TATOOS are common all over the world. Some people just like the look of them, others use tattoos to make social or political statements and for some tattooing is part of their culture and traditions. Some Chin tribesmen have practiced tattooing for almost a millennium.

About a thousand years ago Myanmar’s kings were powerful and feared by everyone. Despite being married, many kings liked to keep beautiful girls around their compounds, and they hired men to search Myanmar for beautiful women. Girls who were chosen by the King dared not refuse even though they did not want to leave their families.

Young women started rubbing soot on their faces so that the King’s men would not find them pretty and they would be left alone, but the soot inevitably wore off and as soon as people saw a young girl’s true beauty, the girl would be whisked away.

When the soot failed to work, men from the village searched the forest for cane-thorns to be used as needles. They collected leaves that were crushed and mixed with burnt pine wood, creating a black liquid.

The young girls were then held down on the ground and their faces were tattooed using these rudimentary implements. It was often so painful that often it was not finished in one sitting and had to be carried on the next day.

When young girls became teenagers, they were tattooed whether they were considered beautiful or not. The tattooing was painful and many of them were scared but they did not want to be forced to leave their families.

U Laung Thang, a 45-year-old merchant whose wife has a tattooed face, said the tradition has been carried on for so many generations that it inevitably changed in meaning and purpose.

“The tradition has stuck and now many girls think that if they are not tattooed, no one will marry them. It is a very painful practice,” U Laung Thang said.

There are many different styles of facial tattoo including patterns of straight lines, circles, and completely black faces. The tattooing can be dangerous as there is no sterilisation of the equipment used.

“I once heard a story about two sisters who died after having their faces tattooed. Their skin became infected and swollen and as there were no antibiotics available they died,” U Laung Thang said.

Over the years the practice has waned and many people have begun to realise the dangers and downfalls of having a permanently tattooed face.

Laung Thang said the tattoos were so uncommon in Yangon that when he and his wife moved here she was very uncomfortable with all the looks she got.

“We’ve been married for more than thirty years. It was an arranged marriage by our parents and tattooing was common in my wife’s home town,” U Laung Thang said.

“She used to be ashamed of her appearance but now she feels much more comfortable.”