Tai Soe - You and Me

King's wife

When hearing the name of King U Kaung, literature lovers will immediately think of the title of "courtier from Naymyarkan". Legal historians will remember with reverence the thirty-six volumes of the Dhamma Saṃ. Antique enthusiasts will be amazed by the European-style monastery that U Kaung donated. However, U Kaung's name is controversial in history, both for good and for bad.

"U Kaung lied, you will continue to be defeated"

It's confusing with the words.

The phrase has two meanings. One is that the last king of the dynasty, King Thibaw, surrendered to the British in 1247 Burmese calendar (1885 AD), according to the traditional calendar. The second is that it was written this way because U Kaung was a liar and a crook.

The Burmese monarchy fell to the British in three stages. Until 1824, Burma was an independent country with one king and one throne. However, during the reign of Bagyidaw, Burma lost the war against the British and had to give up Tanintharyi and Rakhine. During the reign of Bagan, the second war was fought and lost again, and Burma's territory up to Taw Kyaung Tharet was given up. During the reign of Mindon, who reigned after Bagan, the relations with the British were good due to the greatness of Mindon. During the reign of the last dynasty, Thibaw, the third war took place, and Thibaw also lost the war, and the independence of Burma was completely lost.

U Kaung served both Mindon and Thibaw (on the Burmese side). Starting from the reign of Mindon, he gradually increased his duties and reached his peak during the reign of Thibaw. He was very successful. However, in the context of how Thibaw fell into the hands of the British, U Kaung's actions are tainted.

Therefore, "

"U Kaung lied, you will continue to be defeated"

If you look back at his life, you can see the full range of reasons why his words were not true.

U Kaung's father, U Mot, lived in Mon Tai Min (Min Daing) village, Ban Kyi Taki, Monywa Township. He was not a nobleman. He was from the Nat Shin Kyaw clan. However, when there was no war or when he was not on duty in the kingdom, he could live peacefully in his own village, and he made a living by selling weaving looms and working as a chemist. His son, U Kaung, was also born in that village in 1822. Here, his father was a monk, and according to Burmese administrative customs, when his son came of age, he was usually required to serve in that monastery. This was not an ordinary monk. He was literate, reached the court of the king, and became a minister of the king. In fact, there was no school in his village. Although there was none, U Kaung, who wanted to learn, studied in the nearby schools of Ngam Pyaw Taw village, Sit Kone village, O Myit Sok Sha, and Padu villages. Student life Through the stages of his life as a monk, he studied grammar, sāgaha, sān, alaka, vedan, medicine, etc. He was not discouraged by this, but he was so persistent that he went to the Bhakara monastery in the royal city of Amarapura to continue his studies.

Here, U Kaung had a chance to become a monk. It turned out that while he was at Padu village school, he had become acquainted with U Yan Way, a monk named U Pyin Sin. U Pyin Sin was now a monk at Shwerei School, west of the Bhakra School, and was a disciple of Prince Mindon. Then Prince Mindon said to U Yan Way, “We want scholars,” and U Kaung came to serve in Prince Mindon’s court through U Yan Way’s sister. As Prince Mindon was a scholar, people like U Po Hlaing, who would later become his secretary, came to visit him. U Yan Way soon changed his clothes and became Prince Mindon’s chief.

At that time, the Bagan King was in power. It seems that the King did not have the public's respect. His courtier, U Bai Sat, was abusing the young men and women. The internal affairs were being handled by the King's son-in-law, Prince U Kyauk Lone, and the Kyaung Wan U Pae. On top of that, the Bagan King himself did not attend the regular assembly, but instead engaged in cockfighting and boxing, which made the people feel bad. Therefore, it is a sign that they respected Prince Mindon, who was a good person and regularly went to the army (the Bagan King's half-brother). The situation seemed to be bad for the Bagan King, so the British and Burmese went to war again. In that matter, the Bagan King did not have much support, but the British came and fought. Prince Mindon, however, thought that the Burmese could not match the British's military power, and so he He had been living peacefully for some time, and for some reason he wanted to prevent the war in some way. Meanwhile, the servants of the Bagan king accused him and his brother, the prince of Kanaung, of being involved in a robbery, and he rebelled against the king at the instigation of his brother. In 1853, with the help of loyal followers such as U So, the commander of the artillery (the minister of the Naung oil field), Prince Mindon defeated the king of Kanaung, captured Amarapura and took the throne, and appointed his brother, the prince of Kanaung, as the head of the house. The war was also ended.

The king's servants were the servants of the king. U So, U Yan Way, U Phoe Hlaing, and U Kaung were praised for their merits. If we talk about U Kaung, when he was in the house of Prince Mindon, he was promoted to the position of treasurer soon after serving because of his good conduct and correct spelling. Here, Prince Mindon himself was very careful and honored, even marrying off Sin Kyaw Thakin, who had been a maid of honor during the reign of the king. Now, when Prince Mindon reached the peak, he also worked hard at his job, and as he worked hard, he rose to the position of Shwe Tay Soe, then Hluttaw Order Clerk, then Hluttaw Clerk, then Ahlong Myo, then Taung Ngu and Yamethin Two Towns Revenue Officer, then Hluttaw Deputy, then Kwan Wan Deputy, who supervised and administered the Kwan Wan of the Navy, Army, and other related taxes.

He also showed us how he helped the city grow. In 1857, when King Mindon did not like Amarapura and wanted to build a new city in Mandalay, U Kaung, under the orders of the Minister of Myataung, U Mok, was able to draw up a system of buildings and structures to build seven departments, including a moat, city wall, and palace. When the king ordered twenty gardens to be built around Mandalay to make it green, he was able to create the Mahathiri Hemawan Garden, which was a beautiful garden with flowers and trees. When he was the governor of Ahlone, he was able to work to develop the city and village area peacefully in three years. When the timber industry on the Taungoo River was not located and the tax revenue was decreasing, he was able to make it a reality. Finally, in 1866, when two of Mindon's sons, Prince Myin Kon and Prince Myin Khon Daing, killed the prince of Kanaung and rebelled, U Yan Way (who became King of Pakan) stood up in parliament and organized a rebellion, and was able to resist the rebellion.

This is all, there is more. U Kaung did not just exert himself in the affairs of the kingdom, but he was able to satisfy King Mindon's literary passion with his accumulated knowledge, skills, and poetry. King Mindon was a devout religious man and loved to listen to religious texts. When he listened to poetry, he especially liked the story of the four princes in the forest. Ngwe Taung Rakan and Ramarakan were pleasant and enjoyable, but they were often considered mere sampappalapasa. Therefore, he asked U Kaung to compose poetry at his request. U Kaung also composed poems like Tin Kaung and Nai Ma Rakan. Tin Kaung was more literary than poetic, but it was a poem that did not reflect the morals of the king.