The Kingdoms of Laos

Sanda Simms

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9781136863370
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Ethnic Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

Describes the changes in society over 600 years as Lan Xang was gradually dismembered and became a French colony. Most importantly, it shows the essence of the Lao and why, despite all that has happened, they possess their own social and cultural values that mark them as distinctive.

CHAPTER ONE

Where the Lao World Began

IN THE EARLY morning the Mekong River is covered by a dark, heavy mist. Gradually, it begins to lighten, a silvery luminescence shines through it, soon one can begin to distinguish the shapes of trees, of a pirogue and the small waves beating against the bank. As the moments pass, the mist becomes diaphanous, then, suddenly, it clears and one can see the trees, houses and people on the opposite bank. For a while there are still some dark patches of mist on the rising hills beyond. Then they are gone and everything is clear, fresh, and sparkling in the sunlight. It is a moment of ethereal calm and freshness.

The beginnings of Tai history are the same: first darkness, then increasing transparency, then clarity. However, as one traces the course of historical events, unlike the mists along the Mekong, there are many dark patches that we shall never see through.

Today the Tai race comprises the Lao, the Thai of Thailand, the Shans of Burma, the Ahom of eastern Bengal and several million descendants in China and Vietnam. The first historical accounts of the Tai are to be found in the Chinese chronicles and these go back well over a thousand years. Before those times, we have some knowledge of how the Tai lived, their rulers, the way they fought, and even their sexual relationships. It was during those earlier years of prehistory that small Tai settlements gradually spread across the southern half of what is today China.

Where did it all begin? Thirty thousand years ago, the lands from the Yangtze River to the South China Sea and the Bay of Bengal were inhabited by a people who were remarkably homogeneous: they spoke the same language, although doubtless divided by innumerable dialects, they used the same tools, and, throughout the vast area, they lived and behaved in much the same way. About ten thousand years ago, new peoples entered the region with different languages and customs and, through intercourse with them, new ideas and technologies were created and the earlier homogeneity was lost.

The Tai Discover their Individuality

IT WAS DURING this period of change that the Tai began to develop their own very individual way of life. When we come to the earliest accounts of the Tai, which are to be found in the Chinese chronicles in the sixth century BC, around the time of the Buddha, the Tai had already created a distinctive way of life. It was to be the foundation of their culture and beliefs until the middle of this present century. It was about this time that they started to call themselves, Tai, meaning, to be free. Their communities were spread over a great area from the Yangtze River southwards, as far as the southern boundaries of Yunnan and eastwards to the China Sea.

Their staple diet was ‘wet’ rice, so they built their villages in river valleys where there was plenty of water and level ground that could be flooded in the growing season. While the Chinese and Vietnamese built their houses on the ground, the Tai houses were always raised above the ground on stilts, just as they are in the villages today. These and other differences placed them apart from their neighbours, and helped to preserve their sense of identity and their individual customs and traditions.

Although the Tai were spread widely across the different provinces, they were not the rulers of the lands they inhabited. Instead, the Tai communities developed as small groups, each group being a part of a Muong. In physical terms a muong was, and still is today, anything from a hamlet, or a village, to a large town and all the land between it and the next town. Each Muong had a chief, a Chaomuong, who was the ruler and, more than that, represented the spiritual essence that bound the whole Muong together.

The Tai Way of Life

THIS SOCIAL STRUCTURE, the muong, tied all the individual families together. It proved to be immensely strong. Muongs might be shattered by war, or by a natural disaster, but, like the cells of a body that has been damaged, the survivors came together again and recreated themselves, so far as they could, in their original form.

In the country to the north of Yangtze River occupied by the Chinese people there was overpopulation and land was at a premium. In the south, however, the soil was rich and plentiful. When a Tai village outgrew the land that was suitable for paddy fields, the younger generations moved further down, always down the valleys, or, if that was not possible, over the hill-line into the next valley There was no shortage of land to the south and cast.

As land was plentiful, manpower became the most valued asset. With more people one could grow more, one could work less and enjoy an easier, richer life. Without the pressures that existed in the north, Tai society was much more open, and women, unlike those in Chinese society, were regarded as equal partners.

It is no wonder that, in comparison with others, the Tai thought of themselves as being free. Their life created an easy-going attitude to life, ‘Mai pen rai’ is the Thai expression, or ‘Bor bin nyang’ in Lao, meaning simply, ‘Relax, don't worry!’

The year was divided into two natural periods: the months of hard work, planting and harvesting, and the rest of the year that could be given up to more pleasant things. In the relatively free months, visits could be made to distant relatives. If some members of a family felt like a change they would pack up a few presents and be away from their village for days, even weeks, at a time. In this way, even though relatives lived in muongs that were quite far apart, they could still keep in touch. Out of these relatively frequent contacts, a cohesion pervaded the system of muongs and of the Tai people as a whole. This was to be an inheritance that was preserved until recent times.

In those days, there were no hard and fast frontier lines. One state merged into another, often with a neutral area between, where sometimes the villages, or even quite large towns, paid tribute to two rulers. There was, therefore no difficulty in crossing from one kingdom to another. All rulers encouraged trade and with it the free movement of people.

The Future Lands of the Tai

NO ONE HAS yet thought of a satisfactory name for the region of which Laos is the heartland. Today it comprises Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam and the northern states of Malaysia. Within the limited choice available, ‘Indochina’ is probably the most appropriate. So long that is, that the term is understood to mean only that India and China played a part in the formation of the social structures of these countries. The term ‘Indochina’ should not be taken to mean that, in historical times, either the Indian or the Chinese races populated these countries.

