Chen Yi-sein explained

Chen Yi-sein
Othernames:	Yi Sein
Birth Date:	1924
Birth Place:	Pyapon, Irrawaddy Division, British Burma
Death Place:	Taipei, Taiwan
Era:	1950s-2000s
Main Interests:	Burmese history

Chen Yi-sein (Burmese: ရည်စိန်; ; 8 January 1924 – 23 March 2005) was a Sino-Burmese scholar who specialized in Burma–China relations from the mid-1950s until his death in March 2005.^{[1] [2]} He was proficient in Burmese, Chinese and English.^[2] He was one of the first members of the Burma Historical Commission when it was established by U Kaung in January 1955.^[1] Chen served the commission from 1956 until 1987.^[1]

Chen was born in Pyapon, Irrawaddy Division, British Burma on 8 January 1924.^[3] A fourth generation Sino-Burmese, Chen's forebears came from Taishan, Guangdong.^[4] He died in Taipei, Taiwan on 23 March 2005.^{[3] [4]}

During World War II, Chen served as a translator for the Allied Forces.^[4] Following the war, he served as a history researcher and lecturer at Rangoon University.^[4]

In December 2012, Thaw Kaung published a book, The Selected Writings of U Yi Sein, a compilation of Chen's writings, including 28 Burmese articles and 7 English articles on Burmese history from the 1st to 20th centuries, with a focus on Sino-Burmese relations and Chinese records of the Pyu people.^[3]

Publications

The following list is taken from The Selected Writings of U Yi Sein.^[5]

