Journal of the Siam Society; 92 9748298558

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JSS

Presidents of the Siam Society 1904-1906 1906-1918 1918-1921 1921-1925 1925-1930 1930-1938 1938-1940 1940-1944 1944-1947 1947-1965 1965-1967 1967-1968 1968-1969 1969-1976 1976-1979 1979-1981 1981-1989 1989-1994 1994-1996 1996-1998 1998-2004 2004-

Honorary Members (with year of election)

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(1985) (1992) (1992) (1995) (1995) (1995) (1995) (1995) (1995) (1996) (1996) (1996) (1997) (2000) (2000) (2000) (2000) (2001) (2001) (2001) (2002) (2002) (2002) (2004) (2004)

The Siam Society, under Royal Patronage, is one of Thailand’s oldest and most active learned organizations. The object of the Society is to investigate and to encourage the arts and sciences in Thailand and neighbouring countries. Since the Society established its Journal in 1904, it has become one of the leading scholarly publications in South-East Asia. The Journal is international in outlook, carrying original articles of enduring value in English. The Society also publishes its Natural History Bulletin. Since its inception, the Society has amassed monographs, journals, and material of scholarly interest on Thailand and its neighbours. The Society’s library, open to members, has one of the best research collections in the region. Information is given at the end of the volume on how to become a member for those interested in Society’s library, lectures, tours, publications and other benefits.

Volume 92, 2004

Prof. PrawaseWasi Mr Anand Pancharachun Mr Dacre Raikes Phra Dhammapitaka Mrs Virginia Di Crocco Prof. Yoneo Ishii Mr Henri Pageau-Clarac Mr Term Meetem Prof. Klaus Wenk Mr James Di Crocco Prof. Michael Smithies Prof. David K Wyatt Dr Hans Penth Dr William Klausner Dr Pierre Pichard Thanpuying Putri Viravaidya Dr Thanat Koman Mr Euayporn Kerdchouay Prof. Prasert na Nagara Dr Thawatchai Santisuk Dr Warren Y Brockelman Dr Piriya Krairiksh Dr Sumet Jumsai Dr Chetana Nagavajara Dr Tej Bunnag

Volume 92, 2004

The Journal of the Siam Society

Mr W.R.D. Beckett Dr O. Frankfurter Mr H. Campbell Highet Mr W. A. Graham Prof. George Cœdès Phya Indra Montri (Francis Giles) Major Erik Seidenfaden H.H. Prince Dhani Nivat H.R.H. Prince Wan Waithayakon H.H. Prince Dhani Nivat H.H. Prince Prem Purachatra H.S.H. Prince Ajavadis Diskul Phya Anuman Rajadhon H.R.H. Prince Wan Waithayakon Prof. Chitti Tingsabadh H.S.H. Prince Subhadradis Diskul M.R. Patanachai Jayant Dr Piriya Krairiksh Mr Athueck Asvanund Mr Bangkok Chowkwanyun Mrs Bilaibhan Sampatisiri M.R. Chakrarot Chitrabongs

The Siam Society

The Siam Society under Royal Patronage 131 Sukhumvit Soi 21 (Asoke), Bangkok 10110 Thailand Tel: (+662) 661 6470-7 Fax: (+662) 258 3491

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e-mail: [email protected] http://www.siam-society.org

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Patrons of the Siam Society Patron His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej Vice-Patrons Her Majesty Queen Sirikit His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana Krom Luang Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra Honorary President Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana Krom Luang Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra Honorary Vice-President Mom Kobkaew Abhakara na Ayudhya

Council of the Siam Society, 2002 - 2004

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President

Mrs Bilaibhan Sampatisiri

Vice-Presidents

Prof Krisda Arunvongse Na Ayudhya Mr Athueck Asvanund Mr Paul G. Russell

Leader, Natural History Section

Dr Weerachai Nanakorn

Honorary Secretary Honorary Treasurer Honorary Librarian Honorary Editor, JSS Honorary Editor, NHB

Dr Woraphat Arthayukti Mr Kenneth L. White Mrs Sharon O’Toole Dr Dhiravat na Pombejra Dr Warren Y. Brockelman

Members of Council

Dr Christopher J. Baker M.R. Chakrarot Chitrabongs Mr Patrick Corcoran Mr Gordon Huntly Dr Saranarat Kanjanavanit Mr Harald Link Mrs Mira Kim Prachabarn Mr James Rooney

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The Journal of the

Siam Society Volume 92 2004

This centenary volume is respectfully dedicated to the memory of H.M. King Mongkut, born 200 years ago.

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Editorial Board Dhiravat na Pombejra Euayporn Kerdchouay Kanitha Kasina-ubol Michael Smithies, editor

© The Siam Society 2003 ISSN 0857-7099 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the Siam Society. The Journal of the Siam Society is a forum for original research and analysis. Opinions expressed in the Journal are those of the authors. They do not represent the views or policies of the Siam Society. Printed by Amarin Printing and Publishing Public Company Limited 65/16 Chaiyapruk Road, Taling Chan; Bangkok 10170, Thailand. Tel. (662) 882-1010 Fax (662) 433-2742, 434-1385 e-mail: [email protected] http://www.amarin.com Cover photograph : H.M. King Mongkut, taken in 1864 when he was sixty.

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The Journal of the Siam Society Volume 92

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Contents Articles

O. FRANKFURTER King Mongkut (first published in JSS vol. 1, 1904, pp. 191-207) Introduced by Tej Bunnag

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CHARLES HIGHAM The opposed human figure at Khok Phanom Di

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YONEO ISHII Exploring a new approach to early Thai history

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PIYADA CHONLAWORN Relations between Ayutthaya and Ryukyu

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MICHAEL SMITHIES Four unpublished letters from Desfarges, Beauchamp, and Vollant, survivors of the siege of Bangkok in 1688

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SUMET JUMSAI Prince Prisdang and the proposal for the first Siamese constitution, 1885

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YEVGENY D. OSTROVENKO Russian-Thai relations: historical and cultural aspects

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LEEDOM LEFFERTS Village as stage: Imaginative space and time in rural Northeast Thai lives

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Note PATRICIA M. YOUNG The lacquer pavilion in the First Reign context

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Contents

Reviews Jean-Pierre Pautreau et al. Ban Wang Hai: Excavations of an Iron-Age Cemetery in Northern Thailand Reviewed by Helen James 155 David Snellgrove Angkor–Before and After: A Cultural History of the Khmers Reviewed by Dawn F. Rooney

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Claudine Bautze-Picron The Buddhist Murals of Pagan: Timeless vistas of the Cosmos Reviewed by Virginia di Crocco

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Dirk Van der Cruysse, translated by Michael Smithies Siam and the West, 1500–1700 Reviewed by Reinhard Hohler

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Father Adriano di St. Tecla, translated and annotated by Olga Dror Opusculum de sectis apus Sinenses et Tunkinenses (A small treatise on the sects among the Chinese and Tonkinese). A study of religion in China and North Vietnam in the eighteenth century. Reviewed by Liam C. Kelley 170 Choi Byung Wook Southern Vietnam under the reign of Minh Mang (1820–1841) : Central policies and local response Reviewed by George Dutton

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Yos Santasombat Lak Chang: A reconstruction of Tai identity in Daikong Reviewed by Reinhard Hohler

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Peter Jackson Buddhadasa: Theravada Buddhism and Modernist Reform in Thailand Reviewed by Justin McDaniel

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Jane Werner and Danièle Bélanger, eds Gender, Household, State: Doi Moi in Viet Nam Reviewed by Liam C. Kelley

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Teri Shaffer Yamada, ed. Virtual Lotus: Modern Fiction of South East Asia Reviewed by David Smyth

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Ho Anh Thai The Women on the Island Reviewed by Montira Rato

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Michael Smithies Village Vignettes Reviewed by Tarmo Rajasaari

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Notes about contributors

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Honorary Members, 2004

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Obituaries Ruth Gerson M.S. Sulak Sivaraksa

H.S.H. Prince Subhadradis Diskul, a personal appreciation Larry Sternstein Sirichai Narumit–Rekagarn

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Recent Siam Society Publications

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Notes for contributors

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KING MONGKUT Dr O. Frankfurter (JSS Vol. 1, 1904, pp. 191–207)

Dr Oscar Frankfurter was President of the Siam Society from 1906–1918. He was present at the inaugural meeting of the Society in 1904 and was its first Honorary Secretary. Oscar Frankfurter was born on 23 February 1852 and educated at the Universities of Gottingen and Berlin. He joined the Siamese Government Service in 1884 and was employed in various capacities, notably as interpreter at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, until he was appointed Chief Librarian of the National Library in 1905. He wrote three chapters, on history, language, and religion for The Kingdom of Siam 1904, edited by A. Cecil Carter, reprinted by the Siam Society in 1988. He also translated Luang Prasert’s Chronicle of Ayudhya for the JSS which was reprinted for the Society’s Fiftieth Anniversary Commemorative publication in 1954. It is appropriate that Frankfurter’s article on King Mongkut should be reprinted in the year in which the bicentenary of the King’s birth and the centenary of the Society are celebrated. The article is remarkable for its comprehensive account of the Fourth Reign, which remains valid a hundred years after it was first written for its approach, analysis and understanding of the forces and factors which shaped the reign. Tej Bunnag On the 17th October, 1804, the King known in history as King Mongkut was born of Somdet Phra Buddha Löt La and Somdet Phra Sri Suriyendramat. His father, who held at that time the position of Chao Fa Krom Luang Isara Sunthon, was born in 1765, being the son of the founder of the Chakri dynasty, Somdet Chao Phya Mahakrasatriya Suk, afterwards known as Somdet Phra Buddha Yot Fa. Ayuthia had been destroyed by the Burmans and the capital established in 1767 on the left bank of the Menam Chao Phya at Dhanaburi by Khun Luang Tak. To his energy Siam owed her renewed existence as a political entity. Khun Luang Tak reigned for 15 years in Bangkok, Dhanaburi, but became demented and was deposed, and in 1782 Somdet Chao Phya Maha Krasatriya Suk by the will of the nobles and people was raised to the Royal Throne. As King he continued the work which he had commenced in the reign of Khun Luang Tak as his chief adviser and general. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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These were troublesome times in Europe. The chief colonial Powers were engaged in warfare, and Siam, free from outward political influence, was enabled to shape its own destiny, and when after a reign of 26 years Somdet Phra Buddha Yot Fa died in 1809, his son Phra Buddha Löt La succeeded him on the throne, which he occupied up to 1824. His name will always be remembered as that of one of the best, perhaps the very best Siamese poet, and we shall not be very far wrong, if we ascribe the forcible and plain language used by King Mongkut to the influence of his father. Also during his reign Siam was free from outward troubles. The political relations which existed for centuries with Portugal were renewed; and in his time the Viceroy of India sent an embassy under Crawford to enter into relations with Siam. That this embassy led to nothing was perhaps due to the negotiator, who can scarcely have been considered successful in his relations with Annam: but regard must also be had to the time in which the embassy fell and to the instructions he received in relation to the internal policy of Siam. Phra Buddha Löt La died in 1824. The part which Chao Fa Mongkut played during the reign of his father was necessarily little conspicuous: but it is curious to note that the first event related in his life, after the bathing ceremony was performed (1812) and before even the hair-cutting ceremony, was that he was sent with his uncle Somdet Chao Fa Krom Luang Phitaks Montri to receive the Peguans who had taken refuge in Siam and who settled afterwards in Prathumthani and Nonthaburi. More conspicuous throughout the reign of Phra Buddha Löt La was his eldest son Krom Mün Chesdabodindr born in 1787. It was due to him that a conspiracy which broke out on the accession of Somdet Phra Chao Löt La was suppressed. It was he who during the whole reign of his father had charge of the Department of Foreign Affairs. After the Napoleonic wars were over the attention of Europe was once more directed to the East. In 1819 the first war between Burma and Great Britain broke out: Burma, the hereditary foe of Siam, was defeated and had to buy peace by ceding a province, and was thus practically excluded from the seashore. It was clear that another factor had arisen in Far Eastern Asiatic politics; that China was no longer the paramount power, a position which she tried to maintain and to usurp. This was clearer yet when in 1824 a treaty was made between Great Britain and the Netherlands defining, as it would be called now, their spheres of influence, and possessions in the Far East. The responsible statesmen of Siam recognized this fact, and we shall not at this distance of time be far wrong if we partly attribute the election of Krom Mün Chesdabodindr as King of Siam in preference to Chao Fa Mongkut thereto. The Prince Chao Fa Mongkut was only twenty years of age and had just entered the priesthood when his father died. It was necessary that a strong experienced hand should be at the head of affairs; and such a one undoubtedly Krom Mün Chesdabodindr was. He had gained experience in Government work Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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under his father: he was first to again recognize the fact that the system of isolation could no longer be maintained, and thus we find that under his reign the Burney treaty with Great Britain was concluded in 1826. Chao Fa Mongkut remained in the priesthood during the whole reign of Phra Nang Klao, the name by which Krom Mün Chesdabodindr is known in history. New ideas were brought to him: formerly surrounded by the strictest Court etiquette, he was now brought into contact with that most democratic institution the Buddhist priesthood. Averse to caste and recognizing no other merit than that brought about by one’s own deeds, the receptive youth laid here the foundation of the principles by which he was guided when he was called to the Throne. King and Royalty were no longer for him exalted beings; all were the servants of the State; all were to be considered by the acts they had done and by the fruit of these acts, in strict agreement with the tenets of Buddhism. His life in the priesthood also showed him the necessity of education. The policy of self-sufficiency and isolation were for him things of the past, and when he was called to the Throne he put into practice, first and foremost amongst the Royal Family, what he had learnt in unrestrained intercourse with others, that the basis of the State lies in education, and that only by education could those who were called upon to govern influence the governed classes. He recognized that if Siam wanted to take a place amongst the world nations, it could only do so by adapting its own institutions to those of other nations and especially those of the western world. In the priesthood he likewise found a field for his energy. During the troublesome time following the conquest of Ayuthia by the Burmans the doctrine and practice of Buddhism had lost much of its pristine purity, and Khun Luang Tak especially during the last years of his reign tried to interfere with it. It was no doubt also one of the reasons for his deposition that he claimed control over the priests and claimed in regard to them for himself a position to which he was not entitled. Learned priests there have always been in Siam: whilst at no time priests were allowed to interfere in worldly affairs or control them. As long as they were in the priesthood, any interference of the temporal authorities in the ecclesiastical Government was resented. The Chakkri dynasty as soon as it came to the throne showed by its enactment its endeavours for the purity of the doctrine: it is known that deputations had previously been sent from Ceylon to Ayuthia to get from Siam the Buddhist ordinances as it was rightly considered that the doctrine was there preserved in its purest form as Siam was free from outward influence. One of the first acts of Phra Yot Fa was the convocation of a council for the recension of the Tipitaka and the building of a special hall in the Wat Phra Keo to preserve it – the Ho Phra Samud Mandira Dharma. Chao Fa Mongkut when he entered the priesthood took his duties in full earnest and during the whole time he was in it, up to the time he was called to the throne, he studied the tenets of Buddhism. By his own work he influenced the doings of others. He was the Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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spiritual adviser of all who came to see him. He followed in all respects the precepts of the Vinaya and in his numerous pilgrimages, he always travelled on foot, without any large retinue. He was accessible to all and what he had practiced in the priesthood, he practiced also when he was called to the throne. Whilst in the priesthood he became the founder of the Dhammayut sect, and it is curious to note that whilst it was more orthodox in going back to the original precepts of Buddhism, it was in fact more liberal. Unitas, Charitas, Libertas were the governing rules of this sect. Whilst in the priesthood he acquired by personal intercourse with the followers of other creeds and with missionaries an insight into foreign creeds, and it was perhaps due thereto that when the treaties with foreign powers were made the principle of perfect toleration and liberty of conscience was once more embodied in them. The leisure he had in the priesthood he employed in historical and linguistic studies. The numerous little edicts on grammatical questions, on archaeological matters, etc. which were issued during his reign although signed by others were due to his initiative, and to him was due the publication of the Phongsavadan by Somdet Phra Boromanuchit, which gives the history of Siam in a concise form from the year 1350 up to the destruction of Ayuthia. From his own hand we have an English grammar and the brief Notices of the History of Siam written in English, and further numerous notices on obscure points of ancient history, archaeology and tradition, which in any serious study cannot be neglected. The time he spent in the priesthood showed him the need of Siam for further development, as in his position, free from political restraint, he could judge for himself by his intercourse with persons of other nationalities. It was therefore natural that during the last years of the reign of Phra Nang Klao he was consulted by what might be considered the young Siam political party. The Burmese war had shown that the East could no longer shape its policy independently from the rest of the world. China, which for years had been considered by the countries of the Far East as their natural protector and master, had failed in its policy of isolation and had to admit for trade and intercourse representatives of the West. It is of course unnecessary to enquire whether the special causes which led to the so-called opium war with China could be justified: the war must be considered from a historical standpoint, as one to break down the impossible policy of isolation. The attempts of foreign nations to establish intercourse with Siam had not at that time led to any appreciable result. The attitude of Siam might be considered a passive one: it was not adverse to intercourse, but on the other hand it certainly did nothing to encourage it. The early treaty negociated by Capt. Burney, whilst establishing relations, could not lead to any result, as the trade privileges given to China made competition impossible and the rules under which trade had to be carried on, were partly vexatious owing to the numerous monopolies. The treaty therefore remained a dead letter. The mission of Sir James Brooke fell at a very Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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inopportune time, and probable the Raja, who had carried all before him in other parts of the East, did not in his dealings with Siam show sufficient tact. Nor can the attempt made by the United States to enter into treaty relations be considered serious. The Plenipotentiary sent was not a persona grata, The foreign relations were thus practically at a standstill under Phra Nang Klao. At the end of the reign numerous monopolies had been established and vexatious restraint had been put on internal trade. Phra Nang Klao died in 1851, and as no provision could be made by him to appoint a successor the choice of the Ministers naturally fell on the eldest son of Phra Buddha Löt La, the Chao Fa Mongkut, to succeed him. Great was the joy of the people when the announcement of the election of King Mongkut became known: flowers were brought to him from all and sundry: it was felt instinctively that the Prince Priest would as King take an interest in the welfare of his people as he had done when he was in the priesthood. There were few foreigners at the time of the accession of King Mongkut in Bangkok: but from the few records left, we can see that his accession was hailed with universal satisfaction. Great things were expected from the King and it is not too much to say that, without outward pressure, these expectations were fulfilled. It is known that in the Burney treaty, 1826, a heavy measurement duty was levied on ships in lieu of customs duties: that the export of rice was forbidden, that is to say only if a three years supply of grain was in the country permit for export was granted, just as was the case in Burma: that teak could not be exported and the import of opium was made a crime. There were besides numerous monopolies: the rights which the people enjoyed in former times regarding rights on fisheries were, owing to religious scruples, curtailed in the reign of Phra Nang Klao. By a proclamation issued in the commencement of the year 1852 all this was altered. The measurement duty was reduced; opium was made a monopoly; fishery taxes, and therewith the right of the people to trade, were again introduced. This proclamation is the more curious as certainly a great deal of opposition was made by Chinese and others in whose hands the trade was. The population of Siam is mainly agricultural and the feudal system militated against the people engaging in trade: therefore opposition to this measure was even to be expected from those who, as the future has shown, were benefited by it. The next step was to embody in Treaties the principles by which the intercourse with foreigners would be regulated. By these treaties Siam is governed today in its relations with foreign powers, and it is no mean praise to the statesmanship of the negotiators that they are workable even now after nearly fifty years. One might have wished that certain distinctions had been drawn with regard to the exterritorial rights. It is of course easy to criticize: but we should never forget the conditions prevailing at the time. Steamship navigation was, as far as Siam is concerned, in its infancy. The sailing-boats which came to Bangkok in the monsoon were at the same time traders. There arrived in 1850, 332 vessels Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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carrying 937,300 piculs to the value of £541,375. Of these vessels only two with a capacity of 10,400 piculs belonged to English merchants, and two with a capacity of 8,000 piculs to American merchants. We can thus not wonder that in the penal clause of the Treaties the ship was made responsible for a breach of customs regulation. The 3 per cent import duty levied since that time also appears inadequate as regards present conditions: but it was the duty levied on produce coming from China: and China held in the estimation of the Government in former times a high rank. It is known that from olden times foreigners in Siam were allowed to live according to their own laws and customs: but the persons administering these laws were appointed by the King. Thus we find in the Treaty made at Louvo on the 10th December 1685 that “cases amongst the Christian converts shall be adjudged by a mandarin specially designated for the purpose.” We find amongst the officials of the Ministry for Finance, which had charge of foreign affairs, the Krom Tha Sai and the Krom Ta Khwa as having charge of foreign settlers in Siam: when the Treaties were made the European powers had scarcely any colonies from which immigrants came to Siam. It could not enter the mind of the negotiators that persons whose religions, laws and customs were similar to those of Siam should be exempt from the jurisdiction of Siam and liable to alien laws. But whilst the Treaties were thus made by the officials, the statesmanship of the King was shown in the personal relations on which he entered with the negotiators, Sir John Bowring, Charles de Montigny, and others. Throughout his reign we find thus, if we may say so, a democratic trait in all negociations. He was not averse to making known his views by publication, and in his reign the Official Gazette was first issued. It was the communication “of the King to the nobles and people regarding Government affairs, in order that they may conform to them.” Whilst he could not all at once break down the official etiquette existing in all countries of the Far East, he, in his personal intercourse, made himself free from it; he willingly fell in with the claims of the French Treaty regarding the help and facilities to be given to savants: he had, whilst in the priesthood, seen what a mine of knowledge remained unexplored, and whatever books were published in his reign were due to his initiation or even issued with his help. The records of foreign travellers written in his time amply bear witness. His own language was always forcible and to the point; he was averse to squeamishness. He knew, of course, Pali well: but he deprecated the use of Pali words when a Siamese conveyed the same meaning, and when only to show over-learnedness such Pali word was used. He hoped that the users of such words would become bald; and he characterized the whole tendency with the expressive word Uttari (supernatural), and it is known that to pretend to supernatural knowledge is considered in the Buddhist commandment a deadly sin. The life he led in the priesthood naturally affected the King’s ideas of his kingly office. The King did not feel himself a being apart from others: more demoJournal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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cratic notions prevailed. It is known that according to Chinese and Indian notions and customs the sanctity of the King is so great that he cannot be seen by profane eyes. The different questions connected with the audience of foreigners in the Far East have all their origin in these notions. When the King showed himself in the street, the people had to go out of his way: they were driven away by attendants: they had to keep their houses and shops closed and one of the first laws renewed when the present dynasty came to the throne was one having reference thereto. It is related in old books that when at the ploughing ceremony the representative of the King came in procession, the people had to have their shops and stalls closed, as otherwise the mock King would confiscate the things thus exposed for sale. De Vliet relates that in his time the noble vested with this authority got about three catties, a sum which of course represented a much higher value than at the present time. In the proclamation having reference to this question the King relates that in the reign of his father, a woman who intended looking at the King’s procession was hit in the eye by an arrow shot by one of the lictors. Being informed of it the King at once had enquiries made and compensation paid to her. There was no safety, King Mongkut went on to say, for the King in the people hiding themselves from him. He would like to see his people so that he might have a chance of addressing them and meet those with whom he was acquainted. The old law was therefore repealed: the householders themselves were made responsible for the good order in the street and they were told to make obeisance to the King every one according to the custom of his nation. Like in other proclamations he showed himself the educator of his people, and thus had sown the seed which gave to the people consciousness of themselves. The new laws and customs he had introduced were, of course, made necessary through altered conditions, but that he recognized these new conditions at once shows his wisdom. The number of persons from foreign countries were few, and the only foreigners who came in great numbers were the Chinese, related both by race and language. Malloch mentions that between 1840–1850 the immigration of Chinese was at the rate of 15,000 annually, and this rate has been constantly increasing, whilst in the time of Phra Narai there were 3,000 settled permanently. Of other nations we find mostly those who took refuge in Siam to escape persecution in their own country. Here they found liberty of religious belief and soon formed part of the people with whom they easily intermarried, just as the prisoners of war did who had been brought to Siam in former years. A new condition of things had arisen with the Treaties. It became necessary to provide for the new wants. The existing coins were not sufficient, now that foreigners wanted to buy the products of the country. The merchants had on their part to create a demand for the products of other countries: for the monopolies had this time really ceased, and it is curious how the wants of the population gradually changed and adapted themselves to the new conditions of things. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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The original money tokens were cowries; of silver money we find the bullet or rather shell-shaped ticals and it does appear that in previous reigns the smaller coinage was regularly issued. In the commencement of the reign we find bullet-shaped silver pieces of Ticals 2 and Tical 1 and a salüng and a füang. This was gradually replaced by the flat coinage consisting of pieces of Ticals 2, Tical 1, 1/2 Tical and 1/4 Tical and a bronze coinage. It is interesting to note the attempt made to establish this coinage and do away with cowries. Eight hundred cowries were worth one füang, which would appear to have been the silver coin in general use, although smaller bullet-shaped silver coins are met with. It is said that a woman could buy her provisions in the market with 50 cowries, so that it became necessary to make the smallest coins issued of that value. This was the solot (Pali, solasa) i.e. one sixteenth of a füang: its double was the att (attha) one eighth of a füang. Solots of the King’s reign can scarcely be found: they were locally manufactured: but the metal used was so base that edicts had to be issued forbidding their being counted on hard boards. In the beginning of the reign edicts had also to be issued that foreign coins should and could be accepted: still people were unwilling to take them and Mexican dollars had to be stamped with the Royal Arms to give them currency. To this scarcity of coins was perhaps due the provision of the Treaty that $3 Mex. should be accepted as Ticals 5 and other foreign coins as the rupee and guilder in proportion. To remove the scarcity of money, gold coins were issued—the thot (dasa), phit (visati) and phatdung (batimsa) 10, 20 and 32. The names indicated that 10, 20 or 32 of them were equal to one catty (80 ticals), and consequently the thot was equal at that time to one pound sterling. These gold sovereigns did not, it seems, meet with much approval, which after this length of time one may regret, as certainly it would have done away with the ever-present question of exchange. Other provisions of the Treaty had also to be made known to the people. This was above all the case in regard to the new law adopted in allowing the export of rice. The permission to export rice was justified by stating that the money to be derived from the export duty would be used for road-making, but that everyone was at liberty to refuse selling paddy if he apprehended scarcity, and that, moreover, if a scarcity was to be apprehended the export of rice would be prohibited. This measure was, as is known, resorted to several times in the reign of King Mongkut; experience has shown that the prohibition of the export of rice in years of dearth is no remedy, and this measure has in more modern times not been resorted to. It has been often made a reproach that the chief export of Siam is rice: but perhaps it is well to remember that the country is best adapted for its cultivation, that it is the best-paying article inasmuch as complete failures of the crop never occur. It is the staple food of the country: but it never formed a monopoly, and as soon as its export was allowed the cultivation of other articles was given up. Of Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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other tropical products sugar has been cultivated in Siam only since the end of the eighteenth century, whilst tobacco has only been grown since the beginning of last century. Furthermore the feudal system and monopolies prevented people from cultivating other products: for pepper, for instance, the grower was paid 8 ticals per picul, and it was sold by the Government for 12 ticals. Cardamons, ivory, gamboge, turtle eggs, agila and sapanwood were some of the monopolies. All these monopolies were given up during the reign of King Mongkut but the rules by which taxes had to be paid in kind were only abolished during the present reign, when for all kinds of “suai,” contributions in kind, the tax of “Kha Rajakan” was substituted. It was also due to the feudal system and in execution of the clauses of the Treaty, which permitted foreigners to take into their service Siamese in every capacity whatsoever, that the King issued proclamations allowing and explaining to his people the rules by which they were allowed to take service, that he pointed out to them the benefit they might derive therefrom, and how they ought to take service. It is, however, unfortunately also true that this feudal system led to the insertion of the clauses of the Treaty which were onerous and impracticable, as to rights of servants in the employ of the foreigners. We may also ascribe to this system the clauses in the Treaty regarding the settlement of cases between foreigners and Siamese, a clause which has now become a dead letter. It is known that in 1808 under the reign of Phra Buddha Yot Fa the laws as they were then existing had been collected and according to them justice was administered. Modifications had been made to them in previous reigns and it was especially in the reign of Phra Nang Klao that by a curious application of the Law of Redemption most of the barbarous punishments as they were laid down in the statute books were abolished. The reign of King Mongkut might be considered as regards legislation also a personal one, inasmuch as most of the new enactments were due to his initiative. It is recorded that the King came out every Wan Phra to receive the petitions of the people, a right which in some form or the other the people enjoyed from olden times. The King examined the petition himself: he formed his opinion on the justice of the claims: the proverbial delays of the law were abolished by stringent regulations couched in strong, cutting and incisive language: he pronounced in Siam the maxim that all were equal before the law and the judges were instructed to take all cases into consideration: he broke down the assumed or real privileges of the nobles and princes to give refuge to runaway evil-doers, and to him Siam owes the first steps made for the abolishment of slavery. The old law regarding slavery is based, as is well known, on the Indian law which allowed the money master to refuse the redemption money tendered to him by the slave at harvest time and at other times when his labour might be wanted. This was based on the maxim that the slave was created for work just as the fruit of the field was for consumption. In a special case brought before him the King laid Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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down the law that money tendered for redemption must at once be accepted, and the judges who assisted the money master in evading the law were made liable to severe punishment. The status of women was also raised by him. A petition was handed in by one Amdeng Chan stating that, without her knowledge, her name had been inserted in a slave paper by her husband. The King ordered the law books to be searched about the rights of the husband over his wife. The law was clear that the husband had such a right. This led the King to make the characteristic remark that in such a case only the male was a human being, the female a beast of the field, and he had the law so amended that for the intended sale of the wife by her husband the consent of his wife was necessary. In the same enactment the right of the parents to sell their children was limited to the time before they had reached the age of fifteen, and he had other opportunities of showing his sense of equity. In amending the old law of abduction the King also raised the status of women. A woman, one Amdeng Hnu, had presented a petition to the King, in which she set forth that her parents wanted to compel her to marry a man, although she was in love with another man with whom she had had intercourse. She gave in the petition all necessary details of the harsh treatment she had had undergone and the King ordered that if the facts were as related, she should be given to the husband she loved. The husband, however, had to ask for pardon and had to pay compensation to the parents. In the decision on the case the King goes on say: “It appears that the parents sell their daughter ‘as if she were to enter a mousetrap.’ If this is the case let it be laid down the parents are not owners of their children in the same way as the owners of the cattle and elephants may put a price on them and sell them: or like the money master who has a slave with a fixed value and may sell him for such fixed value. If the parents are in distress, so that they are obliged to sell their children, they may only do so if the children agree, or if the children only agree to be responsible for a part of the indebtedness they can only be sold for such a price.” The old law to the contrary was abolished. Amongst other laws which show a new departure, mention must be made of those affecting the priesthood. He reminded them, and laymen, of their duties as members of the Buddhist community. As in all things, the King does not mince matters: he calls a spade, a spade: he plainly shows what abuses have crept into the practice of the priesthood: he says that many only enter the priesthood to lead an idle life: he does not wish the priest to become the laughing stock of earnest people: he forbids the introduction in the ceremony of extraneous matters of a frivolous character apt to lead to profanity. He makes the laymen responsible for the misdoings of the priest, inasmuch as he makes them liable to punishment, if they, knowing and seeing abuses, do not inform the ecclesiastical authorities thereof. The King recognized the baneful influences gambling, opium smoking and drinking had on his people. Sir John Bowring informs us in his diary how much he Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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regretted that he could not comply with the wish of the King to have provisions inserted in the Treaty restricting the import of spirits. The King, as is well known, tried in the Treaty with France in 1857 to make some provision regulating the import of spirits: and we may take as proof the wording of article XX of the French Treaty of 1857 stating “that Frenchmen were at liberty to trade in all merchandise, which upon the signature of the present Treaty shall not be the object of a formal prohibition or special monopoly.” Both opium and spirits were at that time special monopolies: and whilst in the English Treaty provisions were made only as regards the trade in opium, the King hoped that also spirits might in the French Treaty be included in “trade liable to special restriction.” It is well known that only in the Treaties made with all foreign powers in 1883, during the present reign, the abuses of the spirit trade were remedied. How keenly the King felt the evil influence of opium on his people is also shown by the fact that he ordered that those of his Siamese subjects who smoked opium should wear the Chinese queue and dress, and should be liable to pay the Chinese poll tall, a tax which, apparently at that time, carried in the way it was levied contempt with it. Already in previous reigns the time for which people had to lend their service, as an outcome of the feudal system, to the state, had been reduced: and under King Mongkut they were no longer called upon to perform work which might be done by paid labour, as part of the work they owed to Government. Thus the waterways constructed during the reign were made by free labour, and these waterways were numerous, and their planning shows a true understanding of the wants of the country. Whilst the King altered many of the customs in a democratic sense he showed to the nobles he created his solicitude. One of the most significant and imposing ceremonies is the drinking of the water of allegiance. Nobles and people pledge in it their faith to the King. In former days the King himself did not take part in it. Under the King Mongkut this was changed, and whilst the princes, nobles and people pledged their faith to the King, the King pledged his to them. He also gave to his nobles and the chiefs of the outlying provinces and territories titles appropriate to their rank, and whilst allowing them in the territories under their care liberty of action with regard to local matters, he took care that the general laws of the kingdom were respected, especially those which were made necessary by the new conditions. Most characteristic as showing the way in which the King considered his position, is a proclamation he issued when about to start on a journey to the provinces. He left the care of the State to his brother Somdet Phra Pin Klao, who was enjoined to consult with the King’s brothers and sons and with the nobles on all matters affecting Government. For every possible contingency provisions were made, and he was especially anxious that his absence from the capital should not Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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be made the pretext of delaying pending law cases or claims made by either his own subjects or by persons under foreign jurisdiction. He gave also instruction what should be done about ratifying the Treaties with Denmark and the Hanseatic Republics. As to his own position he goes on to say: “if one of the officials or one of the people should complain against the King of Siam, let such complaints be accepted: let orders under the seal of the Rajawong Powar Sthan be issued to all Ministers and the Lady officials inside the palace, let them give evidence about the case and let judgment be given. If such evidence is not sufficient or not clear, let a letter be addressed to us as King and we will reply according to truth.” The reign of 17 years was thus filled. He found in his reign time for everything, and certainly not the least remarkable part in it was that, besides entering into treaty relations with the countries of West, he sent to them on various occasions Ambassadors to help on these relations. He appointed Consuls in the chief commercial cities to watch over commercial interests, and by taking a conspicuous part in the Paris Exhibition of 1867 he drew the attention of commerce to the possibilities of Siam as a trading centre. Nothing affecting affairs of state or private individuals escaped him: that he was a true friend is shown by his private correspondence with foreigners, as far as it has been made public: whether this publication was always made with tact and discretion, or whether it did not partly at least constitute a breach of confidence, we have no business to enquire. In his outbreaks of temper, in his cutting remarks and witty sayings he showed himself a man. He died, as is known, after having invited many foreign savants to Wua Wan to witness the total eclipse of the sun which took place on 18th August 1868. He came back from this trip suffering from jungle fever. The King never doubted that he would die and his last thoughts were for the welfare of his Kingdom. We have the deathbed scene described to us by his faithful attendant Chao Phya Mahindr. To show that he was perfectly conscious he conversed in English, he read the famous stanzas on death in Pali he had composed, and according to the testimony of Phya Sri Sunthon Voharn they were faultlessly written. He gave instructions, or to speak more correctly, he made known his wishes as to the future of the kingdom: and these were carried out and Siam entered on the new reign prosperous. He died, as he wished it should happen, on his birthday on the full moon day of the 11th month. Certainly it is early and would be premature to give a final judgment on a historical character like King Mongkut. In his reign Siam may be said to have passed from the middle ages to modern times, to use a locution which is perhaps misleading. What European countries were allowed to accomplish gradually, Siam by circumstances had to accomplish within a few years and these changes were not brought about by pressure of the people, but by the governing classes who had to educate the people to these new conditions: the governing classes themselves were

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sometimes averse to changes, lest such should interfere with their privileges, and then it was the King who guided them. It was the spirit of the liberal absolutism of Frederick the Great which guided King Mongkut in his reign. That the new order of things was brought about from within may be accepted as an omen that it is a permanent order. Note : This paper was intended to have been read at a meeting to be held on the 100 anniversary of the birth of King Mongkut, but for various reasons had to be postponed. In preparing the paper the following publications were principally made use of:th

√“™°‘®®“πÿ‡∫°…“ „π√—™°“≈∑’Ë Ù „Àâæ‘¡æå¢÷Èπ„πªï ¡‡¡’¬  ¡ƒ∑∏‘ »° ÒÚÚ ·≈ ªï ¡·¡ ‡Õ° »°. 2nd ed.; Bangkok, 108.

ª√–°“»æ√–√“™∫—≠≠—µ‘µà“ßÊ „π√—™°“≈∑’Ë Ù 4 Volumes, Bangkok. Àπ—ß ◊Õ‡∑»π“æ√–√“™ª√–«—µ‘ æ√–∫“∑ ¡‡¥Á®æ√–‡®â“·ºàπ¥‘π Ù √—™°“≈. Bangkok, 1880. ®µÿ√“§∏√√¡ ¡“§¡°∂“ ‡∑»π“摇»…æ√–‡®â“πâÕ߬“‡∏Õ°√¡À¡◊Ëπ«™‘√≠“≥«‚√√  ∂«“¬„π °“√æ√–√“™æ‘∏’®µÿµ√“√—™∑«’∏“¿‘‡…° «—π∑’Ë Ò˜ 惻®‘°“¬π √.». ÒÚÚ æ√–√“™æß»“«¥“√°√ÿß√—µπ‚° ‘π∑√å √—™°“≈∑’Ë Ò °ÆÀ¡“¬‡¡◊Õ߉∑¬ (Bradley’s editon.) 2 Volumes, Bangkok «™‘√≠“≥ (Magazine) Crawford, John, Journal of an Embassy from the Governor-General of India to the Courts of Siam and Cochin-China. London, 1828. Malloch, D. C.: Siam, Some General remarks on its Productions. Calcutta, 1852. Bowring, Sir John, F. R. S., The Kingdom and People of Siam. 2 vols, London, 1857. Bastian, Dr. Adolf, Reisen in Siam in Jahre 1863. Jena 1867. Leonowens, Anna H., Siam and the Siamese, Recollections of an English Governess at the Siamese Court. Boston. Gréhan, A.: Le Royaume de Siam. Paris. Meyniard: Second Empire en Indo-Chine. Paris 1891. State Papers of the Kingdom of Siam, London 1886. Aitchison, C. N.: Collection of Treaties, Engagements and Sunnuds, vol. I. Calcutta, 1862.

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Figure 1

The location of the prehistoric sites mentioned in the text 1. Khok Phanom Di, 2. Nong Nor, 3. Ban Kao, 4. Tha Kae, 5. Phu Noi, 6. Khao Wong Prachan, 7. Khok Charoen, 8. Ban Non Wat, 9. Ban Nong Sakae Si, 10. Samrong Sen, 11. Ban Chiang, 12. Ban Na Di, 13. Non Nok Tha, 14. Phung Nguyen, 15. Lung Hoa, 16. Shifodong, 17. Sri Thep

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THE OPPOSED HUMAN FIGURE AT KHOK PHANOM DI Charles Higham

Abstract Several authorities have noted the widespread distribution of incised and impressed pottery vessels associated with the earliest rice-farming communities of Thailand. This paper explores the origins of agriculture in the context of a particular motif in the form of a stylized human figure. This motif, it is argued, links a series of sites in Central and Northeast Thailand, and suggests a shared tradition of symbolic decoration that dates from the late third millennium.

Introduction The history of prehistoric enquiry in Thailand over the past thirty years has tended to concentrate upon specific sites, at the expense of detailed comparisons between a series of sites to identify patterns and relationships. In this paper, an attempt will be made to follow a particular motif impressed onto Neolithic pottery vessels, in order to identify links between widely-separated sites and beyond, to a general perspective on the introduction of rice farming into Thailand. The pattern in question involved what looks like a highly-stylised human figure. On occasion, it appears in opposing pairs, but in some cases, it is seen as a series of like images in a frieze. The site generating this initiative is known as Khok Phanom Di. Khok Phanom Di is a prehistoric settlement, located in the lower reaches of the Bang Pakong River that is, in many respects, unique (Fig. 1). Extending over five hectares, its cultural layers, which reach a depth of at least 8.5 m and probably over 12 m in parts of the site, accumulated rapidly between about 2000 and 1500 BC. It began as an estuarine settlement of maritime hunter-gatherer-fishers, but the initial population interacted with intrusive rice cultivators in its hinterland. A succession of human burials that extended over 17–20 generations has revealed both subtle and deep-seated changes, while the biological data evidence transitions from marine to freshwater, back to marine and finally, to dry land conditions. Each was accompanied by modifications to the subsistence base. While salinity would Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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Figure 2

The interior of a vessel from Khok Phanom Di burial 11, showing the stylized human figure motif

have discouraged rice cultivation, the rise of freshwater conditions saw the manufacture of granite hoes and shell harvesting knives probably linked with agriculture. Rachanie Thosarat and I excavated an area of 10 by 10 m of Khok Phanom Di in 1984–5 (Higham and Bannanurag 1991, Higham and Thosarat 1993, 2004). The ensuing 19 years have involved a series of specialist studies (Thompson 1996, Tayles 1999, Vincent 2004), all of which make possible a review of this site’s prehistoric past. As each specialist report has been completed, so our understanding of Khok Phanom Di has matured and been refined. Nevertheless, we have barely scratched the surface of this remarkable settlement, and anticipate that our interpretations will in due course require enlargement and modifications. Early in our investigations at the site, we recovered from the eleventh of our 154 burials, a complete ceramic vessel decorated with incised designs in the form of what looks like a human figure (Fig. 2). This comes from the 7th mortuary phase, and dates in the vicinity of 1500 BC. Other vessels also have incised designs infilled with impressions, that are usually either cord marked or shell impressed. This paper will pursue the issue of such decoration in general, and the human motif in particular, as a means of identifying how the half a millennium of occupation at this site meshes with our growing understanding of Thai and South-East Asian prehistory beyond the confines of the Bang Pakong valley. Prior to our excavations, there had been three investigations of Khok Phanom Di (Suchitta 1980, Noksakul 1981, Pisnupong 1984). The model we took to Khok Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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Phanom Di in 1984 was much influenced by their findings, particularly a series of radiocarbon dates obtained by Noksakul, dates which now appear either too early or too late, and are archaeologically unacceptable. Our model centred on the possibility that the coastal tracts of Southeast Asia, to a background of stresses caused by rapid environmental change, witnessed a local transition to rice cultivation. At that juncture, the broad scale migrations into the area long since proposed by Heine Geldern (1932), and sustained by Sørensen’s interpretation of Ban Kao (Sørensen and Hatting 1967), were largely discredited. Indeed, the pendulum of opinion was then swinging towards local transitions to rice cultivation within early contexts. This trend was stimulated by research at three sites, Spirit Cave, Non Nok Tha and Ban Chiang (Solheim 1968, Bayard 1971, Gorman 1972, Gorman and Charoenwongsa 1976). Gorman (1977) provided the clearest statement in favour of indigenous origins for the transition to agriculture when he formulated a model which placed this development in the piedmont area of Thailand. In the context of the available data, his proposal was plausible, for he argued that the initial settlement of Non Nok Tha and Ban Chiang took place by about 4500 BC while similar agricultural communities in the Yangzi Valley involved the Qujialing culture, were thought to date to the third millennium BC. The transition, as Gorman stressed, was hypothetical and designed for testing in the lower piedmont annual swamplands, where hunter-foragers might have expanded their area of settlement from the surrounding uplands. This proposal was tested, and found to be wanting: no transitional sites were found (Penny 1984). When we began our research at Khok Phanom Di, we were firmly on the side of such a local transition to rice cultivation in South-East Asia, rather than an expansionary movement from the north. In view of Noksakul’s early dates (Noksakul 1981), and recognizing the biological vigour of marine, and in particular estuarine habitats, we first formulated a model which saw Khok Phanom Di as a sedentary hunter-gatherer community which tapped into the marine eco-system. Such sedentism fostered population growth and settlement fission which involved the filling of the available coastal tract by new settlements. Once filled, social circumscription encouraged expansion into marginal zones behind the seashore, which would have included seasonal freshwater swamps. It was in such areas that rice would have been incorporated into the diet and in due course, cultivated. This process could then have stimulated further population growth and expansion into the hinterland where we knew of agricultural settlements, such as Non Pa Wai and Ban Kao, dating from the late third millennium BC. The second model identified stress within communities such as Khok Phanom Di as the sea level fluctuated. Sites might have been distanced from the shore, reducing the predictability of coastal resources and encouraging rice cultivation as an adaptive strategy to offset the effect of a deteriorating habitat. This Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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would have seen a transition from a coastal foraging subsistence base to one incorporating rice cultivation. Both alternatives took account of occupation spanning several millennia, as indicated by the radiocarbon dates from earlier excavations, and the depth of the cultural deposits. However, research in the Yangzi Valley since our excavations at Khok Phanom Di have identified a cultural sequence from hunting and gathering to rice cultivation. The latter led to the establishment of farming villages at sites such as Bashidang and Pengtoushan, within the period 8000–6000 BC. The sequence at Khok Phanom Di The cultural sequence we identified at Khok Phanom Di incorporates eight phases. Cross cutting these, there are seven mortuary phases and four ceramic periods. The chronology is based on corrected radiocarbon determinations. Phase 1. Layers 10:25 to 11:2, date, c 2000–1900 BC. The low-lying site was located near salt flats and the inner margin of the mangrove, but the latter half saw an increase in shellfish found just above the reach of high spring tides and a drop in the incidence of seeds representing saline salt flats. Subsistence included much fishing, shellfish collecting, and exploiting mangrove crabs. Rice was found, but there is no artefactual evidence for local cultivation. Rice is also present as a ceramic temper in rare exotic potsherds. No dog bones were found in layers belonging to this phase. Close parallels are found between the material culture and that recovered from Nong Nor, a second coastal hunter-gatherer site located 14 kilometres to the south, and dated a few centuries earlier than phase 1 (Higham and Thosarat 1998). Phase 2. Layer 10:24-10:2, c 1900-1750 BC, mortuary phases 1, 2 and 3A. This period saw ceramic period 2. According to strontium isotope analysis on human teeth, both men and women in Mortuary Phase 1 (MP 1) were born and raised in an environment different from Khok Phanom Di before settling there (Bentley 2004). The inhabitants made pottery vessels and decorated them with a lustrous burnish and complex incised and impressed designs. They suffered from anaemia, and there was very high infant mortality. Men had strong upper bodies, and their dental wear differed from that seen in women. The dead were interred in clusters probably within wooden structures. A few individuals were buried with rich and varied grave goods, but there is no evidence for one burial cluster being consistently more wealthy than another. Reliance on a marine diet obtained through hunting, fishing and collecting continued. Phase 3. Layers 7:2–10:1, c 1750–1650 BC, Mortuary Phases 3B and 4. During the early part of this phase, strontium isotope analyses reveal that several women came to Khok Phanom Di from a different environment. There were a

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series of significant changes in both the environment and the material culture. Hoes and rice harvesting knives were in use, while freshwater shellfish became more abundant than those of the landward mangrove swamps. It is likely that rice agriculture was undertaken. Fishhooks ceased to be found, net weights became rare, and men ceased to be so physically robust in their upper bodies. Infant mortality was reduced, but more child burials were found. Tooth wear reflects a less abrasive diet. Burials were markedly poorer, with little evidence for shell jewellery. As MP4 progressed, so we find no further evidence for the arrival of immigrants from a different habitat. Phase 4. Layers 6.6 to 7.1, c 1650–1600 BC, Mortuary Phase 5. This brief phase saw the interment of four exceptionally rich graves. The burial goods included the first major infusion of exotic shell ornaments, fashioned in the main from tridacna. Ivory, slate and slaty shale were also found with some frequency. Shell harvesting knives, however, ceased to be encountered and shellfish of the mangrove forests became more abundant at the expense of those adapted to freshwater. Phase 5. Layer 6, c 1600–1500 BC, Mortuary Phase 6. This phase saw a reduction in the number of freshwater shellfish and a rise in the frequency of species adapted to mangroves. No more shell harvesting knives nor stone hoes were found. Suaeda maritima, a plant of salt flats, re-established itself. The burials reveal two groups, a rich one within a square mortuary structure, and a poorer one in which graves were set out in a row contained, probably, within a wooden building. A child burial in the former group was found with a large shell disc by the head. Exotic slate and tridacna shell items continued to be found. Pottery making implements continued to be associated with women. Phase 6. Layer 5, Mortuary phase 7. date, c 1500 BC. During this phase, there was a decline in the frequency of mangrove species of shell, but they were still present in significant numbers. No harvesting knives were found, but one hoe was present. Slate, tridacna shell and ivory were obtained, probably through exchange. There were few burials. It was during this phase, that the vessel with human-like figures was interred. Phase 7. Layer 4, date, post 1500 BC. There may have been a period of abandonment between phases 6 and 7, but there is no stratigraphic evidence for this. The area excavated was no longer used as a cemetery. The inhabitants still had access to marine resources, made pottery vessels and obtained exotic goods. We see an increase in the quantity of shale and ivory, but a reduction in the amount of tridacna. The faunal spectrum includes the bones of some small mammals and bovids which are compatible with a drier, more forested habitat. Phase 8. Layers 2–3, date, post 1500 BC. The area excavated was used to manufacture pottery vessels, and there is evidence of working ivory and antler. Net

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weights were again common, and woodland fauna increased. Marine species of shellfish were no longer found or became very rare. No more tridacna was recovered, but shale was abundant. Khok Phanom Di in its broader context The period between about 2100 and 1300 is a vital one in Thai prehistory. It was during this period, that we encounter a range of village settlements in the tributaries of the major rivers of Central and Northeast Thailand in which the dead were inhumed in dedicated cemeteries. They were found, usually in an extended supine position, associated with a range of mortuary offerings. Rice remains attest the establishment of farming, while domestic dogs, pigs and cattle evidence stock raising. Are there any indications that these Neolithic farming communities were in contact with the coastal hunter-gatherers of Khok Phanom Di? This question is best approached by seeking sites contemporary with Khok Phanom Di during cultural phases 1–2, and investigating evidence for exchange both of goods and ideas, and even the movement of people. Much research has been undertaken in the prehistory of the Khao Wong Prachan Valley and its environs north of Lopburi (Fig. 1). Reports of the excavation at Tha Kae evidence settlement during the Neolithic period. Excavations were undertaken in 1980, under the direction of Surapol Natapintu, in 1983 by Rachanie Thosarat and more recently by Roberto Ciarla (1992). The cultural sequence has been divided into three distinct phases of which the earliest is Neolithic. Twentyone inhumation burials were found. They have in common a north-south orientation, and the placement of pottery vessels beyond the head and feet and, in one case, under the knee. Other offerings include shell beads, bangles and earrings, a bone point and polished stone adze. It is the pottery vessels which attract most attention, for we encounter not only a profusion of forms, but also of motifs. The latter were incised on the surface of the vessel, and highlighted by being surrounded by cord marking, or receiving impressions within the confines of the incised lines (Siripanish 1985). There are C and S shaped patterns, stylised snakes and interesting and harmonious opposition of like motifs. One of these is similar to the human figure from Khok Phanom Di (Fig. 3). Hanwong (1985) has described the artefacts from Tha Kae, and noted the presence of marlstone and turtle carapace bangles, and the central cores removed from tridacna shell to create bangles. The site was thus a centre for the manufacture of shell ornaments. Tha Kae is just the sort of community with which the inhabitants of Khok Phanom Di would have traded, and obtained their dogs and the notion of cultivating rice. Unfortunately, we do not have any radiocarbon dates for this site, but these earliest layers probably belong within the period 2500–1500 BC.

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Rispoli (1992) has identified vessels similar to those of Tha Kae at Non Pa Wai early period and Khok Charoen. Again, some Tha Kae vessels bear parallel incised lines accentuated by impressed decoration. The latter includes shell impressions, and these strike a chord with some of the mortuary vessels from Khok Phanom Di. At Non Pa Wai, examples are found in the early phase of occupation, dated to the second half of the third millennium BC. The early period cemetery at Non Pa Wai is likely to prove of considerable significance to this issue, although at present we have little published information on the details of the material culture. It is, however, evident that this was a Neolithic cemetery, established in all probability by rice cultivators. The two available radiocarbon dates indicate establishment before cultural phase 1 at Khok Phanom Di, but slightly later than the occupation of Nong Nor during phase 1. Excavations at Huai Yai by Natapintu (1988) have yielded a material culture similar to that of early contexts at Ban Tha Kae. The burials were accompanied by pottery decorated with curvilinear designs, marine shell ornaments and H-shaped beads which match those found at Khok Phanom Di during Mortuary Phase 6. Natapintu (1988) has also exposed an area of 3 by 5 m at Phu Noi, 30 km to the north of the valley, and found a concentration of 32 burials. Grave goods include marine shell ornaments as well as items made from turtle carapace, ivory and exotic stone. Again, no radiocarbon dates are available, and the

Figure 3

Neolithic pottery vessels from Tha Kae, Lopburi Province

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Figure 4

Pottery vessels from the site of Khok Charoen

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principal relevance of this site is the further demonstration of exchange between inland and coastal communities during the second millennium BC. Further evidence for exchange has been identified in 2004 at the site of Ban Nong Sakae Si, near Sri Thep in Petchabun province. There, a number of I-shaped beads typical of Mortuary Phase 5 at Khok Phanom Di have been identified. Khok Charoen Khok Charoen, located 100 km north-east of Tha Kae, was excavated in four seasons between 1966–70, and the material from the first two has been considered by Ho (1984). An area of 320 square metres was excavated to an average depth of 1.1 m, and 44 inhumation graves were revealed. Ho (1984) has suggested that the inhabitants had “some knowledge of rice cultivation”. The date of occupation is not known with assurance, but there are two thermoluminescent dates which suggest that it falls within the period 1400–800 BC, and Ho (1984) ascribes them to the early Metal Age, but a review of the material recovered strongly suggests that it is a Neolithic site. Ho (1984) has divided the mortuary vessels into 14 forms,ranging from vessels with ring feet or pedestals, and others which were round-based. Decoration includes overall burnishing, as well as zones of red slip and cordmarking. Some rare forms, include patterns demarcated by incised lines infilled with stamped or impressed surfaces. There are some vague similarities in the incised or impressed designs with those seen at Khok Phanom Di, including semicircles with shell edge impressions, repeating shell impressed triangles, lenticular shapes filled with stamp impressions and, wavy line and straight line enclosing impressions. Particular attention, however, is drawn to a large, decorated vessel (Fig. 4). The incised and impressed decoration on the shoulder incorporates opposing human figures closely matched at Khok Phanom Di and identical to the vessel recently identified in the vicinity of Sri Thep (Fig. 5). The shell jewellery includes shell disc beads and a shell disc head ornament like those from burial 15 at Khok Phanom Di. Khok Charoen has yielded a moderate quantity of trochus bangles and rings, and there are also two conus shell rings.

