Unnamed Shan illustrator: Nang Hsen Gaw’s tortoise mother beside a boat
The tortoise beside the boat represents Nang Hsen Gaw’s murdered mother, who speaks to her daughter from the lake. The adjacent narrative identifies that transformation; this picture is a historical tale illustration, not a natural-history photograph. The source’s decorative shell pattern belongs to the artist’s interpretation.
Overview
Falsely accused of witchcraft by a rival wife, Nang Hsen Gaw’s mother is killed by the villagers and becomes a tortoise in a lake. She calls to her daughter and asks for cotton and thread so that she can continue spinning and weaving. Their daily meetings preserve the relationship after her violent death.
The rival arranges for the tortoise to be cooked as a supposed medicine. The daughter rescues a small portion of the remains and buries it, where a mai nyung kham tree grows and plays harmonious music. Workmen cannot cut it down: its bark heals and the tree enlarges overnight. The daughter alone can carry it to the palace.
The tree falls silent and withers when Nang Hsen Gaw is murdered, then revives when she returns from her own flower-spirit existence. Mother and daughter undergo separate transformations; the musical tree is not a second unrelated creature invented from the same episode.
Origins & earliest records
Shan traditions of the hill and water country, Burma/Myanmar
Records & interpretation
Full relevant tale and introduction directly read; historical spellings preserved.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Shan Folk Lore Stories from the Hill and Water Country
Introduction dated Bhamo, 1902; The Story of the Tortoise, pp. 67–77
- 02
Shan Folk Lore Stories, in The Red Miriok / Shan Folk Lore Stories (combined edition)
Bibliographic witness only: unpaginated title and copyright pages independently inspected in original scan; publication line says January1903, copyright1901and1902. This does not establish the date of the separately transcribed Gutenberg witness or of first publication.
Family, evolution & connections
Nang Hsen Gaw and her transformed mother
Griggs’s Tortoise tale, pp. 67–77.
Scroll sideways to see all branches. With a keyboard, focus the tree and use the arrow keys.
The mother identifies her daughter directly. The woman, tortoise and singing tree are successive identities, not generations. Historical English retelling; no universal Shan genealogy.
Nang Hsen Gaw
The tortoise explicitly identifies Nang Hsen Gaw as her daughter; the later singing tree continues the same mother’s identity.
Primary records and illustrations
William C. Griggs, Shan Folk Lore Stories from the Hill and Water Country
Shan traditions; introduction dated Bhamo1902. The Story of the Tortoise, pp. 67–77
Complete relevant narrative and introduction read from Gutenberg32375. Early English spelling retained; no invented individual narrator, modern standardized transcription or physical anatomy. Publication date distinguished from dated introduction. Original combined-volume title/copyright pages independently viewed: archive item redmiriokshanfol0000anna, cached griggs-redmiriok-6.jpg and-7.jpg in public/assets/credited/_audit; publishedJanuary1903. Separate bibliographic witness, not a claim that full original scan text was collated.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical folktale collectionGriggs, Shan Folk Lore Stories, The Story of the Tortoise, pp. 67–77Research access: 2026-10-05
- Primary bibliographic scanCombined volume title and copyright pages, published January1903Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
Historical illustrationUnnamed Shan illustrator: Nang Hsen Gaw’s tortoise mother beside a boat
The tortoise beside the boat represents Nang Hsen Gaw’s murdered mother, who speaks to her daughter from the lake. The adjacent narrative identifies that transformation; this picture is a historical tale illustration, not a natural-history photograph. The source’s decorative shell pattern belongs to the artist’s interpretation.