation, conversion work did not progress. There- fore, educational work also was not significant. However, during the 19th century the missionaries developed a system of schools which served as a foundation for Anglo-Vernacular education, while many Monastery and Lay Schools were also absorbed into the system through the efforts of the Education Department. Thus, the history of education after the - Conquest divides itself into the separate strands of Vernacular and Anglo-Vernacular education. s JBRS, XLVI, ii, Dec. 1963 Copyright© 1998 - Myanmar Book Centre & Book Promotion & Service Ltd, Bangkok, Thailand.The new conditions disturbed the peupte’s values; and the new English education which became popular because of its power to secure Govern- ment employment could not sublimate the purely materialistic aims of the pupils. The purpose of the study was to compare the education of Burmese times with education under the British Government’s Education Depart- ment. But as it has not been possible to complete it owing to a long iffness the purpose is not yet fulfilled. The plan, however, was to trace the development of the Departmental system in three separate chapters (from 1867-1927) dealing with Vernacular education, Anglo-Vernacular education, and higher education, and in the final chapter to sum up the characteristics of the mew system thus developed, comparing its aims, methods, and achievements with those of the old system of education, The argument of the thesis was to show that owing to the narrow vocational aims of the pupils and the circumstances in which the system developed, Anglo-Vernacular education has not been able to develop the ideals which all schools should teach, and which are necessary to take the place of the old ideals that are being forgotten. Copyright® 1998 - Myanmar Book Centre & Book Promotion & Service Ltd, Bangkok, ThailandPREFATORY NOTES GEOGRAPHY, _ Burma consists mainly of the valleys of the Irrawaddy and the Sittang. The rest of the country is either mountainous or coastal. In each of the valleys a race developed, just as a third race developed in coastal Arakan. The population has always had a tendency to get concentrated in the lowlands in the river valleys. Its mountains in the north acted as barriers against Chinese immigration, and although down the passes Chinese caravans used to come through Burma! on their way to the sea, or across Manipur to Afghanistan, Chinese influence must have always been limited to the trade routes because its traces are hard to find.? Indian influences have been much more pervasive and continuous; first purely Hindu, and later Buddhist from about 300 A.D. onwards. This and other newcullures came for the most part by sea, and the centres of new influences have always been in the southern country, in the Delta and the coastal regions. The interior Kingdoms usually received them at second hand. ETHNOGRAPHY. _ The indigenous people of Burma are usually divided up into seven groups, commonly called “races” in Government reports and Missionary accounts. The groups are (1) the Burmans, whose home is the valley of the Irrawaddy and its tributaries as far south as the head of the Delta, (II) the Talaings (or Mons) who are natives of the valley of the Sittang and the Tenasserim coast, (Il!) the Arakanese in Arakan, (IV) the Shans who have lived and still live on the plateau to the east of the Irrawaddy called the Shan States Plateau, (V) the Karens whose original home was the hilly regions _east of the Sittang and row settled in those parts as well as in the Delta regions and the Tenasserim coast, (VI) the Chins on the hills between the Irrawaddy Valley and Arakan, and (VII) the Kachins on the hills to the north of Burma. This geographical distribution is still largely true except that in Lower Burma people of all groups have become mixed together, especially the Burmans and the Talaings with a fair number of Karens. The distinction between the Burmans and the Talaings has been growing fainter during the Jast 100 years as a result of an overwhelming migration of Burmans to Lower Burma when rice cultivation became profitable with the development of an export trade in it from 1826 onwards. Other groups also are being gradually absorbed by the Burman group. It is to be noted that the word “Burman” is used in wo senses. In the narrower sense it means the real Burman, the inhabitant of the valley of the Irrawaddy, as distinguished from men of the other groups of indigenous population, while in a wider sense it means all the people of Burma taken together. Since the British 1 The Chinese merchants used the (rade routes through Burma since the 2nd century B.C, Two were along the Irrawaddy and the Salween, the 3rd down the Chindwin River and through Manipur took the caravans a three months’ journey to Afghanistan where Chinese silks were exchanged for the gold of Europe. (Harvey. Ibid. p. 9) 2 Harvey, Ibid. Note at p. 337. JBRS, XLVI, ii, Dec. 1963 Copyright® 1998 - Myanmar Book Centre & Book Promotion & Service Lid, Bangkok, Thailand.