THE KHORAT PLATEAU Ban Non Wat Ban Non Wat is a large moated site in the upper Mun Valley. Excavations by the author and Rachanie Thosarat in 2002–4, have revealed a long sequence,

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Figure 5

A Neolithic pottery vessel from the area of Sab Champa

Figure 6

A Neolithic burial from Ban Non Wat, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, comprising an adult man in a large mortuary vessel

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covering the Neolithic to the Early Historic periods. The initial occupation by a Neolithic community has been radiocarbon dated by several determinations, between 2100–1400 BC, thus making it a contemporary of Khok Phanom Di. It is too soon after the excavations to be able to make definitive statements about the subsistence economy, save that domestic pigs, cattle and dogs were raised, and that there was much fishing and shellfish collecting. Rice grains have been found in the burials, which were interred either within lidded mortuary jars or as extended supine inhumations. One adult male was found in a seated, crouched position within a large lidded mortuary jar (Fig. 6). A smaller but otherwise identical vessel was found to contain the remains of an infant. The inhumation burials were associated with grave goods including pig bones, bivalve shellfish and ceramic vessels, some of which reached a considerable size. These, as with the mortuary jars, were embellished with incised curvilinear designs infilled with impressed designs or red pigment, and enhanced by burnishing. The resulting vessels reveal a remarkable similarity to those from Khok Phanom Di. We were, however, intrigued to encounter in 2004 a vessel decorated with the same opposed human motif as the pot interred with burial 11 at Khok Phanom Di (Fig. 7). A painted motif from another vessel at Ban Non Wat bore the same design. To confirm contact with coastal communities, one individual wore two pierced cowrie shells at the left ear (Fig. 8). The favoured technique for applying decoration to pottery vessels during the Neolithic was very similar to that seen at Khok Phanom Di at least from Mortuary Phase 5. The relevance of this site, the first major exposure of Neolithic settlement in the Mun Valley, lies in this similarity of mortuary tradition with Khok Phanom Di, and evidence for long-distance trade contact between such new Neolithic settlements in the interior, and those able to trade in shells taken from clean, coralline seas. Non Nok Tha Ho (1984) has suggested that four of her pot forms from Khok Charoen are paralleled at Non Nok Tha. In Bayard’s (1977) review of the latter sample, we encounter six classes, which include large round-based vessels, footed globular pots, cups, footed bowls, round-based bowls and jars. The last named includes unusual bases in the form of an elephant or a frog. This provides a very close match with a vessel from Phu Noi in Central Thailand, where such a cup is borne by a bovid (Charoenwongsa 1987). The presence of zoned areas of red slipping and polishing combined with other areas bearing cord-marked impressions suggests closer similarities between these two sites than of either with the ceramic tradition seen at Khok Phanom Di. One variety, rare and early at Non Nok Tha, has a zone of incised and impressed designs just below the neck.

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Figure 7

A Neolithic pottery vessel from Ban Non Wat, showing the human figure motif impressed on the base

Figure 8

The cranium of a Neolithic burial from Ban Non Wat, showing cowrie shell ear ornaments

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Ban Chiang, like Non Nok Tha, remains unpublished and the chronology is controversial. There have been many excavations, those arousing most publicity taking place in 1974 and 1975 (Gorman and Charoenwongsa 1976, White 1982). The area excavated was limited by modern structures, and only hints of the layout of the cemetery are available. The earlier graves uncovered during the 1974 season include the incised and impressed designs in which parallel lines were infilled with impressions. To judge from the few available illustrations, the impressions were made with the edge of a bivalve shell. Motifs include spirals and meanders. Neither these, nor the forms of the vessels, provide parallels with the material from Khok Phanom Di. Samrong Sen Some of the pottery from the Cambodian site of Samrong Sen falls within the South-East Asian tradition of incised and impressed decoration, but the illustrated artefacts from this site also reveal some close similarities with material from Khok Phanom Di (Mansuy 1923). These include the form of some adzes. Among a wide variety of shell ornaments, including some fashioned from tridacna shell we find a pierced disc virtually identical with that from burial 15 at Khok Phanom Di. A specific parallel is seen in the worked fish vertebra in which grinding has produced two parallel ridges. Samrong Sen has not been properly excavated or published, so its date is not known with any precision. The single radiocarbon date is 1749–1253 BC.

BAC BO AND YUNNAN The prehistoric sequence in Bac Bo, northern Vietnam, provides parallels with that in Central Thailand and the Khorat Plateau. There was a long tradition of coastal foragers adept at making pottery vessels and polishing their adzes. We do not have any data on the possible adoption of rice cultivation in these coastal cultures, but large stone hoes were found at some sites. During the late third millennium BC, a new settlement form, the inland riverine agricultural village, appears in the archaeological record. Many novel artefact forms and a new mortuary ritual involving deep, ledged graves made their appearance in these Phung Nguyen sites. Pottery decoration provides tantalising similarities with that seen in the Mekong Valley. The mortuary ritual of the Phung Nguyen culture contrasts with that seen in the earlier coastal sites. At Lung Hoa, Hoang Xuan Chinh (1968) has excavated 12 inhumation graves up to 5.2 m deep which incorporate ledges and extended inhumation burials. Offerings include pottery vessels, and stone brace-

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lets, beads, earrings and adzes. This method of burial has its closest parallels in sites located in southern China, as in the graves of the Fubin culture of Lingnan. These direct our attention to Yunnan, a nodal region from which settlement could have spread by degrees south to the middle and lower reaches of the Mekong, Red and Chao Phraya rivers. Baiyangcun is a site which provides much critical information (Yunnan Provincial Museum 1981). It is located close to the Lancang and upper reaches of the Red River, in a position which would have beckoned any expansionary settlement of rice cultivators originating in the Yangzi Valley. There is a stratigraphic sequence 5.35m deep, incorporating the remains of houses and an inhumation cemetery with at least 34 burials. The dead were inhumed, with the head orientated to the north or east. Infants were interred in jars. The mortuary plan suggests the possibility that the dead were grouped. Pottery from the occupation layers—unusually, there were no grave goods with the dead—includes sherds decorated with incised lines filled with impressions highly reminiscent of the decoration seen in early contexts in Bac Bo and the Khorat Plateau sites. The single radiocarbon date is 2462–2014 BC. If a true reflection of the age of this site, it would be crucial in providing a cultural milieu from which the agricultural expansion to the south could have originated. Dadunzi is a second site in this region (YPM 1977). It too has revealed house plans and a cemetery in an excavated area of almost 500m. The superposition of houses, which followed a north-south axis, suggest long-term occupation by a group which, according to the excavators, cultivated rice and maintained domestic stock. Once again, we encounter pottery vessels ornamented with incised bands infilled or highlighted by impressed decoration. The radiocarbon date is 1684–1261 BC. Shifodong is a massive cave commanding a tributary of the Lancang River near the ChinaBurmese border. The ceramics from this site again reveal parallels with those from Neolithic sites in Thailand and Vietnam. The evidence from Yunnan sustains the hypothesis that the Phung Nguyen, Khorat Plateau and Central Thai inland settlements could have involved an intrusive movement of rice cultivators down the main river valleys from the north. The Austroasiatic language family The study of historic linguistics provides a means of testing and refining the model that rice cultivation in the Yangzi Valley stimulated expansionary movement to into South-East Asia. Cognate words deeply embedded in languages spread over a wide area can be used to reconstruct aspects of shared cultural behaviour and even common origins. In the case of mainland South-East Asia, the Austroasiatic (AA) family is central to the aims of this essay.

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Many Austroasiatic languages are spoken from Yunnan to peninsular Thailand, and from Vietnam to Eastern India (Fig. 9). They include Mon, Khmer and Vietnamese. The western group, known as Munda, is distributed through eastern and central India. For almost a century, AA has been linked in various ways with other language families. Schmidt (1906) was foremost in suggesting that AA and Austronesian (AN) languages have a common ancestor in the phylum he named Austric. This linkage was not widely supported until Reid (1994) found evidence in the Nancowry language of the Nicobar islands, for a link based not so much on cognates, but on morphemes in which conservative AN structures survived in AA languages due probably to the remote island location. The notion that the Munda languages were intrusive to India was suggested by Heine-Geldern (1932), who further linked their arrival from South-East Asia with the distribution the polished shouldered adze type, and the spread of agriculture. Any consideration of this possible link between AA languages and the spread of agriculture should most logically commence by considering cognate words for rice cultivation across the broad spectrum of AA languages. Gordon Luce has provided a pioneering analysis of the implications of the distribution of AA languages for the spread of rice cultivation (Luce 1985). He began by considering a number of cognates linking the widely-scattered speakers of AA. The word for ‘dog’, for example, is likely to be important. There is, in South-East Asia, no native wolf from which to derive the domesticated dog. Yet the cranial characteristics of the prehistoric dog reveal beyond doubt a lupine ancestry. Cognates for the word ‘dog’ are present over the entire area of AA language distribution, even into Central India. The initial results of the analysis of DNA from prehistoric and Chinese dogs show promising relationships. The word for ‘child’ is virtually identical between Kurku in Central India, and Bahnar on the eastern seaboard of Vietnam ‘Fish’ is another important word for any expansionary group of farmers in Southeast and South Asia. The word for ‘fish’ is cognate across the area of AA languages, linking small islands of speakers. But perhaps the key words in the vocabulary, are those for rice in its various forms. Luce (1985) has considered the word for husked rice. In Old Mon, it is sno’, Old Khmer ranko, Danaw ko, in the P’u-man language of Yunnan it is ‘n-k’u and in Khasi, it is khaw. The word for rice plant in Sakai is ba’ba’ or ba’, in Stieng, Biat, Gar and Bahnar it is ba, in Khasi is becomes kba and in Mundari, it is baba. Luce concluded with these words: “What can be the cause of this startling diffusion? I can only think of one adequate explanation: wet rice cultivation” (Luce 1985:3). At a time when archaeological research had hardly begun, he suggested that rice cultivation began in the Red River Valley, whence agriculturalists moved upstream to Yunnan, across to the headwaters of the Brahmaputra and so into India. As will be seen, his first idea has been largely sustained by further linguistic research, but his archaeological correlates need drastic revision. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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Figure 9

The distribution of Austro-Asiatic languages in Southeast Asia

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Thus, Zide and Zide (1976) have considered the proto-Munda vocabulary, and compared the reconstructed words with those found in other AA languages in South-East Asia. Their results reveal that, on the basis of the recontructed protoMunda word list, the Munda were more advanced agriculturally than archaeologists had previously thought. Whereas it was widely assumed that the more advanced Munda, speaking Sora, Mundari or Santali, received their knowledge of agriculture from intrusive Indo-Aryan speakers, the linguistic evidence revealed that they would have been rice farmers from their arrival in eastern India. Indeed, the reconstruction of plant names provides a dimension to Munda prehistory not available so far from archaeology. ‘Bamboo’ and ‘bamboo shoot’ have cognates between Sora and Gorum in Munda, and in Old Mon. There are proto-Munda names for rice, uncooked husked rice, which have cognates in Mon-Khmer (MK), Lawa, Rumai and Khmu. Lawa is spoken in the Ping River valley of northern Thailand, and Khmu speakers are found in upland Laos. The north Munda form has cognates in Kharia, Mon-Khmer, Khasi and Semang. The word for ‘pestle’ might be cognate in Kurku and Mon, Khmer and Proto MK, while alcohol and inebriation have widespread AA cognates. There is also a reconstructable word for ‘dog’ with cognate forms in Mon-Khmer. The Munda word for bull seems to have been borrowed from Indo-Aryan, whereas there is a possible cognate for cow with Proto-Munda and Mon-Khmer. Zide and Zide have concluded that at least 3500 years ago at a conservative estimate, the proto-Munda speakers practiced subsistence agriculture, cultivating rice, millet and at least three legumes. They also used husking pestles and mortars which go back to Proto AA. But they developed some cultigens or plant resources in India, for there are no AA cognates for mango or turmeric. This situation is supported by Mahdi (1998), who has found that the Proto AA word for rice can be reconstructed in Munda, Mon-Khmer, Palaung-Wa, Viet-Muong, Old Mon and Lamet. Pejros and Shnirelman (1998) have also deployed linguistic evidence in suggesting that neither AA nor AN proto languages reveal evidence for a tropical origin, but rather point to inland beginnings north of the tropical zone of eastern Eurasia. They identify the middle Yangzi Valley as a likely homeland, and feel that proto Austric began to divide in the ninth to eighth millennia BC. AA represented by Munda and Mon-Khmer, split from each other by the end of the fifth millennium BC. By the end of the fourth millennium, MonKhmer began to divide into Khmer, Bahnaric and Viet-Muong. The linguistic evidence summarised above is compatible with an original Austric macro-family being present in the middle Yangzi Valley from which at least AA and AN languages originated and spread, the former largely by land, and the latter by sea. Linguists seem to agree that a considerable time depth is necessary to account for the differences between Munda and Mon-Khmer languages,

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and rather less for the divergence between the individual languages of the latter division. Robert Blust (1996) followed Reid’s conclusion on the validity of Austric by proposing, purely on linguistic evidence, that the distribution of AA languages in South and South-East Asia results from a series of intrusive movements which took advantage of riverine routes of expansion. From a source in the upper Yangzi valley, he suggested that proto-Munda speakers followed the course of the Brahmaputra River into India, while speakers of proto Mon-Khmer followed the Irrawaddy into Burma, the Chao Phraya and Mekong into Thailand and Cambodia, and the Red River into Vietnam. One vital factor in reviewing the implications of new archaeological and linguistic evidence, is the nature of the communities in Thailand that represent the first farmers. In the case of Ban Non Wat, one is struck by the extreme sophistication of the ceramic industry. The pottery vessels are of outstanding quality and size, including one large enough to house the body of a large man. There was likewise, a widespread and, it seems, swift establishment of such settlements over a wide area, each incorporating new agricultural techniques and the raising of domestic stock. There is no known site revealing a local transition to this Neolithic period from the context of indigenous hunter-gatherers. Not long after the establishment of the first farming villages, we cease to find evidence in much of South-East Asia for hunter-gatherers in sites that had been frequented for millennia. What happened? Khok Phanom Di allows a glimpse into at least one instance of interaction between hunter-gatherers and intrusive farmers. The first settlers of Khok Phanom Di are seen as the descendants of local coastal hunter-gatherers who chose an ideal habitat for subsistence and exchange purposes. They were able to develop exchange relations with intrusive agriculturalists, which brought in exotic stone and rice, in return for, among other items, marine shell jewellery and ceramic vessels. The results of the strontium isotope analyses have identified two periods when individuals raised elsewhere came to be interred in the site. The first, predictably, was with first settlement. The second came with mortuary phase 3B. This was a period of change in many aspects of both the environment and material culture. Women in particular entered Khok Phanom Di from elsewhere, and it is considered highly likely that they were familiar with rice cultivation, and had their own preferences for the manufacture of ceramic vessels. We can thus follow the fortunes of the community through the generations, as environmental change first brought conditions suited to rice, and then returned to a more saline habitat which made rice cultivation marginal or impossible. The inhabitants developed the appropriate hoes and harvesting knives, only to cease using them with deteriorating conditions. The change in the environment took place contemporaneously with the growth of exchange in exotic goods, and with it, the

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rise of certain individuals to positions of great social prestige. It was during this period that the community appears to have been more internally settled, with no further evidence for the introduction of women from a different environment. One particular advantage lay in their access to marine resources. The wealth of the Khok Phanom Di community can be illustrated by the quantity of shell disc beads recovered. The total found in the entire Ban Kao cemetery, for example, is 0.6 per cent of those associated with burial 15 at Khok Phanom Di. The 60 graves at Ban Na Di provided 12,440 such beads, 10.3 per cent of the number from burial 15. The equivalent figure for Khok Charoen is 1.8 per cent. When reviewing this hypothesis, one is influenced by the many parallels in material culture between early Khok Phanom Di and the hunter-gatherers of Nong Nor. Their ancestral sites must surely lie under the waters of the Gulf of Siam, drowned by the rising Holocene sea. Again, there were further similarities between the ceramics and shell ornaments found from Mortuary Phase 3B and those from inland agricultural settlements such as Khok Charoen and Ban Non Wat. It is suggested that a coastal hunter-gatherer community entered into intense social relationships with rice farmers then infiltrating and settling the hinterland, relationships that included the interchange of goods, ideas and individuals. With the intrusion of agriculturalists ultimately from the area of the Yangzi Valley, the hunter-gatherers of Khok Phanom Di entered into a new web of social relationships which brought females into the community, and with them the exotic dog, a knowledge of rice and its potential as a cultigen, and new opportunities for the exchange of artefacts fashioned from the local shellfish and clay. They also brought mental templates of preferred motifs to place on their ceramic vessels, including one that represents opposed human figures, a motif that so intrigued us in 1985, when we unearthed burial 11 at Khok Phanom Di.

References Bentley, R.A., 2004. Characterising human mobility by strontium analysis of the skeletons. In Higham, C.F.W. and R. Thosarat, The Excavation of Khok Phanom Di, Volume VII, Summary and Conclusions,159–166. The Society of Antiquaries of London. Blust, R., 1996. Beyond the Austronesian homeland: the Austric hypothesis and its implications for archaeology. In Goodenough, W., editor, Prehistoric Settlement of the Pacific. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 86(5), Philadelphia.

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Charoenwongsa, P., 1987. (editor). Archaeology of the Four Regions (in Thai). Bangkok. Ciarla, R., 1992. The Thai-Italian Lopburi regional archaeological project, a preliminary report. In Glover, I.C., editor, Southeast Asian Archaeology, 1990, pages 111–28. Centre for South-East Asian Studies, University of Hull. Gorman, C.F., 1972. Excavations at Spirit Cave, North Thailand: some interim impressions. Asian Perspectives, 13:79–107. Gorman, C.F., 1977. A priori models and Thai prehistory: a reconsideration of the beginnings of agriculture in Southeast Asia. In Reed, C., editor, Origins of Agriculture, pages 322–55. The Hague. Gorman, C.F. and Charoenwongsa, P., 1976. Ban Chiang: a mosaic of impressions from the first two years. Expedition, 8:14–26. Heine-Geldern, R., 1932. Urheimat und fruheste wanderungen der Austronesier. Anthropos, 27:543–619. Higham, C.F.W. and Bannanurag, R., 1990. The Excavation of Khok Phanom Di, a Prehistoric Site in Central Thailand. Volume I: The Excavation, Chronology and Human Burials. The Society of Antiquaries, London. Higham, C.F.W. and Bannanurag, R., editors, 1991. The Excavation of Khok Phanom Di. Volume II: The Biological Remains Part 1. The Society of Antiquaries, London. Higham, C.F.W. and Thosarat, R., editors, 1993., Khok Phanom Di. Volume III: The Material Culture Part 1. The Society of Antiquaries of London, London. Higham, C.F.W. and Thosarat, R., editors, 1998. The Excavation of Nong Nor, a Prehistoric Site in Central Thailand. Studies in Prehistoric Anthropology no. 18, Department of Anthopology, Otago University, Dunedin. Higham, C.F.W. and Thosarat, R., 2004. Khok Phanom Di. Volume VII: Summary and Conclusions. The Society of Antiquaries of London, London. Ho, C.-M., 1984. The Pottery of Kok Charoen and its Farther Context. PhD thesis, University of London. Hoang Xuan Chinh, 1968. Bao Cao Khai Quat Dot Di Chi Lung Hoa (in Vietnamese). Nha Xuat Ban Khoa Hoc Xa Hoi, Ha Noi. Hoang Xuan Chinh, 1968. Bao Cao Khai Quat Dot Di Chi Lung Hoa (in Vietnamese). Nha Xuat Ban Khoa Hoc Xa Hoi, Ha Noi. Luce, G.H., 1985. Phases of Pre-Pagan Burma. Oxford University Press, Oxford. Mahdi, W., 1998. Linguistic data on transmission of Southeast Asian cultigens to India and Sri Lanka. Blench, R. and Spriggs, M., editors, Archaeology and Language II. Correlating Archaeological and Linguistic Hypotheses, pages 390–415. London.

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Noksakul, D., 1981. A Study of the culture and the Environment of an Ancient Community at Khok Phanom Di, Changwat Chonburi (in Thai). Master’s thesis, Silpakon University. Pejros, I. and Shnirelman, V., 1998. Rice in Southeast Asia: a regional interdisciplinary approach. Blench, R. and Spriggs, M., editors, Archaeology and Language II. Correlating Archaeological and Linguistic Hypotheses, pages 379–89. London. Penny, J., 1984. Fish in the water and rice in the paddy: contributions to studies of the Southeast Asian Iron Age. In Bayard, D.T., editor, Southeast Asian Archaeology at the XV Pacific Science Congress, pages 152–60. Otago University Studies in Prehistoric Anthropology 16, Dunedin. Pisnupong, P., 1984. A Preliminary Report on the Excavation of Khok Phanom Di (in Thai). Bangkok, The Fine Arts Department. Reid, L.A., 1993. Morphological evidence for Austric. Oceanic Linguistics, 33:323–44. Rispoli, F., 1992. Preliminary report on the pottery from Tha Kae, Lopburi, Central Thailand. In Glover, I.C., editor, Southeast Asian Archaeology, 1990, pages 129–42. Hull. Mansuy, H., 1923. Contribution a l’étude de la préhistoire de l’Indochine. Résultats de nouvelles recherches effectuées dans le gisement préhistorique de Samrong Sen (Cambodge) Mémoires du Service Géologique de Indo-Chine, 10:1. Schmidt, W., 1906. Die Mon-Khmer Völker: ein Bindeglied Zwischen Völkern Zentralasiens und Austronesiens. Archiv der Anthropologie (Braunschweig) n.s. 5, 59–109. Siripanish, S., 1985. An Analytical Study on Pottery from the Excavation of Ban Tha Kae, Muang District, Lopburi Province (in Thai). Master’s thesis, Silpakon University. Solheim, W.G.II., 1968. Early bronze in Northeastern Thailand. Current Anthropology, 9(1):59–62. Solheim, W.G.II., 1969. Review of Archaeological Excavations in Thailand. Volume 2, Ban Kao, part 1. by P. Sørensen and T. Hatting. Asian Perspectives, 12:127–30. Sørensen, P. and Hatting, T., 1967. Archaeological Investigations in Thailand. Volume II, Ban Kao, Part 1: The Archaeological Materials from the Burials. Copenhagen. Suchitta, P., 1980. Past and Present Use of the Khok Phanom Di Mound. An Anthropological-Archaeological Assessment (in Thai). Bangkok, Silpakon University.

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Tayles, N.G., 1999. The Excavation of Khok Phanom Di: A Prehistoric Site in Central Thailand. Volume V: The People. Society of Antiquaries of London, Research Report LXI, London. Thompson, GB. 1996. The Excavation of Khok Phanom Di, a Prehistoric Site in Central Thailand. Volume IV: Subsistence and Environment: the Botanical Evidence. The Biological Remains (Part II), edited by C.F.W. Higham and R. Thosarat. Research Report of the Society of Antiquaries of London LIII. London. Vincent, B.A., 2004. The Excavation of Khok Phanom Di: A Prehistoric Site in Central Thailand. Volume VI: The Pottery, other Ceramic Materials and their Cultural Role (The Material Culture, Part II). Society of Antiquaries of London, Research Report LXX, London. White, J. C., 1982. Ban Chiang. The Discovery of a Lost Bronze Age. Philadelphia. YPM, 1977. The Neolithic site of Ta-Tun-Tzu in Yuan-Mo County, Yunnan Province (in Chinese). Kaogu Xuebao, 1977:43–72. YPM, 1981. The Baiyangcun site at Binchuan County, Yunnan Province (in Chinese). Kaogu Xuebao, 1981:349–68. Zide, A.R.K. and Zide, N.H., 1976. Proto-Munda cultural vocabulary: evidence for early agriculture. In Jenner, P. N., Thompson, L. C., and Starosta, S., editors, Austro-Asiatic Studies part II, pages 1295–334. Oceanic Linguistics Special Publication 13, Honolulu.

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EXPLORING A NEW APPROACH TO EARLY THAI HISTORY Yoneo Ishii

Abstract The longtime-accepted equation of Xian with the Siamese kingdom of Sukhothai having been discarded now, this article attempts a novel indentification of the Chinese toponym. An examination of Chinese dynastic histories leads us to notice the maritime orientation of Xian with her persistent southward expansion along the Malay Peninsula as far as the Strait of Melaka. The list of tributary missions dispatched from Xian to the Chinese court suggests that Xian might be conceived by Chinese not as a single locality but plural port-polities along the Bay of Thailand, including Ayodhya, Suphanburi and probably Ligor as well. Unilinear schema of Thai history which have been widely accepted in school textbooks have been ascribed originally to Prince Damrong, who proposed in 1914 that “the history of the Thai in Siam proper commenced with the establishment of the Kingdom of Sukhothai as an independent state about the year 1238 A.D.” This first Siamese kingdom was followed by Ayutthaya, Thonburi, and Rattanakosin.1 In working out this line of historical development of the Thai, Damrong, the founder of modern Thai historiography, relied upon two sources in his discussion of pre-Ayutthayan history: namely, Chinese dynastic annals, which he ordered Khun Chenchin’aksorn (Sudchai) to translate and later published as phak 5 of Prachum Phongsawadan, and Sukhothai inscriptions, which eventually were translated and edited by G. Coedès in 1924. In the former, Khun Chenchin’aksorn identifies Xianguo as Sukhothai.2 This equation was also accepted by G. Coedès and has been proliferated through his influential writings, such as The Indianized States of Southeast Asia.3

1

Somkiat Wanthana “The politics of modern Thai historiography.” (Ph.D thesis Monash University, 1986), p.222. 2 As for some serious mis-translations by Khun Chenchin’aksorn, see E.Thadeus Flood, “SukhothaiMongol Relations: A Note on Chinese and Thai sources (with translations), JSS vol. LVII pt. 2 July 1969, pp.237–239. 3 G.Coedès, The Indianized States of Southeast Asia. Tr. By Susan Cowing. Honolulu: East West Center Press, 1968, p.191. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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In 1989, however, this hypothesis was challenged by YAMAMOTO Tatsuro, who found in Dade Nanhai-zhi , a document compiled during the Dade era of the Yuan Dynasty (1297–1307) containing undeniable passages refuting the long-established identification of the term Xian with Sukhothai.4 In the section about “Barbarian Countries” in the book the following passage is found; (Xian guo guan Shang-shui-su-gu-di) YAMAMOTO believed that Sugudi was no other than Sugutai found in the Yuan-shi , which is the transcription of the Siamese toponym, Sukhothai. He further argued that, since sugudi stands in this passage as the object of the verb guan , which means “control,” it is most unlikely that it was equivalent to the subject Xian , and it probably referred to some other polity politically superior to Sukhothai. One of the earliest instances of Xian appearing in the Chinese dynastic history is found in the biography of Chen-yi-zhong in the Sung-shi .5 It reads, “in the 19th year of the Zhi-yuan reign (1282–83) the Great Army attacked Champa and [Chen] Yi-zhong fled to Xian, where he died eventually.”6 Chen-yi-zhong was a defeated minister of the Southern Sung Dynasty who tried unsuccessfully to find a haven in Champa, which was eventually invaded by the Yuan army. Chen’s subsequent flight to Xian might suggest that Xian was a commercially flourishing port in the post-Srivijayan Southeast Asian trade order, where the Southern Sung minister could find a settlement of compatriots. Prior to the above incident,7 the Yuan Court probably deliberated about raising an army to attack Southeast Asian countries, including Xian; but realizing the disadvantages of such an operation, withdrew the plan and ultimately decided to dispatch emissaries to negotiate with them.8 Thus, in 1282, He Zizhi ,a 9 commander of 10,000 households, was sent to Xian as an emissary. Ten years later, in 1292, the first dispatch of a tributary mission from Xian is recorded in the Yuan-shih.10 The following year, an emissary was sent by the Yuan court to Xian so 4

YAMAMOTO Tatsuro, “Thailand as referred to in the Da-de Nan-hai xhi ( ) at the beginning of the fourteenth century,” Journal of East-West Maritime Relations. Vol. 1. Tokyo: The Middle Eastern Culture Center in Japan, 1989, pp.47–58. 5 177 6 7

Flood suggests that though undated, it should have taken place probably after 1278 and before 1282 (Flood 1969; 220). 8 21. 9 12. 10 November 26, 1292. The Pacification Office of the Kwangtung Circuit sent someone who arrived at the capital bearing a golden missive (chin-ts’e ) authored by the chief (chü ) of the country of Hsien (Xian) (Flood 1969: 223). Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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as to “summon and persuade (zhaoyu )” that kingdom to send tribute. However, Xian refused, and in 1294, it is recorded that an imperial order was issued again to summon and persuade the king of Xian. It is interesting to note a compromising sentence in the record which states, “should this prove difficult, his sons and brothers and vassal-retainers will present themselves as hostages ( ).”11 Such persistent persuasion eventually proved to be successful; for we find in the section on Xian in the Yuan-shih that in the first year of Yuanzhen (1295), the king of Xian, whose name is quoted as Gan-mu-ding (Kamrateng), personally appeared at the Chinese court to present it with a golden plate. This might be taken as indicative of the establishment of tributary relations between Xian and China. Incidentally, the dynastic history records a petition made in 1299 by the chief of Xian asking for an imperial gift of horses, which was rejected; and golden-threaded garments were bestowed instead. In 1300 twenty-two people from Southeast Asia, including Xian, visited the Mongolian court, and the dispatch of three more tributary missions from Xian is recorded during the fourteenth century; namely, in 1314,12 1319,13 and 1323,14 respectively. In the “Pen-chi” of the dynastic history, details of the tribute received from Xian are not mentioned. However, in the section on Xian of Daoi Zhilue (1351), Wang Dayuan enumerates trade items with Xian, which include sappanwood, tin, chaulmoorgra, ivory and kingfisher feathers.15 These tropical products might have been brought from inland to a port or ports located at river mouths along the Gulf of Thailand, which were recognized by the Chinese court as Xian. In the same section, Xian is described as a maritime-oriented polity or group of polities. It reads, “Its people are aggressive. Whenever they see another country in a state of disorder, they immediately dispatch as many as one hundred ships full of sago to invade it. Recently more than seventy ships invaded Tanmayang [identified as far as Tumasik, or Singapore].” Toward the end of the thirteenth century, an emerging Xian seems to have started a southward advance at the cost of the Malay. The well-known imperial admonition issued in the year 1295 well reflects such a move, reading “do not harm Maliyuer (Melayu).16 As for the geography of Xian, Wang-da yuan writes that being surrounded by high mountains and deep valleys, Xian is not fertile and unsuitable for cultivation. Therefore its people have to depend upon Lohu for the supply of rice 11

18. 25. 26. 28.

12 13 14 15 16

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( ). Lohu is identified as the region in and around Lopburi. Since Lohu is described as “a people who boil sea-water to obtain salt ( ),” this suggests that it may have partially bordered upon the sea. The fertility of Lohu is reiterated in the section on Lavo in Daoi Zhilue, which says that the paddy fields are flat and full of water, and people of Xian depend upon them. ( ) Lohu became increasingly stronger and finally annexed the land of Xian.17 It is recorded that in the summer of the 5th month of the year Sichou (1349 18 AD), Xian surrendered to Lohu. The newly organized polity came to be known to the Chinese as Xianlohu ,19 and was abbreviated later as Xianlo . During the Hongwu era, 41 tributary missions were sent from there, 33 in the name of Xianlohu, eight in the name of Xianlo.20 It is noteworthy that out of the 33 , tributes from Xianlohu, three were headed by the king of Sumenbang who is identified as the heir of the king of Xian . In another case, the sender’s name is even quoted as Xianlohu Sumenbang , namely the King of Su-men-bang of Xianlohu. Sumenbang appears in Daoi Zhilue with different characters for Sumenbang, . It has been identified with Suphanburi. The land of Sumenbang is described here as being so infertile that the people have to depend for their food upon other countries. They support their land with commerce.21 The description of Sumenbang as people who boil sea-water to obtain salt might indicate its proximity to the sea. Sumenbang was probably located near the mouth of a river by which tropical goods from inland were brought for export. Thus Xian, Lahu and Sumenbang probably represent Indo-Chinese versions of coastal states, its exchange model upstream and downstream having been proposed by Bennet Bronson for Malaysia, the Philippines and western Indonesia.22 In a brief, but important, piece of research entitled “Thailand in Old Javanese Sources” and published recently in the Dutch journal BKI,23 Stuart Robson examines several topynyms of mainland Southeast Asia found in Canto 15.1 of the old Javanese text of Deça-Warnana, popularly known as Nagara Kertagama. The relevant portion of the text reads: 17

212.

18

155.

19 20

212. (1368–1398) 27–30.

21

184–185. Bennet Bronson, “Exchange at the Upstream and Downstream Ends.: Notes toward a Functional Model of the Coastal State in Southeast Asia.” Karl L.Hutterer (ed.), Economic Exchange and Social Interaction in Southeast Asia: Perspectives from Prehistory, History and Ethnography. Ann Arbor: Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of Michigan, 1977, pp. 39–52. 23 Bijdragen tot de taal-, land en volkenkunde van Neerlandsch Indie 153–III (1997), p. 431. 22

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Tuhun tang syangkayodhyapura kimuta ng dharmanagari Marutma mwang ring ra¯ japura nguniweh singhanagari¯ ri campa kambojanyat ¯i yawana mitreka satata (On the other hand, the Siamese of Ayodhya and also of Dharmanagari, Marutma, Rajapura as well as Singhanagari, Campa, Cambodia and Annam are always friends.)

Prior to Robson’s study, Th. Pigeaud, in his monumental work on the Nagara Kertagama, proposed that syangkayodhyapura...dharmanagari represents three separate toponyms: viz. Syangka being Siam, Ayodhyapura, Ayuthia and Dharmanagari, Ligor. He regards syangka to be the same as the Syam found in a Cham inscription of the mid-eleventh century and also in Khmer inscriptions of the thirteenth century. The ending, ka, is interpreted as the adoption of the Sanskrit suffix, ka. According to Robson’s reading, syangka and ayodhyapura are two separate words, the first referring to “either the ethnic groups or the country as a whole and the second to a specific place, namely Ayodhya.”24 This new reading assumes that the term syangka before dharmanagari was omitted by inserting the conjunctive kimuta (“also”). This new reading might free us from the preoccupation of viewing Xian as a single locality, since we now realize that Xian or Siam could be both Ayodhya and Ligor. As for the probability of a single Chinese term denoting plural localities, FUKAMI Sumio has argued that the Chinese concept of Sanfoqi might have referred to either individual or all the port-polities along the Strait of Malacca that were sending tribute to China.25 As for Xian, Chris Baker maintains that it “was clearly located close to the gulf, either as one muang or as a confederation.”26 We have seen above that Xianlohu sent tributes to China under the names of the king of Xianlohu as well as the heir to throne of Xian, who is identified as the king of Sumenbang. We know from Thai chronicles that in 1351 Ayodhya was made the capital of the merged kingdoms of Xian and Lohu. Tribute from Ayodhya is recorded as coming from Xianlohukuo , Xianlokuo , the king of Xianlokuo , the crown prince of Xianlohukuo , the crown prince of Xianlohukuo who is the king of Su-men-bang , or even the king of Sumenbang of Xianlohu . The discrepancies 24

Robson, 1997, loc. cit. FUKAMI Sumio (Reexamination of Sanfoqi: Change of Perspective on the Study of the Early History of Western Insular Southeast Asia) 25–2 (1997). 26 Chris Baker, “”Ayutthaya Rising: From Land or Sea?” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies. vol. 34, no. 1 (Feb. 2003), p. 45. 25

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found in the names of the senders of tribute might indicate some ambiguity over the image held by the Chinese at the time about the Southeast Asian polities in that part of the Indochinese peninsula. Ayodhya, Lobpuri, Suphanburi and probably even Ligor are viewed as constituting the Chinese toponyms, Xian, Xianlohu, Xianlo. The above discussion suggests (1) The history of the northern kingdom of Sukhothai, whose identity with Xian has now been refuted, should call for a fresh approach, free from unilinear schema. In doing so, Sukhothai’s close connection with her western Mon neighbour should be given more importance. (2) The pre-1351 (C.S. 712) history of Ayudhya should be explored not as a continuation of the history of Sukhothai, but as one of the emerging centers of trade in the post-Srivijayan maritime Southeast Asian order.27 (3) When using Chinese sources, it should be kept in mind that in the Chinese taxonomy regarding the “barbarian countries” with which the Chinese dynasties had tributary relations, any toponym expressed in Chinese characters probably does not necessarily refer to a single locality. This consideration might be relevant particularly in the case of Xian as in Sanfoqi.

27

Baker op., cit. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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EXPLORING A NEW APPROACH TO EARLY THAI HISTORY Yoneo Ishii

Abstract The longtime-accepted equation of Xian with the Siamese kingdom of Sukhothai having been discarded now, this article attempts a novel indentification of the Chinese toponym. An examination of Chinese dynastic histories leads us to notice the maritime orientation of Xian with her persistent southward expansion along the Malay Peninsula as far as the Strait of Melaka. The list of tributary missions dispatched from Xian to the Chinese court suggests that Xian might be conceived by Chinese not as a single locality but plural port-polities along the Bay of Thailand, including Ayodhya, Suphanburi and probably Ligor as well. Unilinear schema of Thai history which have been widely accepted in school textbooks have been ascribed originally to Prince Damrong, who proposed in 1914 that “the history of the Thai in Siam proper commenced with the establishment of the Kingdom of Sukhothai as an independent state about the year 1238 A.D.” This first Siamese kingdom was followed by Ayutthaya, Thonburi, and Rattanakosin.1 In working out this line of historical development of the Thai, Damrong, the founder of modern Thai historiography, relied upon two sources in his discussion of pre-Ayutthayan history: namely, Chinese dynastic annals, which he ordered Khun Chenchin’aksorn (Sudchai) to translate and later published as phak 5 of Prachum Phongsawadan, and Sukhothai inscriptions, which eventually were translated and edited by G. Coedès in 1924. In the former, Khun Chenchin’aksorn identifies Xianguo as Sukhothai.2 This equation was also accepted by G. Coedès and has been proliferated through his influential writings, such as The Indianized States of Southeast Asia.3

1

Somkiat Wanthana “The politics of modern Thai historiography.” (Ph.D thesis Monash University, 1986), p.222. 2 As for some serious mis-translations by Khun Chenchin’aksorn, see E.Thadeus Flood, “SukhothaiMongol Relations: A Note on Chinese and Thai sources (with translations), JSS vol. LVII pt. 2 July 1969, pp.237–239. 3 G.Coedès, The Indianized States of Southeast Asia. Tr. By Susan Cowing. Honolulu: East West Center Press, 1968, p.191. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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In 1989, however, this hypothesis was challenged by YAMAMOTO Tatsuro, who found in Dade Nanhai-zhi , a document compiled during the Dade era of the Yuan Dynasty (1297–1307) containing undeniable passages refuting the long-established identification of the term Xian with Sukhothai.4 In the section about “Barbarian Countries” in the book the following passage is found; (Xian guo guan Shang-shui-su-gu-di) YAMAMOTO believed that Sugudi was no other than Sugutai found in the Yuan-shi , which is the transcription of the Siamese toponym, Sukhothai. He further argued that, since sugudi stands in this passage as the object of the verb guan , which means “control,” it is most unlikely that it was equivalent to the subject Xian , and it probably referred to some other polity politically superior to Sukhothai. One of the earliest instances of Xian appearing in the Chinese dynastic history is found in the biography of Chen-yi-zhong in the Sung-shi .5 It reads, “in the 19th year of the Zhi-yuan reign (1282–83) the Great Army attacked Champa and [Chen] Yi-zhong fled to Xian, where he died eventually.”6 Chen-yi-zhong was a defeated minister of the Southern Sung Dynasty who tried unsuccessfully to find a haven in Champa, which was eventually invaded by the Yuan army. Chen’s subsequent flight to Xian might suggest that Xian was a commercially flourishing port in the post-Srivijayan Southeast Asian trade order, where the Southern Sung minister could find a settlement of compatriots. Prior to the above incident,7 the Yuan Court probably deliberated about raising an army to attack Southeast Asian countries, including Xian; but realizing the disadvantages of such an operation, withdrew the plan and ultimately decided to dispatch emissaries to negotiate with them.8 Thus, in 1282, He Zizhi ,a 9 commander of 10,000 households, was sent to Xian as an emissary. Ten years later, in 1292, the first dispatch of a tributary mission from Xian is recorded in the Yuan-shih.10 The following year, an emissary was sent by the Yuan court to Xian so 4

YAMAMOTO Tatsuro, “Thailand as referred to in the Da-de Nan-hai xhi ( ) at the beginning of the fourteenth century,” Journal of East-West Maritime Relations. Vol. 1. Tokyo: The Middle Eastern Culture Center in Japan, 1989, pp.47–58. 5 177 6 7

Flood suggests that though undated, it should have taken place probably after 1278 and before 1282 (Flood 1969; 220). 8 21. 9 12. 10 November 26, 1292. The Pacification Office of the Kwangtung Circuit sent someone who arrived at the capital bearing a golden missive (chin-ts’e ) authored by the chief (chü ) of the country of Hsien (Xian) (Flood 1969: 223). Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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as to “summon and persuade (zhaoyu )” that kingdom to send tribute. However, Xian refused, and in 1294, it is recorded that an imperial order was issued again to summon and persuade the king of Xian. It is interesting to note a compromising sentence in the record which states, “should this prove difficult, his sons and brothers and vassal-retainers will present themselves as hostages ( ).”11 Such persistent persuasion eventually proved to be successful; for we find in the section on Xian in the Yuan-shih that in the first year of Yuanzhen (1295), the king of Xian, whose name is quoted as Gan-mu-ding (Kamrateng), personally appeared at the Chinese court to present it with a golden plate. This might be taken as indicative of the establishment of tributary relations between Xian and China. Incidentally, the dynastic history records a petition made in 1299 by the chief of Xian asking for an imperial gift of horses, which was rejected; and golden-threaded garments were bestowed instead. In 1300 twenty-two people from Southeast Asia, including Xian, visited the Mongolian court, and the dispatch of three more tributary missions from Xian is recorded during the fourteenth century; namely, in 1314,12 1319,13 and 1323,14 respectively. In the “Pen-chi” of the dynastic history, details of the tribute received from Xian are not mentioned. However, in the section on Xian of Daoi Zhilue (1351), Wang Dayuan enumerates trade items with Xian, which include sappanwood, tin, chaulmoorgra, ivory and kingfisher feathers.15 These tropical products might have been brought from inland to a port or ports located at river mouths along the Gulf of Thailand, which were recognized by the Chinese court as Xian. In the same section, Xian is described as a maritime-oriented polity or group of polities. It reads, “Its people are aggressive. Whenever they see another country in a state of disorder, they immediately dispatch as many as one hundred ships full of sago to invade it. Recently more than seventy ships invaded Tanmayang [identified as far as Tumasik, or Singapore].” Toward the end of the thirteenth century, an emerging Xian seems to have started a southward advance at the cost of the Malay. The well-known imperial admonition issued in the year 1295 well reflects such a move, reading “do not harm Maliyuer (Melayu).16 As for the geography of Xian, Wang-da yuan writes that being surrounded by high mountains and deep valleys, Xian is not fertile and unsuitable for cultivation. Therefore its people have to depend upon Lohu for the supply of rice 11

18. 25. 26. 28.

12 13 14 15 16

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( ). Lohu is identified as the region in and around Lopburi. Since Lohu is described as “a people who boil sea-water to obtain salt ( ),” this suggests that it may have partially bordered upon the sea. The fertility of Lohu is reiterated in the section on Lavo in Daoi Zhilue, which says that the paddy fields are flat and full of water, and people of Xian depend upon them. ( ) Lohu became increasingly stronger and finally annexed the land of Xian.17 It is recorded that in the summer of the 5th month of the year Sichou (1349 18 AD), Xian surrendered to Lohu. The newly organized polity came to be known to the Chinese as Xianlohu ,19 and was abbreviated later as Xianlo . During the Hongwu era, 41 tributary missions were sent from there, 33 in the name of Xianlohu, eight in the name of Xianlo.20 It is noteworthy that out of the 33 , tributes from Xianlohu, three were headed by the king of Sumenbang who is identified as the heir of the king of Xian . In another case, the sender’s name is even quoted as Xianlohu Sumenbang , namely the King of Su-men-bang of Xianlohu. Sumenbang appears in Daoi Zhilue with different characters for Sumenbang, . It has been identified with Suphanburi. The land of Sumenbang is described here as being so infertile that the people have to depend for their food upon other countries. They support their land with commerce.21 The description of Sumenbang as people who boil sea-water to obtain salt might indicate its proximity to the sea. Sumenbang was probably located near the mouth of a river by which tropical goods from inland were brought for export. Thus Xian, Lahu and Sumenbang probably represent Indo-Chinese versions of coastal states, its exchange model upstream and downstream having been proposed by Bennet Bronson for Malaysia, the Philippines and western Indonesia.22 In a brief, but important, piece of research entitled “Thailand in Old Javanese Sources” and published recently in the Dutch journal BKI,23 Stuart Robson examines several topynyms of mainland Southeast Asia found in Canto 15.1 of the old Javanese text of Deça-Warnana, popularly known as Nagara Kertagama. The relevant portion of the text reads: 17

212.

18

155.

19 20

212. (1368–1398) 27–30.

21

184–185. Bennet Bronson, “Exchange at the Upstream and Downstream Ends.: Notes toward a Functional Model of the Coastal State in Southeast Asia.” Karl L.Hutterer (ed.), Economic Exchange and Social Interaction in Southeast Asia: Perspectives from Prehistory, History and Ethnography. Ann Arbor: Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of Michigan, 1977, pp. 39–52. 23 Bijdragen tot de taal-, land en volkenkunde van Neerlandsch Indie 153–III (1997), p. 431. 22

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Tuhun tang syangkayodhyapura kimuta ng dharmanagari Marutma mwang ring ra¯ japura nguniweh singhanagari¯ ri campa kambojanyat ¯i yawana mitreka satata (On the other hand, the Siamese of Ayodhya and also of Dharmanagari, Marutma, Rajapura as well as Singhanagari, Campa, Cambodia and Annam are always friends.)

Prior to Robson’s study, Th. Pigeaud, in his monumental work on the Nagara Kertagama, proposed that syangkayodhyapura...dharmanagari represents three separate toponyms: viz. Syangka being Siam, Ayodhyapura, Ayuthia and Dharmanagari, Ligor. He regards syangka to be the same as the Syam found in a Cham inscription of the mid-eleventh century and also in Khmer inscriptions of the thirteenth century. The ending, ka, is interpreted as the adoption of the Sanskrit suffix, ka. According to Robson’s reading, syangka and ayodhyapura are two separate words, the first referring to “either the ethnic groups or the country as a whole and the second to a specific place, namely Ayodhya.”24 This new reading assumes that the term syangka before dharmanagari was omitted by inserting the conjunctive kimuta (“also”). This new reading might free us from the preoccupation of viewing Xian as a single locality, since we now realize that Xian or Siam could be both Ayodhya and Ligor. As for the probability of a single Chinese term denoting plural localities, FUKAMI Sumio has argued that the Chinese concept of Sanfoqi might have referred to either individual or all the port-polities along the Strait of Malacca that were sending tribute to China.25 As for Xian, Chris Baker maintains that it “was clearly located close to the gulf, either as one muang or as a confederation.”26 We have seen above that Xianlohu sent tributes to China under the names of the king of Xianlohu as well as the heir to throne of Xian, who is identified as the king of Sumenbang. We know from Thai chronicles that in 1351 Ayodhya was made the capital of the merged kingdoms of Xian and Lohu. Tribute from Ayodhya is recorded as coming from Xianlohukuo , Xianlokuo , the king of Xianlokuo , the crown prince of Xianlohukuo , the crown prince of Xianlohukuo who is the king of Su-men-bang , or even the king of Sumenbang of Xianlohu . The discrepancies 24

Robson, 1997, loc. cit. FUKAMI Sumio (Reexamination of Sanfoqi: Change of Perspective on the Study of the Early History of Western Insular Southeast Asia) 25–2 (1997). 26 Chris Baker, “”Ayutthaya Rising: From Land or Sea?” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies. vol. 34, no. 1 (Feb. 2003), p. 45. 25

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found in the names of the senders of tribute might indicate some ambiguity over the image held by the Chinese at the time about the Southeast Asian polities in that part of the Indochinese peninsula. Ayodhya, Lobpuri, Suphanburi and probably even Ligor are viewed as constituting the Chinese toponyms, Xian, Xianlohu, Xianlo. The above discussion suggests (1) The history of the northern kingdom of Sukhothai, whose identity with Xian has now been refuted, should call for a fresh approach, free from unilinear schema. In doing so, Sukhothai’s close connection with her western Mon neighbour should be given more importance. (2) The pre-1351 (C.S. 712) history of Ayudhya should be explored not as a continuation of the history of Sukhothai, but as one of the emerging centers of trade in the post-Srivijayan maritime Southeast Asian order.27 (3) When using Chinese sources, it should be kept in mind that in the Chinese taxonomy regarding the “barbarian countries” with which the Chinese dynasties had tributary relations, any toponym expressed in Chinese characters probably does not necessarily refer to a single locality. This consideration might be relevant particularly in the case of Xian as in Sanfoqi.

27

Baker op., cit. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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RELATIONS BETWEEN AYUTTHAYA AND RYUKYU Piyada Chonlaworn

Abstract A number of studies concerning the relations between Ryukyu and Ayutthaya has been conducted by Japanese researchers. However, most of them have focused on Ryukyu’s foreign relations and its maritime and trading activities with China, Korea, Japan and the Southeast Asian countries generally.1 As a result, it is difficult to determine how Ayutthaya responded to this trade as well as its relations with Ryukyu in other spheres. This paper seeks to examine Ayutthaya’s foreign relations as seen in Ryukyuan sources, and to consider diplomatic and trade relations with Ryukyu from the viewpoint of Ayutthaya. The formal letters Ayutthaya sent to Ryukyu have been collected in the Ryukyuan document called Rekidai Ho¯an as a principal source. The nature of the officials in charge of the trade, especially their position and rank given in Chinese, are analysed. With respect to trade relations, other written sources and archaeological data regarding Thai ceramics and earthenware found in Okinawa are used to investigate the characteristics of the trade between the two polities. Introduction Relations between Ayutthaya and East Asian countries started when Ayutthaya sent tribute to the Ming in 1371 and subsequently conducted tributary trade throughout the Ming period. At the same time, Ryukyu, which began its tributary relations with the Ming in 1372, started contacts with Southeast Asia in order to gain sappanwood and pepper to present as tribute to the Ming. For more than 200 years afterwards, Ryukyu dispatched ships to major ports in Southeast Asia, bringing Chinese and Japanese merchandise in exchange for local products. From 1420 to 1570 Ryukyu made voyages to the major polities in Southeast Asia, and Ayutthaya was the port Ryukyu ships visited most.

1

For example, Akiyama 1933, Asato 1967, Kobata 1993 (first published in 1968), Maehira 1981, 1983, Takara 1998 and Murai 2000. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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Ryukyu’s trading activities Since the King of Chuzan, Satsuto, sent the first tributary mission to the Ming in 1372, the Ryukyu kingdom had become a close subordinate member in the Chinese world order, gaining political and commercial recognition from the Ming. The need for local products to pay tribute to the Ming led Ryukyu to begin its foreign relations with Southeast Asia, starting with Ayutthaya in the early fifteenth century. Ryukyu’s formal relations with foreign countries are recorded in a large collection of documents called Rekidai Ho¯ an or “The Precious Documents of Successive Generations”.2 This collects diplomatic correspondence with China (during the Ming and Ch’ing dynasties), Korea (during the Chosen dynasty) and Southeast Asian polities between 1424 and 1867.3 Correspondence with Southeast Asian entities covers Ayutthaya, Palembang, Java, Malacca, Sumatra, Pattani, Annam, and Sunda.4 Letters from Ryukyu to these countries are believed to have been composed and kept by overseas Chinese who migrated from Fujian and served in the Ryukyu court after the latter half of the fourteenth century. There are in all 49 documents kept in the records of Ryukyu’s correspondence with Ayutthaya. They are written in Chinese in the form of letters and voyage certificates. Envoys who were local officials and overseas Chinese serving as translators and navigators were dispatched along with formal letters and gifts. Ryukyu must have been aware that Ayutthaya was also one of the Ming’s tributary countries. The formal letter Ryukyu sent with its envoys often begins with the expression “The King of Chuzan, State of Ryukyu, declares the following

2

Rekidai Ho¯an comprises four collections; the first, the second, the third and an additional collection. The first collection once had 49 volumes, of which 42 volumes are currently extant. The second collection had 200 volumes, of which 187 volumes remain. The third collection had 13 complete volumes. The additional collection had 4 volumes. Of the 262 volumes in these four collections, 20 volumes have been lost. Texts relating to Ayutthaya and other Southeast Asian polities are included in the first collection. 3 Japan’s direct control of the Kingdom of Ryukyu goes back to 1609 when Satsuma’s military invasion of the islands was conducted, whereby the kingdom was made a vassal of Satsuma. However, the Japanese control of the kingdom was not complete, since Ryukyu continued, though secretly, its traditional tributary relations with China even as late as 1874, two years later than its complete incorporation in 1872 as one of the prefectures of Meiji Japan. 4 Most of the letters called zi wen are about Ryukyu’s dispatching her envoys to Ayutthaya and requesting smooth trade. The end of each letter includes the list of presents to the king. The letters were sent in the early fifteenth century but after the sixteenth century they were sent as voyage certificates (ban yin zhi zhao). In the certificate, the name of ship and the purpose of the dispatch, followed by the number of the certificate, the name of the envoys, the interpreters, the captain and the total number of crew were recorded. The list of presents was not recorded in the certificate but it can be assumed that Ryukyu brought roughly the same items every time a ship was dispatched. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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with respect to tributary affairs”.5 However, a recent study (Murai 2000) has pointed out that Ryukyu’s trade with Ayutthaya was not only to obtain products for its tributary relations with the Ming, but also had the aim of making money. The author based his claim on the letter Ryukyu sent to Ayutthaya in 1425 (text 1-40-01) complaining that the officials of Ayutthaya monopolized the trade of sappanwood and requesting that Ryukyu envoys be allowed to conduct free trade with local merchants. The same letter also points out that Ayutthaya’s foreign trade activities had been controlled by court officials since the early fifteenth century. The officials in charge could be Phra Khlang, ministers of foreign affairs and trade (Ishii 1992, 1994). According to other texts in Rekidai Ho¯ an, Ryukyu also began trade with other countries in Southeast Asia, for example with Palembang, beginning in 1428, and Java, beginning in 1430. Malacca became a frequent trading partner during the latter half of the fifteenth century before it was conquered by the Portuguese in 1511. Using letters and voyage certificates sent between 1425 and 1570, Ryukyu is seen to have dispatched a total of 64 ships to Ayutthaya, 20 to Malacca, six to Java, four to Palembang, and three to Sumatra. After 1490, 11 ships were dispatched to Pattani, one to Vietnam (Annam) and two to Sunda. Kobata has pointed out, in relation to the ships sent to Ayutthaya, that trade activities between the two courts may have begun in the 1390s, since the gifts that Ryukyu presented to the Ming and the Korean Chosen dynasty included sappanwood and pepper (Kobata 1993, 431–445). Kobata has also estimated that Ryukyu may have dispatched as many as 150 ships to Ayutthaya given the fact that some documents from the years 1443–63 and 1470–1508 are missing (Kobata 1993, 445). With each voyage, Ryukyu brought different kinds of gifts to Ayutthaya, namely silk, satin, porcelain of different sizes from China, and swords, paper fans and sulfur from Japan. The amounts of items are almost the same; 25 bolts of satin, 2,500–3,000 chin (1 chin = 600g.) of sulfur, five swords, 30 paper fans, 400 big “blue” vases and 2,000 small “blue” bowls. The term “blue” translates from Chinese characters; in fact the vases and bowls are greenish-blue, and do not refer to blue-and-white wares. These products indicate that Ryukyu had trading activities with its neighboring countries. Ryukyu’s intermediary trade between East Asia and the Southeast Asia regions was made easy because the Ming banned private connections between Chinese merchants and foreigners, known as “the ban

5

For example, the first letter Ryukyu sent to Ayutthaya in the year 1425 (text 1-40-01). There are many annotated versions of the text such as the one collected in Nahashi Shi (The History of Naha City) published in 1974–1986 and the recent one published by the Okinawa Prefecture Education Committee. This paper uses the latter version translated and annotated by Wada Hisanori (Wada 1997). The numbers of the texts used in this paper such as 1-40-01 are according to this version. The English translated version of the text is from Kobata and Matsuda 1969. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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on overseas voyages and trade” from 1368 to 1567. Because of this ban, Chinese merchandise was allowed to be exported only by means of formal or tribute trade with the Ming. Ryukyu’s maritime trade was actively conducted until the dynasty was conquered by the Daimyo of Satsuma from the southern part of Japan in 1609 (see note 3 above, however). Ayutthaya’s relations with Ryukyu While Ryukyu actively conducted its trade with Ayutthaya, what was Ayutthaya’s policy towards its counterpart? This will be discussed in the light of the letters Ayutthaya sent to Ryukyu found in Rekidai Ho¯ an and other related sources. Although there are 51 letters from Ryukyu to Ayutthaya in Rekidai Ho¯ an, there are only seven from Ayutthaya addressed to the king and officials of Ryukyu. All of them are written in Chinese. The first one is a reply to King Chuzan written in 1430, stating that Ayutthaya would send the Ryukyu envoy back to Ryukyu as soon as the trading was completed. The rest are about the shipwreck of an Ayutthayan vessel near Ryukyu in 1479–80. A summary of the seven letters is shown in Table 1. The texts 1-39-11 to 1-39-17 all concern the shipwreck of the chief envoy Nai Men Ying Xie Tie, or Nai Boonhiang Chaota6 and others. The only differences are the sender of the letter and the presenter of the gifts listed at the end of each letter. The officials who sent the letters, such as Li pu shang shu Wu Ba Luo Mo Ci Sa Tuo Lie in text 1-39-12, Chang Zhe Nai Luo Si li in text 1-39-13, and Chang Shi Xiao Na Yue Ben in text 1-39-14, seem to be of high rank, according to the version in English of Kobata and Matsuda (1969). Their names are found as the sender of the letter and in the list of those who presented the gifts to Ryukyu. The last two letters (1-39-16, -17) were sent by the king of Ayutthaya7 to the king of Ryukyu and were issued on the same day, month, and year. Both letters are nearly identical, but they were sent via different envoys dispatched from Ryukyu. These six letters with similar content and sent within the same two years imply that this accident and the attempt to search for survivors was an important issue for both courts, and that Ayutthaya greatly appreciated Ryukyu’s cooperation. In this kind of formal correspondence Ayutthaya’s diplomatic strategy towards Ryukyu can be seen.

