Mon
မွန်လူမျိုး‌

Total population
8,145,500[citation needed]
Regions with significant populations
Burma 8 million  Thailand 114,500
Languages
Mon, Burmese
Religion
Theravada Buddhism
Related ethnic groups
Khmer and other Mon–Khmer groups

The Mon (Mon: မောန် or မည်; Burmese: မွန်လူမျိုး‌; [mʊ̀ɴ lù mjó]; Thai: มอญ, Khmer:មន) are an ethnic group from Burma (Myanmar), living mostly in Mon State, Bago Division, the Irrawaddy Delta, and along the southern Thai–Burmese border. One of the earliest peoples to reside in Southeast Asia, the Mon were responsible for the spread of Theravada Buddhism in Burma and Thailand. The Mon culture is credited as a major source of influence on the dominant Burmese culture.

As the eastern Mon were absorbed into the Thai society long ago, the western Mon of Burma have largely assimilated into Burmese society. In Burma, the Mon are fighting to preserve the Mon language and culture, and regain a greater degree of political autonomy. The Mon of Burma are divided into three sub-groups based on their ancestral region in Lower Burma: the Man Nya (မန်ည) from Pathein (the Irrawaddy delta) in the west, the Man Duin (မန်ဒိုၚ်): Bago in the central region, and the Man Da (မန်ဒ): Mottama in the southeast.^[1] Once the predominant ethno-linguistic group in Lower Burma, speakers of the Mon language number fewer than one million today,^{[citation needed]} and those of Mon descent number anywhere between two million and eight million.^{[citation needed]} The majority of Mon are monolingual in the Burmese language, and are counted as members of the majority Bamar (Burmans). Recent studies have suggested evidence indicating that the Mon and Bamar share a common genetic ancestry. A genetic study done on Mon and Bamar showed a high prevalence of a particular glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) mutation not found among Khmers, Laotians and Thais.^[2]

History[link]

Early history[link]

The Mons were believed to be one of the earliest people of continental Southeast Asia. They hosted earliest Southeast Asian civilizations including the Dvaravati in Central Thailand (whose culture proliferated into Isan) and the Kingdom of Thaton. They were the first receivers of Theravada missionaries from Sri Lanka, in contrast to their Hindu contemporaries like the Khmers or Chams. The Mons adopted the Pallava script and the oldest Mon script was found in a cave in modern Saraburi dating around 550 AD. Though no remains were found belonging to the Thaton kingdom but it was mentioned widely in Burmese and Lanna chronicles. The legendary Queen Jamadevi from the Chao Phraya Valley came to rule as the first queen of Haribhunjyaya (modern Lamphun) kingdom around 800 AD.

After 1000 AD onwards the Mons were under constant pressures. With the Tai migrations from the north and Khmer invasions from the east, the Mons of Dvaravati perished and gave their way to Khmer Lavo kingdom by around 1000 AD. (The surviving group of Dvaravati Mon people known as Nyah Kur still lives in Isan as a very small minority today.) The Mons were killed in wars, transported as captives, or assimilated into new cultures. The Mon as an entity virtually disappeared in Chao Phraya Valley. However, Haribhunjaya kingdom survived as a Mon outpost in northern Thailand under repeated harass by the Tai Yuan.

In 1057, King Anawrahta of Pagan conquered the Thaton kingdom. The Mon culture and script were readily absorbed by the Burmese and the Mons, for the first time, came under Burmese rule. The Mons remained a majority in Lower Burma.

The Haribhunjaya kingdom prospered in the reign of King Aditayaraj (around early twelfth century) who allegedly waged wars with Suryavarman II of Angkor and constructed the dhatu of Haribhunjaya. In 1230 AD, Mangrai the Tai Yuan chief conquered the Haribhunjaya kingdom and again the Mon culture was integrated into the Lanna culture. The Lanna adopted the Mon script and religion (later replaced by Sri Lankan Buddhism).

In 1287, the Pagan Kingdom collapsed, leaving the power vacuum. A Tai chief from Sukhothai named Wareru established himself in Martaban and was proclaimed king by the Mons. The base was later moved to Pegu. The Kingdom of Martaban-Pegu (1287–1539) was the prospering period of the Mons in both power and culture. The Mons were consolidated under King Razadarit (1383–1422) who successfully fended off Burmese invasions by the northern Kingdom of Ava. The reigns of Queen Shin Sawbu (1453–1472) and King Dhammazedi (1472–1492) were the time of peace and prosperity.