% ‘Conquest it is the tendency of the foreigners to use the word to include ali the civilised races of Burma, The Government encourages the usage as conducive to a unification of the races. Of the foreigners the most important oumerically are the Indians and the Chinese. HISTORY. _n Burma, asa rule, two important kingdoms have existed practically always, one in the valley of the Irrawaddy in Upper Burma and the other in the valley of the Sittang in Lower Burma. Kings of the Burman race conquered and ruled the other kingdoms during three periods in Burmese history. The first Burthese Empire under the Pagan Dynasty (1957-1287) lasted over two and a quarter centuries. The second Empire under the kings of the Toungoo Dynasty lasted also about two centuries from 1540-1740, In 1740 the Talaings rebelled and expelled the Burmese from Pegu, Syriam and Martaban where they had settled. They fought their way northwards and entered Burmese territory, capturing Ava, the ancient capital in 1752. They took the King prisoner and afterwards executed him. It was during this period that Alaungpaya, the founder of the last dynasty and Empire in Burma first came into prominence. When the Court and the people round the capital were feeling utterly helpless after having suffered defeat at the hands of the. Talaings, Alauagpaya who was thena village headman of Shwebo (the office was hereditary) rallied them and ultimately succeeded in turning the Talaings out of the Burmese tesritory He followed up his success by attacking the Lower Country, capturing Pegu - its capital in 1754. In that year he proclaimed himself ruler of the united territory of the old kingdoms of both Ava and Pegu. He continued his career as conqueror and organized a successful expedition against Tenasserim, Siam and Manipur. He died in 1760. In 1784 Arakan was invaded and subdued by his son, Bodawpaya, so that after that year all thé territory which is now called Burma was under one ruler. The administration, it appears, was well organized, but it is believed by some to have been rather severe to the conquered people. All this territory continued under the descendants of Alaungpaya until it passed in three successive stages under British administration. Ist. War between British and Burmans, 1824-26. Tertitory lost by Burmans: Arakan and Tenasserim. 2ad. War between British and Burmans, 1852-53. Territory lost by Burmans: Pegu and Martaban (or Sbwegyin). 3rd. War between British and Burmans, 1885. Territory lost by Burmans, Upper Burma; End of Burmese Rule. JBRS, XLVI, th, Dec. 1963 Copyright® 1986 - Myanmar Book Centre & Book Promotion & Service Ltd, Bangkok, Thailand.PART I. CHAPTER ONE EDUCATION IN BURMA BEFORE THE BRITISH CONQUEST Monastery & Lay Schools. JBRS, XLVI, ii, Dec. 1963 Copyright® 1998 - Myanmar Book Centre & Book Promotion & Service Ltd, Bangkok, Thailand.CHAPTER ONE EDUCATION IN BURMA BEFORE THE BRITISH CONQUEST. Burma came under British Government in three separate portions at three different times. First, the maritime parts of the county, namely, Arakan and Tenasserim in 1826 as indemnity for the First Anglo-Burmese War of 1824-26; then the provinces of Pegu and Martaban by the annexation after the Second Anglo-Burmese War of 1852; and, finally, the last independent portion of Burma, or Upper Burma, in 1885 after the deposition of the Burmese King by the British in the same year. The conquest of the country was, therefore, gradual, and naturally Burmese life and institutions came under the new in- fluence at different times. Thus, for instance, while British rule was changing the economic condition of the inhabitants of Arakan and Tenasserim and attracting numerous immigrants from Burmese territory, the people of Burma Proper still lived the old life of a slower pace and greater stability. It was the same with the people of Upper Burma when Pegu and Martaban were annexed. This being so, the educational conditions presently to be described must be taken as applicable down to later times in some parts of the country than in others. As an instance, while many monasteries were induced to co-operate with the Government Education Department in Lower Burma between 1861-1886, in Upper Burma under the Burmese kings, conditions were unchanged. Education in the Burma of pre-British times was carried on almost entirely by the Hpon- gyees or Buddhist monks in their Hpongyee-Kyaungs, or Buddhist monasteries. The only additional agency for education was that supplied by the Ain-Kyaungs or Lay Schools; which gave education to girls and little boys too young to go to the Monastery School. But the important schools as regards numbers as well as in quality and scope of teaching were the monasteries. The Lay Schools were few in number and they were preparatory in nature, They gave an education which was very similar in aims, methods, and the manuscript texts used, to that given in the monasteries, with the difference that they seldom took the pupils far, I shall deal with the Monastery Schools and the monastic system of education in the’ first section of this chapter and with the Lay Schools in the second section. The next chapter (Chapt. 