6

The transliteration of the name of Ayutthaya’s officials from Chinese to English is as referenced in Kobata and Matsuda 1969, 84–5. 7 The name of the king is not recorded, but Kobata and Matsuda (1969, 83) assumed that the king during this period might have been Phra Ramesuan, or Pharamatilokanath (King Borom Trailokanath). Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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The position of officials The rank Li pu shang shu prefixing the title Wu Ba Luo Mo Ci Sa Tuo Lie (Oc Phra Maha Suwanarath) is found in text 1-39-12. Kobata has translated li pu as “Minister of the Board of Rites”, one of the six ministers in charge of central administration in the Ming period (Kobata and Matsuda 1969,86–92). Shang shu refers to a rank of officials responsible for arranging and drafting formal documents for the emperor since the Ch’in and Han periods and, in the Ming period, held posts as ministers in the Grand Secretariat (Hucker 1985,72). So the sender of this letter could be the one in charge of writing letters in the Ayutthayan court. This is also true for chang zhe prefixing Nai Luo Si Li in text 1-39-13 and chang shi prefixing Xiao Nai Yue Ben in text 1-39-14, both of which equals “Senior Minister”. The rank, however, does not make clear which minister it is. These ranks are obviously the ranks of officials in the Ming Dynasty, but it does not mean that the duties and positions of those concerned were the same as those in the Ming. The rank “Senior Minister” that Kobata translated from chang shi may appear to be a high rank. However, according to text 1-39-12 which lists the name of presenters of gifts to Ryukyu, “Senior Minister Nai Ittsupun” is written last among the other officials (see also Table 2). Consequently, his actual rank in the Ayutthayan court might be less grand than it appears in its English version. The given rank of officials There are titles wu ba luo, mao kun, kun, xiao nai, nai following the rank. The title wu ba luo, according to Higashi-onna is “Oc-Phra”, mao kun is “Okun”, while kun equates to “Khun”. The title xiao nai is transliterated “Chao nai” (but Kobata transliterates it only as “Nai”) and nai as “Nai”. Another title xie ti as a suffix to the name Nai Men Ying (Nai Boonhiang) is seen in text 1-39-11 and 1-3914, being a chief envoy who was dispatched to accompany Ryukyu envoys back to their country. It is transliterated “Chaota”. With respect to the term Nai, Higashionna (1941,31–4) states that it is used for persons without titles, making it equal to “Mr” (Higashi-onna 1941,31–4). However, this term appears in Chinese documents beginning in the late fourteenth century and is likely to have more significance than Higashi-onna has indicated. According to a Korean document The Chronicles of Li Dynasty, an envoy from Ayutthaya named Nai Zhang Si Dao was dispatched to Korea with 20 other people in 1393. At the end of the text, there is a note saying “Nai is a name of

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court official of that country”.8 In The Chronicles of the Ming Dynasty, envoys who were dispatched to the Ming during the same period also had this title. For example, there is Nai tie xie ti who was sent as an envoy to the Ming in the fourth month of 1477, and Kun Wang Qun Xie Ti in the seventh month in 1482. Considering his position as envoy to Korea and the Ming, “Nai” is not just a word proceeding a person’s name, it possibly was a significant title in the early period of Ayutthaya. Most of these interpretations, especially the rank of officials, are accepted and have been followed by later researchers. However, there are some disagreements in recent studies. For example, in the case of the word xie ti which is transliterated Chaota, or officials from different nations responsible for port affairs. Wada (1997, 353) has argued that Chaota is a term used after the seventeenth century when ships from many countries including European ones called at Ayutthaya, and that it may have a different meaning in Rekidai Ho¯ an which was written in an earlier period. This argument appears even more reasonable when another related source is considered. According to a Chinese document called “Xianluo-guan-I-yü”, a glossary of Chinese-Thai vocabularies written in the Ming and Ch’ing periods, Xie Ti is transliterated Setti, the meaning of which is likely to be a position of court official of Ayutthaya rather than “millionaire” as in today’s definition.9 The Chinese language used in the letters Not only are these letters written in formal Chinese, the term used in addressing the receiver also varies, depending on the respective ranks of the sender and the receiver. Texts 1-39-11, -16 and -17 are replies of the king of Ayutthaya to the king of Ryukyu. In the text, the word zi hui occurs; another word meaning “reply”, is used. Zi is the term used in the correspondence between officials of equal rank, for example, between the king of Ryukyu and officials in Fukien or between the king of Ryukyu and the Board of Rites of the Ming. This is because the Ming regarded Ryukyu as one of its tributary lands, as subordinate as other official bodies. So the fact that Ayutthaya used this term with Ryukyu implies that Ayutthaya was aware that the kings of both courts held the same rank in the Ming tribute system.

8

The Chronicles of the Li Dynasty (the sixth month of the second year of Taiso 1393), quoted in Wada 1997, 353. 9 This glossary of vocabulary is recorded in a large collection of a dictionary of Chinese and foreign vocabularies called “Hua-I I-yü” published in Beijing tushu guan gu ji zhen ben cong kan, Beijing 1987–1994. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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In the text 1-39-12, when Oc Phra Maha Suwannarath addressed to the king of Ryukyu, he used the word qi which means to report to or to address someone of a higher rank, including the empress, or the crown prince. Even though the title of Oc Phra Maha Suwannarath is translated as Minister of the Board of Rites, it cannot be seen as having the same meaning, or the same rank, as that of the Ming. This is because the Minister of the Board of Rites of the Ming had a rank equal to that of the king of Ryukyu, so the letters between them use zi – correspondence between officials of equal rank, not qi. The letter from Oc Phra that is expressed in qi thus implies that his rank is inferior to that of his counterpart. From the ranks, titles and expressions used in these letters, it can be seen that the officials in charge of Ryukyu’s relations were overseas Chinese who understood the Chinese administrative system and were aware of the official ranks of Ayutthaya and Ryukyu in the tribute system. Gifts from Ayutthaya According to the formal letters that Ryukyu sent to Ayutthaya, the main purpose of the Ryukyuan voyages was to purchase sappanwood and pepper. However, the merchandise sent from Ayutthaya actually varied from that which was recorded. For example, the gifts that the king and his officials sent to Ryukyu as a gesture of gratitude for bringing back the shipwreck survivors included several kinds of cloth, rose water, a large amount of sappanwood and wine as shown in Table 2. Apart from local products such as sappanwood and wine, there were exported products such as rose water from West Asia and cloth from Persia and India. While the origin of “red cloth”, the gift from the king of Ayutthaya recorded in text 1-39-11, is not clear, Wada (1997, 339–40) maintains that the “red-chained pattern cloth” or “green-chained pattern cloth” in the text 1-39-12 and 1-39-14 could be from Persia while the “red western cloth” might be woven cloth from Calicut in India. According to a record in The Chronicles of the Li Dynasty written in 1479, Ryukyu’s market had many kinds of textiles, some of which were from India. From this document, it can be inferred that Ryukyu imported a large amount of cloth from West Asia as well as forest products from Southeast Asia. There is, however, no evidence of any Ryukyu voyage to Persia or India, so it is apparent that products from these regions were imported through Ayutthaya. These products were probably unrecorded because they were not sent in tribute to the Ming. What is noteworthy here is the “red and white wine made from fragrant flowers”, which totalled more than 70 jars. Wine seems to have been a common gift from Ayutthaya even prior to the period under consideration. In 1438, an official of Ryukyu sent a reply to an Ayutthaya official named Zhang Ren Mi Zan Zhi

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Dao, stating that Ryukyu received a letter and two jars of wine and they were immediately sent to a high official called Oso Kaiki. Oso, being content with the present, gave 150 pieces of lacquerware in return to Zhang Ren Mi Zan Zhi Dao.10 Oso is said to be the leader of the overseas Chinese in Ryukyu and conducted trade with the Chinese merchants in Palembang (Maehira 1983, 30). We do not know specifically who Zhang Ren Mi Zan Zhi Dao was or what position he had in the court in Ayutthaya, but he might be a Chinese official. Because this letter is a reply from Ryukyu, we know that he had previously sent a letter to a Ryukyu official or possibly to Oso who was also Chinese, even though the letter was not preserved in Rekidai Ho¯ an. Trade relations The Rekidai Ho¯ an is an important source for studying the relations between Ryukyu and Ayutthaya. However, the document collects only formal letters between the kings and high-ranking officials, and most of those are letters sent from the Ryukyu court. Thus, it tends to present a picture of one-way trade from Ryukyu. However, the fact that the letters from Ayutthaya are few compared with those from Ryukyu does not mean that there were no ships coming from Ayutthaya. Other sources cited below provide information about Ayutthayan vessels making voyages to Ryukyu. According to The Chronicles of the Ming Dynasty, in the ninth month of the year 1404, the Fujian Provincial Administration Commissioner reported to the Emperor Yung Lo that they had found a foreign ship that had reached Fujian. After questioning, it was found to be a ship from Ayutthaya bound for Ryukyu. The emperor, saying that it was beneficial for barbarian countries to have friendly ties, ordered the commissioner to repair the ship, give those on board food and let them return to their country or sail to Ryukyu as they wished. It seems that ships from Ayutthaya began to sail to East Asia from the end of the fourteenth century. A Korean source Various Records on the Korai Dynasty mentions a ship from Ayutthaya bound for Korea under the Gao Li dynasty (9811392) in 1388 but adds that it met with a typhoon and drifted to Japan, where it stayed for one year before returning to Korea. As stated earlier, The Chronicle of the Li Dynasty also records an envoy from Ayutthaya, Nai Zhang Si Dao, who was dispatched to Korea and Japan in 1393. Even though these records are not about a voyage of an Ayutthayan ship to Ryukyu, we know that ships from Ayutthaya had been dispatched to countries in East Asia from the end of the fourteenth century. Another Korean document called Records on Eastern Sea Countries written in

10

This letter is recorded in Rekidai Ho¯ an, text 1-43-17 (Wada 1997,463–4). Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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1471 by a Korean scholar Shin Suku Chu noted that the port of Ryukyu was visited by ships from Japan and “Southern barbarian countries”, which could have included Ayutthaya.11 Apart from the written sources already mentioned, the key to understanding the trade activities of both entities is archaeological data from Okinawa about Thai ceramics. Thai ceramics excavated in Okinawa While Chinese porcelain was the main product Ryukyu brought to Ayutthaya and other Southeast Asian polities, many examples of Thai ceramics, together with Vietnamese pieces, have been found at several archaeological sites in Okinawa. Even though there are few compared to the Chinese porcelain items, these archaeological artifacts are the key to understanding the pattern of trade at that time. Over the past 20 years, there has been progress in the archaeological surveys of Southeast Asian ceramics found in Japan. Among all the historical sites in Japan (such as Nagasaki, Fukuoka and Osaka), Okinawa, especially the main island, is the place where the most Thai ceramics have been excavated.12 Most of the pieces are earthenware lids and dark brown glazed jars with four lugs. The rest are small covered jars and bowls. These earthenware and stoneware items were made in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; some even date back to the latter half of the fourteenth century (Kin 1991, 98). According to a survey from the Okinawa Prefecture Education Committee, Thai wares have been excavated from 18 historical sites in Okinawa, mostly in three major sites that once were castles; Kokijin castle in the north, Katsuren castle in the center, and especially Shuri castle in the south, the palace and capital of the Ryukyu dynasty. According to the recent survey of Kyo¯ no Uchi, the shrine in the southwestern part of the inner courtyard of Shuri castle, many remains of jars, lids and pots from Siam have been found. A total of 285 pieces of the remains of dark brown glazed jars, mostly the mouths of the jars, have been excavated. The mouths are 7 to 25 cm. in diameter, and the heights range from 8 to 55 cm. These jars are categorized into eight types, according to the shapes of the mouths. Most are believed to be large-sized jars (Figure 1). Earthenware lids, numbering 63 pieces, from 10 to 16 cm. in diameter and 3 to 5 cm. in height have been excavated, whereas only four pieces of earthenware pots have been found (Okinawa Prefecture 1998, 215–9). The fact that there were many more lids than pots implies that they were not sets. The lids may have been used to cover something else. 11

This document has been translated into Japanese with annotations by Tanaka (1991). The note about the Ryukyu port is in pages 236–7. 12 The Okinawa Prefecture comprises many islands such as Okinawa (the main and the largest), Miyako, Ishigaki, and Iriomote. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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Figure 1 Dark brown jars with four lugs excavated in Okinawa (Shuri Castle)

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“Thai and Vietnamese ceramics excavated in Okinawa.” Paper presented at the

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Kin (1991, 83–98) claims that the jars with four lugs were brought as wine containers sent as presents from Ayutthaya, recorded in Rekidai Ho¯ an as “white (or red) wine made from fragrant flowers”, and the earthenware lids were the covers of the jars. This suggestion is reasonable, but these kinds of large jars may have held other kinds of merchandise, or the jars themselves could have been brought as merchandise. It is worth noting here that there are also remains of small-sized pieces. For example, there are small-sized covered boxes with floral designs, jars with two lugs and kendi (Figure 2). Compared with the numbers of earthenware lids and dark brown glazed jars, few examples of these ceramics have been found. Eighteen boxes, five covers, one jar and one kendi have been excavated, mostly in Kokijin castle (Kin 2004, 70). Obviously, these pieces were not containers but the products themselves. This poses the question: by whom and via what route were they brought to Ryukyu? There are many possible answers to this question. The first one is the direct route from Ayutthaya. The written sources other than Rekidai Ho¯ an indicate that there were ships from Ayutthaya to Korea, Japan and Ryukyu beginning in the second half of the fourteenth century. Thus, it is possible that ships from Ayutthaya also came to Ryukyu and brought these ceramics along with other kinds of merchandise. Ceramics from Ayutthaya’s ships may not have been limited to domestic items only but may have included some from Vietnam as well. According to recent surveys from shipwrecks near the Gulf of Thailand, for instance the Sri Chang 3 shipwreck, Ao Thai 1 shipwreck and the Sattaheep shipwreck, a large number of Thai stoneware items has been found along with Vietnamese ones. Since around 70 percent of the ceramics are Thai, the ships are believed to have been from Siam and sunk between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries (Jaruk 1992). From this evidence, it is obvious that ceramics were important trade goods between Ayutthaya and Vietnam at that time. Thus, it can be speculated that Ayutthaya brought Thai and Vietnamese ceramics together with other domestic products, such as sappanwood, to Ryukyu and other polities nearby. Another possible route by which these ceramics may have been brought to Ryukyu is from Ayutthaya via the southern ports of China, such as Canton and Fujian, to Ryukyu by private Chinese vessels. Breaking the Ming’s ban on overseas travel, Chinese merchants had been secretly making voyages to Southeast Asia and Japan, and their illegal trade had become more active in the beginning of the fifteenth century. Japanese pirate vessels that sailed between Kyushu in Japan, southeastern China and major ports in Southeast Asia could be considered here as well.

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By whichever route or whichever vessels these ceramics were brought, these artifacts indicate that the trade between Ayutthaya and Ryukyu was not limited only to the formal kind, by means of which products from Ayutthaya were shipped for Ryukyu’s tributary goods, as seen in Rekidai Ho¯ an. It widens our view of trade relations at that time that also included private trade among merchants. In addition, the fact that the ceramics are scattered throughout many sites in Okinawa could signify that they were part of transactions not only with the central government but also with the local powers and ports in the northern and the southern regions of Okinawa. While the jars (generally called Sawankalok) are believed to have been produced at the Si Satchanalai kilns, the earthenware-like lids and pots are held to be from kilns in the Ayutthaya region (Kin1991, 99; Morimura 1995, 66–71). According to a comparison of the ceramics excavated in Okinawa with those found in other Japanese sites, one characteristic can be noted here: those items in Okinawa are mostly from the Si Satchanalai kilns while the others, such as those excavated from Nagasaki, or Osaka (Sakai city), are from the Noi River kilns in Singburi province. It is thought that porcelain pieces from the Noi River kilns are mostly the four-lug jars brought to Japan as containers of goods.13 Wares similar to those items excavated in Okinawa have also been found at many archaeological sites in the Philippines and Indonesia. Therefore Okinawa can be considered another destination of Si Satchanalai ceramics during its peak of production and export in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The role of overseas Chinese Diplomatic and trade relations between Ayutthaya and the Ryukyu court could not have been possible without the intermediate role of the Chinese officials. Those at the Ryukyu court were dispatched to Ayutthaya as translators and sometimes as chief envoys. According to Rekidai Ho¯ an, the interpreters who were dispatched to each port in Southeast Asia came from 15 clans, including Zheng, Liang, Cai, Gao, Lin, Hong. Despite the linguistic differences among Southeast Asia polities, Ryukyu dispatched the same interpreters to different places. For example, Hong Ying, who was sent to Siam in 1464 (text 1-41-04), was sent to Sumatra in 1467 and 1468. Gao He, who was sent to Malacca in 1509 (text 1-42-03) and 1511 (text 1-42-07), was also sent to Ayutthaya many times during the same period. Why were these Chinese-migrant officials sent to ports in Southeast Asia where different languages

13

For surveys of Thai ceramics found in Hakata, see Arishima 1991; in Osaka (Sakai) see Tsuzuki 1989; surveys on Thai ceramics found in Japan as a whole, see Morimura 1995, Morimoto 2000. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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prevailed? Maehira (1983, 46) has pointed out that this was possible because Ryukyu utilized the network of overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia and developed trading activities by using Chinese as the main language of communication. In the case of Ayutthaya and Ryukyu, considering the trade activities that both entities engaged in for over two hundred years, it is also likely that Chinese migrants in both regions were closely connected, since they shared the same language and culture. Similarly in the case of Ayutthaya, Nai Yung, one of Ayutthaya’s dispatches who was sent as a translator to escort Ryukyu envoys back to their country, and Nai Noi in the text 1-39-11 and 1-39-14 in 1480, are likely to have been Chinese. As noted above, the ranks of officials in Ayutthaya in Chinese borrowed titles from the Ming and the use of Chinese in the letters reveals that Ayutthaya employed Chinese officials in its connections with Ryukyu. Another example will give a clearer picture of the overseas Chinese connection within Southeast Asia. In a letter from Oso Kaiki, a Chinese leader in Ryukyu, to an official in Palembang written in 1428, it is stated that Ryukyu received a request from a commissioner of Kyushu Shibukawa Michiyori in the year 1421 to send back a group of 20 people from Palembang, who arrived at Satsuma (or Kagoshima, a southern prefecture in Kyushu island). Ryukyu, however, lacked a navigator who could sail to Palembang, sent them back with Ryukyu envoys who were dispatched to Ayutthaya. From Ayutthaya, Ryukyu requested these people be sent back to Palembang. It is not known if they reached their destination.14 Palembang is a port near the southeastern coast of Sumatra. It was once the center of the Srivijaya kingdom during the latter half of the seventh century to the fourteenth century. After Srivijaya was conquered by Majaphahit, Palembang was ruled by group of Chinese who migrated from Canton and Fujian during the first half of the fifteenth century (Wada 1997, 456–7). Since the incident related above, trade activities between Ryukyu and Palembang were said to have started. Maehira (1983, 30) pointed out that the route from Japan to Palembang via Ryukyu and Ayutthaya was possible because a network of Chinese was already established at that time. This example shows that the role of the overseas Chinese in Ayutthaya was not only to serve the court in diplomacy and commerce, but that they linked with other polities as well. Even though the details of how Palembang crews were sent home from Ayutthaya are not known, this indicates that trading route between Ayutthaya and Palembang had existed as early as the fifteenth century.

14

In this letter, Oso sent a ship with gifts to Palembang and asked for smooth trade (Rekidai Ho¯ an, text 1-43-04, pp. 453–454). Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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Summary From the analysis of the relations between Ayutthaya and Ryukyu in Rekidai Ho¯ an, other related sources and archaeological data, we know how close their relationship was for more than 200 years. We can also discern something of the structure of officialdom of the Ayutthaya court. Among those in charge of the relations with East Asia were Chinese who had a good knowledge of writing formal Chinese letters, and were well aware of the official status of both Ryukyu and Ayutthaya in the Chinese world order. The positions and different ranks of Ayutthaya official that appear in the letters sent to Ryukyu in 1480 could be the result of administrative reform during the reign of King Borom Trailokanath (1448–1488). The gifts that each official presented to the king and officials of Ryukyu, which included Persian and Indian products, indicates that Ayutthaya had trade relations with Persia and India from the fifteenth century on, before the period of King Narai, when trade with India was known to have flourished. From the large quantity of wine which Ayutthaya presented as return gifts to Ryukyu, it is clear that wine was one of the exports at that time. Likewise, Thai ceramics excavated in many historical sites in Okinawa, provide evidence of trade, possibly private, from Ayutthaya, though not recorded in formal sources. Also of significance here is the role of the overseas Chinese. The incidents of the boat crews from Palembang being sent back from Japan via Ryukyu and Ayutthaya in 1421, and the shipwreck of Ayutthayan envoys in 1480, indicate the important role of the overseas Chinese in Ryukyu, Ayutthaya and Palembang and their inter-regional connections. Their relations with Ryukyu help us understand the characteristics of Ayutthaya’s foreign relations and the emergence of an overseas Chinese society during the fifteenth and the sixteenth centuries.

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Table 1

Letters from Ayutthaya addressed to Ryukyu

Text no.

Date of issue

sender

1-39-01

1430/3/21 Xian luo guo

1-39-11

1480/3/23 Xian luo gu wang

1-39-12

1480/3/23 Li pu shang shu Wu Ba Luo Mo Ci Sa Tuo Lie

1-39-13

1480/4/12

Chang zhe Nai Luo Si Li

1-39-14

Not recorded

Chang shi Xiao Na Yue Ben

1-39-16

1481/3/15

Xian luo gua wang

1-39-17

1481/3/15

Xian luo gua wang

(in English)

Receiver

Content

Ayutthaya

King Chuzan We will send the Ryukyu envoy back to Ryukyu as soon as possible Ayutthaya The king Your envoy Tamanafa was dispatched here but lost the King ship and property. We sent Chief Envoy Nai Boonhiang Chaota, Vice Envoy Nai Chuen Chaota, Interpreter Nai Yung and others, to take our local products and accompany your envoys back. When the ship approached Ryukyu, however, she encountered a storm and sank into the sea, causing death and loss of property. If there are survivors, we ask you to kindly send them back home. We received your envoy Tara, interpreter Ko Kin and others and received your gifts. We are now dispatching Nai Noi with three native seamen to accompany your envoys to your country. Minister of The king Same as above. In the end of the letter; return the Board of presents from Oc Phra Maha Suwannarath, Oc Khun Rites Oc Phra Pituk, Nai Kosa, Senior Minister Nai Ittsupun are listed. Maha Suwannarath Senior Minster Not Long live the king of your country. We wanted to send Nai Lo-ssu-li recorded our men to express our appreciation of your favors, but we have no wise men who are familiar with the navigation to offer our appreciation. We now present one jar of white wine and one of red wine and entrust them to the ship that has come here. Senior Not Last year your ship came here but it was destroyed by Minister Nai recorded fire and everything was lost. Such is the will of Heaven. Ittsupun The king of this country had dispatched Nai Boonhiang Chaota as Chief Envoy, Nai Chuen Chaota as Vice Envoy and Nai Yung as Interpreter to escort Chief Envoy Tamanafa and others back to their country, carrying some presents. Because of the unfavorable weather, however, they came back and were detained during the winter. They are now about to depart. You have again dispatched Chief Envoy Nishi, Interpreter Tei Raku and others, who brought presents. We present our return gifts from Oc Phra Maha Suwannarath, Khun Pituk, Nai Kosa, and Chief Envoy Nai Boonhiang Chaota. The king The king Your envoy Uchima and others came to our country escorting Nai Noi and three native guards. We have received your gifts and entrusted our trifling presents to these returning envoys to be given to Your Majesty by way of returning our thanks. We now report the departure of the envoy Nishi and would The king Not recorded like to offer our return presents.

Source: Rekidai Ho¯an in Wada 1997. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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Table 2

Gifts from Ayutthaya to Ryukyu in Rekidai Ho¯ an

Text no.

Sender

Gifts

Number

1-39-01

Not recorded

Sappanwood

3,000 chin

1-39-11

The king

Sappanwood Red cloth Sappanwood

3,000 chin 14 bolts 20,000 chin

1-39-12

1. Minister of the Board Red chain-patterned cloth of Rites Oc Phra Maha Suwannarath Rose-water Red wine made from fragrant flowers Sappanwood

“ “

2. Oc Khun Pituk

3. Nai Gou Kosa

4. Senior Minister Nai Ittsupun

Red Western cloth Rose-water Red wine made from fragrant flowers Yellow cotton cloth with colored silks woven into it Sappanwood Red wine made from fragrant flowers Sappanwood

1 bolt 5 jars 3 jars 1,000 chin 2 bolts 2 jars 3 jars 1 bolt 600 chin 1 jar 400 chin

1-39-13

Nai Lo-Su-li

White wine made from fragrant flowers Red wine

1- 39-14

1. Oc Phra Maha Suwannarath 2. Oc Khun Pituk 3. Nai Gou Kosa 4. Chief envoy Nai Boonhiang Chaota

Green chain-patterned cloth Wine Cloth White wine made from fruits Red wine made from fruits

1-39-16

The king

Sappanwood Red cloth Wine with fragrant flowers and coconut in it Wine made from fragrant flowers

3,000 chin 14 bolts 1 jar 5 jars

1-39-17

The king

Sappanwood Red cloth Wine with fragrant flowers and coconut in it Wine made from fragrant flowers

3,000 chin 14 bolts 2 jars 5 jars

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1 jar 1 jar 1 bolt 1 jar 10 bolts 21 jars 29 jars

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References Akiyama, Kenzo¯ . 1933. “Muromachi Jidai ni okeru Ryukyu no Indo¯ China shokoku to no tsuko¯ .” (The relationship of Ryukyu and Indo-China countries in the Muromachi period) Rekishi Chiri, no.56–6. Arishima, Mie. 1991. “Hakata Shutsudo no Thai, Vietnam To¯ji.” (Thai and Vietnamese ceramics excavated in Hakata) Boeki To¯ jiki Kenkyu, no. 11. Asato, Nobe. 1967. Okinawa Kaiyo¯ Hatten Shi. (The history of maritime development of Okinawa), Okinawa-ken kaigai kyo¯ kai. Kin, Seiki. 1991. “Okinawa Shutsudo no Thai, Vietnam To¯ ji.” (Thai and Vietnamese ceramics excavated in Okinawa) Boeki To¯ jiki Kenkyu, no. 11. Kin, Seiki. 2004. “Okinawa kara Shutsu shita Thai, Vietnam To¯ji.” (Thai and Vietnamese ceramics excavated in Okinawa). Paper presented at the Symposium on Southeast Asian Archaeology 2004 – Interrelations between Kyushu and Southeast Asia, Japan Society for Southeast Asian Archaeology. Kobata, Atsushi and Matusuda, Mitsugu. 1969. Ryukyuan Relations with Korea and South Sea Countries: an annotated translation of documents in the Rekidai Ho¯ an. Kyoto. Kobata, Atsushi. 1993. (first published in 1968) (zo¯ ho) Chusei Nanto¯ Tsuko¯ Bo¯ eki shi no Kenkyu. (A study of the history of communication and trade of Southern Islands in the Middle Ages (supplement), Rinkawa Shoten. Higashi-onna, Kanjun. 1941. “Ryu-Tai Tsuko¯ Shiryo¯ Shakugi.” (The interpretation of documents on the relations between Ryukyu and Thai), To¯ a Ronso¯ , no. 4. Higashi-onna, Kanjun. 1979. Higashi-onna Kanjun. Higashi-onna Kanjun Zenshu. (Collected edition of Higashi-onna Kanjun) Vol. 3, Daiichi Shobo¯ . Hucker, Charles. O. 1985. A Dictionary of Officials Titles in Imperial China. Stanford University Press. Jaruk, Vilaikaew. 1992. “Cultural Heritage from under the water: the Ao-Thai 1 junk or the “Klang–Ao” junk.” Silpakorn Journal, no. 35–2. Ishii, Yoneo. 1992. “Pra Klang Ko¯ - “Ko¯ shi kokka” no chukoku soshiki ni kansuru oboegaki.” (Analysis of Phra Khlang – note on the core organization of “port polity”), The Journal of Sophia Asian Studies, no. 10. Ishii, Yoneo. 1994. Tai no Chusei Kokka Zo¯ ; Kawaru To¯ nan Ajia Shiso¯ . (Historical image of the changing Southeast Asia), Yamakawa. Maehira, Fusaaki. 1981. “15–16 Seiki ni okeru Ryukyu = To¯ nan Ajia Bo¯ eki no Rekishi teki Ichi.” (The historical significance of the trade between Ryukyu and Southeast Asia in the fifteenth and the sixteenth centuries) Ryudai Shigaku, no. 12.

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Maehira, Fusaaki. 1983. “Ryukyu = To¯ nan Ajia Bo¯ eki no Tenkai to Kakyo¯ Shakai.” (The development of Ryukyu- Southeast Asia trade and Overseas Chinese Society) Kyushu Shigaku, no.76. Morimoto, Asako. 2000. “Nihon Shutsudo no To¯ nan Ajia san To¯ ji no Yo¯ so.” (Finds of South-East Asian ceramics in Japan: a chronological consideration) Boeki To¯ jiki Kenkyu, no.20. Morimura, Kenichi.1995. “Nihon ni okeru Iseki Shutsudo no Thai To¯ jiki.” (Thai ceramics from excavation sites in Japan) To¯ yo¯ to¯ ji, no. 23–24. Murai, Sho¯ suke. 2000. “To¯ nan Ajia no naka no Ko-Ryukyu.” (Ancient Ryukyu in Southeast Asia), Rekishi Hyo¯ ron, no.603. Okinawa Prefecture Education Committee. 1998. “Shuri Jo¯ seki- Kyo¯ no Uchi seki hatsu cho¯sa Ho¯kokusho 1. (Shuri castle site -Kyo no Uchi excavation survey no.1), Japan. Takara, Kurayoshi. 1998. Ajia no nakano Ryukyu Oukoku. (Ryukyu kingdom in Asia) Yoshikawa Hirobumi. Tanaka, Takeo. 1991. (trans.with notes). Kai to¯ shokokuki -chousen no mita chusei no nihon to Ryukyu (Japan and Ryukyu in the middle age from the view of the Koreans), Iwanami Shoten. Wada, Hisanori. 1997. (annotated). Rekidai Ho¯an (yakuchubon). (Rekidai Ho¯ an- annotated version) Second volume, Okinawa Prefecture Education Committee. Tsuzuki, Shinichiro¯ . 1989. “Sakai Kango¯ Toshi Iseki Shutsudo no Thai sei Shijiko.” (The Sawankhaloke jar (made in Thailand) with four handles excavated from the “Sakai-Kango-Toshi” site during the fifteenth and the sixteenth centuries) Bo¯ eki To¯ jiki Kenkyu, no. 9.

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The Fortress of Bangkok during the siege of 1688, published in Jean Vollant des Verquains Histoire de la Revolution de Siam (Lille, 1691).

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FOUR UNPUBLISHED LETTERS FROM DESFARGES, BEAUCHAMP, AND VOLLANT, SURVIVORS OF THE SIEGE OF BANGKOK IN 1688 Translated and edited by Michael Smithies

Abstract These four hitherto unpublished letters were penned by French officers surviving the siege and retreat from the Bangkok fort in 1688. That of General Desfarges written in Pondichery in February 1689 is a follow-up to an earlier report sent to Paris (and never received), and deals with trivial matters, apart from desertions. The letter of the engineer Vollant, and the two written by the former garrison adjutant Beauchamp from prison in Holland in November 1689 try to present their authors’ viewpoints on the French disaster. Both were to write longer versions of events, but only Vollant’s was published in his lifetime.

General Introduction Presented here is a letter from General Desfarges, written in Pondichéry on 27 February 1689, and apparently addressed to the Marquis de Seignelay, Secretary of State for the French Navy and in charge of the Siamese adventure. This is followed by a brief summary of events in Siam (about which Versailles was unaware until early November 1689) by Beauchamp, the chief-of-staff in Siam, dated 1 November 1689 from “the prisons of Middelburg” in the Netherlands. Then comes a much longer letter by the same author from the same place, dated 17 November 1689. Finally we have a letter from the same place with the same date as this last, another letter, this time by Vollant des Verquains, an engineer, sent to Siam like Desfarges and Beauchamp in 1687. Vollant’s letter appears to have been destined for the Marquis de Seignelay, who was intended by Beauchamp to be the ultimate recipient of his letter of 17 November. Desfarges, whose incompetence and cupidity knew no bounds, had not long to live; he was to go on a futile expedition to Phuket and then depart for France in 1690, dying en route, thus avoiding the rope on his return, as his sons charitably observed as they spent his fortune in Martinique. Beauchamp had as much if not more than Desfarges to be ashamed of; the longer of his two letters from prison attempts to whitewash his actions and those of his superior, as does the still longer Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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version he wrote (BN Fr 8210), probably after his release from prison. This last text had only been published once to date, anonymously, in French, in 1861 until this year. It is not known what became of him; he was presumably released in a general exchange of prisoners in 1690. Vollant was returning in disgrace, having crossed swords–metaphorically– with his superior, Desfarges, too often during his stay in Siam. He made sure his version of events in Siam appeared during his lifetime, and quickly published his Histoire de la Révolution de Siam arrivée en l’année 1688 in Lille in 1691. Vollant, a Lille notable, like his architect father, went on to become treasurer of Lille, a knight, and royal counsellor, dying in 1729. His letter here can be seen as a trial run for the published work, which contained corrections to his letter. Both Beauchamp and Vollant were on board ships seized by the Dutch at the Cape in 1689 and travelled together to their prison in Zeeland. Beauchamp was bringing packets of letters which the Dutch also seized (the War of the Grand Alliance had broken out in 1689) and sent to Holland; among these documents was a self-justifying report by Desfarges which was published in Amsterdam in 1691. These letters contain few surprises, but confirm what we know from other sources; they throw interesting lights on the character of the authors as much as anything. As Desfarges’ and Vollant’s works were published in English in 2002,1 and an English version of Beauchamp’s text is now available,2 it is appropriate that the documents presented here also be made available to non-French speakers. In these texts, round brackets indicate an uncertain reading of the manuscript, round brackets enclosing periods (.....) an unreadable word or phrase, and square brackets editorial additions. Paragraphing in the original texts is minimal; with the exception of Desfarges’ short letter, we have broken them up and numbered them. The spelling of names in the seventeenth century was erratic and arbitrary; we have unified them to standard spellings. The particule ‘de’ or ‘du’ sometimes appears with certain names and sometimes does not; we have followed the original texts. Titles too appear as in the originals, though ‘Sieur’ is spelt in full. Dates in the texts are given as ordinal numbers, but as cardinals in the notes. My sincere thanks go to Monsieur Bernard Suisse in Paris for supplying the original texts of these letters and for his generous encouragement, corrections, and observations. I alone am responsible for any errors.

1

M. Smithies, trans. and ed. Three Military Accounts of the 1688 ‘Revolution’ in Siam: Desfarges, La Touche, and Vollant des Verquains. Bangkok, Orchid Press, 2002. 2 M. Smithies, trans. and ed. Witnesses to a Revolution: Siam, 1688. Bangkok, The Siam Society, 2004. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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Four unpublished letters from survivors of the siege of Bangkok in 1688

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Unpublished letter from General Desfarges to the Marquis de Seignelay1 From Pondichéry 27 February 1689 Introduction There is little to add about the career and character of Desfarges to what appears in our introduction to the translation of his text published in Amsterdam in 1691, and which constitutes the first part of our Three Military Accounts... His military career from 1661 to 1687 is outlined in Pinard’s Chronologie historique militaire... (8 vols, 1760–1778); he served in many of Louis XIV’s battles on the changing north-east French frontier, and was rewarded with the sinecure of being the king’s lieutenant in Brisach-am-Rhein in 1683, apparently on the recommendation of the king’s younger brother, Philippe d’Orléans, known as Monsieur. Desfarges would have bought his initial commission like everyone else, and probably his subsequent promotions. François Martin, whom Desfarges praises in the unpublished letter which follows, was an acute observer, and says in polite terms in his Mémoires (1932: II 519–520) that as Desfarges entered the army when fifteen or sixteen years old he “had perhaps neglected other talents which would have been necessary for him in such a distant enterprise as that in Siam”. In addition to being ill-educated, he readily believed others he thought cleverer than himself. As if this were not enough, Martin adds that he “also appeared extremely covetous, and he did not sustain with sufficient brilliance the position with which the king had honoured him”, that of general commanding his troops in Siam from 1687. The expedition Desfarges contrived to Phuket in 1689, after the expulsion of French forces from the Bangkok fort on 2 November 1688 and regrouping in Pondichéry, was a total waste of time and Martin doubts if Phuket was actually reached. The French certainly did not occupy the island, which appears to have been the original intention. News of the outbreak of the War of the Grand Alliance in Europe caused Desfarges to return via Bengal to Pondichéry and in February 1690 to set out for France. He died on board the Oriflamme en route for Martinique, where his two elder sons, the Marquis and the Chevalier, spent freely of their father’s fortune, notably, according to Robert Challe, on women who could have been had in Paris for nothing. They too perished on the return to France, either in a storm in February 1691 or in a naval engagement; the records are contradictory. 1

It is not absolutely certain that the intended receiver of this letter was de Seignelay, the Secretary of State for the Navy, but seems most probable, since he was the person in Versailles in charge of the Siamese adventure. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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This letter contains the usual epistolary fawning that was expected of the time. It deals with desertions, already a problem in Bangkok and worse in Pondichéry (the hitherto unpublished anonymous Relation de ce qui s’est passé à Louvo, royaume de Siam, et ce qui s’est passé à Bangkok pendant le siège en 1688, AN Col. C/1/24 140–272, and published this year gives details of these). It recommends Martin to de Seignelay (assuming with reason that it was to him that Desfarges addressed his letter), and it goes into trivial details about his expenditures, something rather ludicrous in one known to have profited by every possibility for selfenrichment (the 3,000 livres claimed to have been borrowed by Phaulkon from Desfarges before the former’s imprisonment and death were almost certainly an invention by Desfarges). Lastly Desfarges in the letter complains that his officers were unprofessional and did not support him, complaints which seem petty and in the circumstances absurd (what could Seignelay do about that in Versailles?). Desfarges himself was less than professional in his conduct, especially in his abandoning of Phaulkon and in the treatment he meted out to his widow, in opposition to nearly all his officers, when she tried to take refuge with the French in Bangkok. Letter Archives Nationales, Paris : AN Col. C/1/25 f.50r–f.51r [f.50r] Having been informed that an English vessel was about to leave2 for Europe, I did not wish to miss this occasion of taking the liberty to inform you of what has occurred since the departure of Sieur de Courcelles who commanded the Normande.3 I had the honour of informing you in my letter that the settlement of Pondichéry was open on all sides, which made me fear that many soldiers might desert. This began with four who wished to enter the service of the Great Mogul, 4 one of whom was a bombardier from Provence, by name Antoine, who expected his knowledge and skill would contribute to his fortune, about whom I spoke in my [previous] letter as having served very well in Bangkok; and one named du Clos, whom Monsieur du Bruant had taken with him to Mergui and who had formerly served under Monsieur de la Haye [f.50v] at Saint-Thomé,5 where he deserted, and

2

Most likely from nearby Madras. This departed Pondichéry on 17 February 1689, accompanied by the Coche. Both were seized by the Dutch when they put in at the Cape of Good Hope, unaware of the outbreak of the War of the Grand Alliance. The letters sent by Desfarges on the Normande, informing the court of events in Siam, never reached their destination. 4 Aurangzeb (r. 1658–1707), under whom the Mogul empire reached its peak. 5 São Tomé was originally a Portuguese settlement close to Madras, which was invested by the French general de la Haye in July 1672; Martin was brought there by de la Haye from Masulipatam and then sent to start the colony at Pondichéry. The Dutch seized São Tomé in September 1674. 3

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who had since joined the service of the King of Siam. With them [were] two soldiers, one of whom was involved in a plot to desert in Bangkok and who knew how to speak all sorts of languages.6 But on the good instructions of Monsieur Martin, director of the [French Indies] Company, given to the people on land and in the surrounding area, he was soon informed of this desertion, which obliged me to send my two sons7 urgently, [as well as] Sieurs du Halgouët and de la Héronnerie and several other of the more sprightly officers, who did not fail to catch up with them. As they approached, the soldier La Tulipe took aim at Sieur du Halgouët, but this officer, quicker on the draw than the soldier, fired at him, knocking him over, and he lay on the ground seriously wounded. The others were taken at the same time and brought back to Pondichéry and the wounded soldier was brought before me; I had him hanged in the sight of all the soldiers. I thought this example was enough for the present, in order to spare the others while leaving them as prisoners until I have need of their services, given the few men at our disposition. The only expenses I had to incur were six écus from the King’s exchequer to pay the executioner, and I used the money of the dead deserter for the other expenses and to pray to God for him. Since I have been here, Monseigneur, I have witnessed the prudent conduct of the said Sieur Martin, who well remembers what he saw take place at the siege of Saint-Thomé under Monsieur de la Haye, and I am certain he will always perform very well all the missions given him, for he seems to me to have excellent management, application, and experience for everything concerning affairs in these lands. We waste no time in preparing to follow our plan to depart from here as soon as possible,8 and [f.51r] desirous of providing the soldiers with clothes and other things, I gave orders to Monsieur de Vertsesalle9 to distribute apparel to the companies. The said gentleman gave the task to Sieur d’Alvimare, major of the troops, [but] there was so little application, Monseigneur, without exaggeration, that [when] the solders in his company were provided with new jerkins, hats, and stockings, one of his soldiers, after selling a new hat he had been given, was about to sell a jerkin, of which we did not have enough for everyone, many things having been damaged. On speaking about this to Sieur d’Alvimare, he told me that he did not concern himself about his company, but [it was the task of] his lieutenant, as if a major should not be concerned with every detail, which I have told him and had remarked upon to him a hundred times. I gave him as an assistant Sieur de Geoffrey, 6

Sic. Desfarges himself only spoke French. The Marquis and the Chevalier Desfarges; their father actually writes “my two children” but they were grown men. 8 This was not true. Having formulated the plan to take Phuket, the fleet did not leave Pondichéry until 10 April. 9 Desfarges’ second in command in Bangkok. 7

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one of the wisest officers here, but without reason he is abrupt with him and abuses him so badly that he requests me daily to relieve him of this duty. I can well see that some remedy has to be to be found, given that this is detrimental to good order. I am greatly grieved, Monseigneur, to importune you on this subject, but I have to concern myself with everything, [and] the principal officers serving under me do not give me all the support they could to assist me.10 Do believe, Monseigneur, that I shall always do everything so that the King will be pleased with me; this would be the means by which you would also be pleased, and I vouch that I am, Monseigneur, entirely devoted to you for all my life, and with profound respect, Monseigneur, [I remain] Your most humble and most obedient Servant Desfarges At Pondichéry, on the Coromandel Coast 27th February 1689.

10

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Two unpublished letters from Beauchamp written from the prisons of Middelburg, 1 and 17 November 1689 Introduction Major Beauchamp, who occupied the position of chief-of-staff or garrison adjutant1 to General Desfarges in Siam from 1687, does not appear from the records as a particularly attractive character. We unfortunately know nothing about Beauchamp’s career before going to Siam in 1687 or after his release from prison in the Netherlands in 1690. But from his three texts dealing with his brief stay in Siam, we can see that he boasts and blusters, he fawns to his superior, he lies, he obtained charge of the jewels Mme Phaulkon managed to save and had no intention of returning them to her, and he possibly murdered his colleague, the scrupulous Chevalier de Fretteville, in order to obtain the diamonds he was holding on her behalf. He is also incoherent whenever he is involved in actions at crucial junctures, as when Phaulkon, whom he was accompanying to the Lopburi palace on 18 May 1688, was arrested by Phetracha, or when he, a designated hostage in the retreat from the Bangkok fort of 2 November, skipped detention and calmly boarded the Oriflamme, along with the other designated hostage, the Chevalier Desfarges, and the factor Véret, who was supposed to remain in Siam as co-guarantor (with the Bishop of Metellopolis, Louis Laneau) for the return of the two Siamese vessels loaned to the French. In addition, he is forever talking about his suspicions of the Siamese, their intended treachery, but does nothing about this, and gives the impression of going along with the tide of events. He bravely talks of killing Phetracha when his plot is revealed, but of course did not lift a finger. In short, he is an unreliable witness to events in which he took part. Yet his accounts (in addition to the two letters here, there is that published anonymously in the Cabinet Historique in Paris in 1861, taken from the manuscript BN Fr 8210 said to be by another officer, Pinsonneau, but in fact, as internal evidence makes clear, by Beauchamp) can be used, and often contain information not found elsewhere. However, anything he says has to be treated with extreme caution; he was too concerned with the necessity of whitening his (and Desfarges’) role in the less glorious events of 1688.

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He does all he can to blacken the character of Phaulkon, the idol of the Jesuits, but what he says about his being out of favour with King Narai about March and April does not square with most other accounts; his suspicions about Phaulkon’s motives are justified, but then he was warned by La Loubère before he left for France at the beginning of 1688 that the Greek was not to be trusted. His omissions are equally interesting. He makes no mention, in either letter here (though he does allude in passing to the subject in his much longer BN Fr 8210), of the two councils called by Desfarges to decide the fate of Mme Phaulkon (both of which supported taking her to France) after she had arrived at Bangkok flying the French flag and bringing two letters of Louis XIV, claiming sanctuary. Beauchamp’s extended text BN Fr 8210 seems to be the only one that has de l’Estrille coming up to inspect the fortress and support Desfarges’ intention of abandoning it; others claim that the supplies acquired for the journey to Pondichéry and additional men (both French and English) meant that Desfarges could have forced his exit from Bangkok with Mme Phaulkon, had he chosen. It was Beauchamp who saw her off the premises when she was finally handed back to the Siamese, and both he and Desfarges must have been well aware that the treaty drawn up guaranteeing her rights would not be respected. But the allure of keeping her jewels rather than returning them to their rightful owner was too great for both of them. Neither profited by them: Desfarges, as we have seen, died on the return journey to France, and Beauchamp was stripped of his assets by the Dutch at the Cape. Vollant des Verquains, no friend of Beauchamp, whom he saw as a tool of Desfarges, whom Vollant despised, has a telling passage about Beauchamp in his 1691 published account of events, at the juncture when Phaulkon was sending emissaries to Bangkok to try and get Desfarges to come to Louvo with 84 men in early April as he had promised. “The chief-of-staff promised to serve him [Phaulkon] with all the credit he had acquired over the sentiments of Mr Desfarges, to convince him to do what he should. He left Louvo fully aware of the great need Mr Constance had of being supported in an action on which depended the success or failure of everything. But the like of such fickleness and eccentricity in any action had never been seen. The chief-of-staff, on arriving in Bangkok, had only begun to speak of the object of his journey, than he was told to be silent, and seeing that he was stopped at the first step and that he would not help his cause by speaking further in favour of Mr Constance, he did a complete volte-face, going from black to white, deciding to approve loudly the actions of Mr Desfarges, especially in his presence, where he never had the courage to offer the least truth which might be in anyway disagreeable to the general, and dangerous to his position, though it might be most important to the interests of our king.”

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The first of the two letters, which is stated to be a copy and is neatly penned, is very brief, and summarizes the tumultuous events in Siam in 1688 in very few words. It was only at the beginning of November 1689 that news reached Paris of the disaster in Siam, and Beauchamp’s letter may have been instrumental in announcing this. The second letter, in a more mannered hand, and much longer, appears to be, as it were, a dry run for his still longer account we refer to as BN Fr 8210, published anonymously once in Paris long after the event, in 1861. Letter of 1 November 1689 Archives Nationales, Paris : AN Col. C/1/25 ff.91r–92r [f.91r] {1} I have the honour of indicating to you that M. Desfarges sent me to bring you packets [of letters] about the revolution which occurred in the kingdom of Siam on 18th May 1688.2 The king is dead; his two brothers were placed in two velvet sacks and beaten to death with sandalwood clubs; Monpit, his adopted son, was cut into three, having been seized in the king’s chamber, and M. Constance was cut into two. Opra Phetracha, who was one of the most important persons in the kingdom, made himself king, and having caused the death of everyone in the royal house.3 {2} All the nationalities in the kingdom conspired against us to bring about our death too,4 but in spite of all their efforts we held out five months and four days,5 razed the fortress to the west [of Bangkok] with cannon shots, and split some of those cannons in it, spiking the rest. We were only two hundred men in the fortress, which was incomplete on the side facing land, and animals could enter it anywhere. They [the Siamese] constructed eight forts6 around the stronghold at the distance of a musket shot, all supplied with cannons. What we most feared were the bombs they threw at us, because of the stores which were only made of bamboo, [f.91v] but they caused no damage. They sent M. de Metellopolis7 to discuss a settlement, and it was agreed that they would give us vessels and victuals [along] with all the Frenchmen and Englishmen who were in Siam. This they did, and we left on 2nd November.8 If we had had victuals and munitions, we would not have left so soon, though it was impossible to remain there, having so few men. We set 2

All events leading up to the coup, including Desfarges’ abandoning of Phaulkon, are omitted. This bald summary of events omits mention of the fate of Narai’s only child, the Princess Yothathep, who was forced to marry the usurper. 4 There were apparently Indian Muslims fighting alongside the Siamese against the French, but Beauchamp appears to have more in mind the Dutch here. 5 Actually one day less than five months, but it depends on what counts as the date of departure. 6 Vollant has nine. 7 Louis Laneau, the senior bishop and apostolic delegate. 8 Beauchamp makes no mention of the appearance of Mme Phaulkon in the Bangkok fort. 3

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sail for Pondichéry with M. de l’Estrille9 who had arrived on [20th] September,10 and we arrived on 10th February [1689], where we found M. du Bruant, who had withdrawn from Mergui on St John’s day,11 [and] who had no more than twenty soldiers [left] from his garrison. {3} The review of the remaining troops was conducted by M. Desfarges and M. de La Salle, commissioner; [they] numbered three hundred and thirty men, but many were sick. He [Desfarges] was to leave on (15th) March to take the island of Jonsalem12 in the Straits of Malacca, belonging to the King of Siam.13 {4} I left on 17th February on the store-ship the Normande, commanded by M. de Courcelles, and we arrived on 26th April at the Cape of Good Hope, where we were taken, having had no news of the war.14 The [French Company vessel, the] Coche arrived [there] on 4th May and was taken, its captain killed. Everyone was held in the fortress for two months, after having been [f.92r] despoiled when the vessels were taken. When the fleet was ready to leave for Holland, the commander at the Cape had all of us searched, even having us stand only in our shirts, to see if anything remained with us, and we set sail on 29th June. M. de Courcelles died from grief. We arrived on 29th October in Middelburg where we are prisoners. {5} I would like, Monseigneur, to write to you about how events turned out, but I hope you will have the goodness to have me removed from here soon, as I am not able to do so, having no freedom to write, for we are held here in a closely guarded prison where we have only four sous to spend each day.