The Burmese, however, regained their momentum at Toungoo in the early sixteenth century. The Mon kingdom then fell to the invasion of King Tabinshweti of Toungoo in 1539. After the death of the king, the Mons temporarily freed from Burmese rule led by Smim Htaw but they were defeated by King Bayinnaung in 1551. The Burmese moved their capital to Pegu, keeping the Mons intact with the royal authority. For next two hundred years the Mons of Lower Burma came under Burmese rule.

Lower Burma became effectively war fronts between Burma, Siam, and Arakan. Following King Naresuan’s campaigns against the Burmese, the Mons were, either forced or voluntarily, moved to Siam. The collapse of Mon power propagated waves of migration into Siam, were they were permitted to live in the city of Ayutdhaya. A Mon monk became a chief advisor to King Naresuan.

Pegu was plundered by the Arakanese in 1599. The Burmese authority collapsed and the Mons loosely established themselves around Martaban. Only with the unification by King Anaukpetlun that the Mons again fell under the rule of the Burmese in 1616. The Mons rebelled again in 1661 but the rebellion was put down by King Pye. The Mon refugees were granted to live around western Siam the Burmese-Siamese borders by the Siamese king. The Mons then played a major role in Siamese military and politics. A special regiment was created for the Mons serving the Siamese king.

The Burmese power declined rapidly in the early eighteenth century. Finally, the Mons rebelled at Pegu in 1740 with the help of the Gwe Shans. A Burman monk with Toungoo royal lineage was proclaimed King of Pegu and was later succeeded by Binnya Dala in 1747. With the French support, the Mons were able to establish an independent kingdom for 17 years before falling to Alaungpaya in 1757. This time the Burmese rule was harsh. The Mons were largely massacred encouraging a large migration to Siam and Lanna.

The Mons rebelled at Dagon in the reign of Hsinbyushin of Konbaung dynasty and the city was razed to the ground. Again in 1814 the Mons rebelled and were as harshly as before put down. These rebellions generated a huge wave of migrations that the child Prince Mongkut proceeded to welcome the Mons himself. The Mons in Siam were settled in two areas – Pak Kred in Nonthaburi and Phra Pradaeng in Samut Prakarn. Other minor Mon settlements were found throughout Central Thailand. Over time, the Mons were effectively integrated into Siamese society and culture.

The 61st Anniversary of Mon National Day in London

Colonial period[link]

An ethnic Mon woman in Thailand, in 1904.

Burma was conquered by the British in a series of wars. After the Second Anglo-Burmese War, the Mon territories were completely under the control of the British. The Mon aided the British to free themselves from the rule of the Burman monarchy. Under Burman rule, the Mon people had been massacred after they lost their kingdom and many sought asylum in the Thai Kingdom. The British conquest of Burma allowed the Mon people to survive in Southern Burma.

After Burmese independence[link]

The Mon soon became anti-colonialists and following the grant of independence to Burma in 1948 they sought self-determination, U Nu refused them this and they rose in revolt to be crushed again.

They have remained a repressed and defiant group in the country since then. They have risen in revolt against the central Burmese government on a number of occasions, initially under the Mon People's Front and from 1962 through the New Mon State Party. A partially autonomous Mon state, Monland, was created in 1974 covering Tenasserim, Pegu and Ayeyarwady River. Resistance continued until 1995 when NMSP and SLORC agreed a cease-fire and, in 1996, the Mon Unity League was founded.

In 1947, Mon National Day was created to celebrate the ancient founding of Hanthawady, the last Mon Kingdom, which had its seat in Pegu. (It follows the full moon on the 11th month of the Mon lunar calendar, except in Phrapadaeng, Thailand, where it is celebrated at Songkran.)

The largest Mon refugee communities are currently in Thailand, with smaller communities in the United States (the largest community being in Fort Wayne, Indiana and the second largest being Akron, Ohio), Australia, Canada, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and the Netherlands.

