The origin of the Manau dance: A folktale text in Jinghpaw

Abstract

This paper presents an interlinear glossed text in Jinghpaw, a Tibeto-Burman language of the Sino-Tibetan language family, spoken in and around Northern Burma and adjacent areas of China and India. The language serves as a lingua franca among the linguistically diverse Kachin people, who speak several distinct Tibeto-Burman languages. The present text is one of the 2, 754 Jinghpaw narrative texts collected in Northern Burma over the past ten years by the author in collaboration with Kachin community members, as part of our Kachin Orature Project. This project is conducted for, with, and by the Kachin community to document, archive, and revitalize the oral heritage of Northern Burma. The ensuing narrative text recounts the origin of the Manau dance, a significant cultural tradition of the Kachin people. Originally unknown to humans, the Manau was first performed by heavenly spirits in the land of the sun. These spirits later invited various bird species to join in a grand Manau dance. On their way home after participating in the dance, the birds perched on a banyan tree laden with ripe fruits. They decided to perform the Manau before eating. An orphan, while hunting nearby, chanced upon this enthralling scene and learned the dance, which he then introduced to the village elders. Henceforth, the Manau dance was embraced as a part of human culture.