9

Commander of Louis XIV’s man-of-war bringing reinforcements, the Oriflamme. The date is in the binding and cannot be read; in the second letter Beauchamp says the Oriflamme arrived on 20 September. 11 24 June. 12 Modern Phuket. 13 This was what was decided at the first council held on 5 February according to François Martin (Mémoires 1934 III: 27). Beauchamp is not listed by Martin as taking part in the council, nor does Beauchamp claim to have been present at it, though he was still in Pondichéry at that date. In fact, the departure for Phuket took place on “10 April at four in the morning” according to Martin (ibid: 37) 14 The War of the Grand Alliance, which pitched most of Europe against Louis XIV. 10

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Letter of 17 November 1689 Archives Nationales, Paris : AN Col. C/1/25 ff.73r–82v Preamble [f.73r] Monsieur,15 I am most obliged to you, and to M.16 de Céberet,17 for having procured for me the honour of knowing you. I would like to be sufficiently delighted to find occasions to return all the goodness you have shown towards me. I thank you most humbly for the offers you make [of the services] of MM (Sandras18) and (.....). I have found here a friend who has provided me with some money, and I request you, Sir, to continue with your (kindness) and to do all that you can to have me exchanged.19 These gentlemen here20 are not at all reasonable, and give us no freedom to see anyone. I have the honour to be known to the Marquis de Villette, [and] do not doubt that he will do what he can to have me depart from here. I am writing to him and request you to ensure that my letter reaches his hands. I gave myself the honour of writing twice to Monseigneur the Marquis de Seignelay, but my letters were not delivered to him. I find no safer means of writing to him than that with which [you] provide me. I request you to ensure he receives it swiftly. I implore you to be assured that I am, Sir,

Your most humble and obedient Servant. Beauchamp

15

It is not known to whom this letter was addressed. It was certainly not the Marquis de Seignelay (Secretary of State for the Navy and in charge of the Siamese venture), who would be addressed as Monsiegneur, as would the Marquis de Villette mentioned here, but it was clearly someone who had access to de Seignelay. The text of Beauchamp’s long account (published anonymously in 1861) in BN Fr. 8210 ff.506r–570r, was addressed to Monseigneur, most probably Seignelay. 16 In this text, Monsieur is consistently abbreviated to “Mons.” We have retained the form “M.” in conformity with the other transcriptions. 17 The envoy-extraordinary and director of the French Indies Company sent with La Loubère to Siam in 1687. 18 Gatien de Courtilz, Lord of Sandras (1644–1712) was a colourful character gravitating between Paris and The Hague, part-soldier, part-author of scabrous court title-tattle which bought him nine years in the Bastille. 19 In an exchange of prisoners. 20 The Dutch. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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Letter21 [f.73v] {1} I should tell you, Sir, that after the [king’s] vessels had left for Europe,22 M. de Constance only allowed M. du Bruant to leave23 a month later, which was on 3rd February.24 M. de Constance requested 50 men. M. Desfarges told him that some of his soldiers were sick; they agreed that he would send him 34 [men] and two officers, who were Sainte-Marie and Suart, who would command the two [Siamese] vessels, with an order which M. Constance placed in their hands together with the order to go and hunt out pirates. M. Desfarges saw the order which these two officers showed him, that to go and hunt out pirates, and another order which the said Sieur Constance had given to go an burn the English vessels in the roads of the town of Madras, on the Coromandel Coast.25 Sieurs de SainteMarie and Suart wrote to M. de Constance that they could not do that, as it was the wrong season. M. Constance wrote to them telling them to leave and stay out at sea where they willed, and only to return in four months. {2} These vessels had hardly departed than M. de Constance requested a company of cadets to form the king’s guard.26 M. Desfarges, very surprised that his troops were being dispersed, told M. de Constance that he could refuse the king nothing, but he implored him to inform him that he had many sick men, and that a person of his standing could not remain in a stronghold without troops, it not being fortified and open on all sides, as M. Constance had seen, but as soon as the [Siamese] vessels returned, he would send them. M. de Constance nevertheless sent horses to exercise them,27 and sent an order to M. Desfarges on behalf of the king to send me to [the city of] Siam28 immediately with 100 Siamese29 and French officers to command them. Following this order, M. Desfarges sent me off with the Jesuit Father [de] Bèze,30 who had brought the order. All that took place on 15th February. I 21

There are only 13 paragraph divisions in the original; for ease of reading others have here been added. 22 On 2 January 1688, according to Vollant. 23 To take up his duties, with his troops, as commander of Mergui, the Siamese outpost on the Bay of Bengal. 24 This means that the vessels probably left on 3 January. 25 The text here is confusing; the phrase “but did not see” seems to be missing. According to BN Fr 8210, Sainte-Marie concealed Phaulkon’s second order to go and attack vessels at Madras. 26 Phaulkon even sent bolts of blue cloth to provide them uniforms. 27 The text can be interpreted in the sense that the cadets would exercise on the horses, or that the horses would be exercised; the former seems more likely. This is confirmed by de Bèze (Hutchinson 1968: 71): Desfarges “asked for horses to be sent to Bangkok and on the pretext that the youths had not yet qualified, he continued to keep them from going.” 28 Ayutthaya; however, this seems to be written in error, and Louvo (Lopburi) is intended. 29 To the chagrin of the French, Siamese troops were also stationed in the Bangkok fort. 30 One of originally 14 Jesuit mathematicians sent to Siam the previous year, at Phaulkon’s request. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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found on going up [f.74r] Sieurs Sainte-Marie and Suart who were setting out to sea. When I arrived at Louvo, M. de Constance asked me to go and seek him out at Telipson31 with the troops. He told me to lodge the soldiers in the houses which had been constructed for the [French] ambassadors.32 Two days later, he took me with him, Fr de Bèze as well, along with 20 musketeers he told me to bring, to go to the mines where M. Véret33 was [to be found] and who was working them. The evening of our arrival, M. Constance told me to place guards on all the approaches I thought (fit), which gave me the suspicion that something was afoot. In the morning, I entered (the chamber) of the said Sieur Constance and requested him to tell me if something was happening in the kingdom, then he could do me the honour of confiding in me. He told me he saw that the Siamese were desirous of revolting, but he was not sure of this; however, the Bishop of Metellopolis and [the Abbé] de Lionne34 said they were well aware of it. We remained two days after visiting all their mines, and we returned to Telipson where the king remained. {3} In the month of March, the king returned to Louvo.35 I went back and forth between Bangkok and Louvo to send workmen and what was necessary to fortify the stronghold. The king became very sick. M. Constance sent an order to M. Desfarges to come up to Louvo. On arriving there, M. Constance told him that Opra Phetracha, grand chamberlain at the palace, and Mon Pit, the adopted son of the king, planned to pillage the palace when the king died, that the king had said to his daughter, the princess, that he wished to make his brother king,36 and that Opra Phetracha, having flogged him,37 could not remain in the kingdom, and that it would be shameful [for] the French to let the palace be pillaged in this manner. He said to M. Desfarges that he must come up with troops, that he (would go) to offer his services to the king’s princely brothers who were in the palace in [the city of] Siam. M. Desfarges told M. Constance that it [f.74v] would be good to speak to me about this; he said he would do so. M. Desfarges and the Jesuit Fathers Le Blanc and de Bèze told me what Opra Phetracha and Mon Pit intended to do. I said to M. Desfarges and to the said Fathers that it was not necessary for the troops to come up for that,

31

Tale Chupson, a few kilometres outside Lopburi, where King Narai had a secondary residence. Originally intended for Chaumont and his party in 1685, they were used by Céberet and La Loubère, and lay adjacent to Phaulkon’s residence in the town. 33 The factor or head of the French Indies Company in Ayutthaya. 34 Respectively Louis Laneau and Artus de Lionne, missionaries based in the capital Ayutthaya. De Lionne was styled Bishop of Rosalie from 1687, but did not use the title until some years later. 35 BN Fr 8210 f.511v says that the king, being unwell, returned to Lopburi at the beginning of April. 36 His younger half-brother, of whom the princess was said to be fond. The elder was incapable. 37 The story is long: Chao Fa Noi was found to be having an affair with a sister of Phetracha who was also one of King Narai’s concubines; for this the king had Noi flogged by both Phetracha and Pit, leaving him bloated and, it was said, speechless. 32

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and I would undertake to arrest him provided the king (gave) me an order, and my head could roll if I did not (place) him in his hands.38 M. Constance rejected that absolutely and said one should not do that. M. Desfarges took leave of him the next day to return to Bangkok and M. Constance told him that he would write to him when he should come up [again]. {4} At the beginning of April it was thought that the king was close to death. M. Constance wrote to M. Desfarges to come up with some troops. He selected 80 men and some officers,39 and went as far as [the city of] Siam, but everyone in the kingdom thought the king was dead. This was the reason why, when M. Desfarges was outside [the city of] Siam, everyone thought the French were going to pillage the palace. M. Desfarges lodged at (.....) and went to [the French] godown to see M. Véret, who told him that M. Constance was a traitor and a villain and that he wished to kill his troops.40 M. Desfarges did not wish to concur with him, and went to the other side of the river to visit the Bishop of Metellopolis and [the Abbé] de Lionne, who told him everything would be lost if he went up [to Louvo], saying that the king was dead, and that for some time M. Constance was not in the king’s favour and was closely watched; and that his son had died in March,41 and everyone had got ready with the bishop and the Missionaries who expected him at the (church) to bury his son who was to come from Louvo, but he was not allowed to leave, neither with him nor his wife from that place, which showed that he did not have the authority people thought. [f.75r] {5} M. Desfarges wrote, sending an officer42 who arrived in Louvo at midnight, to M. de Constance [saying] that he had arrived with the troops in [the city of] Siam, where M. Desfarges waited for him to go and offer his services to the two brothers of the king who were in the palace in [the city of] Siam. Whilst waiting for M. Constance’s reply, he withdrew to a customs’ house43 a league’s distance from [the city of] Siam. M. de Constance replied that he could not go and requested him to come to Louvo. M. Desfarges sent another officer44 to him (by whom) he

38

This is typical bluster on the part of Beauchamp. BN Fr 8210 says 84 men, presumably including four officers. 40 Beauchamp omits to tell us that Véret was the sworn enemy of Phaulkon. 41 Beauchamp is suspect here. De Bèze has his younger son João dying in early January, shortly after the departure of the French vessels for France; BN Fr 8210 says he died in April. The Jesuit is in this matter probably more reliable, and the child’s body is most unlikely to have been kept in Lopburi for burial two months later in Ayutthaya. This seems to be one of many instances in Beauchamp’s account where he tries to belittle the standing of Phaulkon. Phaulkon’s elder son Jorge survived into adulthood. 42 Named correctly as Le Roy in BN Fr 8210, but who is there said to have arrived at 10 p.m. 43 The text has “to a Tabanque”; there was only one in Ayutthaya, which was used by the French envoys before their formal entry into the city. 44 Named as Dacieux (d’Assieu) in BN Fr 8210. 39

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informed him that if he did not go [to Louvo] (he ought to withdraw) to Bangkok. M. Constance replied that he could come up and that the king was not dead. M. Desfarges did not wish to believe this, given that Monsiegneur the bishop had assured him that he was [dead], and decided to withdraw to Bangkok. As M. Constance saw that M. Desfarges had returned and [he] could not have [the services of] his troops, he sent Father [Le] Royer to ask for a company of cadets with an order from the king which he had composed without the king knowing about it, but M. Desfarges informed him he could not oblige, since he had many sick men. He [Constance] sent two days afterwards through the Fathers to ask for them and (put) them in establishments in [the city of] Siam in order to cure them. {6} M. Desfarges sent me to Louvo to indicate to him that we had only one surgeon, and that if we sent them, there would be no surgeon to attend to the officers. He told me he would give me a Frenchman named Charbonneau,45 and sent for him, and when he had arrived, he told M. Constance in front of me that he could not undertake this obligation, which made him very angry; and things stayed like that. {7} I returned to Bangkok in May, and went back to Louvo to seek iron for [the cannon] mountings and some charcoal. M. Constance [f.75v] told me he would give orders for this to be supplied and asked me to stay with him. I told him I greatly regretted not being able to do so without an order from M. Desfarges. He said he would take care of that. M. Desfarges wrote to say I could (stay). On 18th May 168846 at three in the afternoon, Opra Phetracha brought his troops inside the palace. M. Constance sent for me and told me the king wished to arrest Opra Phetracha. I told him that it was he [Phetracha] who wished to be master of the palace, and if that were so, we should withdraw to his house and defend ourselves with the Siamese soldiers and his company of bodyguards numbering (some) 16 Englishmen and three French officers who commanded the Siamese troops, together with the Chevalier Desfarges, and Sieur de Fretteville, who was ever close to M. Constance. But the said gentleman said to me we should not do that. Opra Phetracha sent for him and [he] told me to go with him. We met on the way Sieurs [de] Fretteville and Desfarges, and [he] told them to follow him. As we entered the palace and were [standing] in front of a pavilion, Opra Phetracha ordered us to be

45

René Charbonneau was an extraordinary person; after working as a valet in the Saint-Lazare mission in Paris, he had come to Siam as a lay Missionary brother specializing in medicine, and was ordered by King Narai to construct a fort on the frontier with Pegu, which he did successfully. He was then made governor of Phuket. He withdrew from public life to be with his wife, of Portuguese extraction, in Ayutthaya, probably seeing which way the wind was blowing with the rise and inevitable fall of Phaulkon. He stayed on Siam and died there at the age of 88. This incident of Charbonneau being sent for does not appear in BN Fr 8210. 46 The date is confirmed in BN Fr 8210. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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disarmed and M. Constance was seized. I did not wish to hand over my sword, because I was ever waiting for the moment when he [Constance] would tell me to use it, because I was in a position to kill Opra Phetracha, for I thought the king wanted to arrest him as M. de Constance had told me.47 I was soon disabused for he took M. Constance by the hand and led him off a couple of steps to have his head cut off by a mandarin who had his raised sabre ready, and at that moment he requested me to hand over my sword. I placed it in the hands of the son of Opra Phetracha48 [f.76r] and whilst he was threatening to cut off his head, M. Constance spoke to Opra Phetracha who took him off with him, and we were taken and placed in a guard room by the second ambassador who had been to France.49 Two hours later, M. de Constance came into the room where we were, accompanied by Opra Phetracha, who said to me, “You are well off here, at this time.” I did not understand what he meant. Opra Phetracha took him into another room, and after that (I) did not see him [again]. They started by burning the soles of his feet. On 20th May, Opra Phetracha seized Mon Pi, the adopted son of the king, in the king’s chamber, cut him into three,50 and threw his remains before M. Constance saying to him, “There, this (is the person) you wanted to make king.” We were taken inside an antechamber and led off to Telipson. We stayed there five or six days and then we were sent for by Opra Phetracha and were taken to Louvo, where after we arrived I was taken with M. de Lionne, who had come instead of Monseigneur the bishop of Metellopolis who was sick at that time. After we entered the palace, he [Phetracha] asked M. de Lionne and me if M. Desfarges would come up. We said we did not know. He asked what I thought. I told him that if I went, he would come up. He told me to go with M. de Lionne and the first two ambassadors who had come from France.51

47

There is a great deal more bravado on Beauchamp’s part in BN Fr 8210, all probably untrue; it seems that in fact Beauchamp meekly surrendered. Faced with considerably greater numbers, he and his two companions really had no choice. His BN Fr 8210 text also tries to make out that Phaulkon appeared afraid; foolhardy he may have been, but no other text implies this. One has to remember that when Beauchamp was writing de Fretteville was dead (possibly killed by Beauchamp himself), so was the Chevalier Desfarges (though Beauchamp probably did not know this). There was no one around to contradict him. 48 Sorosak, who later wished to add Mme Phaulkon to his harem. 49 Ok-luang Kanlaya Ratchamaitri. Beauchamp’s account of this crucial juncture of events is extremely confused. If one ignores the bluster, he apparently did nothing to save Phaulkon or dispose of Phetracha. 50 This detail is repeated in BN Fr 8210; the date is not. 51 The first, Ok-phra Wisut Sunthorn, Kosa Pan, was about to become, if he was not already, Barcalon, Phra Khlang, minister charged with foreign affairs and trade. BN Fr 8210 adds here remarks about Phaulkon not being in a predicament if he had followed his advice. He said he refused to accept Phaulkon’s clothes in lieu of his own which had been seized. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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{8} We went to Bangkok. I thought that these ambassadors wished to occupy the stronghold if M. Desfarges did not wish to go up. They were accompanied by 4–5,000 men, but they had been dispersed along the river [bank] so that they could not be seen. (They said) to M. Desfarges that Opra Phetracha52 had been arrested on behalf of the king for having embezzled the [f.76v] state revenues and the king ordered him to go up.53 I did not fail to (inform) M. Desfarges of all that had occurred, and likewise M. de Lionne advised him to go up, but I, knowing the unscrupulous nature of these people, told him that if he trusted me he would not go up. He told me that his stronghold was not in a position to be defended, and it would be better that he sacrificed himself to give us the time to put things aright. Being decided to leave, he asked the first ambassador if he had anything else to say to him before leaving, as once he was outside, he would have no authority. The ambassador said he had nothing else to ask of him. M. Desfarges called the officers together and said to M. de Vertesalle,54 who was in charge in his absence, that he was leaving for Louvo and taking his eldest son55 with him to give them56 more confidence, but he did not doubt (that they were going to arrest) him and his sons to have the stronghold capitulate; but he said to M. de Vertesalle in the presence of all the officers that these people could (keep) him to obtain the stronghold, but he and his two sons57 should [rather] be hung [than that they should capitulate] and he was to defend himself to the last of his men. “This is the order I am giving you, in the presence of all these officers, and [you must] work at once at putting the stronghold in order and constructing palisades.”58 [He] left with the said ambassadors and M. de Lionne.59

52

This is clearly an error for M. Constance. There is no mention in this letter of the bribe apparently offered by Kosa Pan to Desfarges, namely to take over the offices of Phaulkon until such time as his son, the Marquis, was capable of handling affairs: but it is clearly stated in Beauchamp’s account BN Fr 8210 (f.528v); see also Vollant 2002: 132. 54 His deputy commander. 55 The Marquis Desfarges. 56 The Siamese. 57 The younger son, the Chevalier Desfarges, was already in Lopburi and held prisoner with other French officers. 58 Beauchamp’s version in BN Fr 8210 is much more prolix. He has Desfarges saying to Vertesalle “I am going up with my son; kindly oversee and advance the construction work in hand and be in a position to defend yourselves well. I do not doubt that they are taking me with my children to make the fortress surrender, and that they are preparing for us terrible tortures, but whatever happens I desire and order you to let me and my children be hanged, and you must defend yourselves to the last man.” Fine words, especially when one remembers that the real reason he was going up was the hope of securing Phaulkon’s offices for himself and his eldest son. 59 On 27 May according to BN Fr 8210. 53

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{9} When he had arrived in Louvo, he was taken to speak with Opra Phetracha [who] asked M. Desfarges why he had not come up [before].60 He replied that when he was outside the city of Siam, everyone began to shout and agitate, saying that the French were going to pillage the palace, which obliged him to return so that they did not think [f.77r] that the French were capable of such actions, and that he had orders from the king his master to supply every service that the King of Siam desired of him. Then Opra Phetracha told him to order his troops to come up. M. Desfarges told him that he had no authority when he was outside his stronghold. Then he [Phetracha] ordered him to be arrested. M. de Lionne, who was beside him, said to the ambassador that he should recall what M. Desfarges had told him in Bangkok, that when he was outside his stronghold, he was not (the master). The ambassador related that to Opra Phetracha who asked him [Desfarges] if he would come back [to Louvo] if he returned [first to Bangkok]. He said yes, and with that Opra Phetracha told him he would keep his two sons and would look after them; following that, he ordered him to write to M. du Bruant to bring his troops and join [them to] his, to go and wage war against the Laos. You would understand all this was but deceit. M. du Bruant, on receiving the letter, thought that he had been arrested, since it gave him to understand that it was dictated [by Phetracha], which greatly helped him to be wary. M. Desfarges learnt from his son61 and the other officers who were in Louvo who had tried to escape from Louvo and come to Bangkok, and had been chased until they were two leagues62 away from [the city of] Siam. They were taken by 4–500 men. They were tied to their horses’ tails, beaten with sticks, and were made to run as fast as the horses could go. One named de Bressy, an engineer, whom M. Constance had recalled from Mergui, died in their hands from the mistreatment he received. [They] were taken to Louvo where they were exposed to [f.77v] the people who spat in their faces, rained (blows on them) with their (slippers) and [suffered] all kinds of indignities, and afterwards had their feet fettered and ropes tied round their necks.63 They were freed when M. Desfarges arrived. {10} He returned to Bangkok on Whit Sunday, 2nd June.64 A ship passed going downstream heading for China. M. Desfarges began firing at it which greatly inconvenienced it. If we had had two longboats, we would have taken it. There was a [French] company in the fort on the west side; as we could not retain it, M. Desfarges told Vollant to blow it up, but he said that could not be done. I went to the 60

He was asked to reply to three questions from Phetracha, according to other texts; see Vollant’s letter of 17 November 1689. 61 The Chevalier. 62 A league was approximately 4 km. 63 This incident appears in nearly all the texts, though with a varying number of French participants: BN Fr 8210 names five officers, Chevaliers Desfarges and de Fretteville, Saint-Vandrille, de Lasse, and des Targes, and the engineer de Bressy. 64 This is an error; Whit Sunday was on 6 June in 1688. The error is corrected in BN Fr 8210. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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other side [of the river] to tell La Cressonnnière who was in command on the other side to have all the cannons split, and to spike those which could not be split. I sent him 20 reinforcements to (do the job) more quickly and as soon as that was done, he at once withdrew, but the Siamese entered it after we had abandoned it. [They] found the means of restoring the cannons which could not be spiked, and had some brought from [the city of] Siam. [They] began to fire cannons and even bombs, which we feared might burn our stores which were only covered with (palm) leaves, but by good fortune none caused any damage, even though fired by the Dutch.65 We razed their fortress with cannon shots. {11} M. Desfarges wanted to send off a boat belonging to M. Véret which was at Bangkok; Sieur Véret was also there. It was commanded by a lieutenant named Saint-Qri66 [f.78r] with 15 men on board, to go and seek out the two vessels commanded by Suart and Sainte-Marie, who, as I have mentioned above, were at sea. When it was three leagues away from Bangkok in the river, it was surrounded by a number of galleys and barges filled with men. The pilot on board fled with two or three of his men. When Sieur Saint-Qri saw that, he put all his grenades on the deck and, and when they had boarded his boat and he saw that [his vessel] was full of people, he set fire to the powder, and burnt himself [alive], and all the Siamese, who (probably) numbered 200. {12} Opra Phetracha made M. Desfarges’ two sons, who were in Louvo with their feet fettered and ropes round their necks, write [to their father] and say in the letter that if he did not come up, he was going to hang them. They sent the letter by a Siamese who placed it behind a lime kiln near the stronghold’s moat. They shouted to us from the other, western side that it was near there. I sent a man to find it, who brought it, and in it they informed M. Desfarges, their father, that if he did not come up, Opra Phetracha was going to have them hanged. He sent a reply [saying] that he was most grieved about this, but that they could not die more gloriously for so great a monarch such as he whom they served, and that he would avenge their death. We thought he would have put them to death, but when Opra Phetracha saw the strength of purpose of M. Desfarges, he sent them back to him, and began to have constructed forts all around the stronghold at the distance of a musket or pistol shot, [and] filled with cannons; they built (eight)67 without our being able to stop them, and all along the river [f.78v] as far as the bar everything was strengthened, and they closed the river with stakes, apart from a small entrance 65

The French were insistent that the Dutch helped the Siamese in the siege. Whilst indirect assistance might have been given, it seems unlikely that there would have been direct involvement, as the two countries at this point in time were at peace. 66 This is one of the many variants of his name (others being Saint-Cri, Saint-Christ etc). The incident which follows appears in nearly all the French texts, with differing details. 67 Vollant says nine. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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for vessels. In spite of all the resources of the (kingdom), we held out five months and four days. They became weary on seeing the resistance which we put up. {13} Opra Phetracha sent M. de Metellopolis to (discuss) a truce. They used him, although they had pillaged his house, and stolen 30,000 livres in silver from him,68 and told him that if he did not find the means to remove the French from Bangkok, they would place him in the mouth of a cannon. M. de Lionne had withdrawn with (eight) missionaries to Bangkok. M. de Metellopolis was taken from [the city of] Siam into the western fortress. He began to shout to M. de Lionne [telling him] to come to the other side. We replied that he was sick, being afraid they would retain him. They were obliged to let M. de Metellopolis come over and discussions were begun about [our] departure and buying vessels and victuals. We said that we were not in a position to do that. It was decided some time after that they would give us [these] in a peace treaty made with Opra Phetracha, who was king. All this revolution (occurred) while the king was alive, Sieur de Constance being dead during the time he69 went up to Louvo. His body was sliced in two and his wife placed in a stable, and shown to the people. The son of Opra Phetracha took her and installed her in his residence.70 The two brothers of the king were placed in velvet sacks and beaten [to death] with sandalwood clubs. The king died a few days later,71 and before dying, he had distributed to the Jesuit Fathers 50 écus each.72 {14} I [now] return to the peace treaty which we drew up, and which necessity obliged us to concede, as we had neither wood, nor victuals, nor money, (only) rice, but it was not good; neither ammunition nor any hope of help from any source. [f.79r] I was obliged to borrow a thousand écus to pay the soldiers who had received nothing for four months. M. de Metellopolis and Sieur Véret proposed that we be given vessels and victuals, and all the Europeans who wished to withdraw from the kingdom of Siam. Opra Phetracha, king, said he was in agreement, provided M. de Metellopolis and Véret remained as guarantors. The peace treaty was thus drawn up: we would leave with drums beating, wicks lit,73 with arms and baggage, they would provide us with two vessels, victuals, and all the Englishmen

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More than 50,000 livres according to BN Fr 8210. Presumably Desfarges; Phaulkon was killed the same evening that Desfarges left Louvo, having said nothing in support of the Greek. 70 He intended to do this; he had not yet done so. 71 On 10th or 11th July. 72 This gesture has been much discussed. Phetracha, who presumably authorized this disbursement, seems to have wished to keep on far better terms with the French Jesuits than with the French Missionaries. 73 Many texts have this detail; it was presumably to be able to fire the cannons if there were a surprise attack launched by the enemy. But it was part of a symbolic formula which appeared in every treaty determining an honourable capitulation. 69

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in the prisons, together with Moorish74 crews to navigate the vessels to Pondichéry, where, on arriving, the said vessels would be returned to Siam; and the Jesuits and Missionaries could remain if they so wished in the kingdom, having the same privileges as with the late king; and the godown of the [French] Company would remain with the privileges it had previously obtained; and hostages on both sides would be exchanged to facilitate the departure from the river. {15} After the conclusion of this treaty, Mme Constance, who was staying in the king’s son’s residence, was brought into the stronghold of Bangkok. This broke up all the measures [agreed], and as soon as they [the Siamese] knew she was in the stronghold, they seized all the French and Portuguese Missionaries, and a Jesuit Father named La Breuille, who had remained. M. Véret, who was in [the city of] Siam to give orders to have brought [to us] the things needed for our embarkation, was placed in prison with all the relatives of Mme Constance and all the Christians. She remained about three weeks in the stronghold. Her mother wrote a letter to M. Desfarges, [counter-]signed by all the Fathers, requesting him to send her daughter back, and if she were not given up, everything would be lost. Opra Phetracha, king, wrote to M. Desfarges to hand this woman over, since she was not European, but Japanese.75 [f.79v] {16} I brought the letter which Mme Constance’s mother wrote to Monseigneur de Seignelay. We did all that we could to keep her and concluded a second treaty for her, to wit: she was free in the kingdom to live how she chose without anyone troubling her. I only mention this article among others, for here are many circumstances about which I cannot write.76 {17} M. de l’Estrille arrived on 20th September77 in the roads of Siam on the Oriflamme and with 80 wretched soldiers. I am sure they were not worth 10 (sound) men. He sent [on shore] the second captain, M. Cornuel, Sieur (......) his lieutenant, with two other officers. They were taken up the river to [the city of] Siam without knowing anything. The Siamese mandarins went on board and were very friendly, saying that the troops were well in Bangkok, that M. Constance had only just departed from the Tabanque.78 The 21st of the same month, he [de 74

Indian Muslim. She was part-Portuguese, part-Bengali, and part-Japanese in fact. Beauchamp glosses over all the sordid details of the way she was treated by Desfarges and why, and how the two councils of officers called by Desfarges were against surrendering her. 76 Such as Beauchamp’s and Desfarges’ retention of many of Mme Constance’s jewels, how the imprisonment of the French and Mme Constance’s family was a put-up job, along with the letter from her mother. 77 The texts are infuriatingly vague or contradictory about the arrival of the Orflamme, which obviously changed the situation in favour of the French. Beauchamp himself, in BN Fr 8210, gives the date of 15 August, Le Blanc has about 15 August. 78 The customs house; this must refer to that at Paknam, not that below Ayutthaya. 75

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l’Estrille] wanted to send his longboat in search of water, but it was taken, and by good luck M. Desfarges had sent an officer to [the city of] Siam to have Sieur Véret make haste, and when the officer wanted to return to Bangkok, he learnt on the river bank that there were officers who had been brought to the residence of the barcalon.79 He retraced his steps and found M. Cornuel and the other officers who told him that these people had brought them to [the city of] Siam, they thinking they were going to Bangkok, not knowing by what route they had been taken; they returned with the said officer to Bangkok; from them we learnt of the arrival of the Oriflamme. I should tell you that I was designated [a temporary] hostage with the Chevalier Desfarges, and the bishop and Véret who [were to remain] were to accompany us to the roads. {18} When we wished to leave, on 2nd November, we [f.80r] embarked 28 cannons in two barges, not being able to put them on board the ships because of [the bar at] the mouth of the river. It was stated in the treaty that we, who were hostages, ought to be beside the ships to the rear. We left Bangkok without leaving anything there, according to the clauses [in the treaty]. M. Desfarges embarked last, and when we had gone half-way, some five leagues from Bangkok, the old ambassador80 who was taking me made me change barges and put ropes (in it). I was alone in this barge, very well armed, with my valet, and suspicious [when] they (took) me up a stream where I did not know (where) I was. At two in the afternoon (I heard) the voice of M. Véret who was with the bishop of Metellopolis, followed by many barges. I shouted to Sieur Véret. M. de Metellopolis, hearing my voice, came up to me and (I) said to him that this was not in accordance with the treaty we had signed. The old ambassador came up to us at that moment, and I called to M. de Metellopolis to speak to the ambassador [and say] this was not in accordance with the treaty we had signed, and I would not (go ahead) if I were not beside the ship. Seeing I was resolved, he took us there, and when I was near, I tied the [rope of the] boat to the thighs of my valet. This precaution was very useful. An hour before daybreak, there came about a hundred barges to take us away and cut the ropes, and they sent the bishop to snatch me from the old ambassador and had him go on board the vessel;81 and as we had passed the last Tabanque, I said to M. Desfarges that the barge[s] transporting the cannons had been [deliberately] sunk. There were five Frenchmen in each. M. Desfarges was most distressed on hearing this [f.80v] news. He wanted to tie up and go and burn them down (in) the fortified Tabanque, and [burn down] the other (forts) nearby, but he was told that if he did 79

The phra khlang, effectively minister of foreign affairs and trade, at this time Kosa Pan, the former first ambassador to France. 80 Kanlaya Ratchamaitri. 81 This is an extremely confused account, and the longer version is even more confused. Knowing Beauchamp’s character, one should suspect duplicity. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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that, the Moorish crews from Siam would certainly jump overboard and (flee); reflecting on this he found it better to depart. In this manner [we] reached the roads, close to M. [de] l’Estrille, where we dropped anchor. {19} M. de Metellopolis wrote to M. Desfarges, in which he told (him) to send the most important hostage,82 and he guaranteed that his cannons would be sent to him. He [Desfarges] replied that these people would deceive him, seeing they were untrustworthy and without [the concept of] honour.83 M. Desfarges received another letter from the said lord bishop, through the Jesuit Father Thionville, in which he [the bishop] informed him he [Desfarges] (had) effects [belonging to the Siamese] worth more than the cannons, and if they broke their word, he could keep the effects [and so be better off];84 this made him send [back] the first hostage, but when they had him, they poked fun at us and sent us nothing, which forced us to keep the second hostage85 and the old ambassador, whom I left at Pondichéry. {20} M. Desfarges asked M. Véret if he did not (wish) to return to [the city of] Siam. He replied that if he returned, the [French Indies] Company would be ruined, and he had arranged his affairs so that the Company would be satisfied. M. Desfarges asked him [to write] a statement to [confirm] this declaration to acquit him, which he did in Pondichéry.86 {21} We set sail on 5th November;87 I was on board the Oriflamme with M. Desfarges. The troops were dispersed on four vessels, namely the Oriflamme, the Siam, and another small frigate, and (also) a ship belonging to the Company.88 [f.81r] {22} We arrived in Malacca for the Christmas holidays and stayed there a few days to buy victuals and take on water. M. Véret used all the money [he had] brought on the Oriflamme and belonging to the Company on purchasing tin and gold dust.89 After completing his affairs, we set sail to go to Pondichéry on 10th January, where we found M. du Bruant with 15 or 16 soldiers, who had arrived a week before us, and who had withdrawn from Mergui on St John’s day,90 being unable to retain the stronghold which remained (.....) too (.....), and moreover lacking water, on a frigate91 he had (seized) at the beginning of the revolution. MM

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Who was the governor of Ayutthaya. Coming from Desfarges, that is rather rich. 84 Again, Beauchamp appears incoherent; perhaps a phrase is missing, so the text should read something like “and Desfarges replied that if they broke their word...” 85 In BN Fr 8210 we are told he was the governor of the customs post at Paknam. 86 The words “in Pondichéry” have a line through them. 87 BN Fr 8210 has 6 November. 88 The other Siamese vessel was the Louvo; the Company vessel appears to have been the Vérette. 89 Veret’s accounts (AN Col C/1/26 f.168r-v) show he spent 25,596 livres in gold in Malacca, and 24,624 livres on tin and tutenag. 90 24 June. 91 A Siamese vessel appropriately called the Mergui. 83

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[word deleted] and Chambiche and other officers took part in this withdrawal. M. Hiton, with a good part of his company, was drowned on the longboat which sank to the bottom. They set sail and went to the islands of Tavoy, where they stayed some time with a small English ship which had left [with them] from Mergui. But this ship was seized by a vessel which the mandarin at Mergui had armed to chase after M. du Bruant, but seeing that the said island [sic] was not suitable for obtaining victuals, M. Beauregard,92 who knew the language of the country, advised M. du Bruant to go and drop anchor in a river which is on the Tavoy coastline, belonging to the King of Pegu.93 They went there and entered a river where M. de Beauregard, with the Jesuit Father d’Espagnac, went to the town. But they were very (surprised) that on their (arrival) they were told they had to go to Siriam, the capital of the country, to speak to the king, being the custom of this country. He informed M. du Bruant and told him [f.81v] to withdraw, which he did, finding many (obstacles) placed to prevent him from leaving.94 As for Sieur Beauregard, (he) remained with Father d’Espagnac.95 M. du Bruant left the said (place) and ran many dangers until he arrived in Bengal, where he found English vessels which seized him, considering [his vessel] as belonging to the King of Siam, and was taken to Madras. Not being able to obtain satisfaction, he moved to Pondichéry, the English retaining 20 of his men and a lieutenant. {23} We found in Pondichéry four vessels, namely the Normande, belonging to His Majesty, commanded by M. de Courcelles, the frigate called the SaintNicholas, [whose] captain [was M.] (Saillot), and the ketch Saint-Joseph, all three coming from Bengal, and the Coche, captained by Sieur d’Armagnan, having come from Mergui. As the Normande and the Coche were (about) to leave for Europe, M. Desfarges (had called together) Sieurs du Bruant, Vertesalle, and the commissioner La Salle, M. de l’Estrille and the director [of Pondichéry] M. Martin, and (.....) to see what should best be done for the Company. M. Desfarges proposed going to take Mergui, but M. du Bruant said it was impossible to retain; it was therefore decided in the council that they would go to take the island of Jonsalan96 and set up there. M. Desfarges had a review of the troops conducted, and there were 330 men, many of whom were sick, and (40) officers, all land forces. He told me that I had to prepare to leave, as he had selected me to carry the packets [of 92

Beauregard was another extraordinary person; he was the son of a naval intendant, and came to Siam with the first French embassy. He stayed on, become governor of Bangkok, nearly died in the Makassar revolt, and was then made governor of Mergui after the massacre of the English there. His authority was eclipsed by the arrival of du Bruant in 1688. He was abandoned in Tavoy and died in perpetual slavery. 93 At this time under Burmese suzerainty. 94 Stakes were placed in the river and the ship was fired on by cannons. 95 D’Espagnac suffered the same fate as Beauregard. 96 Junk Ceylon, modern Phuket. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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letters] about the revolution which had occurred in the kingdom of Siam, and told me to tell Monseigneur the Marquis de Seignelay that he would not leave Pondichéry until the vessels [f.82r] which he expected from Europe had arrived at the said outpost of Pondichéry, and would keep M. de l’Estrille with him; he would send a vessel to the Straits of Sunda97 to prevent vessels from going to Siam.98 It would be a Siamese vessel which would go there. M. Véret said he had not left goods in Siam which were valuable, and three persons remained to look after what might be [held] there.99 The Jesuit Fathers are for the late M. de Constance and the Missionaries against. I took down the deposition of the [second] ambassador and the hostage who declared that the (people) who worked in the [Bangkok] stronghold were all Opra Phetracha’s men, and he kept 3–4,000 men in the woods around Bangkok, who waited for his orders to come and slit our throats. I asked him if M. Constance knew this; he said no. I asked him if Opra Phetracha knew that M. Desfarges was supposed to go to Louvo, he said yes, and he was waiting for him with 15,000 men in the pagodas and forests. I carried [to Europe] these depositions. M. [de] La Salle, the commissioner, and M. Ferreux,100 Missionary, and François,101 the interpreter, were present. M. Ferreux spoke Siamese as well as he. I left him in Pondichéry with M. de Lionne and his Missionaries who crossed over with us. {24} I embarked on 17th February on the Normande. M. Desfarges had given a letter to give to the vessels to be found at the Cape [of Good Hope]. We had learnt nothing of the war102 and had not heard about the vessel the Lonray. I hope it arrived safely, and it did as far as I know. {25} As for Pondichéry they worked non-stop to complete a good wall six feet wide and high with four (good) towers, there being [f.82v] a man on behalf of the [local] prince to advance the works. They should have completed it in a short time. I was to return if Monseigneur the Marquis de Seignelay thought it appropriate and M. Desfarges wrote to him that if he sent troops, to let me see them [first]. As for the establishment of Jonsalan, M. Desfarges had only done it to please Monseigneur the Marquis de Seignelay. 97

Between Sumatra and Java, the route used to reach Siam from the Cape. This was not apparently done. 99 However, Véret’s accounts indicate (AN Col C/1/26 f.169r) that there remained in the stores, according to the inventory drawn up the day before leaving (therefore on 1 November?) not including five chests of coral which remained and which had not been valued, there being no receipt, goods to the value of 23,333 livres, a not inconsiderable sum. The three men were of course arrested by the Siamese, since Véret had gone off with the French troops. 100 Pierre Ferreux served in Ayutthaya from 1686, and after leaving with the French troops in November 1688, chose to return at the end of 1689 with the Siamese hostages, remaining here until his death in 1698. 101 François was the son of Vicente Pinheiro; both were interpreters attached to the French Missionaries (cf Launay, Documents Historiques 1920 II: 607). 102 The War of the Grand Alliance, 1689–1697. 98

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{26} We arrived on 26th April at the Cape of Good Hope103 where we were attacked, and between the 4th and 5th May the Coche arrived at five in the [after]noon and was taken in the night after having been fired on by four vessels. The captain was killed, [the crew] were searched and taken into the fortress, and two months later, the governor stripped us down to our shirts and had us embark on (.....)104 vessels, and we left on 29th June. {27} I should tell you that they sent nearly 80 men to Batavia,105 not one of whom wished to go there. {28} We arrived in Middelburg on 29th October.106 We were placed in prisons with [an allowance of] 4 (sous) a day. I earnestly request you, Sir, kindly to do what you can to extract me from such a vile place as this.107 {29} I request you to show this to Monseigneur the Marquis de Seignelay since my letters are intercepted. If M. Allard who has been here (.....) had the time to remain here, I would have sent as much to Monsiegneur. There are many things I cannot write about. When I have the honour to see him, I shall relate them to him. From the prisons of Middelburg, this 17th November 1689.

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BN Fr 8210 has 27 April, and 5 May for the arrival of the Coche. Le Blanc says four. 105 Le Blanc says about 100. 106 BN Fr 8210 has 1 November. 107 Le Blanc says the French stayed in prison for more than four months, so it seems that an exchange of prisoners could not have taken place before March 1690. 104

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Unpublished letter from Jean Vollant des Verquains, engineer From Middelburg, 17 November 1689 Introduction In contrast to the life of Desfarges, which was brief after his departure from Pondichéry in February 1690, we know a good deal more about Vollant des Verquains, who lived much longer.1 His father was a Lille architect and notable, who oversaw the construction of fortifications designed by Vauban of numerous towns in the north, and, after the return to Lille to French territory in 1667, undertook the grandiose Paris gate there. He was praised by the difficult minister Louvois, Under-Secretary of State charged with the supervision of buildings and construction, and was brought to Versailles to advise on how to bring water to the new palace. He became grand treasurer of Lille in 1671, and in 1685 he and his descendants were granted letters of nobility. His son Jean, born about 1658, was his most famous offspring. He appears to have gone to Rome in 1673 as an architect, and in 1679 was an engineer in the king’s armies, working with his father on the fortifications of Menin and the Canal de Maintenon bringing water to Versailles. He acquired the lordship of the manor of Werquains and was subsequently appointed in February 1687 with three other engineers (Brissay, de Langres and Plantier) to go to Siam. He seems to have spent at least four months in prison in the Netherlands, after being taken captive along with all those on board the Normande and the Coche at the Cape in 1689, and was released in an exchange of prisoners some time after February 1690. By December 1690 he had sufficiently recovered to buy the rights of burger of Lille and marry the daughter of a rich Cambrai family. He succeeded his father as grand treasurer of Lille in 1694 and was granted the title of knight in 1699 by Louis XIV, becoming at the same time counsellor to the king. Among the structures he designed in Lille is the Pont Neuf. He died in 1729. In short, he was not a nobody and had all the right connections. One can see that he had reason to resent the cupidity and stupidity of Desfarges, who was in overall command of French troops and engineers in Siam. Vollant naturally dismissed the work of La Mare, a gifted amateur, who had stayed on in Siam in 1685 and drawn up, and partially implemented, plans for the fortifications of various Siamese cities. Vollant must have been somewhat overworked, because

1

Thanks above all to the volume by R. Quarre-Reybourbon, La Porte de Paris à Lille et Simon Vollant, son Archictecte (Paris, Plon, Nourrit et Cie, 1891), unearthed by M. Bernard Suisse, to whom all my gratitude. The information here is taken from this book, pp.16–23. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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Plantier died before or shortly after reaching Siam and Brissay died in Lopburi from ill-treatment soon after the coup of May 1688; it is true though that the surviving engineer de Langres complained of the airs Vollant gave himself.2 Céberet, in his account of his mission of 1687, noted that Vollant was “furiously aggrieved” with Desfarges at one stage, and had to recommend caution and patience.3 Martin though makes the clearest statement indicating that Desfarges sent Vollant back to France in disgrace in 1689, along with the would-be liberator of Mme Phaulkon, Sainte-Marie, who was to be kept under guard.4 Nevertheless, Vollant had a few pleasant material souvenirs: Houdoy, in Tapisserie de haute lisse,5 notes that he “had brought back from the Far East a mass of ‘curiosities’, Chinese lacquer, porcelain, and pots, which decorated his house.” His hitherto unpublished letter which follows, written from prison in the Netherlands, discretely glosses over the more sordid aspects of Desfarges’ treatment of Mme Phaulkon, though in his published account, which appeared in Lille in 1691, the year following his release from Middelburg, the general is not spared. He possibly had learnt of Desfarges’ death which occurred some time in 1690. But there was most probably a more practical reason for this omission and that of an account of the departure from Bangkok, the journey to Pondichéry, the capture of the French ships at the Cape, and the journey to the Netherlands as a prisoner: he was writing against time, and perhaps running out of paper and ink as well. It should be noted that Beauchamp’s long letter, destined to be placed in Seignelay’s hands, from Middelburg is also dated 17 November 1689; clearly both were given the opportunity of writing to France which they seized.

2

See M. Jacq-Hergoualc’h, L’Europe et le Siam du XVIe au XVIII siècle: Apports culturels, Paris, L’Harmattan, 1993, pp. 207–213. 3 See M. Smithies, Mission made Impossible: The second French embassy to Siam 1687, Chiang Mai, Silkworm, 2002, pp. 176–7. 4 “Sieur de Sainte-Marie, he who had brought Mme Phaulkon from Siam [Ayutthaya] to Bangkok and whom the general dismissed, as well as Sieur Vollant, engineer, though he had attestations to the contrary from other officers and it is also certain that passion entered into this dismissal.” Martin, Mémories, 1934 III, p. 30, quoted in M. Smithies, A Resounding Failure: Martin and the French in Siam 1672–1693, Chiang Mai, Silkworm, 1998, pp. 113–4. 5 Lille, 1871, p. 93, cited in Quarre-Reybourbon. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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Letter Archives Nationales, Paris : AN Col. C/1/25 ff.84r–90v6 Sieur Vollant in Middelburg, 17th November 1689

[f.84r]

{1} I thought Your Lordship7 would not be displeased if I had the honour to provide him with some small details of the chief circumstances concerning the revolution in Siam. I have devoted every care to do this in the most balanced way as possible, being more disinterested (in this) than anyone in the world, and (championing) no other cause than the truth. This is why I implore you very humbly, Monseigneur, to grant me the honour of receiving it as coming from a person quite unable to (deviate) from the rigorousness with which one is required (to write) to a person such as Your Lordship. {2} As soon as our vessels had left Siam, 8 M. Constance9 came to Bangkok,10 where he ordered what he desired relating to the fort, but on which work only began on 1st February, given that M. Desfarges11 had gone to Louvo,12 from whence he only returned a fortnight later. He desired to be present when the work was begun, the rest of the month being employed in constructing bamboo billets for the soldiers, so that we should only count as (having) worked for (three) and a half months, during which time we transported 4,572 cubic toises,13 although a man only transports on each trip [a little] over one (hundred) of cubic feet, but the care we took to urge them on resulted in our having moved this quantity of (wood). {3} Shortly after, Sieur Constance sent Sieur du Bruant to Mergui.14 He had scarcely gone than Sieur Constance observed that Opra Phetracha, an important mandarin in the kingdom, began to plot and organized for himself a faction,

6

There are only four paragraphs in the original; we have constituted others for ease of reading. The title given is “Votre Grandeur”. It is not known for certain to whom this letter was addressed, but it seems most likely that it was the Marquis de Seignelay, Secretary of State for the Navy, in charge of the Siamese venture. Seignelay died in 1690, and Vollant’s published account was dedicated to Dreux-Louis Dugné de Bagnols, a Lille notable, counsellor of state and administrator of the king’s armies in Flanders. 8 The chief French envoy, La Loubère, left Siam on 2 January 1688 (according to Vollant, 1691) to return to France with the vessels which had brought his embassy and troops to Siam. 9 Phaulkon, in effect, without the title, minister of foreign affairs and trade. 10 Where the bulk of the French garrison was stationed since October the previous year. 11 The general in charge of French forces in Siam. 12 Lopburi. 13 A toise was approximately 6 feet (a linear fathom). 14 Du Bruant left on 3 February, according to Le Blanc, with three companies of troops for the outpost of Mergui on the Bay of Bengal, then Siamese territory. They arrived there on 27 March and were forced to abandon the place on 24 June (28 June according to La Touche). We hear no more about them in this account. 7

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imperceptibly drawing the chief mandarins into his interests, but not disclosing to them his [f.84v] aim, which was to place the crown on his head. This man was [as] much liked by the talapoins, who are the priests of the country, as by the people. He began with (the) former, and disguised his intentions with the pious (pretext) of supporting the pagodas, that is the religion, in all its purity, [it] having been assailed greatly by the excessive indulgence of the king, who had permitted a public [Catholic] Mission and had given the freedom to all his subjects to become Christians, which (tended towards) the complete destruction of the pagodas. As for the mandarins he sought to win over, he gave them to understand that it was of the utmost importance to the State to divert the pernicious plans which M. Constance had formed against the kingdom by bringing the French there and making them the masters of the two chief outposts; [he said] that the king was a good ruler who did not investigate closely the consequences which could result from the readiness to introduce foreigners, who would perhaps in time become the masters of the place; [and] that they were thus obliged, as zealous defenders of their freedom, to join with him to liberate themselves from a form of slavery into which [t]he[y] would inevitably sink if the king who succeeded to the throne had the same facility of complying with the conduct of M. Constance, who had to be removed. These words appeared very fine, and there was not one who did not enter blindly to embrace them, so it was not long before he had won over many mandarins to his faction, even to those who were (extremely) devoted to the king’s person. {4} However, this great enterprise could not be conducted in such secrecy [f.84r repeated] that it did not come to the knowledge of M. Constance through several mandarins, whom interest and fine hopes could not deflect from his faction, and he considered for his part on the means of forestalling Phetracha’s enterprise, whose intentions he fathomed better than anyone, but he needed more convincing (proof) than words to denounce him to the king, the custom in that kingdom being to punish a [false] accuser with the same chastisement which the accused would have suffered if he had been convicted. Moreover he feared that the threats of Phetracha might so strongly intimidate those who had revealed this secret to him that they would not [give their] support with sufficient vigour as such an enterprise required. But by (good fortune), a few days later, he received from the governor of the city of Siam15 a counterfeit order from the king bearing his seals, [written] by Phetracha, in which he ordered him to hand over a quantity of weaponry. In addition, he received (another) a few (days) afterwards from Pipely,16 of the same purport as the other, in which he ordered him to have ready a number of armed men prepared to set off as soon as the order was received. This was already

15 16

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more than was needed for M. Constance to convince the king of the evil intentions of the plotter, and to have him punished as he deserved; but as he received (daily) news about the mandarins whom Phetracha added to his faction, he thought it was rash [to] commit the authority of the king to have him arrested in a place where he (could) have people ready to support his interests. This was why he thought it would be safer to have some French troops and officers, and to this end he [f.84v repeated] informed M. Desfarges that he had a matter of the utmost importance to the two crowns to communicate to him, and he requested that he come immediately to Louvo. {5} The general went there, he [Phaulkon] told him he learnt from all sides that Phetracha was constituting his faction, and that he did not doubt he was intending to seize the kingdom and destroy the Christian religion and the interests of the king our master, and that, to forestall such an enterprise, it was expedient that he came up to Louvo with eighty of his best men and several officers, in order to arrest him without any risk; and finally that M. Desfarges should not heed the false rumours which Phetracha bruited about the kingdom concerning the death of the king, with the intention of alarming us and observing our (proceedings). M. Constance arranged (for him) to have an audience with the king the same day as he left Louvo to return to Bangkok, where, as soon as he arrived, he put the whole garrison under arms, and having selected eighty of his best men, he left the next day in several mirous.17 {6} He had hardly arrived in [the city of] Siam18 than he went to the French godown,19 where Sieur Véret,20 head of the said godown, and long a sworn enemy of M. Constance, decided to do everything in his power to satisfy his desires and to destroy him, as when he gave M. Desfarges to understand he risked much both for himself and his troops to undertake going to Louvo, as the rumour had it that the king was dead, and [he related] many other things which would take too long to enumerate. Our general, although he (must) have been fully persuaded about the king of Siam’s health21 and the (necessity) [f.85r] of supporting the plans of M. Constance, which only concerned the well-being of his master and the interests of His Majesty,22 did not fail to endorse the views of Sieur Véret, without reflecting

17

Small country or river boats; the plural is often miroux. On 15 April, according to Le Blanc. 19 The offices or “factory” of the French East Indies Company. 20 All the references to Véret in the original letter are underlined. An arrest order for Véret was issued his malversation of Company funds, and it seems likely that the different accounts arriving in France were used, possible by some police agency, to gather material on Véret’s conduct of affairs. 21 Since he had had an audience with him only five days previously, as Laneau points out below. 22 Respectively King Narai and Louis XIV. 18

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that he had [no] aim but of causing the downfall of M. Constance, and of profiting of this turn of events to take possession of all the goods in the godown, on the pretext that everything would have been pillaged, as events turned out to be all too true, being entirely unable to justify himself before the director of the godown at Pondichéry,23 claiming that all the papers in the establishment has been pilfered, which was untrue. This man, seeing he had partly won over M. Desfarges, thought it meet to take him to the seminary, so that there could be completed what he had so well begun, well knowing that the bishops24 had no other views than those he had [already] given them. M. de Lionne was the first who asked M. Desfarges how he dared to leave himself open to having his throat cut along with all those who had come with him, as all the kingdom was under arms following the death of the king which had been announced a long time before. “I advise you,” he said, “to return to Bangkok as quickly as you can”; but the old Bishop of Metellopolis, a virtuous and pious man, said that one should not grant credence so readily to rumours, and it was appropriate, before giving up, to (know) the truth, and there was reason to doubt that the king of Siam was dead, [since] the general had had an audience with him hardly five days previously, and the rumour dated from that time; to be better reassured, it was necessary [f.85v] to write to M. Constance and inform him of what he had learnt in [the city of] Siam. M. Desfarges was not unaware that he was alive, and this rumour was not an (unexpected) matter for him, since M. Constance had warned him about this, and had requested him several times [to beware of this rumour], when outlining his plan, to the point where he [Desfarges] had began to be annoyed, so often did he [Constance] repeat himself. So it was decided that an officer would be sent to M. Constance, as much to know if the roads were guarded by a very large number of armed men, as Sieur Véret most positively assured him, as to warn M. Constance that this news had been received, and that, during this period [while the officer was absent] M. Desfarges would depart from Siam to set up his command two leagues below that city. {7} Lieutenant Le Roy25 was selected to carry the letter and having taken all the precautions of someone who did not wish to be surprised, he was very astonished to see that they were all pointless, and that all he met with on the way were elephants, horses, barges, and palanquins which M. Constance had sent half-way between [the city of] Siam and Louvo to receive M. Desfarges and his troops. As soon as he arrived in Louvo, he thought everyone had been murdered, so great was the silence and (tranquillity). He went first of all to the house of the Jesuit Fathers, where M. Constance was just leaving with his lady, and where he had observed that

23

The scrupulously honest François Martin. Louis Laneau, Bishop of Metellopolis, and Artus de Lionne, Bishop of Rosalie. 25 Le Roy is not named in Vollant’s published text. 24

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evening a lunar eclipse.26 As soon as he knew that a French officer had come from M. Desfarges, he left his chamber, received the letter which this officer carried, and who had even taken the precaution of concealing it in the knot of his wig. M. Constance replied immediately to M. Desfarges, and requested him with good reason not to give in to [f.86r] these fears, and [saying] that he ought to be sufficiently persuaded to the contrary; in addition to that, the person carrying the letter could (also) confirm the extreme tranquility in which everyone rested. Sieur Le Roy having received his reply, returned to Siam without seeing any more troops than when he went up. {8} As it was appropriate to be informed of everything, Lieutenant (d’Anglas) was sent to buy victuals for the troops, with orders to observe if he saw any signs of disturbance in the town. This officer, having in one afternoon gone about all the (quarters) of [the city of] Siam, related that everything was (extremely) quiet. It seemed that all these signs, so contrary (to the rumour) which prevailed, should have dispelled every fear in M. Desfarges, and caused him to carry out his promise, but he was too predisposed and had already decided on his course of action. He resolved before leaving to send Sieur Dacieux, an old captain, (to) M. Constance with a letter in which he indicated that he could not go up to Louvo nor leave his stronghold without risking losing his head [when] in France, and if he wished to come to Bangkok, he would receive him with pleasure. This officer, who for some time enjoyed the confidence of M. Desfarges, told him that he did not think it was in the interests of the king to abandon M. Constance, particularly in such circumstances as these, where a decisive move was taking place; and moreover he was sufficiently (informed) about the falsity of the rumours which were current not to apprehend going up, but the only reply he (obtained) from this general was that he could not agree to do so, and had given his word to the bishops, who, being persons of merit, (ought to be) heard, and who had agreed to exonerate him (in respect of) the court.27 {9} Following this, he left to return to Bangkok, and Sieur Dacieux went to complete his commission in Louvo, where he arrived without coming across any more obstacles [f.86v] on his way than the first officer who had gone there. After handing over his letter, he gave M. Constance a report on the meeting he had had with our general on his account, which greatly surprised him, and forced him to say