Language and script[link]

The Mon language is part of the Monic group of the Mon–Khmer branch of the Austro-Asiatic family, closely related to the Nyah Kur language and more distantly related to Khmer. The writing system is Indic based. The Burmans adapted the Mon script for Burmese following their conquest of Mon territory during Anawrahta's reign.

Traditional culture[link]

Members of the young generation in full traditional costume

Mon culture and traditional heritages includes spiritual dances, musical instruments such as crocodile xylophone, harp, and flat guitar. Mon dances are usually played in a formal theater or sometimes in an informal district of any village. The dances are followed by background music using a circular set of tuned drums and claps, crocodile xylophone, gongs, flute, flat guitar, harp, etc. Mon in Burma wear clothes similar to the Bamars. Those living in Thailand have adopted Thai style scarfs and skirts.

The symbol of the Mon people is Hintha, a mythological duck, which is also the state symbol of Bago Region and Mon State, two historical Mon strongholds.

See also[link]

• Haripunchai
• History of Burma
• List of Mon monarchs
• Mon Nationalism and Civil War in Burma
• Mawlamyaing, the capital of Mon State in Burma
• Nyah Kur language
• Bago, Burma, Capital of Mon Kingdom
• University of Mawlamyaing
• Rev. Uttama

Further reading[link]

• Mon Nationalism and Civil War in Burma

References[link]

External links[link]

• Independent Mon News Agency
• Dating and Range of Mon Inscriptions
• Kao Wao News Group
• [1]
• profile
• Mon Music

Mr. Young is a Canadian comedy series that premiered on March 1, 2011 on YTV. The series is shot in front of a live audience in Burnaby, British Columbia. The series was created by Dan Signer (The Suite Life on Deck, A.N.T. Farm), and stars Brendan Meyer, Matreya Fedor and Gig Morton as attendants of Finnegan High School. Further main cast includes Kurt Ostlund, Emily Tennant, Milo Shandel, Raugi Yu and Paula Shaw.

Premise[link]

Mr. Young centers on child prodigy Adam Young (Brendan Meyer), who graduated from university at the age of 14. He decides to come back to high school to live the high school experience, only he becomes the science teacher at the school. He reunites with childhood best friend Derby (Gig Morton) and encounters the school bully, Slab (Kurt Ostlund), and a student in his class whom he has a crush on, named Echo (Matreya Fedor). However because he's 14, his students have little respect for him and often gets into trouble with the principal.^[1]

Production[link]

The series was created and is executive produced by Dan Signer. The series is filmed in front of a live studio audience at 5828 Byrne Road, in Burnaby, British Columbia.^[1]

The series began taping on Thursday, September 30th, 2010 and production of Season 1 was completed on Friday, April 15, 2011. Through their Facebook page, YTV announced on March 31, 2011 that Mr. Young was the #1 show on their network. On April 29, 2011 the series was renewed for a second season.^[2][3] Filming of Season 2 began in early July 2011 and continued through to January 2012.^[4]

Season 1[link]

The series began taping in Thursday, September 30th, 2010 and production of Season 1 was completed on Friday, April 15, 2011. Most of the episodes of Mr. Young on Season 1, is about Adam Young trying to impress Echo with the help of Derby in episodes such as Mr. Ballerina, Mr. Big Brother and Mr. Meteor. There are some romantic moments with Adam and Echo, shown in Mr. Picture Day, Mr. Detention and Mr. DNA. Students such as Derby and Slab (Kurt Ostlund) sometimes make Adam leave or try to make him appreciate them in episodes like Mr. Elderman and Mr. Space. Principal Tater (Milo Shandel) also gets pranked, like in Mr. DNA and Mr. Impossible. Adam and Ivy (Emily Tennant) don't really get along in the first episode. Mr. Space is the first 1 hour long special of Mr. Young. Mr. Mummy aired in the U.S along with the Disney XD show Kickin' It before it aired in Canada.

