A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
Nang Hsen Gaw maintains contact with her murdered mother after the latter becomes a tortoise, then preserves remains from which a musical tree grows. Her ability to carry that otherwise immovable tree to the palace makes her queen. Her stepmother later murders her beside a well and places her own daughter Nang E in the royal apartments.
A mawk moo flower appears near the well and is taken into a garden guard’s house. His mother discovers that a spirit emerges from it to sweep and cook. Destroying the flower prevents the spirit’s return into it, and Nang Hsen Gaw stands restored in human form. A sparrow informs the king, who brings her back; her mother’s withered tree blooms and sings again. The flower’s local name is retained without an unsupported botanical identification.
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.
Unnamed father in Griggs’s Tortoise tale
The opening household has one man and two wives, each with a daughter; later passages expressly identify Nang Hsen Gaw’s father.
Nang E
Nang Hsen Gaw and Nang E have the same father and different mothers. Their antagonism does not erase the stated household relationship.
Nang E’s witch mother
The narrator explicitly calls Nang E’s mother Nang Hsen Gaw’s stepmother; her accusations and violence target the other wife and daughter.
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
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.