Toe Hla - Historical thoughts related to Shwedagon Pagoda from the heart of Myanmar

Preface to this book

The Shwedagon Dhamma Book contains no less than ten articles and papers by the author. When I wrote it, I did not intend to write it as a book in the future. I wrote it because the publisher came to me and asked for the manuscript. Since I am a student of history, I thought I knew some historical information about Shwedagon, so I accepted it. When I checked carefully, I found that there was not even a single paper that I knew.

Therefore, I regret that I made a big mistake in making the promise. Now, I don't have to worry about the consequences. The promise is valid. If someone asks for help, it is my duty to help them.

Therefore, I have to write about Shwedagon Pagoda. What should I write? When my teacher Dr. Than Tun asked me what I should do after I graduated with a Master's degree, he said, "Do everything you know how to do." I am a person who only does what I am told. Now I have to make my own decisions and do it myself. I am also worried in advance about what the teacher will say if I don't get it right.

I thought about what I should do. I thought about two things. The first was to study and write about the literature of the Inwa period from a historical perspective. It was my hobby, I had studied it quite a bit, and I thought it would be easy. The second was to study the agricultural chronicles and write about it. Originally, I planned to write about the Mahawizza Kita, but the teacher gave me another topic, so I didn’t do it, and it’s just a work in progress. I still don’t know how to write about it. I’m still copying and studying everything I find. Since it’s a type of research that no one has done before, I know that the teacher will encourage it more. Because the teacher’s philosophy is that if you write about something that others haven’t seen or don’t know, you can first make it known. The teacher doesn’t want to encourage doing something that isn’t new.

One day, the teacher said to the writer, “It takes too much time to read poems, poems, and novels to get historical information. I can’t give you that much time. So, you can read novels and try to find historical information.” I was very happy when he said that. I started reading the novels of the Inwa period one by one and found historical information. I also wrote papers. So when I wrote “Administrative history, social history, economic history, and religious history from the Inwa period novels” and showed it to the teacher, the teacher encouraged me and accepted it. Later, I was able to include it in the university’s academic journal.

While studying the land records, I also learned more about the Myanmar monetary system. I learned a lot about the types of money found in the records, how to exchange red leaves, weights, etc., and wrote a paper on the Myanmar monetary system, how to calculate red leaves. I added the paper to the next teacher to review and prepare. The next day, the teacher arranged for the paper to be read in the department. In this way, the teacher wanted to see and hear new knowledge and encourage it.

Therefore, when I became interested in writing papers, I did not want to write short articles. When I wrote the articles that were included in the Shwedagon Saskha, the topics were different. The times were also different. However, I tried to write what I wanted the readers to know and see about Shwedagon Pagoda from a historical perspective. On the other hand, I tried to give new knowledge. Some of them are not related to Shwedagon at all.

However, when I look back at what I wrote, I have written what I felt, what I felt, and what I had evidence for, based on my beliefs, cultural concepts, and the circumstances of the time. I wrote what I wanted to convey to my readers rather than writing for them to read, so there will certainly be some imperfections. However, I admit that I was full of sincerity.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to U Sein Win Aung (Shwedagon Trustees) for encouraging me to write the papers. I would also like to express my special gratitude to U Aung Soe, who organized the compilation, and to the publisher. I would also like to acknowledge all the other people I have forgotten, and I apologize for not mentioning their names (because I tend to forget).

Beautiful

19 February 2018

4:29 p.m.