(39)
Palaung's nearest connections in the Shan States, however, are not the Was, but the Yins, Yangs or Riangs of Mongsit, Mongnai and Laihka, who are dealt with in the following paragraph. There are numerous sub-tribes or clans of Palaungs clearly distinguishable from each other in dress. Outsi'de a limited area in Tawngpeng the Palaungs are frequently known as Pales. The name Pale has been given the tribe by the Burmans, but the difference between the Palaungs and the Pales is recognized by the people themselves.
The Riangs
It is possible that the Riangs or Yins are nothing more or le-s than a southern branch of the Palaungs. Their country adjoins that of the Palaungs. They speak a language closely resembling Palaung and, like the Palaungs, they are Buddhists. Of the three Riang tribes—the Yanglam, the Yangwankun and the Yanghsek—the first two wear a dress (women's) that has many features in common with the Palaung woman's garb—jacket,[1] skirt and, in some cases, waist rings, The Yanghsek, on the other hand, who are the southernmost of the three and live in the neighbourhood of the Karen country, have adopted a dress that is more Karen in its characteristics and might well lead the casual observer to classify them as Karens, The main garment is a striped thindaing and brass leg rings are worn after the fashion that culminates further south, in the
- ↑ The upper garment has always been described by observers as a jacket, but appears in reality to be frequently a smock designed and ornamented in almost exactly the same style as the smock worn by the women of the Katurr clan of Palaungs. The Yanglam women part their hair in the middle in exactly the same way as the women of the Kwanhai clan of Palaungs.