Season 2[link]

On April 29, 2011 the series was renewed for a second season.^[2][3] Filming of Season 2 began in early July 2011 and continued until January 2012.^[4] Corus Entertainment’s YTV announced today that Mr. Young has been picked up for another season. Thunderbird Films will commence production of 26 new episodes in July, bringing the total number of episodes to 52. The live-action series premiered on March 1 and has quickly become one of the network’s top rated series. Filmed in front of a live studio audience in Burnaby, British Columbia, Mr. Young stars Brendan Meyer as Adam Young, a whiz-kid-turned-teen genius who hit the books hard enough to get into university at the age of 9. Now, at the age of 14, he’s headed back to high school – as a teacher. Being the same age as his students, Adam finds himself trapped between two worlds – coping with his co-workers, who happen to be twice his age, while teaching his best friend, the girl he has a crush on, and the class bully. With one foot in the lunch room and the other foot in the staff room, it’s Mr. Young’s social life that’s being put to the test.

Season 3[link]

In April 2012 YTV and Disney XD renewed Mr. Young for a third season. Production of Mr. Young season 3 begins on May 10th, 2012 and ends on November 2nd, 2012.^{[citation needed]}

Cast[link]

Principal cast[link]

• Brendan Meyer^[5] as Adam Young a fourteen year old genius who is a science teacher at the fictional Finnegan High School. His best friends are Derby and Echo. He is Ivy's younger brother, although you would never be able to tell. He makes it very obvious that he has a massive crush on Echo, even though she doesn't notice anything he does to get her attention. Adam Young is a somewhat awkward but good natured person. He is sometimes selfish when he wants something. His mother is Rachel Young and he has an older sister named Ivy. It is currently unknown who his father is.
• Matreya Fedor^[6] as Echo a student at Finnegan High School. She is in Mr. Young(Adam)'s class She is also Adam's crush but doesn't notice anything he does to get her attention. Echo also cares deeply about the environment and other people. She also sometimes has a little crush on Adam. Echo is a student in Adam's grade 9 science class. She is thoughtful, socially aware, very pretty, and secretly likes all things to do with science-fiction. Adam has a crush on her, but she seems completely unaware to this. She probably likes Adam back. She is on and off as good friends and sometimes enemies with Adam,Ivy, Derby and Slab.
• Gig Morton^[7] as Derby a student at Finnegan High School. He is Adam's best friend and is always. He's a lovable goofball with good intentions. But he can also be selfish when it comes to money (though he only wants money for extra cheese on pizza). He is attracted to many girls but is always rejected and ignored. He also has a tendency to wear and provide costumes. Derby is Adam's best friend and also his student, a line that Derby’s more than happy to blur. Derby is a class clown and is skilled in the arts, especially the fine art of pranking.
• Kurt Ostlund^[8] as Jordan 'Slab' Slabinski, the bully of Finnegan High School. Though large on the outside "Slab" has a soft side as well. He likes doing ballet, looking at the stars, and friendship. Though he does do pranks to innocent people he says he does it to conceal his feelings. Though he often bullies Derby by putting him in trash cans, he occasionally helps him out. Although he is a bully he does have feelings for other people such as Brap. He has a hamster named Slab Jr he has been held back many years because he isn't the sharpest tool in the shed! It is revealed that Slab is 25 years old.
• Emily Tennant^[9] as Ivy Young, Adam's not-so-bright elder sister. She loves shopping and bossing Adam around. Though deep down she truly does care about Adam and other people and will help them out. She has a crush on Hutch Anderson. Ivy is is a stereotypical blonde and is attractive to the male students. She also is a reporter for the school newspaper, along with Echo .
• Milo Shandel^[10] as Principal Tater, the principal of Finnegan High School who often checks up on Mr. Young and his class. He always bosses people around.

Recurring cast[link]