26

This detail also appears in the 1691 text; de Bèze says it took place on Maundy Thursday, the night of 15–16 April. 27 This seems more like an invention of either Desfarges or of Vollant, than anything proposed by the bishops, who were largely without influence at Versailles. However, the convoluted explanations of the Abbé de Lionne, “Mémoire sur une affair sur laquelle on m’a demandé quelques éclaircissements” (Launay, Documents Historiques, 1920: 208–214), of his conduct in this matter lead one to think that Desfarges was not without justification in believing this to be true. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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that he did not think he had given the general cause to abandon him, since it was their common cause that he (espoused), and that an (action) similar to this not being followed up, it (would destroy) the king of Siam, the interests of His Majesty, and his own person in a succession of misfortunes from which [one] would never be able to recover, as the end only too well showed. {10} On retiring to his chapel to place everything in the hands of Our Lord, he sent back Sieur Dacieux with Sieur de Beauchamp to show once more to M. Desfarges that there was still time to repair the damage, and it was of the utmost importance for the well-being of the two crowns that he came up, for otherwise he must expect everything to be lost. Sieur de Beauchamp assured him many times that there was no danger, and that if he wished to go up, he (would save) everything while risking nothing, but all these reasons, although coming from a man in whom he had every confidence, were (not able to prevail) over the hopes which the bishops had given him, to exonerate him (before) the court, nor to prevent him totally abandoning M. Constance to his tragic fate which is what subsequently happened. {11} This minister,28 having lost all hope from those from whom he should most have expected it, and seeing that the conspiracy was gaining ground daily, only thought of warning [f.87r] the king of everything which had occurred, and having found a moment when he was not surrounded by the (creatures) of Phetracha, he informed him of the state of his kingdom, and to forestall such a misfortune, [said] it was best not to explode [in rage] and, with the pretext of infirmity, to declare his daughter queen, and the uncle she chose to marry would succeed him (and) ascend to the throne after having paid respects to his remains for (one) year. The king greatly approved this advice, and having declared his views publicly, Phetracha sought strongly to negate the implementation of this declaration. The king asked (a few days) later of M. Constance where the French were, and how could the general abandon him in such pressing need, whom he had always thought of as his intimate friend, but he was sufficiently gracious to excuse him, not daring to inform the king that he had abandoned him (as well).29 {12} Some time after, he [Phaulkon] learnt that the king was (arrested) in his palace, and abandoned by all the mandarins who were won over by Phetracha, and that this rebel was (born) a talapoin, and had introduced a prodigious quantity of armed men there. He resolved to make a final effort to save his master or to die with him, and after bidding farewell to Mme Constance, he went to the palace30 with some hope of yet finding some support for his ruler, who, being aided by 28

Meaning Phaulkon, though in fact he never held any office; only the French claimed he was a minister, sometimes even chief minister. 29 The 1691 text is more direct and invents King Narai’s comments on Desfarges’ desertion of him. 30 On 19 May according to the 1691 text; but Vollant has the dispute between Phetracha and Mom Pit taking place on 18 May. Le Blanc and Beauchamp have the coup taking place on 18 May. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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some Englishmen and Portuguese and two Siamese companies of dubious loyalty, with the intention of counterbalancing Phetracha who had put himself in control. But he had hardly passed into [f.87v] the second courtyard than he was arrested [by Phetracha] himself, in the presence of Sieurs de Beauchamp, Fretteville, and the Chevalier Desfarges, all three each armed with a couple of pistols and a good sword.31 After making him go around on the palace walls, he was locked in a prison, from whence he was never seen again. He was made to suffer for more than three weeks every barbarous villainy of the most horrible kind to confess things he had never even thought of, and to force him to declare himself guilty of crimes he had never committed. He [Phetracha] had him taken to a place near Louvo, where, after protesting before God that he had never had any desire other than to serve his master and the State, he (had) his head separated from his body and then was sliced through the middle in the manner of Siamese criminals. This was the tragic end of a man for whom it would have been more honorable to the king that we should perish than abandon him in the manner of cowards, as we did. {13} Phetracha had convinced Monpit,32 the adopted son of the king, that he would marry the princess[-queen],33 and he was only working towards putting him on the throne, having no other desire than to make himself a talapoin and to remove the king’s brothers from the succession, for reasons it would take too long to go into. [Monpit] realized, too late, he had been duped, and decided to go and throw himself at the king’s feet and reveal all the intrigues of Phetracha, seeking his pardon for having been so base as to follow and listen to him. The king, who favoured him, readily pardoned him, but his enemy [f.88r] who saw in this all his plot revealed, and (absolutely) in the necessity of unmasking himself, was not so indulgent for him, and (watched) for the moment when the king left his chamber, which Monpit did not leave after making his confession. Phetracha was rewarded after two days, and having removed him by force, had him assassinated in the antechamber and then displayed at the palace gate. This Phetracha, having thus disposed of these two (persons) who could upset his plan, if they had remained united, only thought of doing the same thing with the king’s two brothers,34 who were two powerful obstacles to his plan to ascend the throne. But as it would require too many details to indicate all the stratagems he employed to make himself master of these two princes, I shall merely say that both being in the palace in [the city of] Siam, he found the means of extracting the elder35 with fine hopes of

31

Vollant implies they did not seize the opportunity to remove Phetracha; Beauchamp (whose bluster was greater than his valour) maintains they were waiting for a signal from Phaulkon. 32 The name is variously given in the texts as Pi, Ophra Pi, etc. He was the son of a low-ranking courtier. 33 Krom LuangYothathep, Narai’s only child. 34 Chao Fa Apaithot, the elder, and Chao Fa Noi. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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succeeding the king, going as far as performing the zombaye,36 acknowledging him as his master. This prince, dazzled by the desire to reign, readily fell into the trap, and on arriving in Louvo, he [Phetracha] forced the younger to leave the palace, and seeing himself master of both unfortunate princes, he invented crimes [they had committed] against the king and the State, particularly the elder, of having received homage due only to the king during his lifetime, and so on his authority had them killed in the manner of [disposing] of Siamese princes, whose blood it is not permitted to shed, but had them placed in a sack of [f.88v] scarlet velvet, in which they are beaten with the most precious wood of the Indies, sandalwood.37 {14} Phetracha, having thus reached the (peak) of his (ambition), did not hesitate to declare himself king,38 there being no obstacle left to him, the mandarins perceiving his intentions only little by little as he [hatched and] revealed them, and (they saw) in the end that they had been duped by his ambition. {15} I think it would now be appropriate to return to Bangkok where we left M. Desfarges on having returned from [the city of] Siam. [He] had scarcely arrived than he pretended to be sick in order to have an excuse not to go up to Louvo and to cut short all the pressing (requests) that M. Constance sent to him, both through the Jesuit Fathers Le Royer and Le Blanc,39 who came on purpose for that, and Sieurs Dacieux and de Beauchamp, who came to rectify the course of action he had taken. {16} From that time, our workmen were considerably reduced in number, and seeing [that] the misfortune of M. Constance would increase ours, [I] suggested to M. Desfarges making a retrenchment in the stronghold and mining the cavalier40 on the western fort, since it overlooked us in the stronghold. M. Desfarges did not want (.....) to listen to this, saying that, apart from it not being the custom in Siam to demolish a structure built on the king’s orders, Phetracha could take this as an aggression and a declaration of war, and that being on friendly terms he did not put himself out in making a favourable (.....) with him. But he saw clearly later that he was deceived in his expectations, for when he saw him completely in charge in the palace, which occurred at the end of April,41 he [Phetracha] sent for him through

35

This error is corrected in the 1691 text to the younger; the elder was well-known to be incapable. Formal prostration, kow-tow. 37 This was done, according to the 1691 text, on 19 July, probably a mistake for 9 July, since Narai’s half-brothers according to Vollant himself were killed before the death of the king. 38 Curiously Vollant has so far made no mention of King Narai’s death; the 1691 text gives the date 11 July. 39 Both had arrived in Siam the previous year, part of a group that Phaulkon had procured through the intermediary of the Jesuit Tachard. 40 An observation tower. 36

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the first ambassador to France,42 together with M. de Lionne [f.89r] and M. Véret, after having arrested all the French officers to be found in Louvo, saying that is was necessary for the king’s service that he came up, although there was much greater risk for his person in this journey than when M. Constance requested the same thing of him, when he had a greater escort.43 He [Desfarges] allowed himself to follow the first ambassador, after holding a council about this, ever hoping to come to an understanding with Phetracha, as M. de Lionne had given him hopes, but found this was far from the case. When he arrived in Louvo, he was confronted by a man who only uttered threats, assuming an absolute air as if he were his overlord. He began by asking three things: why he had gone to [the city of] Siam with his troops; why he had returned [to Bangkok] without going up to Louvo; and why M. Constance had brought Frenchmen into the kingdom. M. Desfarges replied to all these questions; [his answers] would take too long to detail here.44 Phetracha then said to him that as he had come to Siam to serve the king, it was appropriate to his service that he came up with all his troops to march against the (Laos), the king’s enemies, and if he refused to give his word for that, he should not count on returning to Bangkok. M. Desfarges promised him anything in order to return to his stronghold, even leaving his two sons as hostages.45 {17} On arriving in Bangkok, he found his stronghold in good order, and many of the cannons in position, although he had forbidden M. de Vertesalle and me to do anything which might give the Siamese grounds for suspicion during his absence. The same day he returned, 6th June, after dinner46 we [f.89v] made the open declaration of war, by (firing on) one of the king’s vessels which passed in front of the stronghold and which refused to give us salt in return for our money. After that, thought was given to withdrawing all the munitions in the western fort, and about this M. Desfarges asked me if I could mine it in time for the next morning. I said there was no time, and the mines to bring down such a structure could not complete their task in the fifteen hours he desired; that if I had been listened to [earlier], this would already have been done. So we made do with disabling the cannons which brought down a part of the parapets. The troops moved over to the east [fort] and the Siamese put themselves in control of that to the west; [we were] unable to retain both of them because we had so few men. They constructed a wooden cavalier on top of the (masonry) one in order better to observe our strong-

41

This seems to be an error for May; Le Blanc says he left Bangkok on 31 May. Kosa Pan, Ok-phra Wisuth Sunthorn. 43 Vollant does not mention the bait given by Kosa Pan: that Desfarges would take over the offices of Phaulkon and would instruct his eldest son the Marquis Desfarges in his carrying out his duties. 44 They appear in the 1691 text. 45 Desfarges left Lopburi on 5 June according to the 1691 text, the same day Phaulkon was killed. 46 Dinner was eaten in the early afternoon in the seventeenth century. 42

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hold, but were never able to use it, being obliged to underpin it before it was even finished. We fired for three days running from six cannons, and a fortnight passed without any talk of coming to terms, at the end of which the Siamese made the first moves, and gave us to understand through the Bishop of Metellopolis that they were willing to consider some settlement. That was followed by several letters dispatched on both sides, the contents of which I shall pass over as well as the details of the treaties. Whilst we were deliberating, the Siamese did not desist in constructing around our stronghold, at the distance of a musket shot, [f.90r] nine redoubts,47 the smallest of which contained six cannons, and when we desired to use our cannons to stop them working, M. Desfarges forbade us, considering it inappropriate to expend our powder on that, though it could not have been put to better use. We were on the point of lacking victuals when a settlement seemed close, for our stock of meat was almost exhausted, and wood began to run short in the stronghold. This forced our general to ask that the market be allowed to be set up by our fortress,48 and finally, after many propositions and proposals, they granted [us] two vessels for which Sieur Véret was to remain as caution, who however returned with us.49 {18} About three weeks before our departure, Sieur de Larre,50 formerly a ship’s captain, brought Mme Constance to Bangkok,51 who had found the means of escaping from the hands of her persecutors and those who were to lock her up in the palace,52 there to be prostituted. M. Desfarges was very angry, for he saw this as a great obstacle to his departure, which he had long desired; moreover he was not unaware that in keeping her, he would be obliged to return a certain deposit about which I do not think I should speak and in which everyone had had a hand.53 The poor lady intended to say nothing about this if she had been kept and liberated from the sad slavery to which she was reduced, but in spite of a council in which nearly every person was for keeping her, she saw she was to be returned to the hands of her persecutors. This is [f.90v] what she could not endure, (seeing she) had two of the most obliging letters that one could receive from the king,54 (which) forced her to say publicly that they were not satisfied in looting her, but, in spite of 47

Outworks. War was still conducted in a gentlemanly fashion: the French were allowed to buy foodstuffs from the Siamese peasants outside the fort. 49 There is no mention here of Laneau, Bishop Metellopolis, also remaining as guarantor. 50 This appears to be the original name of M. de Sainte-Marie; the 1681 text talks of de Larre or Sainte Marie. 51 On 4 October according to the 1691 text. 52 Of Phetracha’s son Sorasak. 53 This is a veiled reference to Mme Phaulkon’s jewels which Desfarges had appropriated; Vollant was much less reticent about this shameful incident in his published account. 54 Louis XIV. 48

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the king’s word, they were selling her, as they had sold her husband. I shall have, Monseigneur, almost as much to say on this count than could appear in the rest of my letter, but the Jesuits, who are trustworthy and far better informed than me about the truth of this matter, will be able to give Your Lordship fuller details. Moreover I would fear, in telling the truth, of being suspect, having as little cause as I have to praise the manner in which M. Desfarges treated me since my departure from France, and of profiting by my emoluments, of which I have not received a single cent55 other than the six months advance I received from M. [de] La Loubère in Paris. All that I ask of you, Monsiegneur, is not to condemn me without hearing me, and to remind you of all the (vexations) I have experienced since my departure from France, as well as the misery to which we have been reduced for more than seven months.56 This is the favour I dare hope for from your indulgence.57

55

Desfarges’ rapaciousness apparently knew few bounds. At the end of the 1691 text, Vollant notes that the French “were detained [in prison] for more than four months.” They reached Zeeland, according to Le Blanc, on 28 October 1698 and so could not have been exchanged before March 1690. 57 The end of this letter is rushed, and leaves out many details included in the 1691 text: the departure from Bangkok, the journey to Pondichéry, the capture of the French ships at the Cape, the journey to the Netherlands. Probably Vollant ran out of paper or time; he seized the opportunity of writing to France when it was presented, as did his fellow-prisoner Beauchamp, on the same day. 56

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Bibliography of cited works

ANON. Relation de ce qui s’est passé à Louvo, royaume de Siam, et ce qui s’est passé à Bangkok pendant le siege en 1688. AN Col. C/1/21 ff.140–272. BEAUCHAMP. Relation des Révolutions de la Cour de Siam en 1688. BN Fr 8210 ff.506r–570r. Published anonymously in the Cabinet Historique, Paris, 1861, pp.177–234, 262–297, 326–339. This appeared in English in Witnesses to a Revolution: Siam 1688, ed. M. Smithies, q.v. BE`ZE, Claude de. DRANS, Jean and Henri BERNARD, Mémoire du Père de Bèze .....Tokyo, Presses Salésiennes, 1947; and E.W. HUTCHINSON, 1688 Revolution in Siam: the Memoir of Father de Bèze. Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press, 1968. CHALLE, Robert. Journal d’un voyage fait aux Indes Orientales (1690–1691). Paris, Mercure de France, 1979. DESFARGES. Relation des Révolutions arrivées à Siam dans l’année 1688. Amsterdam, P. Brunet, 1691. HOUDOY. Tapiserie de haute lisse. Lille, 1871. JACQ-HERGOUALC’H, Michel. L’Europe et le Siam du XVIe au XVIIIe siècle: apports culturels. Paris, L’Harmattan, 1993. LA TOUCHE. Relation de ce qui est arrivé dans le Royaume de Siam. In R. Challe, Journal du Voyage des Indes Orientales. Geneva, Droz, 1998. LAUNAY, Adrien. Histoire de la Mission de Siam, 1662–1811. Documents Historiques, 2 vols. Paris, Téqui, 1920. LE BLANC, Marcel. History of Siam in 1688. Translated and edited by M. Smithies. Chiang Mai, Silkworm, 2003. MARTIN, François. Mémoires, 3 vols. Paris, Société des l’Histoire des Colonies Françaises, 1931, 1932, 1934. PINARD, N. Chronologie historique militaire.... 8 vols. Paris, Hérissant, 1760–1788. QUARRE-REYBOURBON, R. La Porte de Paris à Lille et Simon Vollant, son Architecte. Paris, Plon, Noutrit et Cie, 1891. SMITHIES, Michael. A Resounding Failure: Martin and the French in Siam 1672–1693. Chiang Mai, Silkworm, 1998. ------ . Mission Made Impossible: the Second French embassy to Siam 1687. Chiang Mai, Silkworm, 2002. ------ , ed. Three Military Accounts of the 1688 ‘Revolution’ in Siam: Desfarges, La Touche, and Vollant des Verquains. Bangkok, Orchid, 2002. ------ , Witnesses to a revolution: Siam 1688, Bangkok, Siam Society, 2004. VÉRET. [Comptes reçus par le navire le Lonray arrivé à Brest le 1er mars 1691]. AN Col. C/1/26 ff.168v–169r. VOLLANT des Verquains, Jean. Histoire de la Révolution de Siam arrivée en l’année 1688. Lille, J.C. Malte, 1691. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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PRINCE PRISDANG AND THE PROPOSAL FOR THE FIRST SIAMESE CONSTITUTION, 18851 Sumet Jumsai

Abstract The proposal for the Siamese Constitution in 1885 was initiated by Prince Prisdang, the Siamese minister in Paris, as a counter measure against the colonial powers which were annexing territories under the pretext that people had to be freed from despotic rule and that natural resources should be properly managed for mankind. The proposal was made against the background of the fall of Upper Burma and, to some extent, the progressive ideology of the Young Siamese Club, a secretive “Young Turk” group headed by King Chulalongkorn himself, with Prince Prisdang as one of its members. “…War on the Vietnamese and Burmese fronts should be over. The problems will now be on the Westerners’ side. Take care that they do not take advantage. Whatever they do or think, learn and apply accordingly. But do not become totally subservient to their way.” King Rama III’s utterance on his death bed, 1851

The reason Prince Prisdang, who was the Siamese minister in Paris, initiated the Constitution of Siam in 1885 was principally due to the pressing need to reform the government of the country under threat of colonialism. However, a personal penchant for reform and social egalitarianism also played a part. In the nineteenth century, territories around Siam fell one by one to the two competing colonial powers, Britain and France. While Siam accepted politics in the international arena by setting up permanent missions in Europe and establish1

This paper is an elaboration on the lecture Prince Prisdang and the Proposal for a Siamese Constitution in 1885 given at the Siam Society on 19 November 1985. An abridged version of the lecture was published in South-East Asian Studies Newsletter, No. 22, British Institute in SouthEast Asia, Bangkok, January 1986. The term “First Siamese Constitution” in the title is up to debate since Inscription 1 of Sukhothai, dated 1292, can be regarded as Siam’s first written constitution with its references to government, succession, freedom of occupation and trade, duties limitation and right of royal appeal. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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ing dialogues with the West, Burma under King Thibaw, still believing in military might with French armaments (which proved to be an empty promise), adopted an unconciliatory policy towards Britain. Earlier, in 1826, the British had annexed Arakan and Lower Burma, and by the early 1880s the independence of Upper Burma had became precarious. Thus in 1883 King Thibaw dispatched a mission to Europe to reconnoitre but principally to firm up support from the French. Consequently the Burmese made a prolonged stay in Paris. With the French being tied up in the war in Tonkin, the British very quickly invaded Upper Burma. Mandalay, the capital, was captured at the end of November 1885 and the rest of the country was formally annexed on 1 January 1886. The Burmese envoy and his retinue in Paris suddenly found themselves stateless, and, destitute, sought refuge at the Siamese Legation in the Rue de Siam.2 Pouring out his disappointment with his Government which did not heed his proposals for Burma to be more accommodating to Britain, the envoy lamented at length on the state of Thibaw’s court and asked Prince Prisdang for his opinion as to whether Britain would allow his country to have a new king. The prince told him that if the Conservatives came to power in Britain Burma would exist no more, whereas if the Liberals won the elections the country would perhaps become a protectorate. The Siamese minister then posed the question: where would a new king be found, since King Thibaw had all the royal princes massacred while the king’s elder brother, who escaped to French Pondicherry, would not be acceptable to the British because of the French connection? The Burmese mission was well received at the Legation but there was very little that the Siamese Minister could do except to arrange for the Burmese envoy and his retinue a safe passage back to Burma. Prince Prisdang wrote lengthy reports and sent numerous newspaper cuttings to King Chulalongkorn and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prince Krom Muen (later Krom Phraya) Devawongvaroprakara. The king had been shaken by the events leading up to the annexation of Burma and wrote to his minister in Paris asking for the latter’s recommendation as to how Siam could preserve her independence, giving the reason that since the prince had long resided in Europe he should be well acquainted with Western ways of thinking. The minister at first replied that he may not be qualified for the purpose and that he might submit too strong an opinion, thereby incurring His Majesty’s displeasure. King Chulalongkorn wrote back insisting that the prince air his views frankly.3 2

Prince Prisdang’s Files on His Diplomatic Activities in Europe, 1880–1886, M.L. Manich Jumsai, Chalermnit, Bangkok 1977, p. 245 et seq. 3 A Brief Autobiography, in Thai, Colonel (Special) H.H. Prince Prisdang, From birth BE 2392 to BE 2473, Vol. 1 (complete in 3 vols.), Bangkok BE 2472 (1929), pp. 48, 49. There are discrepancies at this point. The proposal submitted to His Majesty was dated 9 January 1885 which meant that the king must have written to Prince Prisdang some time before that date and well before the actual capitulation of Upper Burma which occurred in November of that year. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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Prince Prisdang had strong views on the matter but hesitated, for instead of giving his opinion and proposal to the king directly, he resorted to enlisting the support of three senior princes in England, viz., Prince Krom Muen (later Krom Phra) Naresvararit, Prince Svastisobhon (later Krom Phra Svastivadhanasidh), and Prince Sonabandit (later Krom Khun Bhidhyalappluetithada). The proposal was for the first Constitution of Siam. Before proceeding to the substance of the Constitution and its justifications, it is as well to know something about its initiator. Born as Mom Chao in 1851, Prince Prisdang had already become in his teens buildings and artist assistant to his architect father, Prince Krom Khun Rajsihavikrom, a son of King Rama III. The young artist-architect at the same time became a member of the Young Siamese Club with a select group of cousins of the same age group, and with the king himself as their leader. Their chief aim was to institute reform and at the same time, as a hidden agenda, to wrestle power from the conservative Bunnag family, as well as to safeguard the young king against of the Prince of the Palace of the Front who had his own aims, with British support.4 The group issued its own newspaper called Darunovath, the first Thai language periodical, which made a brief appearance in 1874–75.5 However, in 1870, at the age of 19, the young prince was sent to England where he studied engineering at King’s College, London, and became the first Siamese to have graduated from an English university. The following extract on the prince’s graduation appeared in The Times of London, 7 July 1876, under the heading “King’s College Red Letter Day. Mr. Gladstone at King’s College”. “Mr. Gladstone distributed the prizes yesterday to the students. Chomsai Prisdang, a native of Siam, took… (nearly all the prizes) … (for which Mr. Gladstone then said that he) never witnessed a more remarkable exhibition of that feeling than when Dr. Barry (the praelector) announced to them that day the first arrival upon the platform of a young gentleman who had come to obtain the benefit of education in this country from one of at least the most distant countries in the world. Nor could he perceive that the lively satisfaction with which the gentleman’s fellow students witnessed his success was rendered slack by the formidable and the monopolizing character of the proceedings of that young gentleman to whom he had so often to hand across the table the proof and commemoration of his exertions.” 4

The Politics of Reform in Thailand, David K. Wyatt, Bangkok BE 2512 (1969), pp. 45, 46. First steps in the newspapers in Thailand, in Thai, Luang Bunyamanmanoppanich, Bangkok BE 2508 (1965), p. 27 et seq, and p. 52 in which Prince Prisdang’s name appears. 5

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After a brief visit back home in 1876 Prince Prisdang went to train in Holland on the Zuiderzee Dam project. Not long after, in 1879, he was recruited into the Siamese diplomatic service for special missions in Europe, eventually becoming, from 1881, minister accredited to 11 European countries as well as the United States.6 Besides setting up the Siamese Legations in London, Paris and Berlin, and presenting the credentials to the Treaty Powers (excepting the USA), he successfully negotiated the Spirits Conventions, a partial rectification of the result of the Bowring Treaty, helped to establish the Siamese Post and Telegraphic services at the international level, arranged for Siamese exhibitions in Europe and became the de facto superintendent of the Siamese students in Europe. A photograph dated 1883 shows him “convening” the first “Siamese students meeting” at Oxford, where he had earlier arranged for the admission of Prince Svastisobhon.7 In this picture, students, princes and embassy officials mingled in the most informal manner, the Siamese minister himself lying nonchalantly in a hammock.8 The Oxford connection was important for it must have been between 1883 and 1884 that Prince Prisdang decided to propose the Constitution to the king and asked Prince Svastisobhon to prepare the draft. The resulting document was timely when the king wrote to ask for Prince Prisdang’s recommendation on ways and means for Siam to remain independent. With the support of his princely peers in England he set the matter in motion: the document was read over with corrections made by Prince Krom Muen Naresvararit and his secretary, Prince Sonabandit. The staff of the legations in Paris and London were requested (but not coerced) to sign the document together with the four princes. Together there were eight signatories. Four copies were made, one to be submitted directly to the king, one each for the legations, and one to be taken by Nai Sneh, an embassy secretary, for additional signatures and for presentation to His Majesty.9 6

Collected letters of H. H. Prince Prisdang, the first resident Thai ambassador in Europe, in Thai, Committee to Review Thai History and to Publish Historical and Archaeological Documents, Secretariat of the Prime Minister, Bangkok 1991. 7 Lord Granville, the Foreign Secretary, was asked by Prince Prisdang to help with Prince Svastisophon’s admission to Oxford. The latter, reading Modern Languages and Law, became instrumental in drafting the proposal for the Siamese constitution for the Siamese minister. 8 Social stratification became more marked and formalized towards the end of the fifth reign and throughout the sixth reign, which, with the delay in promulgating a Constitution and economic factors, led to the coup d’état which overthrew the absolute mornachy in 1932. 9 Chao Muen Vaivornath was one of the officials asked by Prince Prisdang to sign the document. However, he declined to do so and instead submitted his own opinion to the king and suggested that His Majesty should make State visits to Europe. See Documents on Thai Politics and Government, in Thai, BE 2417–BE 2477 (1874–1934), Chai-anand Smudhvanich, Bangkok BE 2518 (1975), p. 37, footnote 1. It should be noted that in 1880 King Chulalongkorn was already making preparations to go to Europe and had even appointed Prince Prisdang as his personal interpreter. See H. H. Prince Prisdang, op.cit., p. 22. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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The following is a partial translation of the justification for the Constitution:10 “Under its present form of government the country faces danger from without. A change towards a ‘civilized’ form of government is necessary, viz., the adoption of the European system, such as is being undertaken by Japan. This change can be brought about only with the king’s concurrence. “The danger is colonization by the European powers, who claim the right to bring civilization, justice, law and order to the oppressed, to open up trade and develop resources.” “The country’s present policy will not remove the danger (of colonization), because: 1. The policy of making frequent small concessions, viz., on territories or in ‘fines’, might induce a momentary feeling of security and postpone the problem for a little while, but in the end will not work… 2. Military resistance is out of the question. Siam can at best muster an army of 50,000, but the time and money required for its organization would make it an impossible task. Even if Siam won a battle, it would be only a temporary victory, and she would be regarded as demonstrating her backwardness even more so by attempting to prevent colonization. 3. There is some advantage in being a buffer state between the French and British possessions, assuming that Siam can be seen to govern itself in an orderly way, but Britain and France are already in collusion over plans to leave merely a very narrow strip of territory as a buffer between their colonies in Burma and Indochina. 4. It is wrong to assume that reforms have already taken place in Siam simply because the country now has ambassadors in Europe, post and telegraph services, European customs, conventions with the Treaty Powers, etc.” The following is a verbatim translation of one of the numerous strongly worded passages on this theme: “The reason why we say this is a wrong assumption is that such reforms are only superficial and instituted piecemeal for European consumption, and, however good in themselves, when instituted in an underdeveloped society, become themselves corrupt. For example, the royal decorations which Siam has copied from Europe have been totally misused: instead of being symbols of meritorious deeds and exemplary 10

Chai-anand Smudhvanich, op.cit., pp. 37–75. See also: The call for the first Constitution in the reign of King Rama V. Prince Prisdang and “The text submitted to the King concerning the way to effect change in the Government, 1885”, in Thai, Thanes Aphornsuwan, Art & Culture Magazine, Bangkok, October 2004. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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behaviour, they are used only as decorations for members of the privileged class. Therefore to say that this is reform, a cause with which to defend the country, is untenable. Even having ministers in Europe will not help matters if at home government remains a matter of caprice. Manners and uniforms adapted from Europe do not constitute advancement. They are only masquerades…” Other justifications follow (partial translation): “5. Treaties will not help Siam. The experience of China is a case in point. 6. Opening up trade will not necessarily lead to foreign domination because of the competing interests amongst the colonial powers. 7. It is a fallacy to think that since Siam has preserved her independence thus far, she can continue to do so in the future. The situation has changed, from former times when communications were more difficult and contacts with the West were fewer. 8. Some still wrongly believe that international law guarantees security. This law only applies amongst the ‘club’ of ‘civilized’ nations. Even Japan has not been admitted to the ‘club’, and meanwhile has been lobbying in vain to rectify its treaties with the colonial powers… “The present system of government in Siam is not only inviting danger from without, but in itself is not a good system. It is too capricious, being dependent only upon His Majesty and the Office of the Royal Secretary (viz., Prince Krom Muen, later Krom Phraya, Devawongvaroprakara). “There is only one solution: the country must adopt a Constitution. “The proposed Constitution does not mean, at this stage, setting up a Parliament. But it will involve the following measures: 1. Change must be made from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy. 2. Defence and administration of the country should be in the hands of ministers who will together form a Cabinet, and a clearly formulated Law of Succession should be promulgated. 3. All corruption is to be stamped out, and to ensure this, the salaries of government officials are to be made sufficient. [This point should be seen against the background of Siam before King Chulalongkorn’s reform programme]. 4. Universal contentment is to be met by ensuring equality before the law, including the tax system. 5. Outdated traditions are to be done away with, however time-honoured they may have become. 6. Freedom of thought, freedom of speech and freedom of the press are to be guaranteed. 7. Appointments and dismissals in government service are to be determined by clearly defined legislation. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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“The above seven points are in accordance with the principles of government in Europe. It is important to make Siamese citizens feel that there is justice in their country and that it belongs to them, so that in times of crisis they will defend the homeland together. This would be the real ‘army’, born of democracy and justice, which is of greater strength than the armed forces mobilized for limited purposes.” The rest of the document deals with ways and means of instituting the Constitution and changes in the government. It is couched in a language which shows that its proponents had already assumed that the king would agree with their ideas. At the same time it warns him of opposition from the older generation11 and the possible rebellion. It therefore recommends total secrecy, quiet mobilization of forces and military preparedness. The document ends by saying that future generations will look back and praise the king for having preserved Siam’s independence and for having been the catalyst of the nation’s progressive reforms, and that he will be an example to suceeding rulers. These recommendations, undoubtedly most daring at the time, were signed on 9 January 1885. Prince Prisdang, the master-mind, kept a low profile and attributed much of the thinking to Prince Svastisobhon who, as a young man of 19, was unlikely to have contributed much in essence. As for the new minister in London, Prince Krom Muen Naresvararit, the best part was his agreement to be party to the scheme.12 The king’s reply was written in a beautiful, clear language.13 He began by expressing his appreciation of the proposal. He then said that he had already put forward similar views and would not do anything to hinder the change to constitutional monarchy. However, he had already taken the first step by instituting the Legislative Council and this had failed. He then gave its history. When he came to the throne at the age of 15, power was in the hands of the old guard, mainly the Bunnag family headed by the regent, who controlled the executive branches of the government. To curb their power he had set up the Legislative Council, which could be described as a kind of opposition party. “How much we suffered we know and remember well. Therefore, why should we not want less power which will only bring us happiness and security to the kingdom? You must understand that we shall not be king if we are forced to step down like the kings of Europe.” 11

Reference to the “older generation” is understandable in light of the emergence of the Young Siamese Club. When the proposal for the Constitution was submitted to King Chulalongkorn, His Majesty was 32, Prince Prisdang 34, Prince Krom Muen Naresvararit 30, Prince Sonabandit 22 and Prince Svastisobhon only 20 years of age. 12 M.L. Manich Jumsai, op.cit. p. 257 (a postscriptum by Sumet Jumsai). 13 Chai-anand Smudhvanich, op.cit., pp. 76–81. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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The king went on to explain that once he possessed executive power he no longer had time personally to look after the legislative aspects of government, which soon disintegrated. What he wanted at this point, therefore, was: 1) government reform; and 2) legislative reform. But he complained bitterly of the inadequacy of his ministers and officials who, “knowing their own shortcomings try to absent themselves from Council meetings, or, if they attend, keep silent, or, if they voice opinions, will only reflect petty personalities.” He then said that he agreed with the changes as proposed. “But how?” he asked. “Should our ministers resign because of their inadequacies? There would be an unprecedented mass resignation in Siam!” The king emphasized that the practicability of any changes in the system of government must be ensured and that they must be undertaken gradually. As to the Legislative Council, he agreed that it should be strengthened, but he had no one to turn to: “No capable person can be found, only yes-men or people who say it is up to the king... They will procrastinate... and later blame the king. If the Legislative Council cannot function properly it is better not to have it.” The king, however, made it clear that he was against a Parliament and political parties. “…Government reform is the key to success; if it is not put in hand first then other matters will not succeed. Therefore, we urge you to consider this point rather than the other matter [viz. the Constitution].” He ended by saying: “We have explained ourselves, not because of the accusations you have levelled at us, but for the benefit of the present and of future generations who might misinterpret our intentions, but who, on learning of this reply, will know our true feelings.”14 The royal reply was dated 15 May 1885. In the same year orders were issued to all the four princes to return to Siam. At that time Prince Prisdang was on the point of concluding the remaining Spirits Conventions and signing Siam’s membership of the Postal Union. He therefore delayed his return in defiance of the royal command until the following year when his missions had been accomplished. The king was actually angry, not because of the delay in the prince’s return home, but for the latter having involved others in what he regarded as a personal correspondence between himself and his minister in Paris. Also the fact that the proposal was signed by nearly the entire staff of the two legations was tantamount to holding His Majesty to ransom. Prince Prisdang realized his mistake when it was all but too late, the proposal having already gone to the king.15 Returning to Siam, Prince Prisdang worked as director general of the Post and Telegraph Department, helped to set up Siriraj Hospital as co-chairman

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Ibid, p. 81. H.H. Prince Prisdang, op.cit., p. 50. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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of the buildings committee with Prince Krom Luang (later Krom Phraya) Damrongrajanubhap, became a privy councillor, organized the Siamese section for the Paris Exhibition of 1889, made a survey map of the Gulf and the coasts and rivers of Siam, and drew up the charter for the establishment of the Ministry of Public Works. For a time, life seemed normal. Then came the crisis in 1890, when certain accusations were made against him. In that year he went to Japan with Prince Krom Luang (later Krom Phraya) Bhanubhandhuwongvoradej to establish diplomatic relations. He never returned to Siam again until after the death of King Chulalongkorn. Some of his accusers and the accusations were mentioned in his autobiography.16 But the whole truth will probably never be known because certain crucial pages in the book were censored and torn out. Away from Siam, he led the life of a monk and an ascetic in India, where he came across some Buddha relics17, and Sri Lanka, where he became the Patriarch of Colombo for the Amarapura Nikaya. He returned to Siam for the royal cremation and was forced to disrobe in 1911 when rumours were rife that Chao Phraya Yomraj was about to arrest him on the charge of leaving government service without the royal consent. Left destitute, he turned to Prince Krom Luang (later Krom Phraya) Devawongvaroprakran who gave him work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a clerk translating documents - a striking contrast to his previous role as the minister accredited to 12 countries in the West! The job was, however, short-lived, for he was soon laid off, in an attempt by the government to “economize.”

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In Two Views of Siam on the Eve of the Chakri Reformation, Arran (Scotland) 1989, Nigel Brailey, the author, came to the defence of Prince Prisdang. See especially pp. 119, 120, Note 42. Prince Prisdang, from the outset of his career, seemed to be already beset by detractors and accusations. When he was appointed ambassador for special missions to Europe, the British Consul in Bangkok, Gifford Palmgrave, wrote to the Foreign Office in London that the “prince” was son of a slave mother and slave father (since the latter was in turn son of a slave mother), and therefore should not be received at the Court of St. James. (Vide Public Record Office, London, F.O.’s letter No. 57 dated 17 September 1881, concerning Palmgrave’s correspondence of 30 May 1880). Palmgrave took up the matter again in a private letter dated 24 September 1881 repeating his “intelligence” to his colleague in London (at the F.O.?) and calling Prince Prisdang rude names. (Vide Public Record Office, London, on Palmgrave’s correspondence, p. 292.) 17 Correspondence and memoranda at the Public Record Office, London, Files No. 740, 741, 279c, etc, 1898. The discovery of the relics, which were authenticated by the accompanying inscriptions, was also well documented by the Siamese authorities. See for example: History of Wat Saketvoramahaviharn and documents on the Buddha’s relics at Kapilavastu, in Thai, Bangkok Municipal Authority, The Prime Minister’s Office Printing Press. Bangkok 1955. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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Fig.1 Portrait of Prince Prisdang recovered from the basement of the Royal Thai Embassy in Paris in 1998. (Courtesy The Royal Thai Embassy, Paris)

Fig. 2 Ambassador Prince Prisdang (in the hammock) with students and embassy officials at Oxford in 1883. Prince Svastisobhon, the first Siamese undergraduate at Oxford, is seen seated next to the ambassador. The occasion might be regarded as the first meeting of Siamese students in England. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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Fig. 3 “Investing the Siamese Prince Prisdang with the Royal Order of Chula Chom Klao, at the Siamese Embassy in London”, The Illustrated London News, 1 December 1883. In this magazine engraving, all the principal signatories of the proposal for the first Siamese Constitution are shown: Prince Krom Muen Naresvararit, Prince Svastisobhon, Prince Sonabandit, Prince Prisdang and the embassy officials (not identified).

1 5

4 3 2

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Prince Krom Muen Naresvararit Prince Prisdang Prince Svastisobhon Prince Sonabandit Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice, Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs

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Until his death, Prince Prisdang led the life of a Bohemian. He sported a magnificent beard, which won him the first prize in an international competition held in Japan for the longest and most beautiful beard in the world. He died in penury in 1935 three years after the coup d’état which brought the absolute monarchy in Siam to an end and 50 years after his proposal for the Constitution.

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RUSSIAN-THAI RELATIONS: HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL ASPECTS1 Yevgeny D. Ostrovenko

Personal contacts constitute an essential sphere of bilateral relations. Covering a broad range of activities, from exchanges in the spheres of art and culture to what we call now “people’s diplomacy”, these contacts enrich and give a human character to official relations existing between nations. Russian-Thai personal relations present an outstanding example of that axiom. Over a hundred years ago personal friendship between two monarchs, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and King Chulalongkorn of Siam, laid the foundation for the advanced and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two nations. Since then, mutual interest in learning more about the culture and history of each has been steadily growing. A long tradition of Thai studies exists in Russia. The Thai language, history, geography, economy are taught in a number of leading universities, such as Moscow State University, St Petersburg State University, Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University), the Far Eastern State University in Vladivostok and some others. Russian academics specializing in Thai studies activity conduct research into the past and present of the Kingdom of Thailand. Scientific works by such researchers as Yuri Plum and Lev Morev on the Thai language, Boris Melnichenko, Valentina Dolnikova, Elena Fomicheva, Irina Lipilina on Thai history and literature, Alexander Kornev on Thai Buddhism and others, have contributed greatly to the spread of competent knowledge about Thailand in Russia. In particular, B. Melnichenko’s Russia and Siam as well as the works of O. Deshpande Siamese Art of XIV-XIX centuries in the Hermitage and E. Ivanova’s Essays on the culture of Thais in Thailand helped greatly in preparing of the present article. Among historical sources used in this article are the collection of Archival Documents on the Russian-Thai relations (1863–1917) and the Diary of Prince Esper Ukhtomsky, a tutor and travelling companion of the future Russian Tsar Nicholas II, containing first-hand information about the visit of the Crown Prince Nicholas to Siam in 1891.

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This article is an edited version of the lecture delivered by H. E. Dr Y. D. Ostrovenko at the Siam Society on 8 April 2004. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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A collection of historical documents (in Russian and in Thai) was simultaneously published in Russia and Thailand on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the establishment of the Russian-Thai diplomatic relations by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and State Archives of the two countries, the Russian Federation and the Kingdom of Thailand. *** As early as in the late 1870s King Chulalongkorn of Thailand on numerous occasions expressed his wish to establish permanent diplomatic relations with Russia. Russian naval officers whose ships periodically came to Bangkok carried to the Russian Tsar the first royal letters containing a clear intention of the Siamese government to develop bilateral trade, diplomatic and cultural cooperation with Russia. Those officers were also among the first Russians who brought the vision of Siam to the eyes of the Russian public. Their descriptions of magnificent Thai temples and shrines, covered with gold and glittering in the sun, as well as the perception of Bangkok as the “the Venice of Asia”, were reflected in a variety of articles published in leading Russian magazines, and attracted attention of both specialists and the general Russian public. A real breakthrough in the bilateral relations was made later by the visit of the heir to the Imperial throne Tsarevich Nicholas, the son of the then reigning Tsar Alexander III, to Siam in 1891. It was a part of the eastern voyage of the Tsarevich who was familiarizing himself with Asia and Asian affairs on the recommendation of his father, Alexander III. Notwithstanding its unofficial status, the visit gave a great impulse to the advancement of relations between the two countries and in fact marked the beginning of close and long-lasting personal friendship between the future Tsar Nicholas II and King Chulalongkorn, and in a broader sense between the peoples of Russia and Thailand. The Russian Crown Prince and his entourage were welcomed in Siam with all due honours and utmost warmth. Prince Ukhtomsky wrote in his diary that “from books we knew vaguely about the hospitality of the Court of Siam. What we get to see today surpasses the imagination”2. King Chulalongkorn personally took care of the visiting Russian Crown Prince and awarded him with the Order of Chakri. The King hosted festivities in honour of the Tsarevich both in Bangkok and at the Bang Pa In Palace and personally saw him off at the end of his visit. Several months later a captain of a Russian naval ship delivered a letter of thanks from Alexander III to King Chulalongkorn together with the Order of

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Prince Esper Esperovitch Uchtomskij, Czarevitch Nicolas of Russia in Siam and Saigon. p. 31. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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St Andrew3 bestowed by the Tsar upon the Siamese Monarch—the first in the number of Russian decorations received by members of the Thai royal family. The visit of Prince Damrong, brother of King Chulalongkorn and Director-General of the National Department of Education of Siam, to Russia was the next step in the development of relations between the two countries. Prince Damrong, well known in Thailand as the “father of the Thai history”, also became an active participant in the process of establishment and development of the Russian-Siamese relations. He came to Russia in November 1891 and was received by Alexander III in Livadia—a gorgeous imperial summer residence on the Black Sea. The prince delivered a letter and the Order of Chakri which had been sent to the Russian Tsar by the King of Siam. In his letter King Chulalongkorn reconfirmed the intention to further develop friendly relations with Russia. Starting in 1891, official visits and personal contacts including the exchange of correspondence between the Russian imperial family and the Siamese royal family became frequent and played an important role in the development of relations between the two countries. In 1893 Russia started to lend its support to Siam in resolving the conflict with her neighbours of that time. In 1896 the Russian Imperial Government invited a Royal Siamese representative to participate in the festivities on the occasion of the coronation of Nicholas II as the Tsar of Russia. A year later King Chulalongkorn himself paid a visit to Russia. Friendly and sincere support provided to him by the Russian side played a very important role in the success of that trip. The highest honours, utmost hospitality and respect which was extended to King Chulalongkorn in Russia once and for all confirmed the status of the Siamese monarch as a sovereign equal to European kings. When King Chulalongkorn arrived in St Petersburg on 19 June 1897 by the special imperial train, he was welcomed at the New Petergof station by the members of the imperial family and a military escort of the Imperial Guards. From the station the King of Siam proceeded to the Petergof Palace, the imperial summer residence, where Tsar Nicholas II welcomed him. During the following ten days the King of Siam visited St Petersburg, Moscow and the main Russian naval base in Kronshtadt.

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St Andrew is considered one of the protectors of Russia. The Order in his honour is the first and the most revered decoration in Russian history. It was established by the Tsar Peter the Great in 1698. According to its Statute recipients of the Order were supposed to have the rank not lower than full generals in the military and the highest officials in the civil service. The Order was restored in 1998 and now is the highest decoration in the Russian Federation. The motto of the Order is “For faith and fidelity”. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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King Chulalongkorn’s visit prompted sincere and widespread interest in Siam and Siamese affairs among the Russian public. Newspapers extensively covered the visit, issuing publications about Siam and the Siamese king. For example, Vedomosti (News) of St Petersburg, a leading Russian newspaper wrote in an editorial: “In his person we are greeting not only one of the greatest men of our time, [...] but also a true friend of Russia. The power of this friendship lies in mutual respect, in the feelings of straightforwardness and simplicity common to both peoples (...). Our friendship towards Siam is honest and not hypocritical, which His Majesty the King of Siam can confidently rely upon”.4 During the negotiations in St Petersburg Nicholas II and King Chulalongkorn agreed to establish diplomatic relations between Russia and Siam and to prepare the Treaty of Friendship and Maritime Navigation, which was signed in 1899. The monarchs agreed also that Prince Chakrabongse, the second son of King Chulalongkorn, would come to Russia for his studies and military training.5 Following the decision of the two sovereigns, the exchange of diplomatic representatives took place in 1897 and 1898. Phraya Suriya Nuvat, the Siamese Minister who was representing King Chulalongkorn in Europe with residence in Paris, received an additional appointment to the Russian Imperial Court. He had accompanied the king on his Russian trip and had been introduced to Nicholas II. In 1898 Alexander Olarovski, the Russian Consul-General in New York, was transferred to Siam and appointed as the Russian Chargé d’Affaires and Consul-General. Before his departure for Bangkok, Olarovski received a ten-page letter of instructions from the Russian Foreign Ministry. The major part contained clear directions concerning Russian policy towards Siam. The essence of that policy was expressed in the following lines of the letter: “Your conduct in its entirety should bear the imprint of the favourable attention which our august monarch is willing to extend to the person of the Siamese King, as well as to the fortunes of his people; it should respond to the sincerity and warmth which are placed by Siam at the base of our relations. Simultaneously, you should avoid any mercantile motive whatsoever, or desire to pursue any kind of benefit. Finally, your conduct should respond to the expectations of that country to receive on the part of Russia the

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Cited in Melnichenko V.N. ‘Russia and Siam’. In Russia and the Far East, St Petersburg, 2002. p. 656. 5 Prince Chakrabongse graduated from the Corps des Pages and with honours from the Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. The prince then had a significant career in the Hussar regiment of the Imperial Guards and was promoted to the rank of colonel. After his return to Siam Prince Chakrabongse was awarded the Russian military rank of General of Cavalry. Prince Chakrabongse’s studies in Russia paved the way for other children from the Siamese noble families to study in Russian universities and in the first decade of the twentieth century several of them were obtaining their education in Russia. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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desired concern for her interests and find in this concern the necessary moral support in the unequal struggle with her mighty neighbours”.6 The text of the letter had been personally approved by the Russian Tsar, and the diplomatic representatives of Russia in Bangkok consistently followed it. Alexander Olarovski was not a random choice for the first Russian envoy in Siam. In 1896–1897, while he was still in New York, Olarovski had prepared a number of analytical reports on the situation in and around Siam for the Russian Foreign Ministry. His conclusions regarding the significance of Siam as one of the only two nations of Asia which were independent at that time (the other being Japan), and were also undergoing advanced modernization, helped to shape the Russian Government’s policies towards this country. Olarovski stressed in his reports that in the political and economic circumstances existing then in the Far East, the Russian-Siamese friendship could become highly beneficial for both countries. A very well educated, experienced diplomat and thoughtful analyst, Olarovski was also a cheerful and charming host when he entertained Thai and foreign dignitaries at his residence. His status among foreign diplomats and other foreigners living in Bangkok was slightly different, as it always bore the mark of the special relationship existing between the monarchs of the two countries. It might not be widely known these days, but Olarovski was a principal founder and the first chairman of the Royal Bangkok Sports Club, and the charter given to the club by King Chulalongkorn was issued in Olarovski’s name. One of the best horseback riders present in Siam at that time, and an experienced horse breeder, Alexander Olarovski even wrote a brochure on the subject for the use in the Club’s own programme of racehorse breeding. The establishment of diplomatic relations and the signing of several treaties that followed, as well as the development of regular dynastic and personal contacts, helped to promote deeper mutual knowledge between the two peoples. In the beginning of the twentieth century interest about Siam in Russia reached its peak. One of the major cultural events which boosted this interest was the performance of a company of the Royal Siamese Ballet in St Petersburg in 1900. The traditional Siamese theatre had staged the Ramakien before the future Nicholas II during his visit to Siam. In 1900 it staged two performances in St Petersburg, as a part of the first-ever international tour of Siamese dancers. The Siamese ballet greatly impressed the artistic circles of the Russian capital and led to the real discovery of Siam by the Russian public.

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Russia-Siam. 1863–1917. Documents. Moscow, 1997. p. 85. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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A famous ballet columnist of the time, N. Svetlov wrote about the performance: “This year the Siamese ballet appeared for the first time on the stages of the leading European theatres and met with outstanding success everywhere, with its original music, picturesque costumes, exotic dances and rich contents of the scenes performed [...]. The main motives of some of the dances, for example, the Fan Dance, the Lantern Dance and the Dance with Silver Lances, are products of truly genuine choreographic thinking and beautiful form, full of elaborate patterns and complex combinations and, adjusted in a certain way to the requirements of our art, could easily enter our European choreography as new elements”.7 The impression made by the Siamese dancers on the Russian public was so great that it gave an impulse to intensive research in the culture and history of Siam. During the period 1895–1913 more than 30 books and brochures on Siam were published and immediately sold out in Russia. Impressed by the Siamese ballet, famous Russian stage decorator and artist, L. Bakst, painted a picture, “The Siamese Sacred Dance”, and used Siamese motives in many of his stage decorations for ballets where oriental themes were dominant. The world-famous Karl Fabergé, the founder of the House of Fabergé and imperial jeweller, while in Bangkok for the coronation of King Vajiravudh, created a rich collection of jewellery with Siamese motives and a number of Buddha images. Almost at the same time, the first collections of the Siamese art appeared in the Russian museums. In 1906 an official from the Imperial Ethnographic Museum was dispatched by the Russian Academy of Sciences to Bangkok and Ayutthaya with the task of collecting samples of Siamese sculpture. He brought back the collection of 144 items of Buddhist sculpture, traditional Siamese weapons, musical instruments, ceramics, clothes, coins and even banknotes which is now on display at the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, widely known in Russia as Kunstkamera, in St Petersburg.8 In this museum there is also a set of masks which were used by the Siamese Royal Ballet dancers who performed in St Petersburg in 1900, traditional Siamese fishing tools, and models of fishing boats and shipyards exhibited during the International Fishery Industry Exhibition held in St Petersburg in 1902. A very special place in the Siamese collection at the museum is occupied by royal gifts presented by King Chulalongkorn to the future Tsar Nicholas II during his visit to Siam in 1891. Among them are a sabre, a Siamese sword and a

7

Melnichenko V.N., ‘Russia and Siam’, In Russia and the Far East. St Petersburg, 2002. pp. 658–659. 8 Kunstkamera is the oldest Russian government museum. It was founded by a decree of Tsar Peter the Great in 1704 and was the first step in the creation of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Even today the Academy’s logo is a silhouette of the Kunstkamera building. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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dagger, all decorated with jewels and precious metals. Those items are kept in special crates bearing the royal symbols of Siam. The Siamese collection at the Kunstkamera Museum reflects different angles of traditional Siamese culture and everyday life of the Thais. It gives a perception of the skills of Siamese craftsmen who created these artefacts, as well as of the tastes of the people for whom these items were crafted. In other words, this collection creates a vision of everyday life of the Siamese who lived in the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries. Besides the Kunstkamera, a collection of Siamese art and sculpture is on display at another world-famous Russian museum—the State Hermitage in St Petersburg. The Hermitage collection of Siamese art consists now of more than 300 items. The initial and major part of it was gathered by the Russian Minister in Siam in 1911–1914, G. Planson. Most of these items are religious wooden, bronze and clay sculptures, as well as other religious objects and works of applied art dating from the fourteenth to nineteenth centuries. Among them, one of the noteworthy works of art is the sixteenth century Pachekabuddha from Lan Na. This statue represents an individual who attained enlightenment through his personal efforts, and who had heard neither about the Lord Buddha nor about his teaching. This figure is regarded as an important item in the Hermitage collection, for this personage, according to specialists, is rarely represented in the Siamese art. The only other statue of Pachekabuddha outside Thailand is in one of the museums in Paris. The Buddha Maravidjaya, again from Lan Na, seventeenth century, is another jewel of the Hermitage collection. It is notable, in particular, for an inscription on the pedestal of the statue which describes the statue as the means of transferring merit from the owners of the statue to their parents in order to improve their karma. According to Russian experts, such statues of the Buddha with inscriptions of merit-making for parents were not widely represented in Siam in ancient times. That is why it is considered that this statue is evidence of a specific and rare Siamese Buddhist ritual in the past. A small but remarkable part of the collection constitutes the gifts presented by King Chulalongkorn to the future Tsar Nicholas II in 1891. It consists of three items: a pair of elephant tusks, a pair of candlesticks and an epergne. The three-branched candlesticks were crafted especially for the occasion of the visit of the Russian heir and presented to the Tsarevich by the King of Siam during a dinner reception at the Bang Pa In Palace on 22 March 1891, together with the table decoration. The epergne is in fact a betel cup of very elaborate craftsmanship. Cups of this shape and ornament were used, according to Russian art experts, only by the heirs to the Siamese throne. In 1894 all these items became part of the exhibition of gifts presented to Tsarevich Nicholas during his Eastern voyage. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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King Chulalongkorn and Tsar Nicholas II

The Petergof Palace, St Petersburg, where King Chulalongkorn stayed during his state visit

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H.M. King Bhumibol and President Putin at a banquet during the State visit of the Russian President to Thailand, October 2003

Siamese table decoration presented to the Tsarevich by the King

Pair of Siamese candlesticks presented to Tsarevich by the King

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At present the museum collections are being enriched by the gifts from Russian academics, Thai students completing their education in Russia, and objects collected by museum officials on their trips to Thailand. *** The development of the Russian-Thai cultural relations in the twentieth century followed the pattern and shared the fate of diplomatic and political relations between the two countries. During the decades from the 1917 revolution in Russia up to 1941, when the USSR and Thailand re-established diplomatic relations, there were practically no contacts between the two states and peoples. The process of restoring relations was interrupted by the Second World War and diplomatic missions at the legation level were exchanged only in 1947. Thailand thus became the first non-communist South-East Asian country to establish diplomatic ties with the USSR. Since then the interaction between the USSR and Thailand has developed steadily, with mutual respect being dominant in bilateral relations. Important landmark events in this sense were the visits to Moscow and St Petersburg by the members of the royal family, and the exchange of visits by the heads of the respective governments. In the cultural sphere, Bangkok witnessed numerous performances of Russian ballet dancers, art exhibitions, symphony concerts, including those to mark the 50 years’ Golden Jubilee of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s accession to the throne. A major stride along the road of advancing bilateral multifaceted cooperation was made by the official visit of H.E. Dr Thaksin Shinawatra, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand, to Russia in October 2002, and the State visit of H.E. Mr Vladimir Putin, the President of the Russian Federation, to Thailand in October 2003. Due to the efforts of both sides Russian-Thai relations have reached the level of strategic partnership. The State visit of President Vladimir Putin has a very important meaning for both our countries. The meeting with His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, together with contacts and negotiations that took place in Bangkok helped to complete the rebirth of that special nature and character of the Russia-Thailand bilateral interaction which had been first established between our nations over a hundred years ago. As the Russian President declared in Bangkok “Time has in no way eroded our peoples’ mutual attraction”, which constitutes a good ground for the development of our present relations. An outcome of these two top-level visits was an intensification of mutually advantageous trade, and economic, scientific and technical cooperation took place. Substantial positive shifts are visible also in the Russian-Thai personal contacts.