11), completes the account of the nature and extent of education before British times by giving the history of the earliest Christian Mission Schools. The educa- tional influence of these Mission Schools has often been exaggerated, On the other hand, although, as J shall show later, they did not affect the education of the Burmese children in Burmese times, their history must he known in order to understand the beginnings, and later development of mission education which today affects so large a proportion of non- Christian boys receiving English education in Burma. SECTION ONE: MONASTIC EDUCATION. Monastic education in Burma is as old as Buddhism itself and therefore, a brief account of how, when, and in what form the religion was conveyed into the country must. be given first; although it has been treated more fully by various writers for their own par- ticular purposes. Without an adequate account of this momentous event, namely the in- JBRS, XLVI, ii, Dec. -1963 Copyright® 1998 - Myanmar Book Centre & Book Promotion & Service Ltd, Bangkok, Thailand.troduction of Buddhism into the land and its effects, it is well nigh impossible to understand anything Burmese to any great extent. Isolated geographically from the outer world, Burma lived throughout the greater part of her history practically to herself, unaffected by extraneous influences arising from invasions, commercial relations with other countries, and similar forms of contacts which tend to change a people towards the acceptance of new ideals and aspirations, and the adoption of new ways of life, But although it lay thus @etached, the seed of a spiritual and intellectual influence was brought over the sea from Southern India (Teligana) early in the Christian Era, and it took root, and grew, affecting the whole of her life. Moreover, as the aspiration of Buddhism was broadly human and not Jimited to a race or a class, each people and cach individual might take its message to heart in an individual way. And so in the case of Burma, the restraints it enjoined, and the ideals it held up became the occasions for the unfolding of her own inmost nature. No ane can study any aspect of Burmese life and thought without being struck by theclearness. and the permanence of the impress left on it by Buddhism. Literature developed under its immediate influence, the first authors in Burma, in fact, being monks §. Even poetry is usually not “personal” but fine rather with that clear-eyed courage and mellow love for allcreatures, qualities which have thzir source in the religion. The influence is equally pervasive in the architecture, sculpture, painting, legends, plays and customs of the country ?. The very law of the land in fact gradually became Buddhist in its principles and practice froma Hindu origin 5. The one important extraneous cultural influence be- fore the English Conquest under which she fell was, therefore, of the greatest significances The Buddhist doctrine was introduced into the country enshrined in a canon of scrip- tures written in Pali which is for that reason still called the “original language” (Malabhasd) by the Burmese. The scriptures consisted of the three Pitakas (Pali: Tipitaka; Burmese: Bidaga-thon-bon) of:- (a) The Vinayapitaka, (b) The Suttapitaka, (c) and the Abhidhamma-pitaka, the recension being that which was consecrated in Ceylon. A few words must be said here regarding the nature of these books and the nature of their appeal to the Burmese people. (a) The Vinaya which came to Burma was the monastic code handed down by the Theravadin sect in Ceylon; that is, the sect professing the doctrine (vddu) of the meras or the 1-Ba Thein, U: “A Dictionary of Burmese Authors”, Journal of Burma Research Society. (August, 1920) Pp. 137 et seq. A Prize Article by U Ba Thein (in Burmese). 2 It is unnecessary to give further instances. Almost every book on Burma in essence is an unconscious thesis proving this fact. See Fielding Hall, H: The Soul ofa People \898; and A People at School 1913; Ferrars, Max and Bertha. Burmz 1909; Nisbet, John: Burma Under British Rule and Before 1901, and others. ‘See Bibliography in the Appendix. 3 See Forchammer, E: The Jardine Prize, an essay on the sources and development of Burmese law, Rangoon 1885, in which the thesis is proved carefully, JBRS, XLVI, ii, Dec. 1963 Copyright® 1998 - Myanmar Book Centre & Book Promotion & Service Ltd, Bangkok, Thailand.