Did You Know?
There are 31 different dialects of the Chin language.
Tattoos have become increasingly popular with people all over the world in recent years. Walk down any street and you will surely see someone with letters tattooed on their hands and arms, or graphic pictures of tigers and other images on their bodies. It does not matter whether you are male or female, tattoos have become part of our popular culture.
When you make the decision to have a tattoo, you have to understand that it will probably be there for the rest of your life. So if you are going to do it, choose wisely and make sure you check the spelling of any word you may wish to have permanently inked onto your body!
One part of the body where you do not see a tattoo very often is on the face – and there are very good reasons for this. But if you were to travel for four hours up the Lyo Myo River in the remote mountain ranges of northwest Myanmar you would meet people from the Chin Tribe. Amongst this complex tribe are older women who were given terrifying tattoos on their faces when they were young.
This tradition is said to have started when families of the Chin people were worried that their king would kidnap their girls and take them away to be their wives. They thought that if they tattooed the girl’s faces, it would make them ugly and the king would not be interested in them. Female Chins between the ages of 12 and 14 were tattooed. It was a shocking act of love that scarred these young girls for the rest of their lives.
Even though the tattooing started a long time ago, the tradition continued well into the 20th century. It was not until the 1960s that the government stopped the practise. Today, many of the older women can be seen with tattooed faces. The procedure used to take anything from two days to one year to complete. It was extremely painful – especially when tattooing around the eyes. Girls would also have their ears pierced so they could wear enormous earrings which stretched their skin.
The history books do not say whether or not the tattoos succeeded in keeping the king away from the young girls.
Young girls within the Chin Tribe in Myanmar today say they have no interest in getting their faces tattooed.
Meet the extraordinary women of Myanmar’s China tribe:
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