Saya San
| Saya San ဆရာစံ |
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|---|---|
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| Born |
24 October 1876 Dabayin, Shwebo District, Kingdom of Myanmar |
| Died | 28 November 1931 (aged 55) Tharrawaddy, Pegu Province, British Burma |
| Nationality | Burmese |
Saya San (also spelled Hsaya, original name Yar Kyaw.Burmese: ဆရာစံ, Burmese pronunciation: [sʰəjà sàɴ]; 24 October 1876 – 28 November 1931) was a former monk, a physician and the leader of the 'Saya San Rebellion' of 1930-1932 in British Burma. The series of uprisings that have been called the 'Saya San rebellion' has been regarded as one of Southeast Asia's quintessential anti-colonial movements. Because of its national and historical nature, discussions about Saya San and the rebellion associated with him has persisted to this day, particularly within academic spheres.
Saya San was a native of Shwebo, a centre of nationalist-monarchist sentiment in north-central Burma that was the birthplace of the Konbaung (or Alaungpaya) dynasty, which controlled Myanmar from 1752 until the British annexation in 1886. He was born on 24 October 1876. His original name was Yar Kyaw. His parents were U Kyaye and Daw Hpet, who lived with their five children in the rural agricultural village of Thayetkan. Yar Kyaw was exposed to Buddhist tenets at an early age by studying at the local village monastery. Then he continued his studies at the nearby Hpo Hmu monastery until he was nearly twenty years old. Yar Kyaw left for the village of Nga Kaung Inn soon after with a hope that he could make a better living selling mats and baskets as an alternative to working in the agricultural sector. Eventually, he met and married Ma Kay, and had two children, Ko Po Thin and Ma Sein. As economic condition failed to improve, Yar Kyaw left for Moulmein in Lower Burma, where employment opportunities were better because of the expansion of the rice frontier. Earning his living as a carpenter for some time and then more successfully as a fortuneteller and traditional healer, he wrote two treatises on traditional healing practices that questioned the authority and efficacy of Western medical treatment.
The transition Saya San made from a medical man to a political activist is not very clear. People tend to believe that he joined the General Council of Burmese Associations (GCBA) led by U Soe Thein in 1920s. He began his political career as a representative of his village and soon progressed to lead his township and district branch of Moulmein. In 1924, at the annual congress of the GCBA, 45-year-old Saya San was elected to chair a commission to survey the living conditions of the Burmese peasantry.
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