Introduction to the Mon People

The Mon are the main ethnic group among the Mon-Khmer-speaking people who were the first to enter the territory of Myanmar from mainland China. They entered Myanmar around 2000 B.C. and eventually settled in the southeastern part of Lower Burma. They had established the powerful Mon dynasty in Lower Burma.

The Mon follow Buddhism. They have their own language and script. It is believed that as early as around the 3rd century B.C., the Mon used the Borobudur alphabet to inscribe tablets. At the end of the 3rd century and the beginning of the 4th century A.D., the Mon absorbed the South Indian script belonging to Sanskrit to create the Mon script, and the Burmese used the Mon alphabet to create the Burmese script.

The Mon are a people with an ancient culture. The Mon culture has had a great influence on the Burmese and Shan cultures. The Burmese culture is developed on the basis of absorbing the Mon culture. Mon culture is one of the two foundations of Burmese culture.

Mon architecture, painting, carving, music and dance have had a great influence on the Maung. At present, the Mon language and script are still spoken in the Mon settlements, and the traditions and customs of the Mon people are still preserved. However, since the Mon dynasty was destroyed by the Burmese many times, most of the Mon living in the plains and cities have been assimilated by the Burmese, and their customs are basically no longer different from those of the Burmese.

The Mon people's ancestors were agriculturalists. When they entered Myanmar, they also brought rice cultivation and irrigation techniques to the country. The Mon are not only good at growing rice, but also at gardening in orchards. Salt production, fishing and handicrafts are also well developed. In the plains where the Mon live, the water conditions are good for rice cultivation. The main crops are rice, peanuts, beans, rubber, sugar cane, sesame, jute, tobacco and so on.

Meng people from the pre-Qin period activities in the southwest of China's Baipu ethnic group. According to Soviet archaeologists confirmed that as early as the 20th century BC, a large number of former residents in South China, Southwest China's Mon-Khmer tribes moved south, they take the Chao Phraya River Basin as the center of the Central and South China Peninsula to create a brilliant ancient civilization. This Mon-Khmer-speaking people had a more advanced culture than other peoples at that time.

In the late Neolithic period, the ancient Mon-Khmer people began to expand on the Central South Peninsula for the development of their tribe. One of them arrived along the Mekong River in present-day Laos and Cambodia, and became the ancestors of the ancient Kikuyu people. Another group entered the Salween region around the 10th century B.C. and later developed into the Mon people. Historically, the Mon had a country of their own. According to the Mon inscriptions, it is inferred that the Mon people had established Mon countries such as the Fallah Batti and Namphun in present-day Thailand, and Mon countries such as Direct, Langkashio, Pakokku, and Bursang in present-day Myanmar. Before the entry of the Burmese into present-day Myanmar, the Mon used to occupy a vast area in the central and southern parts of the country, but due to the entry of the Burmese and the Shan and the rapid rise of the Sukhothai, the area of their land became increasingly smaller and smaller, and they finally had to retreat to a small area centered on the Straight. Today, most of the Mon live in mixed communities with the Burmese and are gradually being assimilated into the Burmese.

The Mon specialize in music and dance. There are five types of Mon musical instruments, namely copper, string, leather, pipe and board. There are seven tones, namely, crane, sheep, ox, horse, elephant, peacock and cuckoo. The scale is divided into 7 tones, and each tone is further divided into 3 types: large, medium and small, ****21 tones. In addition, there are many unique musical instruments, such as the crescent moon piano, crocodile piano, the Meng suona and so on.