Palaung - Economy



Subsistence and Commercial Activities. The Palaungs are agriculturalists whose hunting and gathering activities are minimal or reported only for some northern groups. Since they are predominantly vegetarians, virtually no hunting activities have been reported, although some freshwater fish and eels are caught for food. Likewise, no livestock is kept for food. Agricultural activities center on garden produce for food and trade, tea production for cash, and livestock raising for trade. Most areas practice swidden agriculture with rice as the main crop, although wet rice is also grown in areas where suitable lowland is available. Swidden and kitchen gardens also produce tobacco, hemp, beans, peas, sesame, maize, chilies, tomatoes, eggplants, onions, mustard, and sugarcane. Many wild fruits are used, but domestication is limited to bananas, jackfruit, and mangoes. Whereas both opium and betel nut are grown in the Shan States, the Palaungs do not raise either, even though both men and women use betel extensively. Tea production, which appears to have begun around 1910, is the chief economic pursuit of the central Palaungs, particularly those in Taungpeng state. All aspects of growing, processing, and transportation of tea for export are handled directly by the Palaungs, who have some large-scale enterprises with paid labor. Tea is exported in two forms: fermented or pickled (the latter eaten in Myanmar) and as dried leaves.

Since the Palaungs are predominantly vegetarians, few animals are raised for food. Pig raising is reported for some marginal areas and only the Rumai subgroup, north of the central area, is reported to slaughter animals. Since women neither eat nor cook meat, men prepare it when it is used. This may include either beef or pork obtained from Chinese butchers or neighboring Lisu and Kachins, or animals killed by predators. Palaungs also obtain salted, smoked, and fermented fish from the Burmese. Cocks are raised for crowing and fighting, but poultry are not eaten and eggs are rarely consumed. Cattle and buffalo, along with horses, which are sold in lowland Myanmar, are raised as beasts of burden; though cattle are raised, milk is not used.

Industrial Arts. The production of material goods by the Palaungs is fairly limited. It can be assumed that tea production takes up much of their productive labor time, and they buy or trade extensively for material goods. They make baskets but also buy them. Cloth to make bags for plucking tea is acquired from the Shans, as well as the white homespun cotton upon which the Palaung women weave distinctive patterns, although some women were reported to be still weaving cloth. Men's clothing is also made from cloth imported into the area. While some villages have silversmiths, most jewelry is acquired from Shans. Likewise there are Palaung blacksmiths, but cast-metal tools such as plowshares are acquired from the Chinese. Much carpentry, masonry, and decorative work, such as in monastery and pagoda construction, is done by lowland Burmese. Virtually no Palaung crafts are produced for trade.

Trade. Palaung trade is based on tea, both dry and pickled, and livestock, especially horses. The Palaungs carry on trade directly or through intermediary itinerant Chinese, Burmese, Indians, or Shans. Trade is conducted in Palaung villages as well as in towns such as Möngmit, Hsenwi, Hsipaw, and Namkham, and even as far away as Yangon (Rangoon) and Mandalay. Import trade from outside the area is shared with other cultural groups, although there is some area specialization such as that among the Shans and Kachin, who supply the Palaungs with salt and preserved fish. At the time of the most detailed ethnographic accounts of the Palaungs, most of the tea trade was in the pickled form, which moved south to the Burmese and north and east to the Shans of Burma and China.

Division of Labor. Men plow, tend livestock, build and repair houses, transplant tea, pack and load tealeaf, cook meat dishes, and prepare the slash-and-burn garden plots. Women fetch water, clean the houses, cook, spin, weave, make clothing, prepare the nurseries for the tea plants, and plant the gardens. Both men and women cut and gather firewood, cut and carry timber for houses, and gather grass for horses.


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