The Kachin people in Myanmar are the Jingpo people in China. At present, it is distributed in Kachin State, Shan State in Myanmar, Assam State in India, Yunnan Province in China and other regions.
1. Historically, the Kachin have never had a national identity with Myanmar
In the 7th century AD, the Kachin set out from the Tibetan Plateau and traveled south through the Assam region of India to Burma, where they settled in the valley between the Nmekai and Mailikai rivers in the upper reaches of the Irrawaddy River. Due to the invasion and colonial rule of Burma by British colonialists in history, this ethnic group was divided into Jingpo and Kachin, and geographically belonged to the two countries of China and Burma. Outside Kachin State, some Kachin ethnic groups are also scattered in the Jiujiang and Ruili River basins in Mogok, as well as Lashio in Northern Shan State, Jingdong in Southern Shan State, and the China-Myanmar border area.
In ancient times, ethnic minorities such as the Kachin and the Burmese ** dynasty only maintained a vassalage relationship of tribute and taxation. Due to geographical factors and inconvenient transportation, the Kachin and other ethnic minorities in the northern mountainous areas have been stagnant in the backward stage of primitive society and slave society for a long time in a closed environment, and have always practiced tribal Tusi rule, which is very different from the administrative system of the areas inhabited by the Burmese nationality. For a long time after the arrival of the Kachin in Burma, the political and economic centers of Myanmar were located in the southern and central parts of Myanmar, and Myanmar*** never exercised effective rule over the ethnic minorities in the northern mountainous areas. The Kachin people live mostly in mountainous areas, in a natural and closed environment, and the authority of their leaders and leaders is far greater than that of the ** dynasty. Before the British colonizers entered Burma, the Kachin were largely multi-tribe and disaffiliated, each of which was equivalent to an independent kingdom.
Historically, Myanmar has never been truly unified politically, economically, and culturally, and the Kachin people, who have their own administrative, judicial, and cultural systems, do not recognize the significance of a modern nation-state, and have no national consciousness and national identity.
2. Modern Western missionaries changed the beliefs of the Kachin people and created the Kachin script
In November 1867, the American Missionary Conference in Yangon sent Thales Ross and Jusin to Shan State as missionaries. After being defeated by the Shan, Juxin and others turned their attention to the Kachin, who first learned the Kachin language at Bamo, and then in 1877 led a few Karen ** followers to the Kachin missionary group. It was not until 1882 that the Kachin people converted to the Baptist Church.
From 1896 to 1898, the number of Protestant missionaries in Britain and the United States swelled from a few the previous year to 110. He also established churches and schools in Myitkyya, Guigui, Bhamo, Nankan and other places. In 1893, missionaries Hansen and Kusen created the Kachin script in the Latin alphabet and began to popularize it. In 1906, Hansen's translation of the Kachin Bible was published. In addition, missionaries opened a large number of schools in Kachin areas, teaching Kachin both Kachin and teachings. After entering the 20th century, the number of Kachin converts to Christianity increased rapidly. In 1901, there were 184 Kachin** believers, in 1914 there were 872, in 1931 there were 6,090, and in 1941 there were 11,844.
At the same time that American Baptists preached among the Kachins, Roman Catholics also sent missionaries. Between 1872 and 1892 alone, eight Catholic missionaries, mainly of French origin, were missionary in the Bhamo region. Beginning in 1881, some Kachin people began to convert to Catholicism. In 1936, seven more Catholic missionaries, mainly of Irish origin, arrived in the Bhamo area. In Myitkyina, by 1940 there were 8,955 Burmese converts (mainly Kachin) to Catholicism. By 1947 there were 37 Catholic missionaries in the Kachin area of Burma, and about 2 were Kachin**50,000, about 10% of the total population of the Kachin ethnic group at that time.
* Teaching missionaries to teach the Kachin script promoted the cultural development of the Kachin people, created a precedent for Kachin school education, and also trained the first generation of Kachin intellectuals. At the same time, the missionaries took advantage of the long-term domination and oppression of the Burmese feudal rulers to propagate the salvation theory of the Karen, Kayah, Kachin and other ethnic minorities, which not only expanded the influence of the religion, but also increased the contradictions between the ethnic minorities and the Burmese people, and raised the national consciousness of the Kachin people.