From India, the contributions were commercial, religious, and the provision of a clearly defined social framework. Their religious and philosophical ideas began to enter Indochina from about 200 BC, or even earlier. Indian concepts were to become the foundation of all thought. Equally important, through the Brahminical teaching, India gave the countries of Indochina the concepts of kingship and a social hierarchy.

From China, the contribution was diplomatic and political. Whenever possible, China sought to dominate any Indochinese state it could control. It tried to make them into Chinese provinces, or, if that was not possible, into vassal kingdoms. Since this was only possible in areas where they could send their armies, the main Chinese influence in Indochina was felt only on the coastal regions: that is the lands that now form part of today's Vietnam.

It was in Neolithic times that a new wave of people, who were later to be called the Mon-Khmer, reached Indochina. Again it is difficult to find a satisfactory name for them but today's Malays and Indonesians are also their direct descendants, and they are often referred to as the Malay-Indonesians. They spoke a pre-Khmer, Austro-Asiatic language. They gradually spread through Indochina, just as the Tai were to do later. Traces of their settlements have been found as far north as Luang Prabang in Laos. Even more important, these peoples were dedicated sailors and it is probably they, rather than the Indians, who dominated the trade routes from India to the Indonesian archipelago and the ports of Indochina.

The Indian Legacy

UNTIL RECENTLY IT was thought that the beliefs in Hinduism and Buddhism were spread by the Indian traders. It is now considered unlikely that ordinary, uncultivated merchants would have had the ability, or the power, to make such dramatic changes. It seems more likely that the rulers of the Indochinese states invited Brahmins and Buddhist monks to come and teach and from them was developed a new social structure.

One of the reasons that the rulers invited them was the need for a ceremonial form of enthronement that set the ruler apart from everyone else and gave him divine, or magical, powers.

A new king needs to display a guarantee of his divine right to rule that only an older civilisation can give, since it is backed by an accepted religious hierarchy that possesses ceremonies hallowed by age and tradition. These conditions were amply met by the Brahmins. So well did the Brahmins fulfill this role that even now, centuries after Buddhism has been recognised as the acknowledged religion, they still perform important national ceremonies such as the consecration of the Kings of Thailand and Laos. As well, in everyday life in weddings and other family ceremonies, the Brahmins play their part in most of Asia today.

The Brahmins brought with them strong deistic beliefs, as well as a social structure that was based on the four ranks of society: the religious men, the warriors, the merchants and the outcastes. While this social order was accepted as the theoretical basis, it was never applied in any Indochinese society with the rigour that is found in India. This is a clear indication that the rulers and peoples were not Indian themselves.

At the same time, the Brahmins brought Indian legends, the Vedas, the Puranas, the great epics, as the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, and other religious texts. With them came the pantheon of Hindu deities and their powerful influences.

Siva, Creator and Destroyer

OF THESE, THE deity that was to dominate all the others was Siva. Originally he was the third deity in the trinity of gods. However, for many he became the supreme deity, representing the two most important aspects of life: creation and destruction. His symbol was the Linga, a representation of the human phallus, portrayed by a single column of stone with a rounded

ILLUSTRATION 1 Hindu figures from Wat Phu

© Peter & Sanda Simms

top. From the great Siva sprang the prosperity of the harvests, the ever multiplying family, and the increasing riches of a great country.

His other symbol was a cone to represent Mount Meru, the centre of the world that was, like Olympus, the home of the Gods and the source of all power. Representations of Mount Meru are to be found throughout Indochina. In Laos there is Wat Phu and in Cambodia the greatest representation of all, Angkor. The mountain and the Linga became the two most powerful symbols of the pre-Khmer and Khmer world.

As the god of destruction Siva was known as Rudra, or Maha Kala, and it was possibly this duality of being both the creator and destroyer that made him so attractive to the people of Indochina. According to their ancient religion, human sacrifice was essential to propitiate the Spirits, Phi, to ensure a good harvest, and the welfare of the community. Siva fitted perfectly into this traditional pattern.

Although the main Brahminical beliefs were centred around Siva, the second most popular deity, Vishnu, also had many followers at all levels of society in the Indochinese kingdoms. However, on balance there is no doubt that the Sivaite practices were dominant. It is impossible to be more explicit as the whole question is complicated by one of the contemporary beliefs that combined Siva and Vishnu into a single Godhead.

Also important in the mythology of the earliest Indochinese empires were the beliefs in the Divine Spring, the fountain that brought youth and goodness, and the mythical, but extremely powerful, Nagas. Naga is the Sanskrit word for a snake. The legendary Naga had the head of a human being, the thickening neck of a cobra, and the tail of a snake. This may not sound very attractive, but they could assume human form, or even the appearance of a particular person. A female Naga, if she chose, could be irresistibly beautiful in human eyes. Any human children born by a Naga would usually possess superhuman powers and could look forward to a life of greatness.

All these early beliefs have continued into the Tai world in various ways an...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Foreword
• Preface
• Illustrations
• Genealogical Tables
• Maps
• 1 Where the Lao World Began: Prehistory–1299
• 2 Laos: The Paradise of Riches: 1300–1373
• 3 Through Chaos to a New Order: 1373–1520
• 4 Pride brings Disaster: 1520–1550
• 5 Wars and Invasions: 1550–1571
• 6 Seventy years of Anarchy: 1571–1637
• 7 A New Golden Age: 1637–1698
• 8 The End of Lan Xang: 1698–1791
• 9 The rise of Nationalism: 1791 to 1829
• 10 Siamese Dominance: 1829–1894
• 11 An Overview of Champasak History
• 12 An Overview of Xieng Khouang History
• 13 Re–united A French Protectorate: 1895–1905
• Appendix 1 The Kings of Lan Xang Variant Dates with Sources
• Appendix 2 Glossary
• Appendix 3 Bibliography
• Index