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Particularly the year 2003 was very fruitful in this respect. A Thai delegation took part in the celebration of the 300 years’ anniversary of St Petersburg. Later, in August, the ‘Days of Thailand’ were held in the “Northern Capital” as St Petersburg is known in Russia. Dancers from the Moscow Classical Ballet Theatre and musicians of the St Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra took part in the Fifth Bangkok International Music and Dance Festival, and a film “The Russian Ark” by the Russian director A. Sokurov was shown at the Bangkok International Film Festival. One of the brightest events in the history of the Russian-Thai cultural relations was the world premiere of the ballet “Katya and the Prince of Siam”, which took place in Bangkok in December last year. The ballet is based on one of the most romantic stories of the end of the nineteenth century—the true story of love of Prince Chakrabongse and Russian noblewoman Ekaterina Desnitskaya whom the prince married and brought to Siam where she became known as “Mom Katerin”. Of course this ballet is not a biography told through the language of dance. It is a piece of art inspired by the story of the prince and his Russian wife. It takes the public into the private world of two people from completely different civilizations who were drawn to each other despite their differences and many difficulties in their path. The performance was brilliantly staged by the Kremlin Ballet Theatre (with choreography by Andrey Petrov) and accompanied by the music composed by Pavel Ovsyannikov, conductor of the Presidential Orchestra of the Russian Federation. As President Vladimir Putin noted in his message sent on this occasion, “it is symbolic that now, when relations between our countries are undergoing a revival, cultural personalities have looked back to the early times of the Russian-Thai friendship”. The ballet was very warmly welcomed by the Thai audience and substantially enriched our cultural interaction. Another good example of the mutual cultural cooperation was the joint concert of the Presidential Orchestra of the Russian Federation, leading vocalists from the Mariinsky Theatre of St Petersburg and a chorus made up of some one hundred students of Chulalongkorn University which performed in commemoration of 150th anniversary of the birthday of King Chulalongkorn. During the State visit of the Russian President in October 2003 the Ministries of Culture of Russia and Thailand signed a Protocol on Cooperation for the years 2004–2006. In accordance with this document, ‘Days of Russian Culture’ are to be held in the Kingdom of Thailand in December in 2004, and ‘Days of Thai Culture’ in the Russian Federation, in the spring of 2005. Both sides also plan to organize concert tours, exhibitions and fairs. Exchanges in the spheres of music, theatre, the preservation and restoration of historical monuments are continuing and becoming more active and regular. Specialists in various fields from both sides will participate in scientific conferences and symposia.

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Personal contacts do not, naturally, consist only of direct cultural exchanges. Among other spheres of individual interaction there are also education and tourism. Cooperation in these fields contributes greatly to the development of people-to-people contacts and deepens mutual understanding between peoples. More and more young Thais want to learn the Russian language. Many Thai students choose Russian universities for higher education, mainly in information technologies, ecology, law, and medicine. Now graduates of Russian universities find jobs not only in the private sector, but also in government agencies. The latest example of the intensification of our interaction in the sphere of tourism is the appointment of Mrs Panga Vathanakul, managing director of a major hotel in Pattaya, a prominent Thai businesswoman and public figure occupying a number of high-level positions, as the first Russian Honorary Consul in Pattaya. This appointment will further promote personal and tourist contacts between our countries, given that more than 50,000 Russians visit Thailand annually. *** While staying in Bangkok President Vladimir Putin stressed that both Thailand and Russia are ancient and dynamically developing States. We are efficiently building our relations of a new type based on mutual respect of national interest, confidence, sincerity and mutual belief in good intentions of each other. These principles are the essence and the cornerstone of the close and friendly relationship between the Russian Federation and the Kingdom of Thailand. Our personal cooperation, being an integral part of the whole complex of bilateral interaction, definitely has a great potential for further development. To realize it in practice, mutual efforts are necessary, to deepen knowledge of each other’s historical, cultural and spiritual heritage, for the advancement and promotion of people-to-people contacts at various levels and in various spheres. Nowadays Russia and Thailand enjoy excellent and mutually beneficial relations which I am confident will be further enhanced and developed in the years to come. Bibliography Culture of the peoples of Asia, Leningrad, 1973. Deshpande O. P., Siamese Art of XIV–XIX centuries in the Hermitage St Petersburg, 1997. Ivanova E. V., Essays on culture of Thais in Thailand, Moscow, 1996. Melnichenko V.N., “Russia and Siam” in Russia and the East, St Petersburg, 2002. Russia-Siam. 1863–1917. Documents, Moscow, 1997, in Russian and Thai. Prince Esper Esperovitch Uchtomskij, Czarevitch Nicolas of Russia in Siam and Saigon, Bangkok, 1999. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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VILLAGE AS STAGE: IMAGINATIVE SPACE AND TIME IN RURAL NORTHEAST THAI LIVES1 Leedom Lefferts

Abstract This essay seeks to invigorate ethnographies of rural Northeast Thai-Lao (Isan) villages with a discussion of villagers’ imaginative lives. The essay’s three parts describe imaginative worlds constructed by the people as part of their daily and ritual lives. It is divided into three parts. The first part proposes that Isan villagers create space and shift time through the annual construction of occasions in which routine spaces become imagined new spaces, exist in different times as well as in the present, and carry new meanings. In the second part I describe a particular series of events in which I participated, which echo to this day, showing that the daily world of the Thai-Lao provides for perceptions of alternate realities with alternate causations. I also mention but do not discuss Isan story-telling and folk-tales as providing a source for alternative images. In the third part I discuss people’s daily lives and, rather than seeing them as particularly Buddhist or particularly accidental, show how a Western metaphor implying imaginative space and time has percolated into the deepest understandings of why these people act as they do. Introduction The past decade of village-based ethnographic research in Thailand has seen the fluorescence of studies concerned with more than the people’s relations with Theravada Buddhism. Of particular importance have been those studies, such as Mary Beth Mills’s Thai Women in the Global Labor Force (1999), which have begun to chart the inroads of the mass media and the pull of a Thai-Western urban culture on the imagination and lives of rural young people. 1

Acknowledgements: I owe this paper to the interest of and conversations with my fictive kin and friends in Isan. Thanks also to Dr Richard A. O’Connor who referred me to McKinley (1979) and the possibility of alternative eras in Southeast Asian cultures. Thanks to Dr Wajuppa Tossa who directed my attention to the book Lakhon Haeng Chiwit (Arkardamkeung 2472/1929) after my village friends had spoken of the song. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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Contrasting with these studies are those, epitomized by Nicola Tannenbaum’s Who Can Compete Against The World? (1995), which cast doubt on the doctrinal interpretation of Theravada Buddhist beliefs in the village context. Tannenbaum, as she brings ethnography back to its goal of understanding ‘the logic that informs people’s behavior’ (1995:211), shows that power, rather than Theravada Buddhism as doctrine, is a greater concern to the people. In my research in a Northeast Thai-Lao village for over three decades I, also, have been puzzled and attracted by the extent to which the contemporary mass media and the pull of urban mass culture re-shape rural Thai-Lao village life. At the same time, I have been impressed by the extent to which images coming from Theravada Buddhism provide a context for, yet sometimes do not altogether shape, the worlds of my friends, both ‘real’ and ‘imagined’. As I look at the lives my friends lead, the ceremonies in which they engage, the goals they set for themselves, and the ways their lives–and mine–work, I am struck by how much they live in worlds different from the supposedly rationalistic one that I lead. Following Tannenbaum, however, I hesitate to ascribe all of what I see either to Theravada Buddhism or contemporary mass culture. Of course, I certainly do not subscribe to an explanation based on superstition.2 My friends live rich, meaningful lives; much of what ethnographers and novelists write barely skims the surfaces of those lives. Almost uniformly, Northeast Thailand, also known as Isan (Sanskrit for the northeast direction) because it is northeast of the Thai capital, has been described by both Westerners and Central Thai as a hot, arid, impoverished place. Statistics show that the people of the Northeast are poorer than the national average and that this is the poorest region of the kingdom. At the same time, this region includes one third of the kingdom’s area and one third of its population. The majority of this population is Thai-Lao, ethnic Lao who have been incorporated into the SiameseThai state since the middle-to-late 1800s. It also holds a significant population of Khmer-speaking peoples in its southern reaches bordering Cambodia. These people tend to live in nucleated villages scattered across an undulating landscape, the majority of whom grow rain-fed wet-rice crops during the wet season and engage in supplementary jobs, often going to Bangkok and, increasingly, outside the kingdom, to earn additional money. The region has been the subject of intense development efforts from immediately after the Second World War to the present. Today it is the focus of the Kong-Chi-Mun project, to channel the waters of the Mekong River down the region’s western side to provide irrigation as the water

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I enclose this sentence so as not to be accused of some non-rational neo-Levi-Bruhlian approach. I see the behaviors of my friends as rational; I just do not think we have yet considered all the contexts of this rationality. Certainly, their position in the power-development nexus as members of those ‘acted upon’ as opposed to the ‘actors’ is an important aspect of this. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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makes its way east across the region. Indeed, one might say that Isan has been a focus for other people’s imaginations for a significant period of time. In this paper I wish to chart some different understandings of the lives of my friends. In a way, this paper is more of a ‘think piece’ than a fully polished essay, primarily because I am still puzzling through how to present this material in its rich variety. However, I trust that what I write will begin to illuminate new facets of understanding for people who lead complex, meaningful lives. Alternate times and spaces in Thai-Lao villages In these days of globalization and modernity one frequently hears Thai villagers, especially teenagers and young adults, complain that village life is boring. ‘There is nothing to do in a village; the excitement is in the city.’ One cannot contradict that more different things happen at the same time in an urban context than in a single village. It has long been remarked that Thai cities, muang, are not only urban complexes (as they might be described in the West), but also, because of the presence of royalty and powerful palladia, are foci of allegiance and faith. One might say that for a villager to travel to a (Thai) city is to shift his or her world not only in space but also in time, to a more ‘elevated’, realm (cf. O’Connor 2000). Rural Thai and Thai-Lao people have always seen their lives in conjunction with muang. However, with the inroads of Western modernity, cities in Thailand have also become precursors of things modern, imagined to contain the essence of modernity in its complexity.3 The inroads of ‘modernity’, specifically the input of mass media, such as radio and TV, have brought into sharp focus the possibility of different lives and new disappointments for normal people. However, was village life ‘before’ mass culture so boring? Did rural Thai-Lao before the advent of mass culture have no imagination? I wish to focus on two alternating evocative constructions of the world before Buddhism which play prominent roles in Northeast Thai-Lao village life. One of these depicts the world immediately prior to the birth of the Buddha, the other depicts the construction of the environment in which the people live today. These constructions are wrapped in the usual Theravada Buddhist arrangement of making merit, and thus provide occasions for people to participate in the ordinary world they inhabit with the possibilities provided by that religion for seeing better, alternate futures. Additionally, these constructions also bring into existence possibilities for people to imagine themselves in different times and places even while ‘here and now’. 3

Cf. Mills 1999 for an excellent depiction of the pull and impact of urban, modern, than samay, life on young villagers, especially women. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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While the Thai state has engaged in a massive effort to align people’s wishes with its goals of unity through development, alternate, powerful universes exist. These alternate models may be aligned with kaan pattana, development, but not necessarily to the material expansion proposed by the Thai state. They are often rooted in Theravada Buddhism, but they go beyond Buddhist doctrine to provide alternate constructions of the social spaces in which ‘normal’ people exist. Thus, while these occasions are wrapped in tham bun, merit-making, their construction goes beyond providing ways to see better futures. These occasions create alternate stages in the village on which people act different roles, sometimes apart from Buddhist merit-making. The Bun Bang Fay, ‘the rocket festival’, receives continuing attention as the prototypical Thai-Lao ‘folk’ festival. Many outsiders see the events which happen during this festival as wallowing in dirt and a too-open expression of sexual licentiousness. The firing of rockets into the air to provide rain to ‘seed’ the earth and make it fertile has obvious sexual overtones; the boisterous, often drunken, behavior of both male and female participants can be off-putting; and, since it tends to occur in late May-early June, at the hottest time of the year, it is not an easy festival in which people not accustomed to heat and dust would wish to ‘participate’. Let us look, however, at an alternate universe created and celebrated in this festival. The festival begins under the aegis of Theravada Buddhism, with the parading of important Buddhist statues, the palladia of the community sponsoring the event, at the front of a long, multi-segmented procession.4 The procession presents the rockets, bang fay, also called naak (Sanskrit: naga, serpent), to the audience; the procession is called both hae naak and hae bang fay. Usually a series of krabuang, discrete segments of the procession, follows, each duplicating the other, each sponsored by a different community which also sponsors a rocket in the competition. These krabuang also participate in a competition for the best performances, the most elaborate floats, the most beautiful women, etc. Each krabuang opens with, usually, young men and women dressed in elaborate Central Thai costume carrying a picture of the Thai king and queen and a placard announcing the name of the community or sponsoring organization. Then follow one or more groups of dancers, dressed in appropriate Isan costume and

4

This description comes from a parade in a district town in Mahasarakham Province. The usual village procession would be just one krabuang. In this paper’s discussion of this event I focus on one of the several imaginative spaces created by this event; certainly the prominence given to Central Thai themes plays on another ‘imagined’ dimension of the Thai Kingdom and Isan’s relations to it. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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arranged in neat rows, who perform dances at various points along the parade route. Then come one or more floats (pick-up trucks with wooden frames on which are hung plywood sheets painted with various scenes) carrying beautifully coifed young women dressed in exquisite Central Thai costume. The more elaborate floats have pictures of naak on them and may be in the form of serpents with rockets at their fronts. Then follows the float which is the core of each krabuang, a wooden model of a white horse on which a young man with another beautifully dressed young woman riding behind him sit. Behind and around these floats, moving as a kind of cloud, are citizens of the community sponsoring this krabuang acting in ‘inappropriate’ ways, reflecting on the hardships of their lives through staged performances that critique and parody their lives and the lives of important people, such as the Thai Prime Minster, the U. S. President, the police, etc. Some of the members of these ‘dirty’ clouds take this opportunity to engage in usually forbidden behavior, such as going around half-naked, or acting as if they were dogs, rolling in the dirt, or, in a recent famous example shown on TV (June 2004), climbing a coconut tree throughout the duration of the procession prodded by a man with a stick, which not only illuminates the arduousness of getting coconuts, but also graphically illustrates one of the scenes often depicted in Buddhist hell paintings, of adulterers eternally prodded to climb thorn trees.5

Pha Daeng and Nang Ai on their royal white horse, Bak Sam. Wapi Pathum Bun Bang Fay parade, 20 June 1992. Photo by Leedom Lefferts.

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All of this–from the exquisitely dressed young men and women to the display of licentious, dirty behavior–is part of a text, Phadaeng Nang Ai, Prince Daeng and Princess Ai, which is common knowledge in the Northeast and which the hae bang fay parade reinforces as part of local cultural understandings. This is the story of the creation of the contemporary physical, named landscape on which the people engaging in the celebration now live. The parade, the licentious behavior, the competition between villages, as well as the white horse on which Pha Daeng and Nang Ai are ‘riding’, are all parts of this story and the re-construction of a past time that has important implications for the people–it gives them many of the circumstances of their present life. This story is well reconstructed in Dr Wajuppa Tossa’s poetic translation of Phadaeng Nang Ai (1990) and does not need retelling here. However, the procession with its krabuang celebrate two specific sections which, in the story, are separated by some length of time; together they give the charter for the total current festival and what it shows in terms of time and place. The first is a competition held by the king/father of Nang Ai, in which princes of various communities are invited to compete for the hand of his daughter. This happens during a festival arranged by the king, when members of surrounding communities are invited to come and compete in the first bun bang fay. Pha Daeng, the prince of a nearby kingdom, meets Nang Ai at this event. The king will not allow Nang Ai to marry Pha Daeng, so the lovers take other opportunities to meet. The second aspect celebrated in the contemporary festival is when the lovers gallop away from the collapsing world on a white horse. To lighten the load, Nang Ai discards her jewelry and other precious objects, scattering them across the landscape. Many Isan topographic features and older villages derive their designations from this charter legend; these names are duplicated across the landscape. The Bun Bang Fay conflates and identifies the present with the past as it provides an opportunity for re-enactment and participation in the construction of the natural and cultural world of Isan. This re-enactment is not simply a staged presentation, but, more importantly, a participatory one. Today, each year, as communities across Isan hold this festival, its people re-establish and re-confirm their understandings of the way their world came to be what it is today by physically re-creating the time, the celebration, the competition, and the chaos of this past time and space. The power of this event is that the people relive the origins of the context in which they live their daily lives.

5

This conflation of scenes from different times but from the same story parallels the conflation of scenes from different times that is often seen in Thai and Isan mural paintings. Dr Sandra Cate (2000) has aptly named these parades ‘murals on the move’, seeing them as mobile presentations of the wat (temple) murals that the participants are accustomed to seeing visually. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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The Bun Phrawet/Bun Mahachat develops another model for the creation of alternate space. Observers tend know this event as the occasion for the recitation of all or a significant section of the Vessantara Jataka, the Chadok Wessandon, the penultimate life of the Buddha as Prince Vessantara.6 However, rather than focus on the recitation, I wish to describe the constructed environment in which this recitation takes place. The space of the recitation, the community wat (temple, monastery), is transformed into quite another place, the palace, wang, of the polity of which Vessantara is the heir apparent. And the community surrounding it, a village, becomes the muang for this wang, a city and polity in its own right. Furthermore, this whole complex temporally shifts from the present to the era immediately before Buddhism. This shift, of time and location, is brought about through the dedication and hard work of community members. The shift is agreed to and annually brought into existence by many people over the space of several months. Flags are raised around the sala wat, the temple meeting hall, which thus becomes the center of the wang, palace. Inside the sala an internal structure is erected on which the donations of each household are placed, tubs of water are brought in, representing ponds that play crucial roles in the Vessantara story, and the sala is adorned inside and out with products of the woods and forests, and new structures are constructed, sometimes including a temporary wat/wang gate. The charter for this revamping is contained in the ending to the Vessantara Jataka, when the procession of ‘Six Kings’ and citizens of the polity return from the Himalayan forest where Vessantara and his family had been banished to preserve the kingdom. The Six Kings consist of the King and Queen, parents of Prince Vessantara, Vessantara and his wife, and their son and daughter. The shortened version of the Vessantara Jataka that is often recited is called Hok Krasat, Six Kings, acknowledging that, for the community, the welcoming of Vessantara and his family back to the muang is one of the festival’s high points. The welcoming procession occurs the afternoon of the day before the recitation. It is acknowledgement by the village/muang/kingdom’s citizens of their willingness to live under Vessantara’s rule, in which he is bound to give away all that is asked of him. Through their welcoming procession, the citizens of the contemporary community express themselves–by shifting themselves in time and

6

Phrawet is the Thai and Thai-Lao pronunciation of Vessantara, the name of the prince who is the protagonist in this Buddhist birth story. In Isan the term Bun Phrawet tends to be more used than Mahachat, which means, in Thai, ‘Great Birth’. The latter term affirms that this story recites the life of the birth of the Buddha’s karma directly preceding that in which he discovered enlightenment (Sommai 2544/2001). Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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space–from the present to a time when they, too, will live in prosperity in their own polity.7 The procession begins at a local water source, where Vessantara and his wife are evoked and welcomed by the community’s citizens. They are then escorted to the muang/village and the wang/wat. This procession may be as simple as a group of elders walking in single file holding the Vessantara scroll, on which the complete Jataka is depicted in summary form (Gittinger and Lefferts 1992), to an elaborate parade, with four of the six kings riding on elephants hired for the occasion. Usually, in order to dramatize the story, the two children are bound together and ‘whipped’ through the village streets by the brahmin, Chuchok, an event which occurs earlier in the story, before the children are seen and rescued by their grandfather, the king. The wang/wat has been transformed, not only inside the sala, but also outside, by flags and the appearance of a number of games as well as at least one stage, on which a ‘dramatic’ performance of a story from the past will be enacted. This helps the community depict itself as a muang celebrating the return of its future leader. These events last through the night, until early the next morning, when a second procession occurs. At 4 am, accompanied by the usual male ensemble of drums, cymbals, and the temple gong, some women of the village bring ‘breakfast’ for the Six Kings. This breakfast, made over the previous days, is composed of one thousand balls of glutinous rice stuck on the ends of thin bamboo sticks, making the construction appear to be a sort of overgrown ball. These thousand balls and the one thousand items each of other ‘necessities’, such as tobacco rolled as small cigarettes, small packages of betel for chewing, paper flags, etc. etc. celebrate the return of the prince and his family as well as symbolize the people’s willingness to care of them and follow Vessatara’s lead in giving gifts. The rice itself parallels the breakfasts often given to Indian gods in their temples; it ‘wakes’ Vessantara and his family for the finale of the celebration, the recitation of the Jataka. These two instances of dramatic time–and place–shifting are not isolated events. They occur during the Northeast Thai dry season; most of the major communal events take place during this period, when visitors from other villages can be welcomed without undue worry about rain or other hardships–except heat and aridity. Indeed, these conditions might make it easy to suppose that the dry season is conducive to the creation of alternate space and time. Other occasions range from the ‘traditional’ Thai New Year’s festival of Songkhran; to the shifting of young men from personhood to naak, serpents, to members of the Sangha, phra, monks, that occurs in the Bun Buat Naak; to weddings. The latter two have long

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The political implications of this are discussed in detail in Jory 2002 and other articles. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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been recognized as times for shifting roles in several senses, the first for the recreation of young men as monks, the second when bride and groom become prince and princess for a day outside of any Buddhist context. In addition, of course, while we focus on the shifting of space and time that occurs at these events, the participants also realize they inhabit the world we know best; they maintain strong links to this world throughout these events. Even as the imagined, constructed world extends its presence through people’s lives, life goes on in ‘the real world’. Alternate realities in everyday life The dry season is not the only period in the annual calendar when time and space shift. Some thirty years after the events I describe below, my village friends continue to remark upon the trips we took to find hin nay ton may, stones in trees. While it has been my experience that stones do not normally grow or appear in trees, in Northeast Thailand stories persist that, indeed, stones are found in trees. Interestingly, while discussing the matters below, I was recently told that one had been discovered in a village in a not-too-distant amphur and put in the museum there. When I suggested we go see it, I was told that, while the stone had been put there, it had since been removed. During July through September, 1971, my fellow village men and I, sometimes as driver and always as observer, traveled to several locations scattered over Northeast Thailand looking for stones in trees. Usually, a scouting party had gone ahead, tracking stories. In talking with the members of such parties, it always seemed that they were told a stone was in a tree in the next village, the next tambon, the next amphur, or that one had been in a tree but it had been cut down and was not available for viewing now, or something like that. No one questioned the veracity of this allegation–that stones could somehow get themselves up into or grow in trees–but that the stone just was not there now. A larger group of men, sometimes as many as ten plus myself, endeavored to track down some of the more interesting and possibly more valid cases. This group included the village headman as well as the heads of several other households. All of this took place during the transplanting stage of the wet season; part of my interest was triggered by the question of the extent to which these men, all farmers, could engage in activities where they would leave the fields for two to three days at a time and then return to continue farming. Participating in this ‘chase’ for ‘stones in trees’ permitted me to observe that wet-rice cultivation is not all that demanding on a daily basis, so long as one can return to it periodically to manage the water and transplant the rice when necessary.

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We drove from a village near Khonkaen city on day trips to villages in Mahasarakham, Roi Et, and Kalasin. On one occasion, several of us took the bus to Udon Thani to track down the farang, foreigner, possibly a military man (in the summer of 2514/1971 large numbers of U. S. military were stationed in Northeast Thailand), who was offering serious money for discovering a stone in a tree. I went along so that I could translate. Unfortunately, when we got to Udon and the hotel where this man stayed, we were told he had left for a week or two but was coming back soon; we were not told he did not exist or that the story was somehow wrong or misinterpreted. Along with the belief that a farang would pay serious money to see a stone in a tree was the certainty that such things existed. When I asked how a stone could get in a tree–did it fall from the sky, did it grow there, did it somehow get itself up in the tree, or did it become elevated as the tree grew—the only negative answer I received was that it certainly had not been placed there by a person. In other words, it was not a fake. I recount this series of events not to subject my friends to unwarranted accusations of superstition, or belief in magic, or as irrational. I think it best to see this search as part of an understanding of the world in which not everything is subject to the same laws as members of other cultures experience day-by-day.8 My friends are not superstitious; they were then and are now concerned about money, survival, and getting a better life. To some extent, just as with the lottery, they felt they could ‘spend a little money and time’ looking for a stone in a tree just as they spent some money every two weeks on the illegal two-digit lottery–in the hopes of making a little bit more. But, beyond the entrepreneurship evident in their actions is the point that such an occurrence is believable. Things happen, we may not know why they happen, but they are certainly there and we may be able to take some occasion to make something from these happenings. Such a worldview is in stark contrast to a hyper-rationalistic view which says that everything must be explicable by terms we already know, even though many things happen for which we, with our rationalistic view, have no ready explanation. I contend that the temporal and spatial shifting we have seen in the festivals and events described in the first section of this essay lay a foundation for the willful suspension of disbelief that something such as stones in tress cannot happen. The Thai-Lao of Isan are used to shifting time,

8

I am reminded here of stories of Chinese jars which Southeast Asian hill people use to brew alcohol. These jars are certainly ‘miraculous’ to these people; these people give them names and talk about kinship relations among the jars. In other words, something which is quite explicable and understandable in one cultural context becomes inexplicable in another and thus imbued with otherworldly, in these cases, human characteristics. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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space, and causation. They move their world through their own constructions into different frames. Would it not be possible for that world to construct itself differently in ways of which we are not usually aware, thus causing stones to appear in trees? Much the same may perhaps be said of the stories and ‘fairy-tales’ of which Northeast Thailand has a rich heritage (Wajuppa and MacDonald 2004), as well as the stories recounted by Kamala Tiyavanich in The Buddha in the Jungle (2003). Kamala describes the disjunction between European explorers and local understandings of how things might exist and how people and animals might act. The stories that children now hear less and less, because they pay greater attention to other ‘realities’ and fables created by mass media emanating from cities, carry similar messages. The world can be different from what we expect; one might want to be in a position to recognize these disjunctions and take advantage of them. People’s lives: chiwit khuu lakon Some of the ‘stories’ I have heard of villagers’ lives, indeed, the continuing lives of these people in the village context, speaks to the ability of village life to nurture alternative stories. Not all–perhaps not even any–villagers live ‘humdrum’ lives; the lives they lead, even those that appear the most typical, are laced with narration, drama, and imagination. My village friends, without prodding from me, recently styled these narratives–the narratives that villagers construct for themselves–as chiwit khuu lakon, life as a play, life as story. This phrase was initially spoken by my ‘younger sister’ as she described the adventures of a former monk who recently constructed an alternative life for himself. While my ‘relative’ spoke this phrase on her own, I found she used something familiar to many villagers, the title of a song which even some young adult villagers know, Look Nii Khuu Lakon. Interestingly, the written words and background music for this song are available as part of the standard Karaoke software package for Thai computers. The song’s words seem only to reflect on the words’ meanings, ‘The World is Like a Play’. They do not parallel or summarize the storyline of the famous novel which motivated the song’s creation, Lakhon Haeng Chiwit [Arkartdamkeung 2472/1929, reprinted 2547/2002, translated into English as The Circus of Life (2537/1994)]. While Thai sources acknowledge the Shakespearean origin of the concept, I do not believe that people in ‘the West’ are as aware of ‘life as a play’ as are villagers in Northeast Thailand. In neither case do I mean that the citizens of either country are un-reflective, but I am not as aware in the West of ‘normal’ people seeing the abrupt and sometimes unbelievable changes in people’s lives as something that can and does happen with great frequency. In Northeast Thailand, even

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though villagers often live extremely close-to-the-margin existences, people ‘imagine’ different lives and may, indeed, come to live them. Of course, the monkhood itself provides an alternative for men to the life of the householder. But, attractions outside the Sangha remain and, evidently, play possible roles in the imaginations of monks. In one recent case, one young monk who had been in the monkhood for several rains retreats and who was well-known for the beauty of his voice while chanting, left the monkhood and married a young divorcee in the village of his birth. She had married a fellow villager a few years earlier, but that did not work out, so she and her daughter returned to live with her parents as her first marriage collapsed. Somehow, the monk became attracted to her, he left the monkhood, and they married. Then the former monk went in search of a job and found one in Pathum Thani, near Bangkok, selling machinery. He brought his wife and her daughter to live with him there. However, in less than a year it became evident that he drank too much, so she returned to the village and has proceeded to get divorced from this second husband. He, meanwhile, took up with the daughter of his Chinese employer; the report is that they are going to get married. His former wife has found another man and moved in with him, leaving her daughter in the care of the child’s grandparents. By the way, her first husband found, after much looking, a suitable mate in a village two provinces away, so a big wedding party left the village to take him there a couple of years ago. That marriage appears to be continuing peacefully. Then there is the story of the older couple who accompanied their divorced niece and her three children to live near Bangkok. The wife of this older couple had to return to the village, leaving the 60-plus year old man and the 30-plus year old niece together with the children. The elderly man and the young woman began to sleep together, leading to a divorce by the man’s wife. This new couple has since returned to the village; the elderly former wife lives at one end in the couple’s original house; the new couple and the children by the previous marriage live in another house at the other end of the village. Finally, there is the ‘story’ told to a farang friend who was living in a village house with an elderly woman. She saw this woman’s daughter-in-law, who lived nearby, daily bring her young child to be tended by the child’s grandmother while the daughter-in-law went to the nearby city to work. Eventually, my friend talked with the daughter-in-law through an interpreter and discovered the hard life of a resident daughter-in-law in a system in which inheritance is normally through a woman to her daughters. The daughter-in-law broke down while reciting her story, of finding pleasure in work and the independence she had in Bangkok selling food from a street stall. She certainly had not wanted to return to the village of her husband and mother-in-law, even though that was the only way she could get support to provide for her new baby.

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While there are many such stories, the lives of many people also appear relatively stable and planned out. However, the impression one gets is that interruptions in the steady ‘progress’ of life may appear at any moment. To the villagers these interruptions–disjunctions in space, time, and causation for whatever reason –appear relatively unpredictable; one does one’s best to take them in stride. At the same time, one knows that chiwit khuu lakon, life can be like a play, and strange, out-of-the-ordinary things, such as winning the lottery or a thirty-plus woman finding herself in love with a sixty-plus man can happen.9 How and when do villagers, or anyone, recognize the ‘play’ in the lives they are leading and see possible narrations in it? We have almost no knowledge of these imaginaries, even with the many studies of life in Thailand. Conclusion While the above are stories of individuals with imaginations, constructing lives among the detritus of human existence, they point towards only a few of the major narrative themes of Thai village life. Village life may not be as stagnant as commonly depicted. Perhaps many residents as well as observers do not give due credit to the resources of village imaginations to understand the potential for reconfigurations of social and temporal space that occur as different, village- and individually-based events are constructed and re-constructed through the year. Certainly, the mass media that originate outside of villages and flow constantly through them do not, and do not wish to, take account of such alternative realities. ‘The village’–‘a village’–‘all villages’ may look the same but, within constraints imposed by a relative lack of things and a concomitant necessity to engage almost daily and annually in repetitive activities, this paper proposes that villagers imaginatively reconstruct their landscapes and their lives at several crucial points throughout the year, reflecting different realities.

9

A recent NESDB survey on mia farang, about Isan village women who married foreign men and brought them back to live in their home villages, has gained wide notoriety (Kamon and Sumalee 2004). While the reasons presented in The Nation’s discussion of the survey concerning the increasing number of such marriages with resulting residence patterns are rationally stated, behind them is the missing question of how it might be possible for strange white men to fall in love with, marry, and then determine to live in poor Isan villages with women whom Central Thai, as well as their own husbands, have been denigrating for years (cf. Stephff 2004)? (Any more than it is possible for other strange white men asking many questions–anthropologists–to spend decades involved with the Isan villages, finding them so interesting that they keep returning.) Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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This play with scene and actors simultaneously constructs different time frames in village life. Thus, if this is not stretching the point too far, it may be possible to see that rural Thai villagers, if not their urban counterparts, shift time to provide ways to shift scenes in what appears sometimes to be a slowly changing, but at other times unbelievably rapid and possibly unpredictable universe. Many of these shifts in time and space are imbued with a morality, just as modernity is permeated with a particular moral view of time and space. This paper proposes that we chart these varying scenes in the life of Northeast Thai-Lao villages. In initiating a charting of this configuration, this paper has attempted to make a statement about imagination and construction which bestows on rural villagers the possibility of conceptualizing worlds differently from the ones they live in, just as many people elsewhere in the world are accustomed to reading novels and short stories, or looking at TV and imaginatively placing themselves in the stories they read, or see, there.

References Arkartdamkeung Rapheephat 2472/1929 Lakhon haeng chiwit. Original edition reprinted 2545. Bangkok: Samnakphim Daukyaa. 2537/1994 The Circus of Life, translation of Lakorn Haeng Cheewit, translated by Phongdeit Jiangphattanarkit, edited and introduced by Marcel Barang. Bangkok: Thai Modern Classics, Chaiyong Limthongkun [Limthongkul] Foundation of The M Group. Cate, Sandra 2000 Imaging the Past: Art and Authority at a Thai Temple in Wimbledon. Paper presented at Crossroads and Commodification: a Symposium on Southeast Asian Art. The University of Michigan, 24–25 March. Gay, Bernard 2002 Millenarian Movements in Laos, 1895–1936: Depictions by Modern Lao Historians, in Breaking New Ground in Lao History: Essays on the Seventh to Twentieth Centuries, ed. by Mayoury Ngaosrivathana and K. Breazeale. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, pp. 282–336. Gittinger, Mattiebelle and Leedom Lefferts 1992 Textiles and the Tai Experience in Southeast Asia. Washington, D.C.: The Textile Museum

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Kamala Tiyavanich 2003 The Buddha in the Jungle. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books. Kamol Sukin and Sumalee Phopayak 2004 The Mia Farang Club: ‘It’s Not Just About The Money’. Bangkok: The Nation, 15 June, pp. 1A, 4A. Keyes, Charles F. 1977 Millenialism, Theravada Buddhism, and Thai Society. Journal of Asian Studies 36(2): 283–302. Jory, Patrick 2002

The Vessantara Jataka, Barami, and the Bodhisatta-Kings: The Origin and Spread of a Premodern Thai Concept of Power. Crossroads 16(1): 152–194. McKinley, Robert 1979 Zaman dan Masa, Eras and Periods: Religious Evolution and the Permanence of Epistemological Ages in Malay Culture, in The Imagination of Reality: Essays in Southeast Asian Coherence Systems, ed. by A. Becker and A. Yengoyan. Norwood, NJ: Ablex, pp. 303–324. Mills, Mary Beth 1999 Thai Women in the Global Labor Force: Consuming Desires, Contested Selves. New Brunswick, N. J: Rutgers University Press. O’Connor, Richard 2000 A Regional Explanation of the Tai Muang as a City-State, in A Comparative Study of Thirty City-State Cultures, ed. by Mogens Herman Hansen. Copenhagen, Denmark: The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters. Sommai Premchit 2544/2001 Mahaa Wessandon Chaadok (The Mahavessantara-Jataka: A Sociocultural Analysis), in Thai. Chiang Mai: published by the author. Stephff 2004

Stephff’s View (editorial cartoon) “The Naked Truth About MiaFarang: It’s Not Only About Money…Unlike Modern Thai Society, Farang Can Make Poor Isaan Woman Feel Good About Herself Again”. Bangkok, The Nation, 20 June, p. 9A.

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Tannenbaum, Nicola 1995 Who Can Compete Against The World? Power-Protection and Buddhism in Shan Worldview. Monograph and Occasional Paper Series, No. 51. Ann Arbor, Michigan: The Association for Asian Studies. Wajuppa Tossa 1990 Phadaeng Nang Ai: a Translation of a Thai-Isan Folk Epic in Verse. Lewisburg, Pennsylvania: Bucknell University Press. Wajuppa Tossa and Margaret Read MacDonald 2547/2004 Nithaan Phuunbaan Kapkaan Laonithaan: Folktales and Storytelling, in Thai and English. Mahasarakham, Thailand: published by the author.

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THE LACQUER PAVILION IN ITS FIRST REIGN CONTEXT Patricia M. Young

The Lacquer Pavilion is a unique building with twelve gold and black lacquer mural paintings. It was discovered by François du Haut de Berenx, an antique dealer, in the grounds of the little wat at Ban Kling, a small riverside village some 10 km south of Ayutthaya. According to villagers, it had been brought to Ban Kling as two damaged buildings in the early nineteenth century. It was not known from where. In 1959 Prince and Princess Chumbhot of Nagara Svarga acquired the buildings, re-erecting and restoring them in their Suan Pakkad Palace in Bangkok. These were separate but cognate buildings: one had been a repository or library for Buddhist manuscripts, the other was a scriptorium open on one side for the use of monks. In Bangkok the library was placed as an inner room. The mural panels of the three walls of the scriptorium were placed around this inner room on all four sides as a gallery. Each building has six incomplete murals. The inner room, the former library, has portions of seven non-matching baseboards which suggests it would have been twice as large. Each mural has the distinctive feature of an upper register presenting scenes from the Buddha’s ministry and a lower register with episodes from the Ramakien. This process of discovery and reconstruction is described by M.C. Subhadradis Diskul in The Lacquer Pavilion at Suan Pakkad Palace (1960). When the Lacquer Pavilion was brought to Bangkok, knowledgeable writers M.R. Kukrit Pramoj and Professor Silpa Bhirasri considered the two sets of murals to be products of the late seventeenth century created during the reign of King Narai (1656–1688). The reasons given were the striking depiction of three French cavaliers in seventeenth century dress in one mural and foreigners—Dutch, Mughal, Persian—in costumes characteristic of the Narai period. Another element considered was the use of the pointed arch in the Lacquer Pavilion windows. These motifs became popular during Phra Narai’s reign but remained in use into the nineteenth century. For example, the British emissary to the Court of Siam in 1821, John Crawfurd, commented on mural paintings in Wat Phra Chetuphon (built 1789–1801) that the Europeans were in the “grotesque costume of the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth centuries”. 1 Also considered in

1

John Crawfurd Journal of an Embassy to the Courts of Siam and Cochin China 1828; reprinted Oxford University Press, 1987, p. 109. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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1959 was a Ban Kling tradition that the buildings had come from a palace in Ayutthaya, destroyed by the Burmese in 1767. Not observed at the time of the Lacquer Pavilion’s discovery was that its distinctive windows of a pointed arch with a cusp on either side are in the same style and proportions as those at the Wang Na (Palace of the Front) built during the 1780s by the Uparaj Viceroy, younger brother of King Rama I (1789–1801). Also not realized in 1959 was that for the first third of the nineteenth century Bangkok’s formal name given by King Rama I was Krungthep-mahanakhonsiayutthaya.2 By the late 1970s scholars speculated that the Lacquer Pavilion was built sometime during the eighteenth or early nineteenth centuries.3 This paper aims to place the origin of the Lacquer Pavilion murals in the context of the First Reign of the Chakri Dynasty founded by King Rama I (1782–1809). There are four compelling reasons to do so. The first is the marked change in subject matter of temple murals from the Jatakas in the Late Ayutthaya period to that of the life of the Buddha during the First Reign. The second reason is the similarity of focus on the ministry of the Buddha in the Lacquer Pavilion murals with those of the Buddhaisawan Chapel (built mid-1790s). The third reason is the illustrations in the Lacquer Pavilion murals of the Buddha’s visit to Lanka and other scenes from the Mahavamsa, the Sri Lankan epic translated into Thai by order of Rama I. Finally, the scenes in the lower registers of episodes from the Ramakien are those described in the version of the epic composed by Rama I. These changes took place in the context of Rama I’s reformation of the Sangha, and his emphasis on the historic Buddha’s life and ministry. Also important are the king’s literary interests which included the translation of the Mahavamsa and the re-creation of the Ramakien. Temples in Central Thailand During the Late Ayutthaya period until the fall of the capital in 1767, with one exception, the subject matter of temple murals concerned the Jatakas, primarily those of the Tosachat, the last Ten Lives of the Bodhisattha prior to the Buddha’s final life with his Enlightenment and his entrance into Nibbana. Similar to parables, the Jatakas were moral teachings illustrating the Ten Virtues which must be perfected in order to attain Buddhahood, and representing the righteous behavior, and sacrifices for others by the Bodhisatta as he progressed in his successive rebirths. These were painted along the lateral walls of the temple at eye level 2

The Dynastic Chronicles Bangkok Era First Reign Chaophraya Thiphakorawang Edition, 1869 Vol I. Text translated and edited by Thadeus and Chadwin Flood, 1975, The Center for East Asian Cultural Studes, Tokyo, p. 18. 3 Jean Boisselier, Thai Painting, Kodansha International, Tokyo, 1976, p. 96. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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so that monks could more easily explain them. The appeal of the Tosachat was apparently paramount for the laity who could perhaps appreciate the circumstances of the characters and relate to them. In addition to the Jatakas, those scenes illustrating certain major, miraculous experiences in the Buddha’s life were painted high on the front or rear walls of the temple. Always on the front wall, over the doors, was the Mara Vichai/Victory over Mara. On the rear wall above the altar might be illustrated the Great Departure or the Descent from Tavatimsa Heaven, or the cremation and distribution of the relics. The one exception to this Late Ayutthaya custom of focusing on the Jatakas was in Wat Ko Keo Suttharam, Petchburi 1734, the murals of which dealt with episodes in the life of the historic Buddha. Murals of the First Reign Beginning with the reign of Rama I, there was a marked change of subject matter in temple murals from those of the Late Ayutthaya period. This important shift was to illustrate scenes from the life of the Buddha instead of those of his previous lives. These new murals were also painted along the lateral walls at eye level. The temples for reference are those First Reign wats which still have their original murals or portions thereof. They are the ubosots of Wat Dusidaram, Wat Ratchasitaram, Wat Chaiyathid (re-touched), the viharn of Wat Chompuwek in Nonthaburi and the Buddhaisawan Chapel. Other temples of the period have had their murals replaced by those of later reigns. These First Reign temples each had different combinations of scenes from the Buddha’s life. Mural illustrations would vary from temple to temple. Most scenes were in the period prior to the Buddha’s ministry as teacher of the Dhamma. Those illustrations might be miraculous events in Prince Siddattha’s early years, then his renunciation of his privileged life, followed by his Great Departure for the ascetic life. The latter was represented by Gotama’s six years of deprivation and self-mortification, then his appreciation of the Middle Way. After his Enlightenment the Buddha spent seven weeks of contemplation meditating on the Dhamma he had discovered. After these, the murals might illustrate only three or four experiences during the Buddha’s ministry of forty-five years as teacher of the truths he had come to understand. Illustrated might be one of his conversions such as that of the Jatilas or fire worshippers, or miracles such as teaching his mother and other deities in Tavatimsa Heaven. Always illustrated would be his Parinibbana. The Mara Vichai continued to be placed on the upper portion of the front wall facing the altar and presiding image (except in the Buddhaisawan Chapel and Wat Chaiyathid on the lateral wall). The wall behind the altar was illustrated with the Traiphum (Three Worlds of Heaven, Earth, Hell). This might have been in reference to the compilation of these scriptures as ordered by Rama I.

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The Lacquer Pavilion and the Buddhaisawan Chapel Among the First Reign temple murals, the striking departure representing the particular emphasis of Rama I are those of the Buddhaisawan Chapel. This was built by the Uparaj, construction beginning in 1795. Of its 32 bays (following the Muang Boran Publications designation), four bays deal with the Buddha’s youth, four with his ascetic life and awakening. The twenty-four remaining bays are concerned with the forty-five years of his ministry. It is within the context of the Buddha’s ministry that the illustrations in the upper registers of the Lacquer Pavilion murals are presented. Fifteen of the episodes from the Buddha’s experience illustrated in the Buddhaisawan Chapel are also found in the Lacquer Pavilion. As mentioned previously, since the original library was twice as large, we cannot know all the scenes which were presented. We can assume the series started with the Mara Vichai in Panel 11 because the lower register’s Ramakien illustrates foreign princes traveling to the Great Bow-Lifting Contest for the hand of Sita. This is the beginning of the story of Rama. In considering the affinities between the Lacquer Pavilion murals and those of the Buddhaisawan Chapel, it is important to note that in both buildings, the illustrations of the Mara Vichai show the Buddha sitting in dhyani mudra rather than the usual bhumisparsa mudra (Buddhaisawan Chapel Bay 7, Lacquer Pavilion Panel 11). With the exception of Wat Chaiyathid, these are the only two buildings that present the Buddha in this position. Further experiences illustrated in both buildings are the Buddha’s conversions of the Jatilas, or fire-worshippers, and Sakka offering a stone. Among the Lacquer Pavilion murals is the Buddha preaching at Sankassa. This episode follows the Descent from Tavatimsa Heaven, which is illustrated in the Chapel. In the Lacquer Pavilion Panel 13, however, the creatures of the Three Worlds—Heaven, Earth and Hell—look from the mural to the left, to the Buddha’s descent, the Hell figures with arms outstretched in supplication. The Descent from Tavatimsa is one of the missing panels in the Lacquer Pavilion. Two episodes, Sariputta’s Nibbana and the Story of Alavaka, are illustrated beside each other in both sets of murals, the Pavilion Panel 12 and Bay 24 of the Chapel. Several Buddhaisawan Chapel bays appear modeled on scenes illustrated in the Lacquer Pavilion. For example, the composition of the Buddha’s last meal on the right side of Bay 29 in the Buddhaisawan Chapel is very similar to that on the right side of Panel 4 in the Lacquer Pavilion gallery. The bay and the panel are both vertical compositions with the Buddha preaching to monks at the top. Below them are simple wooden buildings of the same style as in the Lacquer Pavilion. The Buddha is eating his last meal on a veranda, female musicians are playing nearby. In the Chapel mural the paint in the bottom section has flaked off, so what

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presumably showed cooks preparing food is no longer there. In the upper part of Bay 30 is illustrated the Buddha’s Parinibbana in Kusinara as he lies under two sal trees in Malla with Subhad the last convert seeking entry. This illustration reflects that in Panel 1 of the Lacquer Pavilion. Almost a copy of the Lacquer Pavilion’s Panel 8 is that of the Buddhaisawan Chapel’s Bay 31 where Ananda is announcing to the King of Malla the Buddha’s imminent Parinibbana. Royalty and townspeople are invited to say their farewells to the Teacher. The composition and architecture of Bay 31 is similar to that of Panel 8 and at the bottom almost a copy. In Bay 32, the last of those in Buddhaisawan Chapel, there are several scenes which are similar to those illustrated in the Lacquer Pavilion murals but are not direct copies. These Buddhaisawan Chapel mural scenes mentioned appear to be copies after those scenes in the Lacquer Pavilion indicating they were painted later. A further connection of the Lacquer Pavilion with the First Reign is in Wat Phra Chetuphon. This was the major monastery built by Rama I. The First Reign murals have long since been obliterated. However, among the bronze images created by order of Rama I is the large image in the North Viharn of the Buddha during his retreat in the Parileyaka Forest. The Buddha sits in a Western position. He is attended by the elephant bringing him water and the monkey offering honey. This scene is replicated in Panel 10 in the Inner Room of the Lacquer Pavilion. Restoration and Reform The change in the subject matter of temple murals from the Jatakas of the Late Ayutthaya period to scenes of the Buddha’s life in the murals of the First Reign was the result of Rama I’s restoration and reform involving the Sangha, the monkhood, and the laity of Thai society. The destruction of Ayutthaya by the Burmese in 1767 brought about the disintegration of society. The population was dispersed into the countryside or taken into Burma by the invading military. After the Burmese had looted monasteries, destroyed temples, images, texts, the Sangha, too, with its impoverished, demoralized monks was dispersed and ineffective. Many monks had to provide for their own living since they could not count on the laity. Adherance to the Vinaya depended on sufficient alms from lay people. The population had nowhere to turn for its religious needs. Rama I, when called to the throne in 1782, after Taksin’s later ineffective rule, re-established the Sangha, reforming its traditional disciplines, reasserting the position of the monks within it and their distinction from the laity. Within his first year, he decreed seven new laws for the Sangha. He restored political order, re-established traditional practices of government for the laity, setting out new rules as he had done those of the clergy, and thus reformed the social order. Within his

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first month as king, Rama I ordered the re-compilation of the Tipitaka/The Three Baskets: the Vinaya Pitaka with rules for the order of the Sangha, the Suttanta Pitaka with the words of the Buddha’s teachings, and the Abhidhamma of higher teachings. Rama I was interested in the monkhood returning to the basic practices of early Buddhism, to live as monks had done in the time of the Buddha. He wanted to foster understanding of Buddhist principles among laymen. What more effective way to reach people, many of whom were illiterate, than through mural paintings in the ubosots or viharns or other temple buildings. The murals were used by monks to explain the life of the historic Buddha, his experiences in reaching Enlightenment and his dedication thereafter to teaching the Dhamma. Consequently, among the detailed depictions of scenes from the life of the great religious leader, those of the historic Buddha in his last life would have been of paramount importance. It is understandable if the changes in mural paintings were of major concern to the abbots and royal sponsors of the new temples being built during and after the foundation of Bangkok. The Mahavamsa In addition to Rama I’s efforts to reconstitute the monkhood and society, plus his military responsibilities, there were further directions taken by the king. Since a couple of these other developments are reflected in the Lacquer Pavilion murals, it is appropriate to discuss them here. Important in considering the period of the Lacquer Pavilion’s murals is the legendary Buddha’s visit to Lanka in Panel 3 and Buddhaisawan Chapel Bay 12. The subject appears in no other Thai mural painting. The episodes are from the Sri Lankan epic Mahavamsa which Rama I ordered to be translated from the Pali into Thai. The purpose of the Buddha’s visit is to rid Lanka of the yakkhas (aboriginal people) because their settlement was in the place where the Dhamma would later be glorified. In both the Buddhaisawan Chapel Bay 12 and the Lacquer Pavilion Panel 3 the Buddha floats through the air in a storm, then settles on his mat on the ground. The terrified yakkhas swim to a nearby island which the Buddha has caused to float by Lanka. Unique to the Pavilion murals is the scene of Vijaya, a prince from Bengal, coming to invade Lanka in the fourth century B.C. He is shown conversing with the Yakkha king and the Yakkhini Kuveni. Also described in the Sri Lankan epic and in the Pavilion Panel 6 is the Buddha’s stay in Lake Anottata prior to his visit to Lanka. To have this sequence illustrated in the Lacquer Pavilion indicates it was most certainly created in the First Reign. Rama I had the Mahavamsa translated into Thai from the Pali because for generations prior to that it was known only to monks. A consideration as to why

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this was important might have been that there were certain parallels between his career and that of King Duttha Gamani (161–137 B.C.). This king was able to drive the Tamils/Damilas out of Lanka to unify the island as one kingdom for the first time in history. His goal was to re-establish the religion of the Buddha. The parallels could have been Rama I unifying his kingdom, restoring Buddhism and reestablishing the Sangha. The Mahavamsa describes in some detail Duttha Gamani’s building of the Mahathupa/Great Stupa at Anuradhapura, the Lankan capital. The Chronicle of the First Reign also describes similar constructions of Rama I with related purposes. They were two warrior kings. The Ramakien In the Lacquer Pavilion, in addition to scenes from the ministry of the Buddha in the paintings of the upper registers, the other distinctive element is the subject matter of the Ramakien in the lower registers. This is distinctive because the episodes are from the version composed by Rama I in 1785.4 Performances of the Ramakien had long been in the khon, the nang yai and the nang talung. The gold and black lacquer illustrations in the Lacquer Pavilion were obviously derived from the figures and landscape details illustrated in the nang yai. If there were written texts of the Ramakien, they did not survive the destruction of Ayutthaya. The distinctive aspect of the version written by Rama I was the introduction of the adventures in Lanka of Rama’s younger brothers Prot and Satrud. This additional tale composed in the First Reign involves the dethronement of Piphek, ruler of Lanka, established by Rama after the overthrow of Tosakan/ Ravana. In his teens, Paina, son of the latter, learns of his father’s defeat and thinks he should be ruler of Lanka, not his uncle Piphek. With the help of fellow yakkhas, Paina does gain the throne. Rama sends Prot and Satrud to remove Paina and reinstate Piphek in what might be called the second war for Lanka, a First Reign invention. This added section in the First Reign version of the Ramakien is depicted only in the Lacquer Pavilion and the cloisters of the Emerald Buddha temple in the Grand Palace built by Rama I. Of the 178 episodes illustrated in the murals in these cloisters, 28 are devoted to the adventures of Prot and Satrud. These murals were repainted in subsequent reigns but the scenes are original from the First Reign. Examples of Ramakien figures of this period are on pediments, and window frames of the Wang Na, and the supplemental library in the Emerald Buddha temple grounds also built by the Uparaj. The First Reign Ramakien screen in the Buddhaisawan

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Chapel is an important example. Some of the figures and landscape details are close to those in the lower registers of the Lacquer Pavilion. Conclusion The four primary reasons for considering the creation of the Lacquer Pavilion’s murals as a product of the First Reign of the Chakri Dynasty have been presented. To recapitulate: the subject matter of illustrating episodes from the Buddha’s historic life, rather than his previous lives as a Bodhisatta in the Jatakas, is characteristic of temple murals created during the reign of Rama I. The ministry of the Buddha is the subject of the Lacquer Pavilion’s mural illustrations in the upper registers of the inner room and the gallery. Most significant are the affinities between the Lacquer Pavilion’s subject matter and similarities of iconography with those of the Buddhaisawan Chapel. Of unusual importance are episodes from the Mahavamsa of apparent importance to Rama I and the adventures of Prot and Satrud in the Ramakien.

