Author: Liu Tiejun
Myanmar is known as one of the most mysterious places on earth. Even today, most parts of Myanmar (still sandwiched between India in the west, Thailand in the east and China in the north) still maintain a beautiful rural lifestyle. Reform and modernization swept Burma and the world in the 20th century, gradually changing Burma's ancient terroir and its former glory, as well as the English name of Burma.
Burma's old English name is colonial.
Burma's former English name was Burma, but now it has also become Myanmar, which adds to the atmosphere of mystery.
In most Western worlds, the name Burma has become a kind of faint, exotic cultural memory. This name appears many times in most adventure novels or movies like Indiana Jones. When the early British colonists wrote articles about the beauty of Buddhist countries and the ubiquitous temples and pagodas, the name Burma first caught the imagination of the world.
After Burma officially became a British colony in 1886, the British used the name Burma. From then until the end of World War II (except during the Japanese occupation from 1942 to 1945), Burma has been under British rule. In the typical colonial style, the names of many Burmese have been changed to ease the pronunciation of spoken English. After the war, the United Kingdom granted independence to the country in 1948 and adopted the official name "The Union of Burma" (The Union of Burma).
(British soldiers patrolling Burma in the 19th century)
But in the years after independence, Myanmar has experienced political turmoil, and various factions have struggled to establish a new national identity and bring it Introduce the modern world. In 1989, the Burmese military government finally seized control. In the next few decades, people went to great lengths to erase the country’s colonial history,This includes changing many names that are influenced by the United Kingdom. Most notably, the English name of Myanmar was changed from Burma to Myanmar, and the English name of 阳光 was also changed from Rangoon to Yangon.
(Myanmar International Airport)
What does the new name of Myanmar mean?
Burma, the English name of Burma, is derived from the name of the majority of the races in the country. Myanmar means the literary form of "strong people", and Burma is derived from the colloquial form of the word bamar. According to the speaker's usage or origin, the speaker can also be pronounced "bama" or "myamah".
After the Myanmar government officially changed the country's name to "The Republic of the Union of Myanmar" in the late 1980s, many pro-Western groups in Myanmar expressed opposition and many Western countries interfered in this. To make matters worse, some countries today (mainly English-dominated countries), including the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States, still refuse to officially recognize this new name in order to put pressure on the Myanmar government. Western countries do not want to increase the legitimacy of the Burmese government, and it is because the Western countries hope to provide support to the Western Fifth Column and political groups within Myanmar. These pro-Western groups do not recognize the Myanmar government and therefore do not believe that the Myanmar government has the right to change the English name of Myanmar.
(Myanmar beauty)
Should we use Burma or Myanmar?
The People’s Republic of China and the Republic of the Union of Myanmar are friendly countries,The two sides respect each other. Therefore, the Chinese government and the Myanmar government have always used the word Myanmar instead of Burma in their bilateral exchanges. The country that China calls Myanmar is also the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (The Republic of the Union of Myanmar).
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