The Sixth Long Journey
Yunnan - Kaw Lah (Myanmar)... (BC 741- AD 1828)
This journey was probably the follow up of the fifth journey. When the Karen made their first migration into Kaw Lar in 1128 BC, there were many Karens remained in Yunnan which increased in numbers as years went by. The Karens knew that the nomadic life they had been accustomed to for many long years was no guarantee for their survival. Therefore they started building city states to defend themselves for any kind of invasions and attacks. They lived like this in Yunnan for 644 years. At that time the Chinese were not able to expand their territories beyond city states. They fought against each other to control the other city states. They also waged war against many ethnic groups of the land. Some were local ethnic groups with their own respective city states and some were small wandering minorities clinging around the city states for their survival. In all these battles many small minorities and perhaps some ethnic groups were absorbed, assimilated and annihilated either by the Chinese or other dominant races. In these dire and terrible conditions, to survive as a race or a nation was a great challenge. The demands were tremendous and terrible but it was very essential for any races to strive and struggle if they wanted to avoid extinction. In ancient time, conquering nations imposed their wills on the defeating nations or races by brutally subduing them until they relinquished their identities. They demanded total submission and in so doing, many races of the world had been systematically wiped out from the face of the earth. Tragically, a very few modern nations still cherished this uncivilized atrocities of the past and solaced themselves in seeing the sufferings of their dispossessed subjects until now.
For many long years and in different regions, the Karens experienced this horrible fate again and again. Yet wonderfully and amazingly the Karens managed to survive as a race with every aspects of national identity. This precious and most essential legacy was passed down to our generation so that the Karen race may thrive and develop as a nation and be part of lasting proper human races of the world. It remains the sacred duty of every Karen to remember, research and reveal their long history as a symbol of remarkable human feat for existence.
Ever since the beginning of human civilization, tribal conflicts, racial strives and national uprisings overwhelmed the pages of human history and no single race or nation emerged to claim lasting dominion over the others. “Many battles won at various places and in different times do not mean a victory gained everywhere”. The Karens in Yunnan started building cities and towns and organized themselves into city-states and chose their own respective leaders.