Longyi

Longyi

Burmese man in a longyi
Type	Skirt
Material	Silk, cotton
Place of origin	Burma (Myanmar)

A longyi (Burmese: လုံချည်; MLCTS: lum hkyany; pronounced: [lòʊɴdʑì]) is a sheet of cloth widely worn in Burma. It is approximately 2 metres (6.6 ft) long and 80 centimetres (2.6 ft) wide. The cloth is often sewn into a cylindrical shape. It is worn around the waist, running to the feet. It is held in place by folding fabric over without a knot. It is also sometimes folded up to the knee for comfort. Similar garments are found in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Malay Archipelago. In the Indian subcontinent it is known variously as a lungi, longi, kaili or saaram.

Men who cannot read are like the blind; women who cannot weave are like the cripple

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. Paso was commonly worn by men in 19th century Burma and Thailand. The amount of cloth in the putso was a sign of social status.