• The Chinese Inscription at Pagan, The Bulletin of Burma Historical Commission, 1 (2): 153–7, 1960.
• 緬北的金地珊族 (The Khamti Shan in Northern Burma), 南洋文摘 (South Seas Digest), 2(1): 33 (under the name of 田稼青 (Tian Jia-qing), the pen name of Chen Yi-sein), 1961.
• 緬甸吉耶族人的銅鼓-蛙鼓 (The Bronze Drum of the Kayah People in Burma), 南洋文摘 (South Seas Digest), 2(1): 39, 1961.
• 緬甸的五座華僑廟宇 (Five Chinese Temples in Burma), 南洋文摘 (South Seas Digest), 2(4): 36, 1961.
• '緬甸'考 (A Study of 'Mian-dian'), 南洋文摘 (South Seas Digest), 2(7): 39–40, 1961.
• 蒲甘華文古碑之迷 (The Mystery of the Chinese Inscription at Bagan), 南洋文摘 (South Seas Digest), 2(8): 36–7, 1961.
• 古代中緬交通孔道 (An Ancient Communication Routes between China and Burma), 南洋文摘 (South Seas Digest), 2(11): 17–8, 1961.
• 景棟境內的拉祜族 (The Lahu People in Keng-tung), 南洋文摘 (South Seas Digest), 2(12): 42, 1961.
• 緬甸華僑最早的報刊 (The Earliest Chinese Newspaper in Burma), 南洋文摘 (South Seas Digest), 2(12): 48–9, 1961.
• 緬甸最早的華僑學校 (The Earliest Chinese School in Burma), 南洋文摘 (South Seas Digest), 2(12): 53, 1961.
• 緬甸古代的錢幣 (Ancient Coinage in Burma), 南洋文摘 (South Seas Digest), 3(2): 36–37, 1962.
• 八莫 '威遠營' 碑文上的 '金沙' 與 '鬼哭' (The Words 'Jinsha' and 'Guiku' in the 'Wei-yuan Ying' Inscription at Bhamo), 南洋文摘 (South Seas Digest), 3(2): 54, (under the name of 田稼青 (Tian Jia-qing)), 1962.
• 模範緬華大辭典 (A Model Burmese-Chinese Dictionary), Rangoon, 1962.
• 袖珍緬華辭典 (Poket Burmese-Chinese Dictionary), Rangoon, 1963.
• 緬甸史與蠻書 (Burma History and Man-Shu), 南洋文摘 (South Seas Digest), 4(11): 28–9, 1963.
• The Chinese in Upper Burma before A. D. 1700, Journal of Southeast Asian Researches 2: 81–94, 1966.
• The Chinese Revolution of 1911 and the Chinese in Burma, Journal of Southeast Asian Researches 2: 95–102, 1966.
• 樊綽蠻書對緬甸史之貢獻 (The Contribution of Fan Chuo's Man Shu to the Study of Burma History), Journal of Southeast Asian Researches 3: 17–26, 1967.
• 緬甸中部毗濕奴城遺址的發現 (Discovery of Vishnu City in Central Burma), Journal of Southeast Asian Researches 3: 83–84, 1968.
• (History of Burma in the Man-Shu), (Mandalay University Annual Magazine 1968–1969), 1:37-9, 1969.
• 明初之中緬關係 (Sino-Burmese Relations in the Early Ming (1368-1424), Part I, 鹿児島大学史錄 (Kagoshima Daigaku Shiroku), 2:1-32, 1969.
• 明初之中緬關係 (Sino-Burmese Relations in the Early Ming (1368-1424), Part II, 鹿児島大学史錄 (Kagoshima Daigaku Shiroku), 3:11-28, 1970.
• (Ancient Tibeto-Burmans and the Routes of their Migration), (Mandalay Arts and Science University Annual Magazine 1969–1970), 2:119-26, 1970.
• 朱波考 (The Study of 'Zhu-Bo'), 東南亞研究 (Journal of Southeast Asian Research Centre), 6: 97–105, 1970.
• 模範緬華大辭典 (A Model Burmese-Chinese Dictionary), Reprint, Tokyo, 1970.
• 元至元末年的中緬和平談判 (The Sino-Burmese Peace Negotiation in the Late Zhi-Yuan Period of the Yuan Dynasty), Part I, 鹿児島大学史錄 (Kagoshima Daigaku Shiroku), 5:1-16, 1972.
• 元至元末年的中緬和平談判 (The Sino-Burmese Peace Negotiation in the Late Zhi-Yuan Period of the Yuan Dynasty), Part II, 鹿児島大学史錄 (Kagoshima Daigaku Shiroku), 7:23-31, 1974.
• 元至元末年的中緬和平談判 (The Sino-Burmese Peace Negotiation in the Late Zhi-Yuan Period of the Yuan Dynasty), Part III, 鹿児島大学史錄 (Kagoshima Daigaku Shiroku), 8:17-26, 1975.
• ရှင်ဒိသာပါမေက္ခ ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေး မစ်ရှင် (Shin Disapamokkha's Peace Mission), (Researches in Burmese History 1, Historical Research Department, Ministry of Culture), 1:41-57, 1977.
• (The Pyu Mission to China in 802 AD), (Researches in Burmese History 3, Historical Research Department, Ministry of Culture), 3:1-65, 1979.
• (Burma Foreign Relations during the Pyu Period), (Researches in Burmese History 4, Historical Research Department, Ministry of Culture), 4:1-39, 1979.
• The Chinese in Upper Burma before 1700, Silver Jubilee Publication, Historical Research Department, Ministry of Culture, Aug 1982: 1-21, 1982 (Reprinted from Journal of Southeast Asian Research Centre, Singapore 2: 81-93, 1966.)
