Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 21, ROT-Siam

Educa¬
tion.
Arts.
tion, which in many of these southern towns is much mi*pd
Paknam, the port of Bangkok, 3 miles from the riye“s mouth t
foitified, as is Paklat Lang, 5 miles higher rm wlnVn i*c. • i i -i ?
chiefly by Peguans. Various canals extend fence .•.r .M l !” ]! ','
towards the Me-h'ong. Near its month is tK„n" f he tl0nn
peopled by Chinese merchants, fishermen, and gardeners. Hkdier un
the nver, at the foot of the hills, is Prapri, peopled by descendants of
Cambodian captives. Pechaburi, a little to the soufh at the foot of
a range some 1500 feet high, where the king has a palace is bui?t
after English designs; its inhabitants are Peluans. Petriu on tbe
east side of the Gulf of Siam, on the Kharayok river, has sunar
plantations cultivated by Chinese. At Bangplasoi, at the moutlfof
the uver, are extensive fisheries. Raheng some 300 miles nn tho
Me-nam, possesses docks, and there a good many teak ships are Li t
In the Lao or Shan country to the north Chieng-mai (Zimme) is the
most important tributary state. Its capital, Chieng-mai, the Jan-
gomai of early European travellers, is the principal town of that
region, with broad streets of good teak-built houses, surrounded
with gardens, numerous pagodas, markets, and a large population
!t hes^n the wide fertile valley of the Me-ping, tnd is a mL;
entrepot of trade from Bangkok and south-westLhina (Yumnan
and Ssmao) which finds its natural outlet thence to the Bay of
Bengal. The rice, timber, &c., of the districts through which
this route passes are considerable. Lapong, in the same valley
and Lagong, on a neighbouring tributary, are Lao towns of
less importance and subordinate to Chieng-mai, as were formerly
Nan and Pre, fertile teak-producing valleys to the east. Kiarm-
hai and Kiang-sen, farther north, on the Me-kong, were old Lao
capitals of note (see Shans), as was Luang Prabang, with its charm¬
ing capital, which, like Chieng-mai, still retains some administra¬
tive independence. The extensive fertile and partly wooded plains
to the north and east support great herds of cattle. With Yien
chang, a little lower down the river, Luang Prabang held its own for
centuries against both Siam and Burmah. On the destruction of
1 lcjn(chang in 1828, Nangkoi, 25 miles lower down, increased in size
and. importance, and now has an extensive trade in English and
Chinese goods. This district might perhaps without much difficulty
be opened up by an easy route starting from Lakhon, only 130 miles
distant from the sea. One of the most important provincial centres
is the district of Korat, on the eastern plateau. The country is a
series of fertile oases separated by tracts of waterless forest, contain-
nig good timber, and full of game. The town is fortified, and has
about thirty pagodas and some well-built houses, belonging chiefly
+° ffl6 v iineSf mei'!;'^nts- Cai’t roads converge hither with the
tiaffic both of north Laos and of the Cambodian provinces south
and east, the latter passing up the fertile Moun valley on its way
to Bangkok. The whole region between the Dang-rek Mountains
and the Moun river is full of splendid ruins, attesting the former
Cambodian influence as far at least as 16° north, to which limit
therefore, the southward movement of the Laos may be supposed
to.have reached at the date of these buildings. The principal
imns of the district are found at Korat, Bassac, Phimai, and Ku-
khan. The character of this wonderful series of buildings, the
greatest of which, those of Angkor, are on Siamese territory, have
been touched on under Cambodia (q.v.), to which they properly
belong; but it may be mentioned here that the earliest inscription
yet found, relating to the erection of a Sivaite linga, is interpreted
as belonging to 589 saka = 667 a.d., though another, undated, refers
^[^.SCHcrations earlier. The earliest references indisputably
B^hist that have, been found are three centuries later than this.
. With the exception of a few schools in the capital, education
is entirely m the hands of the priests, the boys going to the temples
between the ages of eight or nine and thirteen. The teaching is
elementary, and, by the precepts of Buddhism, must be gratuitous,
the pupils repaying it by menial services in house or boat or garden
or by presents of food. At thirteen the boy enters on a novitiatei
which lasts till the age of twenty-one; but, if not inclined for
s udy, he may give it up after three or four months,—this tem¬
porary consecration symbolizing a separation from the world. At
wenty-one, if so disposed, he may enter the priesthood ; but there
are no perpetual vows. Girls are taught, if at all, only at home,
y parents or brothers. There are no educational endowments ; but
a certain number of persons occupy themselves with literary studies,
as history, astrology,, or alchemy, with which medicine is more or
ess combined. Medical practice, indeed, comprises a good deal of
magic; but there is also considerable knowledge of medicinal
nei bs, and ancient medical works were written in Pali. Inocula¬
tion was long ago introduced by the Chinese, and vaccination
lately by European missionaries. Women after childbirth are
exposed for some time to the heat of a strong fire, the result being
sometimes fatal.
