Myanmar · Basketry / Weaving / Functional Craft
တအာင် (Ta'ang)
The Palaung (Ta'ang) people of northern Shan State are Myanmar's principal highland tea growers — and their craft tradition encompasses both the carrying basket system for tea harvest transport and the distinctive Palaung women's textile tradition. The carrying basket (hkwe — a large back-carried bamboo basket with a specific head-strap loading system) is designed for carrying 30–50kg of fresh tea leaves on steep mountain terrain — the load distribution system (centered on the forehead rather than shoulders) and the basket's internal volume-to-weight ratio are the critical engineering knowledge. The Palaung textile tradition produces the characteristic black-and-multicolor striped cylindrical tube skirt worn by Palaung women — using a simple floor loom with a unique circular warp setup that produces a seamless tubular textile directly off the loom.
Risk level: Endangered · Not separately inscribed
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