• The Chinese in Rangoon during the 18th and 19th Centuries, Silver Jubilee Publication, Historical Research Department, Ministry of Culture, Aug 1982: 171–6, 1982. (Reprinted from Ba Shin, Jean Boisselier, and A B Griswold (ed): Essays Offered to G. H. Luce by his Colleagues and Friends in honour of His Seventy-fifth Birthday, Artibus Asiae, Vol 1:107-11, 1966.
• (The Origins of the Names Cina, Gandalarit, Udibwa and Tarok-Tarak), (Nyan-Lin Dhamma Literature), 1:127-9, 1983.
• (The Geography of Pyu in the 9th Century AD), (Nyan-Lin Dhamma Literature), 2:107-13, 1983.
• 仰光廣東公司（觀音古廟）史略，緬甸仰光廣東公司觀音古廟160週年紀念特刊：4-16, 1984.
• (Which is the Pyu Capital in the 8th/9th Century AD: Han Lin or Sri Ksetra, (Nyan-Lin Dhamma Literature), 10:217-230, 1984.
• (Locations of some Pyu Stockades), (Nyan-Lin Dhamma Literature), 14:95-100, 14:178-184, 1984.
• (Names of the Pyu Country Known to Ancient Chinese in the Period between 2nd Century BC to 4th Century AD), (Nyan-Lin Dhamma Literature), 15:167-8, 1984.
• (Location of Suvannabhumi), (Nyan-Lin Dhamma Literature), 19:130-40, 1985.
• (Myet-hna-mae in Burmese History), (Moe-Wai Magazine), 212:136-8, 1985.
• (Note on a Name of Ancient Burma in Chinese Records: The Origins of the Name 'Zhu-Bo', (Burma Historical Research Journal), 5:7-22, 1985.
• ပျူစောထီး သုတေသန (Study of Pyu-saw-hti), (Moe-Wai Magazine), 214:76-79, 215:122-126, 1986.
• မျက်နှာမည်း (The Study of "Mien-hna Me"), မိုးဝေ မဂ္ဂဇင်း (Moe-Wai Magazine),
• မန်ရှူးကျမ်း မြန်မာပြန် (Translation of Man-Shu), မိုးဝေ မဂ္ဂဇင်း (Moe-Wai Magazine), 216:99-102, 217:81-4, 218:61-4, 219:170-2, 220:179-82, 221:195-8, 222:159-62, 223:77-80, 224:121-4, 225:155-8, 226:77-80, 227:57-60, 228:157-60, 229:129-32, 230:153-6, 231:153-5, 232:147-50, 233:155-7, 1986–7.
• (A Brief History of Panlone Panthay), (Mahaythi Magazine) 31:112-8, 1987.
• Review of Phases of Pre-Pagan Burma: Language and History, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 1:237-9, 1988.
• 對伯希和兩道考內有關驃國的商榷 (Discussion on a Passage Regarding a Route in the Pyu Kingdom in Pelliot's 'Deux itinéraires de Chine en Inde à la fin du VIIIe siècle), 大陸雜誌 (The Continent Magazine), 83(3):115-22, 1991.
• '撣國'考 (Study of the 'Shan Kingdom'), 大陸雜誌 (The Continent Magazine), 83(4):145-8, 1991.
• 大德初年元軍圍攻木連城考 (A Study of the Yuan Army's Siege of Myin-saing City in the Early Years of the Reign of Da-de), 大陸雜誌 (The Continent Magazine), 83(6):26-39, 1991.
• 關於 '驃越'、'盤越' 與 '滇越' 的考釋 (On the Study of 'Piao-yue', 'Pan-yue' and 'Dian-yue'), 大陸雜誌 (The Continent Magazine), 84(5):193-202, 1991.
• 中國載籍內驃國史料的研究 (Research on Chinese Historical Sources on the Pyu Kingdom), 大陸雜誌 (The Continent Magazine), ... ... ... ..., 1991.
• '緬甸'考 (A Study of 'Mian-dian'), In 中國載籍內驃國史料的研究 (Research on Chinese Historical Sources on the Pyu Kingdom), (A modified version of Chen Yi-sein 1961) ... ... .
• 夫甘都盧與黃支 (Fu-gan-du-lu and Huang-zhi), In 中國載籍內驃國史料的研究 (Research on Chinese Historical Sources on the Pyu Kingdom), 1991 ... ... ... .
• 漢唐至宋元時期在緬甸的華人 (Chinese in Burma from Han-Tang through Song-Yuan Period), 海外華人研究 2:41-57, 1992.
• A Brief History of Overseas Chinese in Rangoon (仰光華僑史略)
• A History of Overseas Chinese in Burma (緬甸華僑史話)

Notes and References

1. Thaw Kaung. 2008. Palm-leaf Manuscript Record of a Mission Sent by the Myanmar King to the Chinese Emperor in the Mid-Eighteenth Century. SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research. 6. 2015-07-25. 2019-08-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20190801054028/https://www.soas.ac.uk/sbbr/editions/file64430.pdf. dead.
2. Thaw Kaung. December 2014. Bogus Chinese Envoys, Spurious Chinese Princesses at the 18th-Century Myanmar Royal Court. Journal of Burma Studies. 18. 2. 193–221.
3. News: U Yi Sein essays published. Zon Pann Pwint. 27 February 2012. Myanmar Times. 25 July 2015.
4. Web site: 长期从事缅甸华侨史研究的陈孺性先生. 林清风. 张平. 13 October 2011. 缅华社会研究. Chinese. 25 July 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150725070123/http://www.mhwmm.com/Ch/NewsView.asp?ID=619. 25 July 2015. dead.
5. Book: U Thaw Kaung. Selected Writings of U Yi Sein 1924-2005. Tun Foundation. 2011. Yangon, Union of Myanmar. 607–617.