The Lacquer Pavilion, Suan Pakkad Palace, Bangkok

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Acknowledgements My great appreciation for the late M.C. Subhadradis Diskul’s continuing encouragement over the years. My thanks to H.E. Sarala Fernando, former Sri Lankan ambassador to Thailand for identifying the figures in Panel 3 of the Lacquer Pavilion. My thanks to Acharn Niyada Lasoonthorn for explaining the crucial distinction of the Ramakien composed by Rama I and identifying the figures in the lower registers of the Laquer Pavilion. My thanks to Dr Laura Kaufman for her helpful editing. Continuing appreciation to Mr Michael Wright for his many years of guidance and often collaboration. Bibliography Jean Boisselier Thai Painting, translated by Janet Seligman Kodansha International, Tokyo, 1976. John H. Butt “Thai Kingship And Religious Reform (18th–19th Centuries)” in Religion and Legitimation of Power in Thailand, Bardwell L. Smith, ed., South and Southeast Asian Studies, ANIMA Books, 1978. John Crawfurd Journal of an Embassy to the Courts of Siam and Cochin China 1821 London, 1828 reprinted, Oxford University Press, Kuala Lumpur, 1987. H.H. Prince Dhani Nivat “The Reconstruction of Rama I of the Chakri Dynasty” Journal of the Siam Society XLIII 1, 1955. Dynastic Chronicle Bangkok Era First Reign, Chaophraya Thiphakorawong edition, translated and edited by Thadeus and Chadin Flood Vol. I Text Centre for East Asian Cultural Studies, Tokyo, 1978. Dorothy H. Fickle The Life of the Buddha Murals in the Buddhaisawan Chapel National Museum, Bangkok, Thailand, The Fine Arts Department, 1979. E.F.C. Ludowyk The Story of Ceylon, Faber & Faber, London, 1962. The Mahavamsa Part I: The Translation of the First Part, George Turnour 1937, Acting Government Printer, Ceylon, 1900.

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Bhikkhu Nanamoli The Life of the Buddha as it Appears in the Pali Canon, The Oldest Record, Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Ceylon, 1972. C.W. Nicholas and S. Paranavitana A Concise History of Ceylon, Ceylon University Press, Columbo, 1963. Ray Olsson The Ramakien, A Prose Translation of the Thai Ramayana. Praepitya Company, Bangkok, 1968. Craig J. Reynolds “Buddhist Cosmography in Thai History with special reference to Nineteenth Century Cultural Change.” Journal of Asian Studies Vol. XXXV, No.2, February 1976. “The Buddhist Monkhood In Nineteenth Century Thailand”, Cornell University PhD thesis, 1972. Sudara Suchaxaya Buddhaisawan Chapel, Muang Boran Mural, Paintings of Thailand, 1983. M. C. Subhadradis Diskul The Lacquer Pavilion at Suan Pakkad Palace, Princess Chumbhot of Nagara Svarga, Bangkok, 1960. M. C. Subhadradis Diskul and Charles S. Rice The Ramakian (Ramayana) Mural Paintings along the Galleries of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, Bangkok, 1982, third ed. 1995. S.J. Tambiah World Conquerer and World Renouncer: A Study of Buddhism and Polity In Thailand against a Historical Background Cambridge University Press 1976. Klaus Wenk The Restoration of Thailand Under Rama I, 1782–1809 University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 1968. David K. Wyatt Studies in Thai History: Collected Articles Silkworm Books, Chiang Mai, 1994. “The Subtle Revolution of King Rama I of Siam” from Moral Order and the Question of Change, ed. David K. Wyatt and Alexander Woodside, Yale University Southeast Asian Studies, New Haven, 1982. Thailand : A Short History Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1984, Silkworm Books, Chiang Mai.

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REVIEWS Jean-Pierre Pautreau, Patricia Mornais and Tasana Doy-Asa, Ban Wang Hai: Excavations of an Iron-Age Cemetery in Northern Thailand,with a foreword by H.R.H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. Chiangmai, Silkworm Books, 2003. pp. iii + 250. 1,200 baht. This book is the product of a collaborative research project between the Division of Archaeology, Fine Arts Department, Thailand and a team of French archaeologists from the Guimet Museum, Paris and the French National Center of Scientific Research, with support from the French Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is the second part of the joint project which commenced in 1985–1995. The first part revealed the Paleolithic culture at the Ob Luang archaeological site in Hot district, Chiang Mai province; this second expedition, conducting research between 1996 and 1998, has revealed the extensive Bronze and Iron Age site at Ban Wang Hai, Muang District, Lamphun province. Together, the two projects have made a valuable contribution to knowledge of the prehistory of northern Thailand and the material culture present here around 2,000 years ago. In the words of H.R.H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn who kindly contributed the foreword to the volume, the ‘fruitful collaboration’ between Thailand and France has illuminated ‘our understanding of our history and our civilization.’ (p. v)

The book is printed in both English and Thai, thus enhancing its accessibility to a range of scholars and students interested in the varied cultures of this region before it became known as Thailand. It contains a useful bibliography (pp. 245–48) for those wishing to explore further in the archaeological discoveries of northern Thailand, and related regions, without attempting to overwhelm the reader with the vast amount of material appearing in this field. The editors have thoughtfully presented their discoveries in a logically structured manner, focusing on site excavation history, stratigraphy, funerary deposits, grave goods, general comments, and catalogue of material finds. The beautiful illustrations ably support the meticulous description of each item, grave, burial jar, bead, ceramic, or jewellery which the team’s excavations revealed. In a very concise introduction, (pp.1–2) Jean-Pierre Pautreau succinctly identifies the significance of the team’s discoveries at Ban Wang Hai in the context of our knowledge of the Bronze and Iron Age cultures of northern Thailand. He states: ‘Iron Age burials were rare in the northern provinces; however, there are some inhumations at Ban Yang Thong Tai (Doi Saket) and at Ban San Pha Ka (San Kamphaeng). The cemetery at Ban Wang Hai, with more than thirty graves, some with interesting ceramic items, ornaments, and iron tools, is now the

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major reference in the north.’ (p.1) The editors are careful to present their findings in a restrained tone, resisting the temptation to claim more than might be able to be justified by the evidence. Particularly impressive is the assemblage of material culture, giving the reader an insight into the quality of life of the people of Ban Wang Hai. They valued the beautiful beads, some in stone, some in glass, agate or cornelian, possibly traded from other areas; they wore bronze bracelets decorated with spherical bells of a type found in the late levels of Ban Chiang, northeastern Thailand (p.57). The patterns of decoration on other bronze bracelets and glass earrings are said to connect the site to the Dong Son culture of north Vietnam. Other finds included necklaces of glass beads and disk-shaped shell beads, found often with the graves of children. Cornelian and agate beads were evidently accorded only to children as they are found only with children’s graves. Based on analysis of the beads, the team believes that while the stone beads were made locally (p.46), the cornelian and agate beads came from other parts of Southeast Asia or India (pp.45, 49). Some adults also wore necklaces of blue-green or red-orange, occasionally yellow or purple glass beads numbering from 100 to 342 beads in each necklace (p.45). The Ban Wang Hai site clearly attests to interment of iron instruments with the dead. Many graves included the vek, or iron age reaping sickle similar to those used today to harvest rice (pp.38–44).

The editors describe in detail the placement of this implement: against the head, right side of the head, in contact with the hipbones, against the right arm, at the level of the elbow, or against the right thighbone. The vek was clearly an important tool for this Iron Age culture. The significance of the vek resides in the fact that to date no other similar instruments have been found at other proto-historical Thai sites (p.39). Other iron instruments found interred with the graves included knives for everyday use or for harvesting knives, large bifid blades with tangs, which may have been either daggers or spearheads, a chisel about 326 mm in length, leather knives or axes, and a blade with concave asymmetrical edges 320 mm in length and 96 mm in width. The weapons found in the graves of the people of Ban Wang Hai include iron spearheads with circular or oval shaped sockets, and a sword with a long leafshaped blade. All these iron instruments were found usually placed on the right side of the dead. A special feature of this book is the concerted attempt by the authors to compare their discoveries to those at other Iron or Bronze Age sites in Thailand– at Ban Don Ta Phet, Noen U Loke, Ongbah, Khao Chamuk, Ban Na Di, Non Pa Kluai, Non Muang and Ban Chiang. This deepens the sense of a widespread Iron and Bronze Age culture in this region, trading artifacts or raw materials between sites or with the outside world. The possible links between the people of these proto-historic cultures

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and their present-day descendants are also occasionally suggested as the authors draw comparisons with the customs of some of the ethnic minorities living in northern Thailand. The authors’ close examination of the more than thirty graves at Ban Wang Hai gives a sense of the lifestyle of the people, their short lifespans, high infant mortality, and care for children. Many of the graves contained the remains of very young children, often associated with urn burial, sometimes interred alongside an adult, possibly the mother. Observation of spatial proximity between the graves of some adults and children led the team to suggest that these represented groupings of the dead. One group is distinguished from the others by its east-west orientation and three metre wide band of cleared ground separating it from the other graves. The authors resist the temptation to speculate on the reasons for this apparent grouping and separation from the other graves. Of significance, however, is their conclusion that the interments of 27 individuals on their backs, with upper limbs close to the chest and lower limbs stretched out, took place in coffins made of hollowed-out tree trunks and that burial pits were utilized (p.16). The archaeological team believes that the outlines of a burial container could be seen in the surrounding sediment for four graves in the western sector of trial excavation no.7. For others, taphonomical evidence is used, as attention is drawn to the visible, lateral effects of

compression on the majority of skeletons at the level of shoulders or upper limbs, and restriction on the head. The authors draw attention to similar customs of burial in coffins of hollowed out, boatshaped tree trunks practiced by the Akha ethnic group living in the Chiang Mai region today (p.20). Moreover, they emphasize that whilst no similar examples occur in cemeteries in the Thai lowlands, they are numerous in the Mae Hong Son region. Carbon dating placed these protohistoric coffins between 200 AD and 900 AD, and that of burnt bone deposits at Ban Wang Hai to between 400 AD and 700 AD (p.21). It appears that the containers usually held only one individual, but were made sufficiently large to include others if necessary, as in the case of one such burial which included two children and one adult. The richness of the material culture presented by the Thai-French archaeological team whets the reader’s appetite for further such discoveries to bring to light the full extent of the Bronze and Iron Age civilizations in Lanna and the links with other areas of Thailand. The discoveries of the joint research project have provided much valuable new evidence of these civilizations. It is hoped that this volume will provide inspiration for further investigation by similar joint research teams to unearth the story of Thailand’s proto-historic heritage. Helen James

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David Snellgrove, Angkor Before and After: A Cultural History of the Khmers. Bangkok, Orchid Press, 2004, pp. 250 pages, 10 maps, 2 figures. Preface by Olivier de Bernon (in English and French), photographs by Suthep Kritsanuvarin Angkor—Before and After traces the Khmer civilization from its known origins to the present day in seven chapters and an epilogue. The text is illustrated with an impressive 243 quality photographs, which are almost all in colour and are conveniently integrated with the text. The British author, David Snellgrove, is a Doctor of Literature of the University of Cambridge, Professor Emeritus of the University of London, a Fellow of the British Academy and the recipient of a Royal Asiatic Society honorary award in June 2004. Snellgrove is a renowned scholar of Indian and Tibetan Buddhism and the author of several books, including Khmer Civilization and Angkor, which comprises extracts from his earlier book, Asian Commitment: Travels and Studies in the Indian Sub-Continent and South-East Asia. The author resides part-time in Cambodia and travels extensively within the country. To his credit, the octogenarian has visited most, if not all, of the sites mentioned in Angkor—Before and After. Snellgrove’s writing style of intermingling tales of his travels with his copious knowledge of the region adds a personal element to the book.

The author acknowledges some inevitable overlap with his earlier publications. This new book, however, includes recent findings, new interpretations of previously published research and the text and photographs of temples in outlying regions are expanded substantially. The ‘Before and After’ Angkor sections of the book are particularly enlightening as they are periods of Cambodian history with little published information, partly because on-the-site research was not possible for over two decades due to civil war and its aftermath, but also because the majority of publications have focused on the Angkor period (AD 802–1432). Snellgrove correctly refers to mainland South-East Asia (Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Malaysia) as Indochina, but the term is more commonly associated with only three countries—Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam—that were administered by the French from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. The first two chapters discuss Khmer civilization from its origins to the early ninth century. While the author accepts that Indian influences penetrated Khmer linguistics, written scripts, culture and religions, he also presents a convincing argument for indigenous origins of other aspects of the Khmer civilization, which contribute to counteracting the long-held theory that the Khmers were subsumed by the culture of India. He reports on a recently discovered and excavated Iron Age burial site in Banteay Meanchey

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Province, north-west Cambodia. A variety of bronze artifacts, ceramic vessels, beads and iron tools and weapons was discovered, which give clues to the social and economic conditions of the period. The site is believed to have been occupied in the early centuries AD, according to Dougald O’Reilly. Two examples of expanded text and photographs on pre-Angkor sites are Angkor Borei and Sambor Prei Kuk. Angkor Borei and temples in the environs are located south of Phnom Penh in Ta Keo Province, near the Vietnamese border. Recent research has determined that Angkor Borei may have been the centre of the early third century state identified as ‘Funan’ in Chinese annals. A canal connecting Angkor Borei to the trading port of Oc-eo, which was the dissemination point of Indian influence in to Cambodia, has been discovered. The author’s detailed coverage of the seventh century site of Sambor Prei Kuk, which was largely inaccessible until recently, is a welcome addition. The Hindu site, dedicated to the god Shiva, is located in Kompong Thom Province east of the Great Lake, and served as the capital for Ishanavarman I (reigned c. 611–c. 635). The identification of several temples at Angkor, which are located in the vicinity of the Western Baray and are dated before the early ninth century when the Angkor period began, are of particular interest and have attracted considerable research recently. Snellgrove has assigned the name ‘Baray Group’ to these

temples on the basis that the construction of the vast Western Baray in the eleventh century contributed to the disuse of the earlier temples. The ‘Baray Group’comprises the seventh century Hindu temple of Ak Yom, dedicated to Shiva (which may be the earliest example of a pyramid temple in the Angkor area), Prasat Prei Kmeng, Phnom Run and Prasat Kok Po. The remaining chapters progress through Khmer history chronologically and highlight kings recognized for their outstanding achievements. The author acknowledges that ‘in writing a cultural history of Cambodia one is bound by the very nature of the stone inscriptions’ because they constitute the only extant source that enables one to present a chronological genealogy of the Khmer kings and their reigns (p. 43). As such, the author correlates relevant inscriptions, genealogy and sculpture with specific sites throughout the text. These chapters draw on previously published information but also include details of recently accessible and little known sites such as the Kulen Mountain, Kabaal Spean (the ‘River of a Thousand Lingas’), Beng Mealea, Koh Ker, Preah Khan of Kompong Svay, Preah Vihear and sites in Battambang province. Surveys of temples in this province have only recently begun after mine clearance was completed following the civil war. The associated ceramic finds in this province are of great interest as they provide material evidence of the period in which they were used. The author also dis-

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cusses temples built on the Khorat Plateau, northeastern Thailand, which was part of the Khmer empire between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries. The type of irrigation system used at Angkor, the canals and interconnections and the function of the barays (‘manmade reservoirs’) are hotly debated topics in Khmer studies today. Snellgrove presents the prevailing views of several previously published scholars on the subject, but he does not mention the most recent findings of a joint project between the University of Sydney and the Ecole Française d’Extrême Orient (EFEO). Teams employing the use of radar ground-images and conducting extensive excavations in the environs of Angkor and around the barays have unearthed a wealth of information on this topic of irrigation and have also delineated the perimeters of the city of Angkor and determined some causes for its demise. Chapter Five focuses on the activities of two great Khmer kings—Suryavarman II (reigned 1113–1150), builder of Angkor Wat, and Jayavarman VII (reigned 1181–c. 1218), builder of the royal city of Angkor Thom. Snellgrove concludes the chapter with an interesting assessment on the religious beliefs of Jayavarman VII. He installed Mahayana Buddhism, rather than Hinduism, as the state religion at the beginning of his reign and expressed its ideals in his architectural sites. The court rituals, however, remained Brahmanical. Jayavarman VII is noted for building 102

hospitals throughout the kingdom and 121 rest houses along the royal roads extending from the capital of Angkor to the provincial centres. The chapels at these sites were dedicated to the Buddha Master of Medicine (Bhaisajyaguru), who is considered part of the Mahayana Buddhist pantheon, yet in this period he is depicted in the posture and hand position of a typical image of the seated Buddha, Shakyamuni, of the Theravada school. His right palm is turned outwards in the gesture of generosity, and he holds a begging bowl and a myrobalan fruit, a typical medicinal plant. Snellgrove, therefore, believes Jayavarman VII may have had the vision that Theravada, not Mahayana, Buddhism was the form that held promise for the future. And indeed it is the one practiced in Cambodia today. Even though the Khmer capital did not move southward from Angkor until sometime after 1432, the period ‘After Angkor’ in this book begins from the time of Jayavarman VII’s death, as no more major temples were built. Only one first-hand extant account from this period is known and it was written by Zhou Daguan, a Chinese emissary who resided in Angkor for about one year, from 1296 to 1297. He kept a detailed diary of his observations and translations of Zhou Daguan’s notes are included in this book, which shed light on Angkor at the end of the thirteenth century. Chapters Seven through the Epilogue cover the seventeenth through the twentieth centuries and begin with a

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detailed historical summary of the period, which consisted of frequent internal wars and invasions from Thailand and Vietnam. In the late eighteenth century, Siem Reap (including Angkor) and Battambang provinces belonged to Thailand. A treaty of 1907 between France and Thailand returned the provinces to Cambodia, where they remain today. This section also includes a discussion of the Riemker, which is the Khmer version of the great Indian epic, the Ramayana, and how they differ. He identifies indigenous additions and changes and notes similarities between later versions of the Riemker and scenes depicted on the bas-reliefs at Angkor Wat. Some statistical errors, typographical mistakes and inconsistencies, which should have been picked up in the copy editing or the proofreading, detract from this otherwise excellent book. The author writes, for example, that he visited some thirty-two Khmer sites in northwest Thailand, but surely he means north-east, the area of the greatest Khmer occupation (p. xv). The middle name of the author, Lawrence Briggs, is Palmer, not Stanley (p. xvi). The French established a protectorate over Cambodia in 1863, not 1853 (p. 1). Angkor was founded in the early, not the late, ninth century (p. 4). The distance between Prasat Andet and Kompong Thom differs in the text (p. 33) and the caption (p. 33). The pyramid shrine of Rong Chen, which was built for the first devaraja, was consecrated on Phnom

Kulen in 802, not 902 (p. 51, plate 56). The uneven content of the captions is annoying. A colour photograph of a corpse and the remains of funereal offerings, for example, gives no details as to its date or location (p 8, plate 9). Conversely, the caption for the early shrine of Hanchei (or Hanchey), a little known and rarely visited site, is highly descriptive and informative (p. 36, plate 39). Plate 181 (p. 154) is a photograph of the Buddha that is depicted above the door on the south, not east side, of the gopura as described in the caption. Omission of page numbers in numerous instances is irritating to the reader and references to the illustrations in the text would have been helpful. At least one change since publication has out-dated the text. The author writes: ‘it is regrettable that no English edition has so far been produced’ of the French guide book by Maurice Glaize (first published in 1944). An English translation of the entire book is, however, available on the Internet and can be downloaded at: Detailed endnotes, a glossary, bibliography, appendix and index complete the text. The content of this book surpasses the author’s previous publications on the subject and reveals Snellgrove’s individual style and his immense knowledge of Khmer civilization. Dawn F. Rooney

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Claudine Bautze-Picron, with photography by Joachim Karl Bautze, The Buddhist Murals of Pagan Timeless vistas of the cosmos. Bangkok, Orchid Press, 2003, pp. xiii + 242, 254 plates and 5 maps. The Buddhist murals of Pagan compose a unique ensemble in the Buddhist world of the eleventh to the fourteenth century, giving a glimpse of past splendor and showing that Pagan held a major political, spiritual and artistic position during the period. Claudine Bautze-Picron in her research on Pagan murals did not confine herself to just a small select grouping as has often been the case with earlier art historians, but over a five year period studied the numerous monuments that cover the whole plain of Pagan. In her learned and eloquent text she points out that the monuments once must all have been gorgeously adorned, thus constituting evidence that painted ornamentation was a fundamental part of the sanctuary, giving its real meaning to the temple. Her method of research was, as she puts it, to ‘dissect’ the monuments. The first step was to isolate the various components of the different iconographic programs painted on the walls and ceilings of the temple in order to identify the respective iconographies; the next step was to reconstruct the complete program and understand its meaning in the light of its various components. She maintains that while this dissection is required, it should never blind one to the fact that the inner space of each monument has

to be apprehended globally, in its total, since this reveals the monument as a visualization of the cosmos and reflects the cosmological nature of the Buddha and his identification with the monument which in turn becomes the living presence of the Buddha. In Chapter 1, The Murals of Pagan, Presentation, the author reviews the works of historians and art historians on the Pagan murals. She criticizes Gordon H. Luce, writing that he was a historian, not an art historian, because in his monumental work, Old Burma-Early Pagan, he claimed a Mon ancestry and style for the murals of early Pagan, dating them to late eleventh to mid-twelfth century, on the basis of glosses in Mon describing the murals. What, she asks, can the languages used in glosses tell us about the inspiration of the murals and monuments containing them? Then she goes on to relate that their style and part of their iconography of the period clearly find their inspiration in the Pala art of eastern India, in Bihar and Bengal. Hers is a long-needed stylistic and iconographic interpretation and one that she is very qualified to make. Indeed, the main focus of her research for many years has been the art of eastern India, about which she has published a large number of articles considering stylistic as well as iconographic issues. That research culminated in the catalogue Eastern Indian Sculpture in the Museum of Indian Art, Berlin, Berlin, 1998. She writes that Pagan in the late eleventh to mid-twelfth centuries appears to have been a place of transition where Indian

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models, both contents and form, were assimilated and transformed into a genuinely local formulation. That formulation coincided with the introduction through Mon Thaton to the south of new spiritual values based on the Sinhalese Theravada canon, at times in both Mon and Pali scripts. The peak of the Indian and Mon influences was reached in the monuments built to the east of the walled city of Pagan and around Myinkaba south of the city, after which they started to dilute. Often, moreover, the same monuments, such as the Abe-ya-dana or the Kubyauk-gyi, combined the ground plan traditionally considered to be of Mon origin and murals of east Indian style and iconography based on Sinhalese Theravada texts. She emphasizes that while eastern Indian styles and iconography were employed in the murals, the iconography does not relate to the Vajrayana Buddhism then blossoming in eastern India. This is significant because, beginning with Charles Duroiselle in an article in the Annual Report of the Archaeological Survey of India 1915–1916, several scholars have suggested evidence of Vajrayana Buddhism in the Abe-ya-dana and other murals. One of the iconographic programs, she points out, in constant use, which finds its source in Bihar, is the depiction of the eight great events. Bodhgaya was the center of the Buddhist world at this time and thus the presiding Buddha in each monument was represented seated under the Bodhi tree and touching the earth with the fingers of his right hand as in Bodhgaya rather than having his hands in the meditating posi-

tion as was traditionally depicted in Sri Lanka. Indeed she points out that what has survived from the murals of Sri Lanka before the eleventh century reveals inspiration entirely different in iconography and style from that in the late eleventh century Pagan murals, one which relates to South Indian tradition. However, the presence of Jataka murals in the entrance hall, a frequent feature at Pagan, found its first rendering in Sri Lanka. Later murals clearly reflect a blossoming of growing local stylistic and iconographic traditions as best illustrated in the monuments of Minnanthu east of the walled city of Pagan and can be globally dated to the thirteenth century. King Narapatisithu (r. 1174–1211) had sent a mission to Bodhgaya to get a precise picture of the political situation where Buddhists were practically thrown out of their homeland and the entire north was swept by Muslim armies. From this grew a new perception of Pagan as the center of the Buddhist world and serving as a substitute for Bodhgaya and a place of influence for Buddhist monks from all over the world. The author points out that specific topics were illustrated in the murals of Pagan, where they were distributed according to very strict rules. A major theme illustrated in practically every monument is the life of the Buddha. This is the subject of the latter part of Chapter I and Chapters II, The Miraculous Life of the Buddha. The plates accompanying the text are arranged in such a manner that the reader witnesses the changes in styles of painting over the two

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centuries. Included are welcome scenes from the rarely published murals in Yanzatthu in Sale at the south of the Pagan plain. The reference work for the life story, including the ‘seven stations’ or weeks after Enlightenment, was the fifth century Pali text, Nidana-katha, in the Theravada Buddhist canon and the author quotes liberally from the N.A. Jayawichrama translation of it. One of the most important ideas introduced in The Buddhist Murals of Pagan is that at Pagan the Buddha was perceived as a cosmological being, while the temple was felt to be a reflection of the universe. The cosmological Buddha is usually associated with Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism rather than Theravada. The author, however, prevails when she provides sufficient evidence from the Nidana-katha text and murals based on it. She argues that in the five dreams that the Bodhisatta had prior to Enlightenment given in that text reveal the cosmological nature of that Bodhisatta and in turn that of the Buddha: ‘While he was still only an unenlightened Bodhisatta, the great earth was his couch; Himalaya, king of mountains, was his pillow. His left hand lay in the Eastern Ocean, his right hand lay in the Western Ocean; his feet in the Southern Ocean. That was the first dream. While he was still only an unenlightened Bodhisatta, a creeper grew up and out of his navel and stood touching the clouds. This was his second dream that appeared to him...While he was still only an unenlightened Bodhisatta, white grubs with black heads crawled from

his feet to his knees and covered them. That was the third dream...While he was still only an unenlightened Bodhisatta, four birds of different colors came from the four quarters, and, as they alighted at his feet, they all became white. This was his fourth dream...while he was still only an unenlightened Bodhisatta, he walked upon a huge mountain of dirt without being fouled by the dirt. This was his fifth dream...’ Depictions of the Buddha reclining on cosmic waters as in the first dream with a creeper growing out of his navel as in the second and birds as in the third and fourth appear in murals in Maung-yongu and Monument 585 north of Minnanthu and Yanzatthu at Sale. These paintings relate to a particular understanding of the Buddha as a cosmological being arising out of cosmic waters. In the Monument 585 mural flames accompany the image. In fact the Pagan murals often depict the Buddha with flames bordering his body. The author writes, ‘The presence of flames irradiating from the entire body of the Buddha clearly relates this type of image to the miraculous deeds of Savatthi, but we may wonder whether selection of this particular iconography was not made to meet another criterion, to illustrate the Buddha irradiating light erect at the very center of the universe. Over and above the fact that these images evoke the fire miracle of Savatthi, the overall presence of flames recalls the ‘six glories’, or rays of different colors irradiating from the body of the Buddha, or the golden light pervading the universe at specific mo-

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ments in the Buddha’s life, such as his birth or his awakening.’ Chapter III, The Previous Lives of the Buddha, is devoted to murals based on the Jataka stories in the Nidana-katha. The author demonstrates that the early murals had various scenes of each Jataka depicted and how their importance was marginalized until only one scene from each of the 547–550 Jatakas was given, and in the late murals often only a small number of Jatakas were painted and placed in a broad frame surrounding a depiction of the Buddha. Chapter IV, Dipankara and the Buddhas of the Past - Metteyya, Buddha of the Future, describes the 28 Buddhas of the past in accordance with the information in the fifth century Pali Buddhavamsa, yet another text in the Sinhalese Theravada canon. The Bodhisatta Metteyya, prophesized by the Buddha Gotama in that text as the Future Buddha, appears in but a few murals and not with the 28 Buddhas who are arranged in rows. Chapter V, Iconographic Ornamentation, addresses specific iconographic motifs: Sakka and Brahma, the pair of Bodhisattas, the monks, the army of Mara, the sun and the moon, the Buddhapada, the universe, Lake Anottata, and the horoscope. Chapter VI, The Ornamental Decoration, stresses that the ornamentation is not purely decorative but constitutes a frame, a scaffolding behind the official iconography and articulates the different zones of the programs from each other. The author urges that the decorations be carefully analysed and their

evolution traced since that it would appear that their evolution could help suggest a chronology for the monuments. Chapter VII, The Murals of Pagan, the Guide, introduces the reader to the sections of the Pagan plain where monuments with murals are extant and guides the reader through the most important murals. The Buddhist Murals of Pagan has an extensive and excellent bibliography and almost all the author’s comments are accompanied by one if not more references placed at the rear of the text in the endnotes. Preferably the latter should have been placed at the end of each chapter. This reader found that photocopying the endnotes and keeping them to one side while reading the text made following the many references quoted much easier. Augmenting the text are Joachim Karl Bauze’s superb photographs. He has illuminated for the reader many of the wonders of Pagan murals, especially what is at times fantastic ornamentation high in the ceilings, which is hardly visible to the viewer. The Buddhist Murals of Pagan is not for the casual tourist but rather to be savored by a scholar familiar with the Pagan monuments and their murals or for the uninitiated who want to learn in depth about them on the spot with the book in hand. Virginia McKeen Di Crocco

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Dirk Van der Cruysse, Siam and the West, 1500–1700, translated by Michael Smithies. Chiang Mai, Silkworm Books, 2002, pp.xviii + 565, Bt.1,125. This book, written by Belgian Dirk van der Cruysse, was published in French by Fayard in 1991, and now appears in translation. Van der Cruysse is an expert on the history of French culture and literature, teaching as professor at the University of Antwerp. He has also written the biography of the Abbé de Choisy, highlighting the historical period of Louis XIV and Siam in the seventeenth century. Even though there are so many detailed books about this famous period in Thai history already, especially from Professor Michael Smithies, who lives in Thailand, the compilation of the events including the Portuguese sixteenth century in Asia is highly important and very useful to understand the coming of European influence and mercantilism to Southeast Asia. Without going into the complex theme of mercantilism, the book’s contents are divided into five parts, neatly separating the Portuguese, Dutch and English contacts with Siam from those of the French missionaries and merchants, leading to the first French embassies before the great embassies of 1685 and 1687, so finally coming to the end of the mirage with the revolution in Siam of 1688 and its aftermath. All the notes for the preface, twenty chapters and epilogue are listed at the end of the book, making it very easy to read. Besides, there is a detailed chronology, starting with Afonso de Albuquerque’s embassy

to Siam in autumn of 1511 and concluding with the arrival of Father Tachard in Versailles on 12 June 1700. Also, there is a list of the kings of Ayutthaya from 1351 to 1767, when Ayutthaya was destroyed by the Burmese. The huge bibliography includes manuscript sources of Paris, The Hague, Rome, Merseburg and London. Personnel, geographical and shipping indexes bring the whole paperback volume to 565 pages, including two poorly checked maps and some pages of black and white photos. Interesting to note is that chapter one, which introduces Portugal’s golden age, starts with the mention of the Venetian merchant Nicolo di Conti, who seems to have been the first European traveller in Siam, three-quarters of a century earlier before the discovery of the sea route to the East Indies and the amazing geographical expansion of the Portuguese about 1500. With the conquest of Malacca in 1511, the Portuguese established themselves in Southeast Asia and sent Duarte Fernandes to the court of Ayutthaya, the Siamese capital. In 1516, it was Duarte de Coelho who signed a treaty of friendship and commerce between Portugal and Siam, thus selling firearms and opening the door to Christian missionaries. How was this brilliant achievement of the Portuguese possible? One reason is obvious, but never mentioned in European history books. In the fifteenth century, the Chinese ruled the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. Under the command of the Yunnanese eunuch admiral Zheng He, huge fleets made

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seven epic voyages, reaching the east coast of Africa and beyond. So, when finally the Portuguese sailed around the Cape of Good Hope in 1488, they could easily utilize the experiences of the Chinese before them to reach India, the ports of Southeast Asia and China. The most important portrait of Siam was compiled by the Portuguese Fernão Mendes Pinto, who spent some ten years in Siam in the middle of the sixteenth century, but the clear observation of Portuguese decline became a leitmotiv in the accounts of other travellers, who reached the East Indies and Siam after him. Van der Cruysse singles out Jacques de Coutre, a native of Bruges, who spent eight months in Siam in 1595 during the reign of King Naresuan, who until today is the model king for the Thai army. The author does not mention Peter Floris, who visited Bantam, Pattani and Siam on his voyage to the East Indies in the Globe, 1611–1615. In chapter 3, van der Cruysse describes the founding of the Dutch VOC in 1602, also the beginning of the end of dismantling the Portuguese colonial empire to the profit of the Dutch. Worth noting is the embassy the King of Siam sent to Holland in 1608, where it spent seventeen months. But the Dutch had no great expectations of trade with Siam, and in 1619 Batavia, the present-day Jakarta, became the nerve center of the company, concentrating on trade with China instead. In chapter 4, the establishment of the English East India Company in Siam is explained. Ralph Fitch was the first

foreigner to reach Chiang Mai, coming in 1586 from Burma. In 1612 the English reached Pattani and Ayutthaya, where the King of Siam allowed them to open a godown in competition with the Dutch, and immediately started trade with Japan. The year 1616 saw the foundation of the Danish East India Company whose Dutch captain Roland Crappé reached Tenasserim in 1621. But fame fell to Joost Schouten of the Dutch VOC to become a well-informed observer at the court of King Prasat Thong, when he published his book on Siam in The Hague in 1638. Even more extensive is the description of the Kingdom of Siam by Jeremias van Vliet, the new director of the VOC in Ayutthaya 1636– 1641. Under King Narai, the Dutch obtained diplomatic immunity with a treaty signed on 22 August 1664. The private trading in which the English EIC engaged, especially from Mergui, forced King Narai to look for a third nation to counterbalance the influence of the Dutch. So, finally the French were to appear. The French missionaries who arrived in Ayutthaya in 1662, preceding the diplomats, traders and soldiers of Louis XIV, seemed to have been sent by heaven. It was not by accident that King Narai enlarged and improved the town of Lopburi as his second capital, similar to Versailles near Paris, the French capital. Nicolas Gervaise described Lopburi in his book, published in Paris in 1688. Louis XIV had meanwhile made official the existence of the French CIO to trade in the Indies on condition of propagat-

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ing the Christian religion. Madagascar was established as a French colony, before Surat in India became the way into Siam, leading to the first embassies between France and King Narai in part three of the book, followed by the great embassies in part four. The young trader André DeslandesBoureau left Surat on 2 May 1680, reached the newly established colony of Pondichéry on 31 May and continued for Ayutthaya on 16 June. On 3 September a ship of the CIO showed the French flag at the mouth of the Menam Chao Phraya. The missionary Laneau prepared the meeting with the Phra Khlang official and also with King Narai. After that followed the first Siamese embassy of 1680–1681, which owing to shipwreck never reached France. It was due to the Greek Constantine Phaulkon and his irresistible rise in the favour of King Narai that a second Siamese embassy of 1684– 1685 was sent to Louis XIV, described by the priest Vachet. The idea of converting the Siamese monarch to Catholicism was raised with the Abbé de Choisy and then a great embassy assembled under the guidance of the Chevalier de Chaumont. Many accounts were written of this first embassy, which on the outward journey was accompanied by six Jesuits sent by Louis XIV to China in the year 1685. Interesting to note is that at the same time a Persian embassy was on the way to convert King Narai to Islam. The voyage to Siam was aptly described by Father Tachard and published in Paris and Amsterdam in 1686.

However, the era in which the French missionaries, diplomats and traders were the only ones in Siam was close to the end. After the Siamese embassy to France January 1686–February 1687 led by Kosa Pan, was to come a military phase, with the assistance of the Society of Jesus. The intriguing Greek Phaulkon had worked well behind the scenes to sell Siam to France. The La Loubère/Céberet embassy and Father Tachard’s second voyage to Siam March-December 1687 was more arduous than the first. Kosa Pan was worried about the French proposal to give to their king’s troops Bangkok and Mergui as outposts. But after the arrival of the mission in Siam, Father Tachard and Phaulkon agreed on a treaty allowing the late disembarkation of the French troops in Bangkok with General Desfarges. Céberet was sent to inspect the port of Mergui in Tenasserim. On his return to France in 1688, La Loubère wrote his masterly book about the Kingdom of Siam, published in Paris in 1691. In chapter twenty of his book, van der Cruysse relates the events of 1688, General Desfarges’ treason, Phetracha’s coup d’état and the end of Phaulkon. Finally, after the death of King Narai, the French endured the siege of Bangkok, suffered an inglorious departure and withdrew from Mergui. The end of the mirage had arrived. From a very different point of view is a description of the Kingdom of Siam, made in less than a month’s stay in 1690 by the German Dr. Engelbert Kaempfer,

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posthumously published in London in 1727. In addition, Father Tachard had the opportunity of further voyages to the East Indies. After having visited Ayutthaya again for three months in 1699, he died in Chandernagor in Bengal in 1712. The local events in the eighteenth century Siam led to the destruction of Ayutthaya by the Burmese

and the resurrection of independence under Phaya Taksin. But this is another story, which Dirk van der Cruysse in this well-researched book has intentionally left out. Much credit goes to Silkworm Books for publishing this book. Reinhard Hohler

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Father Adriano di St. Tecla, Opusculum de sectis apud Sinenses et Tunkinenses (A Small Treatise on the Sects among the Chinese and Tonkinese): A study of religion in China and North Vietnam in the eighteenth century, Olga Dror, translator and annotator; with collaboration of Mariya Berezovska in Latin translation; with a preface by Lionel M. Jensen; foreword by Keith W. Taylor. Ithaca, NY, Cornell University Southeast Asia Program, 2002, pp. 239. From the 1960s into the 1990s, much English-language scholarship on premodern Vietnam fell under the influence of an imagined vision of the past. This vision pictured a world in which two distinct nations, Vietnam and China, stood side by side, each maintaining its own unique culture. For the Vietnamese this was difficult, given China’s size and influence. However, Vietnam’s long tradition of “resistance to foreign aggression” ensured that despite the odds, its independence and unique culture endured. In recent years scholars have gradually started to acknowledge that this picture of the past was based more on emotion and interpretation than on a culturally-informed reading of the historical evidence.1 This is fortunate, for if scholars today were still in the grips of this paradigm, it is unlikely that they would have taken the recently-discov-

ered treatise of an eighteenth-century Italian missionary by the name of Father Adriano di St. Tecla as seriously as it deserves, and hopefully will be. Adriano di St. Tecla was a member of the Order of the Discalced Augustinians, also known as the Barefooted Augustinians, named for their austere practice of not wearing shoes. He arrived, of course, unshod, in the northern part of Vietnam, which was then known to Europeans as Tonkin, in 1738 to engage in missionary work. There he remained until his death in 1765. In between these two dates, Adriano di St. Tecla drafted a treatise in vulgar Latin which he entitled Opusculum de sectis apud Sinenses et Tunkinenses (A Small Treatise on the Sects among the Chinese and Tonkinese). This work examined the religious beliefs and practices of the Chinese and Tonkinese, that is, the people living in what is today the northern part of Vietnam, and was based on Adriano di St. Tecla’s own observations, as well as his extensive perusal of the writings of Vietnamese and Chinese authors as well as European missionaries. That we now know of this book and can read it in English translation is thanks to the painstaking efforts of Professor Olga Dror, a recent graduate of Cornell University. Dror discovered this text while conducting doctoral research in the archives of the Missions Étrangères in Paris. Realizing its impor-

1

For a succinct critique of this earlier scholarship, see Grant Evans, “Between the Global and the Local there are Regions, Culture Areas, and National States: A Review Article,” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 33.1 (2002): 147–162. Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 92 2004

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tance, Dror, with assistance from Mariya Berezovska, set about translating the entire work. She also provided extensive annotations and a lengthy introduction. This in itself is an astonishing accomplishment for a graduate student and speaks volumes about Dror’s knowledge and abilities. The ultimate treasure in this book, however, is Adriano di St. Tecla’s treatise and its depiction of the religious world of eighteenth century Tonkin. Adriano di St. Tecla divided his work into an introduction and six chapters. In his introduction, Father Adriano places the religious world of eighteenth century Tonkin in the context of the rise of idolatry following the flood. In particular, he relates how following the flood the legendary early Chinese rulers Yao, Shun and Yu continued to believe in one god, but that the people in China subsequently turned to idolatry. Adriano argues that this condition only worsened as the centuries passed, so that by his day it was rampant in every area of society. From this general setting, Adriano di St. Tecla then examines what he perceives as different “sects” of idol worship. He begins with “the Sect of the Literati,” or what we would today refer to as Confucianism. However, rather than focusing on the aspects of Confucianism which are so well-known to us today, namely its socio-political doctrines, Adriano di St. Tecla details its religious aspects. This turns out to be one of the greatest strengths of Father Adriano’s book, for in the pages that follow he describes countless ritual practices in what can only be described as

photographic detail. This is particularly the case in his second chapter on “the Sprits and their Cult” in which the author discusses the worship of such spirits as Heaven and Earth, tutelary deities and figures like Ma Yuan, the Chinese general who in the first century A.D. suppressed the Trung sisters’ rebellion, an episode which Vietnamese today consider to mark the beginning of their hallowed tradition of “resistance against foreign aggression.” Again, the details that Adriano di St. Tecla provides in describing some of these rituals make this work one of a kind. From investigating these various examples of spirit worship, Adriano di St. Tecla then turns to “the Sect of the Magicians,” or Daoism. Like the chapter on Confucianism, readers familiar only with the philosophical aspects of Daoism are in for a treat, for Father Adriano’s attention here falls not on the musings of Zhuangzi but on the “magic” performed by Daoist priests. This is followed by a short chapter on “Fortune Tellers and Diviners.” Western missionaries rarely deigned to comment on what they saw as such blatantly “superstitious” practices as fortune telling, so Adriano di St. Tecla’s devotion of a chapter to this topic is unique. Unfortunately this chapter was apparently left unfinished, and although intriguing, is quite short. The fifth chapter of Adriano di St. Tecla’s treatise focuses on Buddhism. Here he discusses the history of the religion, its transmission to China, and aspects of its daily practice in rituals in Tonkin. The work then ends with

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a short, because it is incomplete, chapter on Christianity. While the details that Adriano di St. Tecla provides about religious practices in eighteenth century Tonkin are priceless, the other great strength of this book is the direct way in which it challenges the manner in which so many of us have been programmed to view the premodern history, culture and religious practices of this part of the world. Adriano di St. Tecla knew nothing of the academic categories that we have created for ourselves in recent decades, and his observations belie their limitations. Readers whose minds still contain discrete mental categories labeled “Confucianism,” “Buddhism,” “Daoism,” “Vietnam,” and “China” will find the borders of these categories crumble as they read through this work, to say nothing of the distinction between “great” and “little” traditions. In their place they will be confronted with the syncretic mélange of beliefs and practices that made up premodern life in Vietnam and China, and indeed, all throughout Asia if not the entire world. While this reviewer cannot comment on the quality of the translation from the original Latin (the Latin text is included in the book, however, for those who wish to check), Olga Dror clearly demonstrates tremendous skill and intelligence in the numerous notes that she has appended to the translation. With an eye to philological precision, Dror marshals a working knowledge of eight languages to leave no point, no matter how minor, unexplained. While at times this passion

for notation tends toward excess (is it really necessary to note that Fujian is a province?), at others it takes the reader down unfamiliar trails through such fascinating topics as Vietnamese historical linguistics. Specialists are therefore encouraged to forge their way through the familiar, for they will also find much here that is new. Ironically, while Dror regales her readers with a cornucopia of new facts and insights, she herself does not appear to have fully grasped the import of the work that she has translated and so dutifully annotated. In her lengthy introduction, we see Dror struggle with some of Adriano di St. Tecla’s observations. She is at pains to explain, for instance, why the “Vietnamese” might have worshipped a “Chinese” like Ma Yuan, the general who suppressed the Trung sisters’ rebellion. The answer to this conundrum is best found not in Dror’s searching questions and hypotheses about this issue, although the reader learns a tremendous amount in the process, but in the observations recorded here by this eighteenth-century barefoot missionary. For not only did Father Adriano di St. Tecla know nothing about the academic categories that we have created for ourselves, but I suspect that he would have found them downright perplexing as well. This is what makes his work so valuable, and why we are so deeply indebted to Professor Olga Dror for discovering, translating and annotating it. Liam C. Kelley

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Choi Byung Wook, Southern Vietnam under the Reign of Minh Mang (1820–1841): Central Policies and Local Response Ithaca, NY, Cornell University Southeast Asia Program, 2004, pp. 226. Choi Byung Wook’s study of what he calls the “Gia Dinh Regime” is a major contribution to our understanding of Viet Nam during the late eighteenth century and the first four decades of the nineteenth. Indeed, Southern Vietnam under the Reign of Minh Mang is the first booklength study of this significant period to appear since Alexander Woodside’s Vietnam and the Chinese Model (Harvard, 1971) was published more than thirty years ago. Wook’s work takes its place alongside a small but growing body of English-language scholarship exploring regional differentiation within Viet Nam. Li Tana’s Nguyen Cochinchina (Cornell SEAP, 1998), was among the first such works, offering a detailed study that argued for a Dang Trong distinctiveness against a longstanding and nationalist-inspired assumption of Vietnamese unity. Wook’s study is in some ways a natural extension of Tana’s work. Chronologically it picks up almost precisely where Tana’s work ends, at the outbreak of the Tay Son uprising in the 1770s. More importantly, Wook takes Tana’s focus on the southern half of what would become Viet Nam and narrows it further still to look at just a part of that Nguyen realm and to show how it was transformed as a result of the events set in motion by the

Tay Son. The author offers a nuanced account of the regional dynamics that defined southern Viet Nam, and of the changes that gradually developed in its relationship with the imperial center during the reign of the second Nguyen emperor, Minh Mang (r. 1820–1841). Ultimately, he shows that it was only during the reign of Minh Mang that there was a shift away from the rough and ready political structures of Gia Dinh, and toward the more bureaucraticallystructured, Confucian-influenced approach to governance being advocated by the court. The book is divided into two parts, the first describing the emergence of a Gia Dinh regime and its political, social, and cultural bases, and the second relating Minh Mang’s efforts to assert central control over a region that retained its autonomy into the early decades of Nguyen rule. Although these efforts began in the 1820s, the real point of rupture is not Minh Mang’s ascension to the throne in 1820, but rather Le Van Khoi’s Gia Dinh rebellion of 1833 and its suppression. Wook shows that while the Gia Dinh region was already feeling central pressure during the early years of Minh Mang, it was not until the death of its autonomous overlord, Le Van Duyet that the Hué court could more firmly exercise its authority. While the rebellion sparked by this growing pressure has been previously described, Wook’s study is the first to offer a detailed exploration of the circumstances that provoked it. He describes how growing pressure from Minh Mang, and

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his attempts to impose political and social orthodoxy both spurred the violent rebellion by Christians, ethnic Chinese, convicts, and others, and then defined the direction of Nguyen policy in its aftermath. One of Wook’s central points concerns the existence of a unique Gia Dinh identity, one shaped by historical, cultural, and ethnic circumstances. This identity, he suggests, first gained a political coherence during the late 1780s, as Nguyen Anh worked to create a Gia Dinh-based coalition to defeat the Tay Son rulers. Wook shows that after 1802 the Hué court viewed this region as distinct, referring to its inhabitants as nam nhan, (lit. “southern people”). He argues that although this term had once been used to refer to those living in the entire territory of the former Dang Trong (the Nguyen lords’ realm), its meaning changed in the nineteenth century to designate only those living in the Gia Dinh region, also called Nam Ky. Even so, Wook’s discussion begs the question whether a sense of “Gia-Dinh-ness” ever emerged in this area. That is, did people recognize themselves as “Gia Dinh” people, or as “Dong Nai” people, as some outsiders labeled them? Although the term Gia Dinh was used historically to describe this region, it is a geographical area whose borders are in places quite indistinct. What tied these people together seems to have been an amalgam of geographical proximity, cultural openness, and a degree of ethnic tolerance in a highly heterogeneous place. Whether these factors actually coalesced

into a distinct regional identity is open to debate, and while it is likely that they did not particularly identify with the central court at Hué, or view themselves as “Vietnamese,” the question of just how they did view themselves remains. Indeed, Wook’s argument for Gia Dinh self-awareness, rests on what Thongchai Winichakul has called “negative identification.” People of the region identified themselves as being those who were “not central or northerners.” Having argued for the existence of a distinct southern region, Wook shows how the Gia Dinh regime, long dominated by local military figures and political leaders, retained its autonomy into the nineteenth century through and beyond the Gia Long reign (1802–1820). He describes a region that continued to rely on local leaders and to preserve existing social patterns even as an emergent Nguyen regime sought to create a stronger central administration that could eventually rein in such autonomy. During Gia Long’s rule the prominent autonomy of Gia Dinh was in part a result of that emperor’s debt to the people of the southern reaches of his newly unified kingdom. This was his power base, one he had nurtured through long years of war and hardship. Thus, the autonomy that Gia Dinh retained after 1802 reflected not merely the weakness of the newly-established central court, but also the favor of the new ruler. Gia Long’s successor Minh Mang had been shaped by long residence in the central court at Hué, and did not share his father’s debts to the southern Gia Dinh

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region. The new emperor reflected that it was time to complete the political integration of Viet Nam, and as Wook shows, it was efforts toward this objective that substantially contributed to the violent upheaval of 1833. Wook argues that Minh Mang’s shifting attitudes toward the Gia Dinh region can be traced on a number of policy fronts. He considers the emperor’s attempts to “cultivate” southerners by inducing them to follow the cultural lead of the court, and especially to participate in an educational system that would prepare them to take part in the civil service examinations. Wook argues that the emperor accepted existing stereotypes of Gia Dinh people as lazy, arrogant, and addicted to extravagance, and that this drove his decision-making (p. 102). He suggests, quite plausibly, that there was considerable indifference among southern elites to the civil service examinations and state service, as trade and commerce were frequently more appealing avenues for personal advancement. He concludes that Minh Mang’s aggressive promotion of education and the examinations created a shift in attitude that increased Gia Dinh participation in state education and the career advancement it offered. Wook also studies the policies of ethnic assimilation pursued by Minh Mang, arguing that there was a concerted effort to integrate ethnic groups such as Khmers, tribal peoples, and ethnic Chinese into the Vietnamese cultural sphere. In a sense, this was closely linked to the policy of “cultivation” that itself

sought to bring southern “Vietnamese” into that same sphere. That is, while Vietnamese living in this region were being cultivated through the emperor’s policies, those even further beyond this cultural realm were also being slowly drawn into it. Wook shows that Minh Mang pursued demographic strategies, including creating new political units that joined Vietnamese and ethnic communities, and educational ones that emphasized instruction in written Chinese characters and the spoken Vietnamese language. Ultimately, he suggests that this policy stirred considerable tension within the region, as Vietnamese came to define themselves as subjects of the court, distinct from other ethnic groups. He cites considerable ethnic conflict in the 1830s and 1840s as evidence of this, challenging Communist historiography that argues for close solidarity between ethnic groups and Vietnamese peasants united against oppressive landlords. While I share Wook’s skepticism about such interpretations, I am not convinced that the Gia Dinh people, long accustomed to living in an ethnically heterogeneous environment, easily or completely abandoned their ability to live alongside other ethnic communities. Minh Mang’s policies may have spurred some opportunistic land-grabbing, but whether their impact truly transformed Gia Dinh society is less clear. More fundamentally, I question Wook’s assertion that these policies spurred a growing sense of Vietnamese identity. I do so both because Wook’s sources for this claim

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are quite limited, and because I suspect that the ethnic distinctions he appears to take for granted were not nearly as clear in early nineteenth century Viet Nam. Wook’s final chapter, “Land Measurement and the Protection of Private Land Ownership,” looks at the impact of Minh Mang’s efforts to create new cadastral records for land in the southern regions. He notes that Minh Mang’s land registration program created circumstances that reinforced existing patterns of private property holding, rather than assuring the expansion of public land as some court officials had apparently hoped. Indeed, the new, more precise plotting of property divisions only further facilitated private land transfer. Wook’s analysis of the consequences of the program is convincing, though at one point he argues for a distinction between a “government” that sought to expand public land holdings, and an emperor who favored private property. In the context of what was essentially an absolute monarchy, such a distinction is blurred at best, though it hints at divisions within the court that Wook also does not elaborate. While broadly convincing, Wook’s work does have a number of flaws. First, the author does not always question the extent to which Minh Mang’s policies were actually implemented. No doubt many were, but to what degree? For instance, Wook discusses Minh Mang’s “Ten Moral Maxims” (pp. 119–121) and suggests that they had a considerable impact, but he then concedes that it is not clear whether local officials were

regularly reciting and explicating them as required. If the policies were not being fully implemented, can such changes as Wook discusses be ascribed to them? It is of course much easier to find information about policy statements than about policy implementation, and yet I would like to see a higher degree of skepticism by the author regarding the extent to which policies were put into practice. Secondly, although Wook argues that Minh Mang’s policies transformed the Gia Dinh region, tying it strongly to the central court, I am skeptical about the degree to which the area was fully integrated into a supposedly unified realm. Rather, I see a strong southern distinctiveness in culture and political outlook that survived these policies and endured into the twentieth century. Wook might not disagree with this observation, but he does not spell out his own sense of the limitations of the southern transformation. Finally, a few technical notes. In many places this book still has the feel of a dissertation. Too many sections begin with a bald statement of the author’s intentions, and the overall writing style lacks the refinement of a well-crafted book. The section headings and subheads frequently look like lists (a,b,c), and occasionally are poorly related to one another, or are nested in peculiar fashion. On these points the author would clearly have benefited from better editorial oversight. There are also a number of rather poorly constructed tables (89–90; 92–93; 111–112) that spill over several pages, leaving the reader

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hunting for column labels to make sense of the material. While none of these technical concerns obscure the author’s clearly-argued theses, they do give the work an unfinished feel. These shortcomings aside, Wook’s study is a significant addition to the field of precolonial Vietnamese history. His arguments are important, nuanced, and wide-ranging, offering substantial in-

sights concerning the complex relationship between the Gia Dinh region and the Nguyen central court. This study will become a standard reference for scholars exploring the first decades of Viet Nam’s nineteenth century. I hope that it will spur the writing of further Vietnamese regional histories that continue to disaggregate what has too long been treated as a unitary realm. George Dutton

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Yos Santasombat, Lak Chang: a reconstruction of Tai identity in Daikong, Canberra, Pandanus Books, 2001, pp.181, Bt. 695. Yos Santasombat is Professor of Anthropology at Chiang Mai University and obtained his PhD from the University of California at Berkeley. He published his study about Lak Chang in Thai first in Bangkok. As the village Lak Chang is in the Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan province in southwestern China, it is the first village study of the Tai outside Thailand and written by a Thai scholar. The author spent between 1997 and 1998 in rural China and another two years at work in libraries and archives. The book comprises an introduction, seven chapters, bibliography and index, but a listing of photographs is missing. The preface is written by Dr Andrew Walker as director of the Thai-Yunnan Project of the Australian National University, Canberra, making the work a significant contribution to the ethnography of the Tai people in a wider perspective. Not going into the subject of the different meanings of Tai, Dai, and Thai, it becomes clear in the course of the study that there is a characteristic inter-connection between the Han Chinese world on one side and the Tai world on the other side. But, even then, there are the common roots of Tai culture still easy to recognize, such as wet rice cultivation, kinship terms and spirit worship.