3. The American-led Kachin Armed Forces in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression - Task Force 101
In May 1942, after the Japanese army occupied Burma, the area where the Kachin ethnic group was located was used by the anti-fascist coalition as a base for launching ** against the Japanese army. In 1942, American Carl Effler led Task Force 101, consisting of only a few dozen men, into Burma. Evle recruited men to expand his ranks, the largest of whom were Kachin. At that time, more than 200 brave and combative Kachin fighters trained by the United States played an important role in the War of Resistance Against Japan. They brought to the task force ancient and practical methods of warfare, using hunting methods handed down from their ancestors against the Japanese. In addition, the Kachin people have a strong ability to survive in dense forests and are able to do tasks that are difficult for ordinary people to do. In more than 3 years of jungle fighting in Burma, the Kachin alone wiped out more than 5,000 Japanese troops and left more than 10,000 Japanese wounded or missing, while they themselves lost more than 100 people.
In order to "thank" the Kachin for their contribution to the Allied forces, the British**, who ruled the Kachin region of the CASB (Burmese Domestic Affairs Service under the Anglo-Indian military authorities), declared that the Kachin areas would be partitioned without union with Burma after the war, and promised political reforms in the Kachin areas after the war. From January 14 to 19, 1946, at the first mass meeting of the Kachin people, which is also the traditional festival of the Kachin people, ——— Wooden Brain Festival, the British honored the Kachin people's contributions to the Allied forces in World War II. Kachin leader Duwa Shinwanau and others have put forward the Kachin people's demand for complete independence and the establishment of Kachin State.
4. The establishment and development of the Kachin Independence Organization
In 1950, there was a Kachin captain named Luo Xiang in the 1st Kachin Battalion of the Burmese ** Army, who defected home to participate in the Karen war. Zhao Sai, a Kachin student who was still in high school, followed Luo Xiang around and became an important figure in his camp. In 1951, Luo Xiang fled abroad for refuge, and Zhaosai defected to the "Karen National Self-Defense Organization".
On 5 February 1960, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) resumed its armed struggle. In 1960, his brothers persuaded Ramon Dujie and Ramara, corporals of the 4th Kachin Battalion, who had been dismissed from the ** army, to join the gang and establish the "Kachin Independence Organization (KIO)", with Zhaosai as the chairman, Zhaodu as the vice chairman, and Ramala as the general secretary. They took advantage of the relaxed environment when the constitution was restarted, got a group of **, and established their own armed forces. In February 1961, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) was officially established, Zhao Sai served as commander-in-chief. In July of that year, the Kachin Independence Army formed the 1st and 2nd Battalions, and in August it launched a large-scale armed struggle, with the slogan of opposing the return of Pianma, Gulang and other places to China by U Nu in Burma, and against U Nu's declaration of Buddhism as the state religion. The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has strong nationalist sentiments and pursues the goal of "establishing a Kachin Republic" by opposing "Greater Burmeseism".
In 1967, the Chinese Exclusion Movement broke out in Burma, and the Burmese Communist Party and the Kachin Independence Army established a "united front", and after the Burmese Communist Party supported 480 submachine guns, the KIA grew to more than 2,200 troops again, organized into 9 battalions. In 1975, the three Zhaosai brothers were killed by their subordinates due to internal contradictions.
In January 1976, the Kachin Independence Organization ** Committee and the Kachin Independence Army Headquarters were re-established, with Bronson as Chairman and Commander-in-Chief, and Ramondoujie as Vice-Chairman and Chief of the General Staff. Since then, the strategy of uniting the Burmese Communist Party and other *** organizations to jointly oppose Myanmar has been adopted. Cooperation with the CPM until 1983.
By the early 80s of the 20th century, the Kachin Independence Army had grown to more than 7,000 people, organized into 4 brigades and 21 battalions, and had jurisdiction over 4 prefectures and 12 counties.
Fifth, the goal of independent statehood has been changed to genuine self-government
Since September 1988, the political goal of the Kachin Independence Organization has also shifted from "opposing Greater Burmese nationalism and establishing a sovereign and independent Kachin Republic" to achieving "true Kachin autonomy."
In 1989, due to the collapse of the "Communist People's Army", the largest armed force in Myanmar, the Kachin Independence Army was cut off from the top of the country, and was severely hit by the Burmese Army, its strength was reduced from more than 6,000 to more than 3,000, and the control area was reduced to more than 10,000 square kilometers.
On February 24, 1994, the two sides formally signed a peace agreement. The Burmese Army** recognized the legal status of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and decided to establish the "Kachin Autonomous Region" (Kachin State Second Special Region) in northeastern Myitkyina. And the Kachin Independence Army agreed to abandon the line of armed rebellion and enter the sphere of the law dominated by **. The Kachin who did not agree to the agreement formed the Pan-Kachin Group, also known as the Kachin Mung League. In this way, the Kachin Independence Organization, under the leadership of Chairman Bronson, became the 10th ethnic armed group to reach a reconciliation with **, thus ending more than 30 years of armed war.