History
The modern longyi, a single piece of cylindrical cloth, is a relatively recent introduction to Burma, having gained popularity during British colonial rule, effectively replacing the paso and htamein of precolonial times. The word longyi formerly referred to the sarong worn by Malay men. In precolonial times, men's pasos used to be a long piece of 30 feet (9.1 m) called taungshay paso (တောင်ရှည်ပုဆိုး) and unsewn. Alternately the htamein was a 4.5 feet (1.4 m) long piece of cloth open at the front to reveal the calves, with a dark strip of cotton or velvet sewn on the upper edge, a patterned sheet of cloth in the middle and a strip of red or white cloth sewn below, trailing on the bottom like a short train.
However, with the onset of colonial rule, Lower Burma and urban areas more readily adopted the longyi worn in the Malay and Indian style, which was considered more convenient to wear.
Read more about this topic: Longyi
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“History does nothing; it does not possess immense riches, it does not fight battles. It is men, real, living, who do all this.... It is not “history” which uses men as a means of achieving—as if it were an individual person—its own ends. History is nothing but the activity of men in pursuit of their ends.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
“It’s not the sentiments of men which make history but their actions.”
—Norman Mailer (b. 1923)
“A country grows in history not only because of the heroism of its troops on the field of battle, it grows also when it turns to justice and to right for the conservation of its interests.”
—Aristide Briand (1862–1932)