Skill is shown in the casting of large metal statues 50 feet high
or more, in repoussi work in gold and silver, in enamelling on
metals, and in gold and silver tissue work. Their drawing is
spirited, but strictly conventional. The system of music is elabo¬
rate, but with no written notation. There is no harmony, but all
the instruments of the orchestra play in unison, breaking off into
SIAM
853
naiionaTmusffi And bX*™8 ^ They are Proud of their
iduonai music, and both men and women play and sing nenerallv
stnick StHb1118 are~a harmonicon wLden Sal bars
struck With a hammer, a two-stringed and a three-striiKwd violin
SScedXYeSE’also s? L“ £25
vo !l r lf ^ • xlhe fonnev attach more weight to the obser
vance of. the canon than to meditation. The other sect is atabi
othS t<,m{heTtS?ieSf nore toZS^L*gZ
ornei to the study of the scriptures. The onlv Brahimnionl
T7f was "v
oT;si£iv0t;„tBi,<!dhr * v. g»S„a„nddp
x?nPthe mSe Lmote d-0LPr eS (S?mtS °r demons) 1 superstition
nimi TBo Vr A dlstricte.constitutes practically the only reli-
ment of ife ThL Sp7tS inv0T'S and affe(ds eveW Apart¬
ment .ol file. There are local earth divinities to whom temnles
in thewater6 "other; °tllers, ^ human or animal form dwell
in tne water. Others cause children to sicken and die Others
wander and deceive as ignes fatui. By certain spells men can
posse^ed^amrtbev6"''01''68'- °f tlle dead are sometimes
possessed, and they are carried out not by the door but bv an
wTar^TTT^ S° thaVh-ey may n0t be able t0 find ^eir
snirits lead J d numerous offerings and honours paid to these
spirits lead to drunkenness and to killing of animals in sacrifice
the 1e1ffortsrof1?bPrtyailStt0 a f ^siderable extent, notwithstanding
deitv Se Want TiSn? 5° ^ d°Wn- A female incarnation of
deity, the Nang Tim, is found m one or two villages of east Laos
names^afrthe^cb^f1!6ntly -“fL Sacred Places ^ith Indian
Manv if h f t07f>.lndeed> have an official Indian name).
wLle figures and designs employed in the ornamentation of
houses are really talismans intended to avert evil. The temnles
with their surrounding monastic establishments, form a conspXS
IrfacnSTAn6' BOmxfle *er^;x*ensivc, coveringaltogetheran
area of 100 or 150 acres. New temples are often built, or the priests’
quarters m the existing buildings repaired, by rich men desirous
of acquiring merit. The temples {wats) hold very little landed
or house property ; but, where they have been built or repaired by
the king, or presented to him by some high official, they enjoy a
small income chargeable on the revenues of the district, besides
receiving presents from the king when he visits them in state,
the.priests of such temples are bound in return to give their
services at state ceremonies, and their secular affairs, including
repairs of temples and disciplinary matters, are administered by a
special department of state. There remain now at Bangkok only
two communities of nuns, who are employed in the service of the
temples, and are allowed to receive voluntary offerings.
The numerous public festivals are partly connected with religion, Festivals
but are accompanied with much rejoicing and amusement. Among
them are the lunar and the fixed New-Year’s Day, and the festival
of agriculture, when the plough is guided by the minister, the
ladies of the court following and sowing seeds, which are picked
up by. the people to add to their usual sowings. At the ceremony
at which the king and his ministers pledge themselves, the former
to administer impartial justice, the latter to be faithful and loyal
in their service, the oath is taken by drinking water, and the meet¬
ing of the king and nobles, with all the attendant paraphernalia,
forms a. gorgeous spectacle, the day terminating with fireworks and
processions of boats. On the king’s state visits to the wats there
are festive processions of boats and troops. Other festivals are at
the beginning and end of the rainy season. When the floods begin
to subside there is a great water procession, and the priests command
the waters to retire. Even the cutting of the king’s hair is made an
occasion for rejoicing. In every family the cutting, at the age of
twelve or thirteen, of the tuft left on the top of the head is a great
ceremony; it is not practised, except by way of imitation, among the
Laos. The. head is considered very sacred (this is a characteristic
Papuan notion); no one must touch it, nor may it be raised above
that of a superior, as in a carriage or boat. The funeral ceremonies
of a prince or great man, often delayed for some months after death,
are also attended by elaborate feasting, dancing, and other amused
m.ents in temporary buildings erected for the purpose. The dead,
with the exception of the poor, whose bodies are given to the vul¬
tures and wild beasts, and women who die in childbirth, are usually
burned within the wats, the ashes being preserved, or mixed with
lime to plaster the sacred walls. A rich man will often bequeath
a limb to the birds and beasts.
The Siamese month is lunar, and, as a lunar month contains 29J Calendar,
days, they give the odd months 29 and the even 30. This gives