Abstract
This paper will explore the relationship between the migration of Palaung Buddhists and the construction of their own practices in Namhsan, northern Shan State, Myanmar. The Palaung are uplanders of this area, while the Shan are rulers of the valleys. Previous studies concluded that the Palaung simply imitated Shan Buddhist practices, citing how the Palaung would typically deliver teachings in the Shan language and use texts written in the Shan script. However, conducting fieldwork in Namhsan, I found that the Palaung have recently begun to translate Buddhist texts using the Palaung script and to deliver dharma teachings in the Palaung language. One factor of this phenomenon is that the social contacts between Burmese and Palaung people have become more intense, on account of the increasing of migration. As a result, influence from Burmese Buddhism has become stronger. Yet elite monks try to make their own style of practice and create a “Palaung sect.” These developments demonstrate how the Palaung have exercised their own cultural agency and remade the ethnic connectedness in the articulation of Buddhist practices. Nonetheless we must exercise caution in assessing the reality of the “Palaung sect.” Owing to the great differences in language among the Palaung sub-groups, the Buddhist texts composed in Samlong language are difficult to understand for other sub-groups. Therefore, there is great diversity in the Palaung texts of each sub-group. This means that these sub-groups of Palaung still maintain a micro-regional community by remaking and reinforcing connectedness within the groups.