• Raugi Yu as Dang, he is the school's cheerful Vietnamese janitor, he usually appears out of nowhere when people mention his name, as well as being able to be in two places at once. He also is shown to have a passion for leaf monkeys, Halloween, and says the word "demon" several times. He is a good fighter,he is very skilled at martial arts, popping out of nowhere when the characters mention his name. Occasionally he wears a giant purple cowboy hat with feathers, which he calls his "Fancy Hat" he lives in Finnegan High and almost never wants to leave because leaf monkey's don't live there, who steal his fancy hat. Dang has a brother named Ding that he disliked because Ding married a duck named Shirley, Dang forgave his brother who was Echo disguised as Ding (Dang cannot tell the difference between Echo in disguise and his brother) because he saw Slab's mother and exclaimed "There are worse things to marry than duck!".
• Paul Shaw as Ms. Byrne, an old history teacher who is in charge of the science club and school newspaper. She has bad memory, often shown to forget things that she saw or heard a few seconds ago. She always teaches the same thing every class; The War of 1812, always starting off as "Who has heard of the War of 1812?" before all the students raise up their hands. It has also been suggested in several episodes that she is extremely old, though she disagrees. Notable examples include "Mr. Younger Man" where she claims to have seen Hailey's Comet 6 times already which if true would prove that she is between 375 to 456 years old, and in "Mr. Servant" where she is seen to have been "Miss Constantinople." It is revealed that her mother is still alive and even her grandma. It is also shown that she has many, extremely old grandchildren.
• Anne Galvin as Rachel Young, Ivy's and Adam's mother, she delivers meals to seniors and can sometimes be helpful. She can be dishonest(she claimed during the school carnival that there was a giant man-eating chicken in her booth, when in reality it was a tall man eating chicken)and sometimes doesn't care about Adam's feelings (once she sold his comic collection with his knowledge) She was schoolmates with Tater once and was framed and suspended for putting glue in the mascot's costume which made Tater Bald. She was once a cheerleader at Finnegan High
• Brett Dier as Hutch Anderson, he is Ivy's crush and is on and off as Ivy's boyfriend(he has had other girlfriends). He is very gentleman-like and is a lifeguard and tried to save Adam (who was dressed like a mummy) because of his oath. He helped Ivy's mother take out the trash in one episode. He played Romeo in the school play Romeo and Juliet, but had to leave because Ivy put itching powder makeup on him to stop him from kissing Echo.
• Amit Josan as Fortran, he is the nerd that Slab and Derby pick on. He has allergies and takes allergy medicine. He plays the violin.

International release and distribution[link]

On September 7, 2011, Corus Entertainment's^[1] Nelvana Enterprises and Thunderbird Films announced that they had sold the live-action comedy series to Disney XD^[11] channels in the U.S. and around the world. Territories in addition to the U.S. include the U.K., Spain, Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.^[12] The series is set to premiere in most territories this year. Nelvana Enterprises is the international distribution agent for Mr. Young, while Nelvana and Thunderbird are co-distributing the series in the United States.^[13][14]

On September 27, 2011, Nelvana Entertprises announced that it had also sold distribution rights to the series to the Latin American version of Cartoon Network, which premiered on April 30, 2012.^[15]

Country / Region	Channel	Series premiere
Canada	YTV ABC Spark	March 1, 2011 March 24, 2012
Israel	Arutz HaYeladim	September 18, 2011
United States	Disney Channel	October 22, 2011 (2011-10-22) October 23, 2011 (2011-10-23)
	Disney XD	September 26, 2011
Poland	Disney XD (Poland)	December 3, 2011
United Kingdom	Disney XD (UK & Ireland)	December 2011 (sneak peek) January 15, 2012 (premiere)
Italy	Disney XD (Italy) Disney Channel (Italy)	January 16, 2012 February 7, 2012
Netherlands	Disney XD (Netherlands)	April 16, 2012
Turkey	Disney XD (Turkey)	April 1, 2012
France	Canal J	August 28, 2011
South Africa	Disney XD (South Africa)	April 16, 2012
Chile	Cartoon Network Latin America	April 30, 2012
Colombia
Honduras
Peru
Mexico
Panama
Uruguay
Venezuela
Dominican Republic
Argentina	Cartoon Network (Argentina)	April 30, 2012
Brazil	Cartoon Network (Brazil)	April 30, 2012
Spain	Disney XD	2012
Hungary
Romania
Czech Republic
Greece
Ukraine
Bulgaria
Portugal
Middle East	Disney XD	2012
Australia	Disney XD (Australia)	2012
New Zealand
Pakistan	Disney Channel Asia	2012
Sri Lanka
Philippines
Bangladesh
Brunei
Hong Kong
Malaysia
Singapore
Thailand
Vietnam
Indonesia
Taiwan

Episodes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official YTV Website
• Mr. Young at the Internet Movie Database