Opium weight

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The Hintha has been used as a mass body motif since the 16th century.

Bronze weights in animal form, called " opium weights " since colonial times , come mainly from Burma and Laos . For a long time, these mass bodies were used with beam scales in everyday use. Today they are also collected as art objects and replicas are offered as souvenirs in many places . As with other antiques over 75 years old, the export of original opium weights is prohibited in Burma.

history

The first animal figures of the Pyu are known from the years 100–400 AD, although it is uncertain whether they were already used as weights. The first documentary mentions are from the time of King Kyanzittha of Bagan (r. 1084–1113). From the 16th century there are reports from travelers to Asia about the weights. In a manuscript by Nandabahu, administrator of King Alaungpaya (1714–1760), weights and typical shapes from the 13th century are described.

When Lan Na was repeatedly subjugated by Burma between 1558 and 1774, it was introduced there. The Kingdom of Ayutthaya was occupied by Burma for 15 years in 1564 and attempts were made in Lan Xang between 1571 and 1621. After King Thibaw Min was forced to abdicate by the English in 1885, no more official bronze weights were cast, the English used flat, round iron weights a. However, they are still used in remote areas. Replicas are mostly made of brass. Allegedly, after the opium trade was banned, the weights were used as money, which is why they are also called opium money . While the exact history is questionable, the use of weights as monetary value is known in several cultures.

Motifs

The weights are coin-like or animals on a stand. Various mythical creatures and real animals with a mystical meaning were mostly used as motifs . They changed from time to time and partly by land . Often used are the Hintha or Hantha (a mythical duck or goose, the Burmese form of the Garuda ), Karaweik (mystical crane), often a hybrid between the two. The toe or to is a lion-like mythical creature, with the face of a lion, horns of a cattle and hooves and tail of a horse. Depending on which part is more prominent, it also has different extensions. Other mythical animals are Naga snakes and dragons . From the real animal world, there are elephants , water buffalo , fish , horses , rats , monkeys , tigers , billy goats and dogs . There are also mass bodies with non-animal motifs, so-called pagoda or drum weights. Mass bodies over 20 ticals usually have a semi-circular handle that connects the figure's head and tail.

First, the figures were shaped by hand in wax and in the lost wax cast, from the 19th century. Lead were model used. 10 Tical waxes were used for 1 Viss Bronze. It was later calibrated by scraping material from the base or attaching metal threads, bits of glass or lumps of lead. The lead clumps can often be seen between the animals' feet. Finally, they were provided with calibration marks. According to a report from 1795, scales and weights were only allowed to be manufactured and marked in Burma in the capital.

A weight set usually comprised the following units, although many weights cannot be assigned to these systems:

Burmese unity Mu Mat Ngamu Tical Viss
Standard system in Tical 1/8 1/4 1/2 1 2 5 10 20th 50 100
Approximation in g 2 4th 8th 16 32 80 160 320 800 1600
Older system
approximation in g		 2 4th 8th 16 32 75 150 300 750
3rd system, especially with elephants
possibly from Laos
approach in g		 2 4th 8th 16 32 64 128 256

literature

  • Sylvia Fraser-Lu: Burmese 'Opium' Weights. Arts of Asia, January - February 1982, pp. 73-81
  • Rolf Braun, Ilse Braun: Opiumweichte = Opium weights = Poids d'Asie. Pfälzische Verlaganstalt, Landau 1983 (German, English, French)
  • Donald Gear, Joan Gear: Earth to Heaven - The Royal Animal-Shaped Weights of Burma. Twinstar, Harrow 1992, ISBN 0-9519599-0-5
  • Hartmut Mollat: The standard forms of animal weights in Burma. Baessler Archive NF Vol. 32, 1984, ISSN  0005-3856 , pp. 405-429
  • Hartmut Mollat: A Model Chronology of the Animal Weights of Burma (Myanmar). Anthropos Vol. 104, 2009, ISSN  0257-9774 , pp. 533-542
  • Joachim Gabel: Lao Weights and the Luang Symbol. Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 97, 2009, pp. 69-100
  • Michael Herrfurth, Hartmut Mollat: Beauty and the Beast - Animal-shaped Weights of Burma. Arts of Asia - Special Burma Issue, May - June 2013 Edition, pp. 115–130

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Travel Information - Communication , Myanmar Discovery.
  2. ↑ a b c d Bernhard Peter: Opiumweichte from Burma , 2004 & 2005, accessed: April 23, 2009.
  3. ↑ [1] moneymuseum.com.
  4. ^ A b Cultural , Spirit of Asia.

Web links