Finally, the book is a comprehensive model for working in the borderlands of northern Southeast Asia and southern China, where there is somewhere the homeland of all Tai people. In the introduction, the author gives an overview of the history of the Tai Yai to which ethnic group the villagers of Daikong belong. Tai Yai live also in Shan State, Burma, and in Mae Hong Son province, Thailand. In China, they are called Tai Dehong and split in two groups called Tai Nua and Tai Dai. There are different local Tai Yai chronicles, but most interesting is the legend of the Muang Mao chronicle mentioning a son of a Naga princess as an appointed ruler in AD 762 by the King of Nan Chao further to the east. The legend of a Naga princess is well known from the Kingdom of Funan in the Mekong Delta already 2000 years ago. With the defeat of the Nan Chao kingdom in 1253 by Kublai Khan’s Mongol army, it seems that the Tai Yai of Muang Mao became vassals of the Mongols and later developed into different Buddhist principalities in Shan State, Burma, and also in Western Yunnan along trade routes to India. By a much later date, with the construction of the Burma Road, a marked Chinese influence set in, so it seems timely to analyse the ethnography of the Tai Daikong, before they get swallowed by the Chinese even further. Chapter One gives the setting of Lak Chang village in Muang Khon district of eastern Daikong prefecture. After the Chinese Revolution of 1949, Muang

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Khon was called Mangshi and Muang Mao district became Ruili. In 1953, the chao-fa rulers were made district rulers and their abundant land confiscated and given over to co-operative farming and communes. During the Cultural Revolution, the Buddhist monastery in Lak Chang was destroyed. But nowadays the peasants get allocated their own rice fields and Buddhism is practiced again. A capitalistic market economy emerged, which is duly explained in Chapter Two of the book. The main part of the book describes the ethnography of Lak Chang with the kinship and marriage regulations in Chapter Three and the political and social organizations in Chapter Four. In Chapter Five the author focuses on religious beliefs and rituals and mentions gender roles and gender relations. Finally, continuity and reconstruction of Tai ethnic identity is the theme of Chapter Seven. The Tai ethnic group reconstructs and reinterprets its own history with the help of folk tales and chronicles. The most

famous Tai Yai hero is Chao Sua Kham Fa of the Muang Mao kingdom which disintegrated in the sixteenth century. There are records of many battles with the Chinese and Burmese, until the Tai Yai were broken up into small states under the rule of China and Burma, a situation which persists up to the present time. Only rice, poi (from Burmese pwe) festivals, Buddhism, strict marriage rules and traditions will guarantee the future of the Tai Daikong communities. There are some minor flaws and printing errors in the bibliography, such as the entry Garthew (read Carthew) and Reynard (read Renard). But all in all, we have to be grateful to the Thai-Yunnan Project Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at the Australian National University, Canberra, for publishing this valuable and outstanding work of Professor Yos in an easily readable and handy volume. Reinhard Hohler

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Peter Jackson, Buddhadasa: Theravada Buddhism and Modernist Reform in Thailand. Chiang Mai, Silkworm Books, 2003, pp.200, Bt.625. The second edition of Peter Jackson’s well-known study of Buddhadasa has been released ten years after the venerable teacher’s death. The merit in Jackson’s new edition is not its novelty, but in the re-introduction to Buddhadasa’s new approaches to Buddhist textual exegesis, social ethics, and monasticism. The new edition will hopefully inspire a new generation of critics who respect Buddhadasa’s legacy by questioning the very foundation of his arguments. Jackson made no changes to the contents of the first edition even though it was published in 1988 by the Siam Society (as Buddhadasa: A Buddhist Thinker for the Modern World). The only new content is a short preface and an extensive epilogue. The epilogue traces the last days of Buddhadasa’s life, the controversy surrounding the use of extraordinary medical means to keep him alive for several weeks after his stroke in May, 1993, and short sections on a wide range of subjects including: “Buddhadasa Bhikkhu’s legacy for Thai Buddhists,” “Buddhadasa and Thai Buddhist identity in the era of globalization,” “Buddhadasa’s legacy for Western students of Thai Buddhism,” “Buddhadasa and political dissent,” and “Buddhadasa and the Thai monarchy” among others. Two sections that are particularly novel in scope and subject

are “Buddhadasa, the Thai working class and the normativization of rationalist monks,” and the related “Buddhadasa’s will.” These sections are succinct and important for an understanding the various accounts of Buddhadasa’s life. Jackson cites Grant Olson’s notion of “normativization”: Olson and Jackson believe that Buddhadasa, despite his “intellectual accomplishments” and “rationalism” had incorporated “traditional types of devotion” and was seen as an enlightened arahant, a powerful magician, a “great warrior monk,” and “holy man.” Buddhadasa’s “scholarly importance,” Jackson asserts, only exists “within a small and limited, albeit growing, circle” of those intelligent enough to understand that he was opposed to “traditional religious beliefs and practices.”(292–293) Jackson acknowledges that Buddhadasa’s writings have become more widespread in the past few years among a diverse range of people, but that there is still a disconnection between his stated “rational” views on a number of subjects and the way many ritually treat him. Buddhadasa’s last will and testament emphasized that there should be no Pali chanting and no holy water sprinkling at his cremation. He wanted his funeral to be simple. After he was cremated he wanted his ashes divided and placed in three locations in Suratthani province. Jackson accurately conveys Buddhadasa’s attitude towards what he saw as superstitious magical practices and the arbitrariness of chanting Pali when most cannot understand its semantic meaning.

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However, he seems unwilling to question Buddhadasa’s (and apparently his own) condescending approach. He unabashedly associates Buddhadasa with the liberal intellectual elite of Thailand and reifies the simplistic division between “traditional Buddhism” and “socially engaged Buddhism” or “Dhammic Socialism.” He makes no effort to examine critically possible contradictions between Buddhadasa’s stated “non-attachment” to his physical body and his request to have his ashes scattered near the remains of his parents. He does not question the manner in which Buddhadasa claimed to represent the Southern Thai poor, but gained his greatest admirers and hagiographers among Western or Western-educated intellectual elites. This division perpetuates the myth of an essential Thai Buddhism or even essential Buddhism. It depicts “blue collar” Thai “traditional” Buddhists as unsophisticated, superstitious, and materialistic simpletons. In this way it differs little from Orientalist interpretations of Thailand as a place in which the pure Indian and Sri Lankan Buddhism has been corrupted by local belief. It quietly depicts the masses of Thai Buddhists as static, supine, and impacted by globalization, consumerism, and their own ignorance. This is surely not Jackson’s intention and not reflective of his diverse and sophisticated scholarship. However, Jackson’s new epilogue tends to be little more than an informative hagiography, which laments the poor masses whom he unwittingly

suggests could not possibly understand Buddhadasa while he was alive and certainly have not since he has died. What needs to be questioned is the notion that there is an essential Buddhism that Buddhadasa supposedly represented, not a criticism of everyday, “common,” “blue collar,” Thai religious belief and practice based upon a dubious heuristic division. Jackson is quick to vilify the important role protective magic and relic worship plays in Thai Buddhism. There is little effort to understand or respect the insight and methods of these supposedly “superstitious” common folk. However, there is little point in attacking Jackson for what he did not question or critically assess in this book, especially in light of the great contributions to the understanding of Buddhadasa’s life that it does make. Jackson’s study differs from the equally excellent work of Louis Gabaude and Donald Swearer in the way he seriously emphasizes Buddhadasa’s pedagogical and exegetical methods and his incorporation of Zen into his teachings. Buddhadasa’s emphasis of the term “chit wang” or emptiness and his incorporation of the teachings of the seventh century Chan master Hui Neng into his teaching reflects a trend in modern Buddhism by others like Luang Pu Tien and Maechee Sansanee Sathirasut. These thinkers want to move beyond the stereotype of Theravada Buddhism as excessively conservative, canonical, isolated, and mundane. Jackson offers insight into the creative, and often polemical, ways in

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which Buddhadasa interwove Theravada and Mahayana beliefs and broke down the questionable divisions between them. He also places Buddhadasa’s use of Zen teachings in its historical context. He notes that these teachings were in direct criticism of the notorious Phra Kittivuddho, who represents the hypernationalistic and religious conservative wing of modern Thai Buddhism. Jackson gives the reader a clear understanding of Buddhadasa’s exegetical methodology. This method divides the words of the Buddha into either phasa khon (in common/worldly language) or in phasa tham (supra-mundane/timeless/the language of “people who have gained a deep insight into the truth, Dhamma) (83). Jackson notes that this method was drawn in part from the Netti-Pakarana. Finally, Jackson must be credited with generating much of the great interest in Buddhadasa’s theories of socially engaged Buddhism and his campaign against consumerism since the first edition in 1988. There have been numerous attempts to convey the “heart” of Buddhadasa’s wide-ranging and often conflicting views; Jackson’s is rare in its blend of sophistication and clarity. It is a excellent companion study to Gabaude’s in-depth Une herméneutique bouddhique contemporaine de Thaïlande : Buddhadasa Bhikkhu (Paris, Ecole Française d’Extrîme-Orient, 1988). Still, Jackson’s work is not rare in the way that it avoids questioning Buddhadasa’s theories themselves. He certainly notes when Thai conservatives

like Kukrit Pramoj, Phra Kittivuddho, Winai Siwakun, and Anan Senakhan have attacked Buddhadasa, but instead of acknowledging the legitimacy of some of these criticisms (or rather choosing more complex alternative voices), or questioning Buddhadasa’s logic or often dubious historical and textual evidence himself, he continually falls back into the role of a hagiographer (96–97). There are plenty of hagiographies of great Buddhist monks; this process is as old as Buddhism itself. However, in order to respect Buddhadasa’s teachings perhaps we need to question him. I imagine, Buddhadasa, whose name translates as “slave of the Buddha” would acknowledge the need to question every teacher and teaching. For, as the Buddha said in the Kalama Sutta, “it is proper for you to doubt, to be uncertain...do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing, nor upon tradition, nor upon rumor, nor upon scripture, nor upon surmise, nor upon axiom, nor upon specious reasoning, nor upon bias to a notion that has been pondered over, nor upon another seeming ability.” Buddhadasa has been transformed not only into a “holy man” or “great warrior monk” by the “common” people, but also into an infallible, liberal, gentle, pure prophet of modern elites of Buddhist studies and social critics. For many Western students of Thai Buddhism, Buddhadasa is the first and often only face that represents Thai Buddhism. Jackson’s book does not doubt and is never uncertain about the simple perfection of Buddhadasa. In this way it moves away from a scholarly study to a hagiography.

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Nevertheless, the second edition of this book is a welcome addition to the growing number of studies of Buddhism in modern Thailand. Its meticulous research, clarity, and comprehensiveness are characteristic of Jackson’s consistently thorough and unique work in Buddhist studies. As a person who eagerly read the first edition of the book as a young student who, at that time, had

not yet been to Thailand, I was thrilled to be offered an opportunity to read this second edition and reflect upon the significant changes in Thai Buddhism and society in the last seventeen years or so. Jackson thankfully has asked us to revisit the ways in which Buddhadasa saw Buddhism and modernity and I am certain that this second edition will spark new questions and generate new debates. Justin McDaniel

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Jane Werner and Danièle Bélanger, eds, Gender, Household, State: Doi Moi in Viet Nam. Ithaca, NY, Cornell University Southeast Asia Program, 2002, pp.151. The Vietnamese government’s implementation of the policy of doi moi (renovation) in 1986 ushered in a period of tremendous change. With the move from a command economy toward one based more on market principles, and with increased exposure to the outside world, Vietnamese have found themselves in the years since 1986 having to navigate their way through a new world. Jane Werner and Danièle Bélanger’s edited volume, Gender, Household, State: Doi Moi in Viet Nam, opens a fascinating window onto the lives of women in this period of transformation and in the process provides a refreshing new look at contemporary Viet Nam. The scholarship in this volume is new not only in that it examines current conditions in Viet Nam, but also in that it represents some of the first empirical studies of Vietnamese women’s lives in a generation. As Werner and Bélanger explain in their introduction, gender first became a prominent topic of Viet Namrelated research in the 1960s as Western scholars, inspired by the rise of feminism, examined the effects on gender equality of the revolutionary movement in Viet Nam. In the years following the war’s end in 1975, Viet Nam remained closed to Western anthropologists and sociologists. It was only in the 1990s, with the doi moi reforms, that scholars,

both Vietnamese and Western, have been able to resume their examinations. The six essays in this volume are the results of this new scholarship, with all of the scholars having conducted ethnographic research in Viet Nam in the late 1990s, in some cases in collaboration with Vietnamese colleagues. The book is divided into three thematic sections of two chapters each. The first section, “Doi Moi and the State,” begins with a chapter by Werner entitled “Gender, household, and State: renovation (Doi Moi) as social process in Viet Nam.” Here Werner argues that doi moi is not just a series of economic reforms, but is a “socially embedded process shaped by many gendered components.” She illustrates this, for instance, by demonstrating that while the initial emphasis of the doi moi reforms on the expansion of the household economy did indeed lead to increased incomes, it nonetheless also economically disadvantaged women, for it was women who drove this expansion of the household economy while men gravitated toward more lucrative salaried positions in the cities. Tran Ngoc Angie’s “Gender expectations of Vietnamese garment workers: Viet Nam’s re-integration into the world economy” echoes Werner’s argument in its examination of the experiences of women garment workers. The author finds that while gender equality is a professed goal of the Vietnamese state, the fragmentation of the multi-level, piece-work subcontracting system in which garments are produced conspires

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with socially constructed expectations of “feminine” work characteristics to relegate women to the lowest-paying positions in the production process. The second section of the book, “Household and Family,” moves the focus of examination further toward the micro level by looking at these two critical institutions. Nelly Krowolski examines the composition of households in a rural village located close to Ha Noi, as well as the origins of spouses in these households, in “Village households in the Red River delta: the case of Ta Thanh Oai, on the outskirts of the capital city, Ha Noi.” Through data collected in the field, as well as from information culled from colonial archives and village household registers, Krowolski makes some surprising discoveries about both the present and the past. First, she finds that even though Ta Thanh Oai is close to the rapidly-changing city of Ha Noi, endogamy remains the norm in this village, as it was in the past, with most villagers finding spouses within a three-kilometer radius of their homes. Krowolski also finds another continuity with the past in the prevalence of nuclear families in Ta Thanh Oai. While we might expect the nuclear family to be the norm today, Krowolski discovers through her examination of colonial era records that this has been the norm in Ta Thanh Oai for the past century, not the extended family as writings on the “traditional” Vietnamese family have suggested. In “Too late to marry: failure, fate or fortune? Female singlehood in rural

North Viet Nam,” Danièle Bélanger and Khuat Thu Hong continue the focus on the family by investigating the reasons behind the relatively high proportion of rural women who remain single in their thirties and forties. From in-depth qualitative interviews in two villages outside of Ha Noi, the authors discover that the decision to remain single is often based on a combination of factors. First there are contextual constraints, such as the need to assist in the care of siblings, which prevent women from marrying when they are young. Then there is the issue of women’s agency. With rising incomes since doi moi, and with the war years having made non-marriage more acceptable, rural women are increasingly able to envision a life of “singlehood”. Nonetheless, in a society that still places great value on marriage, the refusal or inability of women to marry often carries a significant cost. The final section of the book, “Intimacy,” narrows the focus of analysis even further. In “The irony of sexual agency: premarital sex in urban northern Viet Nam,” Tine Gammeltoft investigates issues of virginity and premarital sex by interviewing unmarried women seeking abortions in Ha Noi. The author discovers that these women inhabit an ambiguous space between a liberalizing society and the specter of a perceived past of “traditional” sexual moralities. Gammeltoft’s informants related that they offered their virginity to their respective boyfriends as “gifts of love” in an effort to secure a relationship that they felt would lead to mar-

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riage, but then saw this act transformed into what Vietnamese society still considers a moral transgression when the relationship subsequently failed. Nguyen-vo Thu-huong’s “Governing sex: medicine and governmental intervention in prostitution” ends the book by examining marital and extra-marital sexuality in the late 1990s in the light of changes in the focus of the Vietnamese health care system. Under doi moi, health care in Viet Nam switched from an emphasis on preventive measures for the masses which drew legitimacy from Marxist-Leninist ideology, to a focus on treatment based on medical advances which draws its authority from medical expertise. The rise of prostitution occurred as this transformation was taking place, and the author demonstrates how this new emphasis on medical expertise is employed by the state to delineate prostitutes as dangers to the state and to encourage wives to develop their expertise in the “science” of sexual pleasures in order to keep sex in the safer confines of the home.

Gender, Household, State: Doi Moi in Viet Nam is a wonderful addition to what is now a growing body of scholarship on contemporary Viet Nam by the first wave of Euro-American anthropologists and sociologists to conduct research in that country in a generation. As the first work to deal explicitly with gender, this volume makes a great contribution to our understanding of the experiences of women in Viet Nam today, but it also raises countless further questions, for ultimately this work merely skims the surface of a fascinating world of inquiry. In so doing, however, it will undoubtedly inspire many other scholars, both Euro-American and Vietnamese, to follow. Liam C. Kelley

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Teri Shaffer Yamada, editor, Virtual Lotus: Modern Fiction of South East Asia. Ann Arbor, Michigan, University of Michigan Press, 2002, pp.332. Although this is not the first anthology of South-East Asian short stories to appear, it is, in both breadth and depth, the most ambitious, consisting of thirtythree short stories drawn from Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. It is especially pleasing to see the inclusion of stories from Brunei, Cambodia and Laos, countries whose modern literatures remain largely unknown beyond their own borders. While this collection has a contemporary feel—twenty-five of the stories date from the 1980s or later—it also includes earlier pieces by famous writers such as Pramoedya Ananta Toer (Indonesia), Shahnon Ahmad (Malaysia), and Nguyen Cong Hoan and Khai Hung (Vietnam). Most of the younger writers represented are also well-known or have won prestigious literary awards in their own countries, while those writing in English may already be familiar names within the region and beyond. Stories are grouped by country, with each country represented by between two (Laos and Brunei) and four (Burma, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam) stories. The three stories from Thailand are ‘And the Grass is Trampled’ by Atsiri Thammachote, ‘Sita Puts Out the Fire’ by Sri Daoruang and ‘The Family in the Street’ by Sila

Khomchai—ably re-translated by Susan Fulop Kepner, who has done much to make modern Thai literature available to the English-speaking world. Each section begins with a brief sketch of the country’s literary history, while each story is prefaced with a biographical note on the author and a comment on the piece. The editor helpfully draws the reader’s attention to other stories in the volume sharing a similar theme. Co-ordinating and bringing to fruition a project of this breadth is deceptively time-consuming and inevitably there are the occasional editorial oversights: the reference to Kulap (p.191), for example, will be lost on the non-Thai specialist, the introduction to ‘The Music Child’ (p.236) at first seems to imply that the protagonist (‘a journalist from Manila’) is a Filipino, when in fact he is an American, and, try as I have, I still cannot find the ‘tragic and disillusioned bar-tender destined to live life half-dead, drinking his days into oblivion’ (back cover blurb) in the Lao story, ‘A Bar at the Edge of a Cemetery’. But these are minor quibbles. The editor, Teri Shaffer Yamada, has performed an invaluable service in bringing together a team of talented translator/ scholars, which includes established names such as Allott (Burma), Aveling (Indonesia), Kepner (Thailand) and Koret (Laos), as well as several new faces. Her prologue is admirably brief, placing the focus of this volume firmly on the South-East Asian writers. More detailed discussion of the development

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of the short story genre in individual South-East Asian countries will appear in a companion volume, currently under preparation and also edited by Professor Yamada, entitled, ‘The History and Cultural Significance of Modern Southeast Fiction’. Professor Yamada and her publishers, the University of Michigan Press, should be congratulated on these significant initiatives in making South-East Asian fiction available to the English-speaking world. David Smyth

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Ho Anh Thai, The Women on the Island, a novel, translated by Phan Thanh Hao, Celeste Bacchi, and Wayne Karlon. Chiang Mai, Silkworm Books, 2002, pp.176, Bt.425. Ho Anh Thai’s novel The Women on the Island reflects Vietnam’s renovation policy (Doi Moi), launched in 1986. Doi Moi aimed at moving the country from a centralized state-run economic system towards a market economy. The atmosphere of greater freedom during this period enabled Vietnamese writers to explore new themes and experiment with new techniques. This marked a new period in Vietnamese literature, in which writers could move away from the party line imposing on them the duty of serving the nation and the people. In this period writers began to reveal the dark side in society and to touch upon urgent social problems rather than responding to government policy. Doi Moi literature can be seen as a reaction against the wartime literature of the 1945–1975 period, which was based on collectivism, heroism, nationalism, class struggle, and the construction of a Socialist state. After the war ended in 1975, Vietnamese writers and critics attempted to slough off this imposed political function, but their efforts were generally unsuccessful until the Doi Moi period. During Doi Moi, however, literature underlined individuality, particularly the individual’s search for happiness, and rethinking the past from new perspectives. The novel The Women on the Island by Ho Anh Thai follows this literary stream.

The Women on the Island was first published in Vietnamese in 1988. It is set in the mid-1980s. It tells us the story of Tuong, a former Arts student, and a group of former female guerrillas on Cat Bac Island, and how they suffer from the changing values in the new consumer society. Tuong is rejected by his girlfriend’s mother simply because she wants a richer son-in-law, and the single women on Cat Bac Island live a lonely life, consumed by a desire to be loved and have a family. During the war, Vietnamese women were evaluated by their sacrifice for the national struggle. But, in peacetime, they are judged by their being a good wife and mother. However, when the war is over, most of them are too old to get married. Also, in the postwar period, there are fewer men than women. Consequently, some girls on Cat Bac Island see a ray of hope when Tuong, a young handsome man with a seductive face, is sent to work at the turtle breeding camp in the island, not very far from where they live and work. It is clear that Ho Anh Thai’s novel responds to a chief polemic of Doi Moi literature. That is, the author highlights the conflict between individuality and collectivity. Like many works written in this period, Ho Anh Thai’s novel speaks out for those whose personal happiness is not yet fulfilled, though their duties for national struggles are completed. The women on the Cat Bac Island suffer not only loneliness but also humiliation for being single and childless. For them, if they do not have a husband, then at least they should have a child. As a female veteran revealed:

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‘During the American War, we lived at the edge of death, and we were able to control our instinctual desires. But now such a control is impossible. I know I lost my opportunity to get married. But if at least I had a child, I would be consoled in many ways. If I hadn’t been so concerned with ‘preserving’ myself all those years ago, I wouldn’t have to suffer like I do now. But he’s dead, with all the rest, and whom did I keep myself for? What do I need with my virginity, when all it does is bringing me loneliness? The collective can help me strengthen my willpower, it can console me a bit. But the collective can’t bring me private happiness.’ (pp. 94–95) Each night, the girls will go to the beach and wait for the man from the turtle breeding camp. Most of them do not expect a long-term relationship, which is not common in Vietnamese society. However, the background information given by the narrator helps readers understand and even have sympathy for the girls who cannot resist their sexual desires. Towards the middle of the story, a girl is pregnant. Quan, a local leader, tries to blame Vien, his rival, for her pregnancy. He orders that a public criticism of the pregnant girl be held, and he hopes to use this scandal to attack his rival. He even puts the pregnant girl in jail until she confesses who is responsible for her pregnancy. As clearly portrayed in this part of the novel, a woman, who once fought bravely and sacrificed her youth

for the motherland, is now humiliated and reduced to being merely a victim of a power struggle in the state-owned enterprise where the women on the island are working. Nevertheless, the women in the story are strong enough to maintain their dignity and not to be victimized by political conflict. ‘Mr. Quan, you’ve had your fun, but now it’s all over!’ Bao shouted angrily. ‘We aren’t sheep for you to open up and punish according to your mood. ‘We’ve had enough! No one in Brigade Five will tell you a damn thing!’ ‘What we will do,’ another woman cried out, ‘is to report your abusive behaviour to the district level and make sure you’re punished.’ (p.102) As shown in the story, the women on the island do not suffer just from their own desires to be loved and their yearning for happiness, but also from the pressure of social attitudes towards women. Due to the influence of Confucianism, boys rather than girls are preferred in Vietnamese society. Despite the attempt to promote gender equality, this idea of patriarchy still exists in the post-war period, as shown in the case of Tham. Unlike the majority of the girls on the island, Tham manages to get married, but she is not better off. She is heavily criticized and humiliated by her motherin-law, who longs for a grandson. It seems that if a couple do not have children, the first person to be blamed is the wife. Seemingly, the ultimate task for

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women is to reproduce a male heir for the family. If the wife cannot give birth to a son, then the husband considers that a good reason to divorce her. Tham is so desperate that she asks Tuong to do her a favour, that is to get her pregnant. The Women on the Island also reflects the situation during the early period of the capitalist economic model in Vietnam, with its struggle between the belief in Socialism and the attempt to adopt a market economy. Hoa, the manager of a state-owned company, is accused of adopting decadent bourgeois ideas because he has introduced a new style of management, and the fact that he does not pay much attention to the personal background of workers in his company. As implied through this detail, the author seems to support Hoa’s idea that the evaluation of a person according to his or her background, such as class origin or criminal record, should be abolished. Instead, people should be judged by their performance and given a chance to prove themselves. This also marks another attempt to move away from the practice of those old Socialist days when the idea of class origin had a vital role in determining a person’s future or opportunity to progress in society. As regards the approach of the writing, the way Ho Anh Thai constructs his novel is totally different from the Socialist-Realist writing that flourished during the period between 1945 and 1975. Socialist-Realist literature mainly focused on collectivism and the heroic deeds of the protagonists. In contrast, Ho Anh Thai’s work highlights the tragedy

and the weaknesses of human beings. The characters in this novel are complex, with good and bad qualities. They are different from those in Socialist-Realist works where characters are represented as being either good or bad. This is illustrated through the character Hoa, the young and progressive manager of the state-owned export company. Hoa is a man who behaves correctly and has self-control. However, when he gets to know Tuong, he realizes that he is not as strong as he and other people think. Tuong’s character is in contrast to that of Hoa, as he is the man who always yields to his sexual desire and indulgence. Tuong’s paintings of nude women provoke Hoa’s repressed desire and remind him that after all he is just another human being. The anxieties of the women on the island, and of Tuong and Hoa, can be shared by any of us. The author employs a classical Chinese poem to underline the continuity and subtlety of the vast ‘boundary of unrequited desire’ that human beings from generation to generation have to suffer. The subjects of gender, human desire or corruption, that the author tries to convey in The Women on the Island, may not be totally unique, as they are echoed in many post-war Vietnamese short stories and novels, but nevertheless the book is worth reading. This is because it not only has artistic value but also provides a vivid picture of post-war society. It is beautifully written, and Ho Anh Thai skilfully moves back and forth between the city and the remote area of the Cat Bac Island, and between the past

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and the present. He also manages to disclose the anxiety of those who live in this period when the wartime memory, though still fresh, is being challenged by the new values of the growing consumer society in post-war Vietnam. Thus, this novel would be an enjoyable read for those who are interested in Vietnamese literature, as well as being insightful for those who are following socio-political changes in post-war Vietnam. Montira Rato

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Michael Smithies, Village Vignettes, with sketches by Uthai Traisiwakul. Bangkok, Orichid Press, 2003, pp.168, $18. In Village Vignettes Michael Smithies takes us for a personalized and down-to-earth excursion along unpaved roads into one average north-eastern Thai village. Through a series of portraits we are introduced to a number of its ordinary yet memorable inhabitants. It is a vivid account of seemingly uneventful rural life, the virtues of which so easily vanish in the traffic congestion and inhumanely demanding city life of the country’s capital. In thirty portraits the author brings us an unveiled close-up look into the misfortunes, heartaches, daydreams and simple joy of such characters as Big Tits, the village Don Juan and the halfChinese, just to mention few. Touching as they are, these portraits are a healthy read for anyone who takes modern commodities and so-called easy life, or life itself for that matter, for granted. At times, and more often than once, we feel powerless for not being able to intervene and give the villagers a helping hand in their earthly tumbles. On occasions the author himself offers suggestions and in some cases outright solutions as to how to rectify such annoyances as power cuts and waste management which, sadly, in many parts of rural Thailand are notorious. Although Smithies rather often paints a somewhat gloomy-though realisticpicture of village life and the future pros-

pects in rural areas, he nonetheless also gives hope. Most effectively this is conveyed in “Orphaned” and “One-leg”. Take the former, a heart-warming tale of little Panja whose stoic resilience against the odds is remarkable. In a way the survival and whole existence of rural thailand under the pains of hardship depend on such a childlike yet so mature and exemplary ability to cope with adversity. Determined about what he wants from life, this little boy is not discouraged by what is lost or by things he does not have, but instead simply thrives from what is still left. In the second case, Sit has lost his leg both due to an unfortunate workplace accident and to doctors’ hasty decision and inexperience. Not giving in to self-pity or bothering to undergo the never-ending (and most likely fruitless) process of seeking compensation, he continued his life as before, not at all considering himself disabled. Now years later at older age, at the shady comfort of his home, he makes hammocks that sell well not only in the village, but also in the market in town. And as it so often happens when eking out a living in less than favourable conditions, some will rise and some will fall. We are introduced to a scumbag such as every village community has at least one. Here, Mr Balls by name, is a public menace pestering the neighbourhood with his unruly behaviour and who, finally, ends up in the local prison. We might easily share the villagers’ hope in the event that if he ever returns, he would not stay for long. Of course, there

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is always a possibility that, given his character, some rough justice may take place while he is behind bars… The author does not hesitate to approach one of the saddest events in human life, either. In the disheartening tale of Pum, this old man, defeated under life’s body blows, finds his final solution on a hook high up in his toiletcum-bathroom. There are also those who have traded their rural values for the lure of the decadence of the red light districts in Bangkok. In between the portraits there are themes that throw light into many subjects that are, and some have become only recently, an inseparable part of village life. The function and philosophy of “ghetto-blasters”, mobile phones and various forms of gambling are described in a humorous though not offending way by any means. Michael Smithies is very attentive and diligent in his approach; nothing goes unnoticed in his vicinity. He takes us to

the heart of impoverished Isaan—as the North-East is called—in a fashion that can only grown from extensive handson experience and knowledge of the local culture, its people and their way of thinking. The more life-stories one reads, the more engrossed one becomes in the plight of the characters. Importantly, Smithies is also wise enough not to glorify their toil. The pencil and ink illustrations, drawn by Uthai Traisiwakul and beautiful in their simplicity, intensify the rural atmosphere of the book. In this small village, that can be found somewhere beyond the second crossing of the railway tracks (mind you, it is thick with ghosts due to many fatal accidents), it is easy to imagine the author sitting at the village shop observantly taking mental notes of the goings-on while enjoying his kanom chin. From this vantage point he sends a useful reminder to all of us; no matter how down you feel, there’s always someone who is worse off than you. Tarmo Rajasaari

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NOTES ABOUT CONTRIBUTORS ARTICLES, NOTES, AND REVIEWS

Virginia McKeen DI CROCCO Honorary Member of the Siam Society, has often conducted tours to study the monuments in Pagan and their murals. Recently she has completed for the Thai Research Foundation a comprehensive study of ‘The Footprints of the Five Buddhas of this Bhaddakappa in a Sinhalese-Siamese Context’, in which she includes many of the Buddhapadas in the Pagan murals. George DUTTON An assistant professor in the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, he specializes in eighteenth century Vietnamese history and particularly the Tay Son uprising. His publications include a study of verse in this period and a study of the early Nguyen state. Charles HIGHAM Is James Cook Fellow in the University of Otago, New Zealand, and a visiting scholar of St Catherine’s College, Cambridge. He has been undertaking archaeological research in Thailand since 1969, co-directing with Thai colleagues excavations at several key sites, including Khok Phanom Di, Noen U-Loke, and Ban Non Wat. He is co-author with Rachanie Thosarat of

Prehistoric Thailand, and several other books on Southeast Asian prehistory. Reinhard HOHLER Is a PhD candidate in ethnology, geography, and political science at Heidelburg University, Germany. His thesis topic deals with religion and syncretism of the Lisu in northern Thailand. In 1987 he settled in Chiang Mai as a media travel consultant for the Greater Mekong Sub-Region. He is also working on Adolf Bastian’s travels in mainland Southeast Asia, 1861–1864. Yoneo ISHII Born in Tokyo in 1929. LL.D. Kyoto University and Emeritus Professor of Kyoto University. He has held posts in the Japanese Foreign Service and has been Director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, Professor of Sophia University, and President of Kanda University of International Studies, from which he retired in 2004. Helen JAMES Is a visiting fellow with the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies and the Asia-Pacific School of Economics and Government, Australian National University. She has been a visiting fellow with the Centre of International

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Studies, Cambridge University and Clare Hall, where she is a life member. She has also worked with the Swedish International Peace Research Institute, Stockholm, and the East-West Center, Hawaii. She obtained her Ph.D.and M.A. at the University of Pittsburgh, and has spent 14 years in Thailand teaching at Chulalongkorn and Thammasat Universities. Liam C. KELLEY Is assistant professor in the History Department at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, specializing in Vietnam. He has written on the emergence of nationalist thought in the late nineteenth century Vietnam, on a Chinese community in southern Vietnam in the seventeenth and eighteenth century, and has a book in press about Sino-Vietnamese intellectual and cultural relations in the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries. Leedom LEFFERTS Is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology from Drew University, Madison, New Jersey. He has been conducting ethnographic fieldwork in Northeast Thailand, and the rest of mainland Southeast Asia, since 1970. He is now engaged in a restudy of the community in which he conducted his original research and which he has visited many times over the past thirty years. Justin McDANIEL Received his PhD from Harvard University’s Dept of Sanskrit and Indian Studies in 2003. At present he teaches

in the Religious Studies Department of the University of California at Riverside. His research topics include Lao, Thai, Pali, and Sanskrit literature, and Southeast Asian Buddhism. MONTIRA Rato Obtained her PhD in Modern Vietnamese Literature from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, in 2003. She now teaches Vietnamese language and literature in the Department of Eastern Languages, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok. Her dissertation and subsequent research has focused on post-1975 Vietnamese literature. Yevgeny D. OSTROVENKO Has a Ph.D. in history and is a career diplomat, having joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of what is now the Russian Federation in 1963. He has served in Iran, been ambassador to Ghana, Afghanistan, and Romania, and since 2001 has been ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation in Thailand. PIYADA Chonlaworn Born Bangkok 1975, completed her Ph.D. on the relationship between Siam and East Asian countries in the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries in the Department of Oriental History, Hiroshima University, Japan in March 2004. She is currently working as a researcher at the Graduate School of Letters, Osaka University.

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Tarmo RAJASAARI Is a Finnish freelance writer and photographer. He is the author of Vapour Trails - Tales from Rural Thailand (2003), which he wrote during his years in Thailand’s North-East. Several of his magazine and newspaper articles about rural Thai life and culture have also appeared in various publications. He now lives in Wellington, New Zealand with his Thai wife. Dawn ROONEY An art historian specializing in southeast Asia, Dawn Rooney is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical and Royal Asiatic Societies in London and an advisor to the Society for Asian Art at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. Dr Rooney, who has lived in Thailand for the past three decades, is the author of eight books on the culture of the region, including a definitive guide to Angkor. Michael SMITHIES Born London, 1932, and educated at Oxford, Berkeley, and Paris. After teaching in France, California, and Gibraltar, he joined the British Council, serving in Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia. He has also worked in universities in Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea, and Singapore. He retired from the United Nations in Bangkok in 1992 and has since written about Siamese history. A former Hon. Editor of JSS, he is a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society, a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques, and an Honorary Mem-

ber of the Siam Society. David SMYTH Is senior lecturer in Thai at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. His published works include Teach Yourself Thai (revised 2003), Thai: an essential grammar (2003), and Colloquial Cambodian (1995) He has also translated a number of Thai novels and short stories into English, including Siburapha’s Behind the Painting (1990), K. Surangkhanang’s The Prostitute (1994) and Chart Korpjitti’s No Way Out (2003). SUMET Jumsai na Ayudhya A Cambridge trained architect, his works have appeared in numerous international publications and exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale. He is a National Thai Artist, an honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne, a member of the French Académie d’Architecture, and Fellow Commoner of St John’s College, Cambridge. TEJ Bunnag Studied at King’s College Cambridge and St Anthony’s College Oxford (D.Phil.). He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1969 and from 1986 to 2001 held posts as ambassador in China, United Nations in Geneva, France, and the United States. His last post with the ministry was that of permanent secretary for Foreign Affairs. In March 2004 he assumed the position of

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advisor, Office of His Majesty’s principal private secretary. Patricia YOUNG An art historian, during the time her husband Kenneth Young was United States ambassador to Bangkok, 1961–63, she concentrated on Thai and Khmer art. Widowed, she worked for the

Asia Society as manager of the tour programme, then as founding director of the Asia Society in Houston. Retiring in 1987, she spent most of each year in Bangkok, active with the Siam Society as vice-president, and then programme chairman, travelling widely, and focusing in research on the lacquer pavilion at Suan Pakkard.

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Honorary Members, 2004 Two new Honorary Members were elected at the Annual General Meeting held on 23 September 2004, Dr Chetana Nagavajara and Dr Tej Bunnag. Dr Chetana studied modern languages at Cambridge University and took a D. Phil. at Tübingen University, Germany. His published works have covered Schlegel, comparative literature, poetry, and criticism. He taught for many years at Silpakorn University, Nakhon Pathom, of which he is emeritus professor of German. He has received honorary doctorates from the Prince of Songkhla University and Sri Nakarinwirot University, has been awarded the Goethe-Medaille, and is a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He served on the Council of the Siam Society from 1975 to 1978. Dr Tej, after studying at King’s College, Cambridge, took a D.Phil. at St Anthony’s College, Oxford. He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1969, held several posts in Bangkok, served in Indonesia, and then was successively ambassador to China and Korea, the UN in Geneva, France, and the United States of America. After a spell as permanent secretary for foreign affairs, he is now advisor to the Office of His Majesty’s Principal Private Secretary. He has many Thai and foreign decorations, was Council member of the Siam Society, serving as Hon. Librarian and then Hon. Editor of JSS from 1970 to 1976, and again as Hon. Librarian 1976-7. The Council undoubtedly speaks on behalf of all Society members in welcoming two such distinguished persons to its ranks of Honorary Members.

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OBITUARIES H.S.H. PRINCE SUBHADRADIS DISKUL 1923–2003 A PERSONAL APPRECIATION On 6 November 2003 Thailand suffered a great loss with the passing of His Serene Highness Prince Subhadradis Diskul. A man of great knowledge, charisma and boundless energy, he had touched many people’s lives. He possessed the qualities that made him so endearing to people - a true interest in teaching and imparting his vast knowledge to all those who were willing to learn, while he carried himself with the dignity befitting his princely status. He did all this with warm and kind humor, finding joy and amusement in his many endeavors. Known to his friends and colleagues as Prince Suphad, he was a person who took upon himself numerous responsibilities and carried them out with full attention. He always saw the small picture as well as the bigger one. That is, he gave his undivided attention to students and protégés who needed his advice and assistance, while he never lost sight of what the education and propagation of art and art history should be in Thailand. As professor of art and archaeology and later rector of Silpakorn University, Prince Suphad carried out these duties admirably, while he gave much time and attention to the organizations and institutions of which he was head, patron or consultant.

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H.S.H. Prince Subhadradis Diskul was closely associated with the Siam Society for 42 years where he served as president from 1979 to 1981. Under his leadership the Siam Society prospered and focused its activities on projects that involved the public, one of these being the restoration of the mural paintings in several temples around Bangkok, thus helping to conserve a significant aspect of the country’s great heritage. Like his distinguished father, His Royal Highness Prince Damrong Rajanubhab, known as the Father of Thai History, Prince Subhadradis has been recognized as one of Thailand’s most eminent historians. Educated in Thailand, France and the United Kingdom, he was well versed in history and many forms of art. With his deep knowledge and understanding of Asian art and history, with an emphasis on that of the Thai and Khmer, he was the author of books on these subjects as well as many articles. His great pleasure was imparting this vast knowledge which he often did through the study trips that he led for the Siam Society, and for which he acted as the Society as Chairman of the Travel Committee for many years. He also gave lectures and seminars on a variety of subjects concerning the art and history of the region. He will be remembered for

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his jovial manner in which he explained the obvious, while at other times drawing on his fathomless knowledge to explain and illustrate more complex ideas and principles. H.S.H. Prince Subhadradis continued his work till the last. He was instrumental in setting up SPAFA, the regional organization for the preservation of the cultural heritage under the aegis of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO). He was widely recognized and honored for his contribution to Thai culture and was awarded the Knight Grand Cross (First

Class) of the Most Illustrious Order of Chula Chom Klao by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Furthermore, the French Government awarded him the title of Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur. Prince Subhadradis will be missed, but the legacy that he left in the form of education and the students who are carrying out his work, his writings, and the plans that he put in motion will be a living testament to honor his memory. Ruth Gerson

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LARRY STERNSTEIN

The Society has only recently learnt that Larry Sternstein, former Honorary Editor of the Journal of the Siam Society from 1966–1969, life member of the Society, and teaching in the School of Resources, Environment, and Society at the Australian National University, died in 2001 following an operation for cancer. He made substantial contributions to our knowledge of the historical geography of Thailand, and is probably best remembered generally for his important book, Portrait of Bangkok, marking the two hundredth anniversary of the foundation of the capital, commissioned by the city’s municipality. He contributed regularly to the Journal before becom-

ing its editor, his first article being ‘An Historical Atlas of Thailand’ (1964 v.52/1). His most recent articles to appear in JSS were ‘Low maps of Siam’ (1985 v.73), ‘Low’s description of the Siamese Empire in 1824’ (1990 v.78/1), and ‘The London Company’s envoys plot Siam’ (1993 v.81/2), this last appropriately constituting the lead article and running to 85 pages. The Society would like, howsoever belatedly, to record his passing, extend its condolences to his friends and family, and thank him for his contributions to our knowledge of the geography and history of Siam. M.S.

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SIRICHAI NARUMIT-REKAGARN 1927–2004 Honorary Architect, The Siam Society Vice President of the Society 1980-1984 by Sulak Sivaraksa (translated by Sumet Jumsai)

The demise of Khun Sirichai Narumit-Rekagarn is a great loss not only for friends and colleagues but for also for the country. Not many people actually knew him. This is because fame was not his way of life compared to many with a high profile who, as a consequence, would not be able to appreciate such a person. Devoting his entire life to social and cultural issues, he was committed to working for the urban poor and conservation of cultural heritage and natural environment. His efforts were marked by perseverance, personal sacrifice and humility. He had, however, the close support of friends and students who rallied to his cause. As an architect, Khun Sirichai did not mass-produce his work, for each project which he designed was the result of genuine creativity. It coincides with his family name, “Rekagarn”, meaning “aesthetic creativity”. He certainly owed his love of art to his parents, Luang Narumit-Rekagarn and Khun Anong, who were both artists active in art education. Indeed, Acharn Fuea Haripitak, the well known National Artist, was among those tutored by Luang Naramit-Rekagarn.

Khun Sirichai’s grandfather was Luang Jenjityong, a muralist who left behind paintings on the cloister walls of the Royal Chapel. For a family to have produced three generations of artists is indeed commendable. Here then was the third generation, an architect-painter whose quest for beauty reached the spiritual level. Whatever he did, however, was accompanied by a genuine sense of compassion and charity, often at his own expense. In this respect he gave what he could for the happiness of others, friends, young colleagues and students, and even their families.

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The few remaining contemporaries such as Khun Vathanyu na Thalang and Khun Nid H. Shiranan, will testify that, while modest in speech, in stating a case it was often done with a sense of humour. It helped to alleviate the gravity of issues at hand which invariably ran counter to people in politics and government. In these instances he might well take a back seat in order to let others take the lead, with his ideas. Acharn Saeng-arun Ratakasikorn, another close colleague and teacher with strong moral standards long since deceased, used to praise him in no uncertain terms as a person who instilled in others the joy of life. Khun Sirichai contributed much to society through various organizations, principally the Society for Conservation of National Treasures and Environment (SCONTE) which he helped to found; the Association of Siamese Architects under Royal Patronage (ASA) for which he was President in 1972–73, and the Art Committee of The Siam Society which he chaired in 1974–75, a period which saw him most active in historic conservation. The fact that he grew up in the historic centre of Bangkok, an area encompassing Bamrungmuang and Fuengnakorn Road, possibly led him to activities that culminated in the plan to preserve Rattanakosin Island. In this regard, he was ever ready to conduct guided tours of the area for the young people, showing them not only monuments, but also the communities and their way of life and ritual. In the foot-

steps of Phraya Anuman Rajdhon and Khun Vijitrmatra, he thus passed on to the new generation the onus of the safekeeping of the city’s treasures. Cultural issues aside, Khun Sirichai found time to help set up Duang Prateep Foundation and Foundation for Slum Child Care Under the Patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana Krom Luang Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra, where his only sister, Khun Nongyao, was very much involved. In 1967, Khun Sirichai became an active member of the Ayudhya preservation group which instigated, besides conservation programmes, the bicentennial commemoration of the fall of the old capital. That event, much praised at the time by M.R. Kukrit Pramoj, was to remind people of lessons in history. At one point, Khun Sirichai campaigned for the master plan of Bangkok proposing, amongst other things, a ring road in conjunction with a green belt. Vested interests, politics and corruption led to the plan falling short of its important aggregate, the green area. Disillusioned, he went to live in London for a time with his small family–he had only a daughter–and there worked for the Thai language programme of the BBC. The years were not wasted for he produced programmes of cultural interest for his audience both in England and back home. Home sickness and loyalty eventually made him return to Siam. However, finding Bangkok congested and “sinking” under the weight of its own mega structures and tall buildings,

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he soon urged his friends to migrate with him to the provinces. It was not idle talk, for he acted upon it. At that late stage in life, he and his family emigrated for the last time, to Chiangmai. To some extent it meant cutting ties with friends and colleagues in Bangkok. Soon enough, however, he found new friends and allies to launch the Lanna conservation movement with agenda ranging from refuse recycling and a “green” grocery store to campaigning against cable cars on Doi Suthep and, with the help of the local Buddhist clergy, instituting programmes to preserve old temples and murals in Chiangmai.

Khun Sirichai studied architecture at Chulalongkorn University and went on to the University of California at Berkeley where he obtained his master’s degree. He then taught at Silpakorn and eventually at Chiangmai University. A person who preferred to spend a quiet life with Khun Ayako, his Japanese wife, Khun Sirichai devoted his spare time to painting. Born a citizen of Bangkok on 21 March 1927, he died a citizen of Chiangmai a few days after his 77th birthday on 24 March 2004. His family and friends will for a time miss him, but eventually he may be forgotten as is the way of the world. However, his good deeds will remain and undoubtedly take him to peace and tranquility.

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RECENT SIAM SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS Witnesses to a Revolution: Siam 1688 Translated and edited by Michael Smithies Foreword by Dhiravat na Pombejra Intrigue, mystery, murder, double-dealing, corruption, and deception are all found in the accounts of the twelve persons (three of whom are anonymous and hitherto unpublished) who describe here their roles in the dramatic events of 1688 in Siam surrounding the coup d’état of Phetracha and the death of King Narai. The succession was complicated by the role of Constantine Phaulkon, a Greek adventurer who acted, without the title, as minister of foreign affairs and trade, and who cultivated the French presence in the country to support his own position. The French had stationed troops in Bangkok, “the key to the kingdom” and Mergui, on the Bay of Bengal, and became hopelessly embroiled in events beyond their comprehension, leading to their retreat in November that year. Professor Michael Smithies, Honorary Member of the Siam Society, has studied this period for several years. He has done a great service in bringing together and translating these texts. They give fascinating insights into the conspiracies, self-interest and betrayal that characterized so many of the participants. His book is a serious work of scholarship, but can also be read as an adventure story, where so many involved were out of their depth what was for them in a strange, confusing, and distant land. Bangkok, The Siam Society, 2004 (July) pp. vi+214, index, illustrations ISBN 974-8298-55-8 The book is on sale to members at Bt 500 and Bt 600 to non-Society members. Please add Bt 50 per copy to cover packing and postage.

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Dedications to H.R.H. Princess Galyani Vadhana Krom Luang Naradhiwas Rajanagarinda on her 80th birthday Bangkok, Siam Society, 2003 This handsome volume of 255 pages, containing 14 articles by well-known scholars of Thai culture, is introduced by the President, Bilaibhan Sampatisiri, who thanks H.R.H. Princess Galayani for her devotion to the work of the Siam Society, of which she is its Honorary President. The articles found there range from prehistoric excavation to sets for a Thai opera first performed in Bangkok in 2003: Thailand: A monarchy in a globalized world Charuksuksa, a study of inscriptions (in Thai) Reflections on thirty-three years of archaeological research in Thailand Dvaravati: Recent revelations and research Inscription I: from pious fable to historical fact The Chedi Sri Suriyothai reconsidered L’inscription thaïe du Vatt Buddhaghosacary de Phnom-Penh, K.1213 (in French) The Thasai Prince’s rebellion of 1641: a forgotten event in Ayutthayan history An anonymous pamphlet of 1690 concerning events in Siam in 1688 A Buddha image sponsored by Jao Laung Noi In of Lampang in 1841 Photographs as cultural documentation Thung Bangkapi in the mid-1930s: a personal recollection In search of indigenous theories Mae Naak opera stage sets

H.E. General Prem Tinsulanonda Term Meetem C.F.W. Higham Peter Skilling Michael Wright Piriya Krairiksh Olivier de Bernon Dhiravat na Pombejra Michael Smithies Hans Penth M.R. Chakrarot Chitrabongs Sirichai Narumit-Rekagarn Chetana Nagavajara Sumet Jumsai

There are numerous illustrations in colour and black-and-white. The hard cover volume bound in artificial snakeskin and embossed in gold is available to Society members for Bt 699 (US$ 30).

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The Society of Siam: Selected articles for the Siam Society’s centenary Edited by Chris Baker Bangkok, Siam Society, 2004 These articles from the last 50 years of the Journal of the Siam Society show why Thailand is such a fun place to live and to study. The pregnancy of the rice goddess. Cremating an abbot with a tug-or-war. Sexy scenes on wat walls. How to court a northern girl. Karen riddles. Spirit doctors who remove calamity. The varieties of hell. The beauty of rice. Spirit cults. The structure of the monkhood. The marquis de Sade and Bangkok traffic. The guardians of the city. The cult of the King’s Spirit. The door to the underworld. How to sing in Isan. Shadow puppets. Love poetry. Political novels. Historical movies. All this in 409 pages. Alec Gordon Anan Ganjanapan Andrew Turton Benjamin A. Batson Charles F. Keyes Euayporn Kerdchouay Frank E. Reynolds Gehan Wijeyewardene Grant A. Olson Hjorleifur Jonsson Jane Bunnag Jarernchai Chonpairot Jeremy H. Kemp

John P. Ferguson K.I. Matics Kraisri Nimmanhaeminda Manas Chitakasem Michael Smithies Napat Sirisambhand Phya Anuman Rajadhon Puey Ungphakorn Richard A. O’Connor Shalardehai Ramitanondh Sunait Chutintharanon Suriya Ratanakul Terry B. Miller

The soft-cover volume costs Bt 800 (US$ 25) to members; (Bt 950 (US$ 30) to non-members). Please include Bt 50 per copy ordered for shipping and handling.

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NOTES FOR CONTRIBUTORS

The Journal of Siam Society welcomes original articles and reviews of a scholarly nature in conformity with the principles and objectives of the Siam Society, investigating the arts and sciences of Thailand and neighbouring countries. Articles Articles should be primarily in English, and must be accompanied by a ten-line abstract in English and a fiveline biographical note about the author (s). The word length of the contribution must be given in a covering letter, supplying full postal and e-mail addresses, and the author (s) must confirm that the article has not been published elsewhere in any form, nor is currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. Articles submitted to JSS are subject to review by external referees. Typescripts should not normally exceed 7,000 words, and must be typed on one side of the paper only with double line spacing, preferably using 12 point Times New Roman font. Two copies of the typescript should be submitted together with the text on a computer disk or by e-mail. The use of up-to-date word-processing programs that are readily convertible into other formats is appreciated. Contributors using special fonts, such as for various Asian languages, should consult the editor in advance.

References and bibliographical entries should follow modern academic practices appropriate to the field in which the article is written. Bibliographical entries must be complete and include the full name of the author(s), title, and publication data including the place of publication, publisher, and date of publication (with the original date of publication if the item used is a reprint). References to articles written in Thai should include the title in Romanized Thai followed by a translation into English in parentheses. Romanization in general follows the system of the Royal Institute. If in doubt concerning form or how to reference non-standard sources, please consult the Chicago Manual of Style (most recent edition), or Hart’s rules for compositors and readers at OUP (most recent edition). If in doubt over spelling, use, as with the United Nations, the Concise Oxford Dictionary (most recent edition), taking the first entry where variants are allowed. Style Each paper should follow a consistent form of dating, capitalization (to be kept to a minimum) and other aspects. The style adapted should be appropriate for scholarly journals with an audience of specialists in a diversity of fields and nationalities; this said, jargon is to be avoided and articles should be

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readily comprehensible by non-specialists. Measurements should be metric, not imperial. Non-native speakers of English are strongly advised to have their contributions checked by a native speaker before submission. Both British and American English variants are admitted, but an article must be internally consistent in the use of whichever is selected. Figures Figures, site plans, maps, etc., should be drawn on strong paper, white card, or good quality tracing film, and suitably lettered for printing. They should measure approximately twice the intended final size which should be indicated where possible. If these have been scanned or are computer-generated then the appropriate disks should be sent indicating format, together with hard copy. Do not ‘embed’ any scanned graphics in the text on the disk. A published full-page illustration may not exceed 210mm x 140mm. Photographs should be printed on glossy paper and mounted on thin card. Figures, maps, and plates should be titled and numbered; originals should be numbered lightly on the back in pencil only. A list of captions to figures and plates must be provided on separate sheets. Authors must obtain approval, before submission, for reproduction of illustrations or other material not their own. Redrawing or lettering of maps or

figures cannot be undertaken by the Siam Society or the editor, who may omit or return sub-standard work for representation. Proofs and offprints Page proofs will be sent to authors if time allows. Authors are reminded that these are intended for checking, not rewriting: substantial changes to the text at this stage will result in the contribution being rejected. Failure to return proofs by the required date may lead to substitution of the editor’s corrected proofs. One copy of the Journal and thirty offprints will be supplied free to authors on publication of the issue in which their contribution is included. Reviews Unsolicited book reviews are not normally accepted. Offers to write reviews should be directed to the Editor, Journal of the Siam Society. Reviews should normally be 1,0002,000 words in length, written in English and supplied as a print-out and on disk as for articles. Full bibliographic details about the book under review must be supplied, including number of pages and price, if known. Disclaimer and resolution of conflict The opinions expressed in the JSS are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Siam Society. The editor’s decision is final.

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Correspondence Typescripts, books for review, and all correspondence should be sent to The Editor, The Journal of The Siam Society, 131 Sukhumvit Soi 21 (Asoke), Bangkok 10110, Thailand. Tel. (662) 260 2830-32, 661 6470-75 Fax. (662) 258 3491 E-mail: [email protected]

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Subscription, membership enquiries and orders for publications should be addressed to Membership Services, at the address given here. Information about exchange copies of Siam Society periodicals may be obtained from the Honorary Librarian, at the address here.

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