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Educa

tion.

Arts.

tion, which in many of these southern towns is much mixed. | variations and then returning to the air. They are proud of their
Paknam, the port of Bangkok, 3 miles from the river's mouth, is
fortified, as is Paklat Lang, 5 miles higher up, which is inhabited
chiefly by Peguans. Various canals extend hence across the delta
towards the Me-klong. Near its mouth is the town of Me-klong,
peopled by Chinese merchants, fishermen, and gardeners. Higher
up the river,at the foot of the hills, is Prapri, peopled by descendants
of Cambodian captives. Pechaburi, a little to the south, at the foot
of a range some 1500 feet high, where the king has a palace, is built
after English designs; its inhabitants are Peguans. Petriu, on the
east side of the Gulf of Siam, on the Kharayok river, has sugar
plantations cultivated by Chinese. At Bangplasoi, at the mouth of
the river are extensive fisheries. Raheng, some 300 miles up the
Me-nam, possesses docks, and there a good many teak ships are built.
In the Lao or Shan country to the north Chieng-mai (Zimmé) is the
most important tributary state. Its capital, Chieng-maf, the Jan-
gomai of early European travellers, is the principal town of that
region, with broad streets of good teak-built houses, surrounded
with gardens, numerous pagodas, markets, and a large population.
It lies in the wide fertile valley of the Me-ping, and is a great
entrepôt of trade from Bangkok and southwest China (Yun-nan
and Ssmao), which finds its natural outlet thence to the Bay of
Bengal. The rice, timber, &c., of the districts through which
this route passes are considerable. Lapong, in the same valley,
and Lagong, on a neighbouring tributary, are Lao towns of
less importance and subordinate to Chieng-mai, as were formerly
Nan and Pre, fertile teak-producing valleys to the east. Kiang-
hai and Kiang-sen, farther north, on the Me-kong, were old Lao
capitals of note (see SHANS), as was Luang Prabang, with its charm-
ing capital, which, like Chieng-mai, still retains some administra-
tive independence. The extensive fertile and partly wooded plains
to the north and east support great herds of cattle. With Vien-
chang, a little lower down the river, Luang Prabang held its own for
centuries against both Siam and Burmah. On the destruction of
Vien-chang in 1828, Nangkoi, 25 miles lower down, increased in size
and importance, and now has an extensive trade in English and
Chinese goods. This district might perhaps without much difficulty
be opened up by an easy route starting from Lakhon, only 130 miles
distant from the sea. One of the most important provincial centres
is the district of Korat, on the eastern plateau. The country is a
series of fertile oases separated by tracts of waterless forest, contain-
ing good timber, and full of game. The town is fortified, and has
about thirty pagodas and some well-built houses, belonging chiefly
to the Chinese merchants. Cart roads converge hither with the
traffic both of north Laos and of the Cambodian provinces south
and east, the latter passing up the fertile Moun valley on its way
to Bangkok. The whole region between the Dang-rek Mountains
and the Moun river is full of splendid ruins, attesting the former
Cambodian influence as far at least as 16° north, to which limit,
therefore, the southward movement of the Laos may be supposed
to have reached at the date of these buildings. The principal
ruins of the district are found at Korat, Bassac, Phimai, and Ku-
khan. The character of this wonderful series of buildings, the
greatest of which, those of Angkor, are on Siamese territory, have
been touched on under CAMBODIA (q. v.), to which they properly
belong; but it may be mentioned here that the earliest inscription
yet found, relating to the erection of a Sivaite linga, is interpreted
as belonging to 589 saka=667 A.D. though another, undated, refers
to three generations earlier. The earliest references indisputably
Buddhist that have been found are three centuries later than this.
With the exception of a few schools in the capital, education
is entirely in the hands of the priests, the boys going to the temples
between the age of eight or nine and thirteen. The teaching is
elementary, and, by the precepts of Buddhism, must be gratuitous,
the pupils repaying it by menial services in house or boat or garden,
or by presents of food. At thirteen the boy enters on a novitiate,
which lasts till the age of twenty-one; but, if not inclined for
study, he may give it up after three or four months,-this tem-
porary consecration symbolizing a separation from the world. At
twenty-one, if so disposed, he may enter the priesthood; but there
are no perpetual vows. Girls are taught, if at all, only at home,
by parents or brothers. There are no educational endowments; but
a certain number of persons occupy themselves with literary stud-
ies, as history, astrology, or alchemy, with which medicine is more
or less combined. Medical practice, indeed, comprises a good deal
of magic; but there is also considerable knowledge of medicinal
herbs, and ancient medical works were written in Pali. Inocula-
tion was long ago introduced by the Chinese, and vaccination
lately by European missionaries. Women after childbirth are
exposed for some time to the heat of a strong fire, the result being
sometimes fatal.

national music, and both men and women play and sing generally.
Their instruments are-a harmonicon with wooden or metal bars
struck with a hammer, a two-stringed and a three-stringed violin,
flutes, drums, and pipes, also the Lao “organ," the tones of which,
produced by metal tongues in the pipes, are very effective.
The Buddhism of Siam is the same as that of Ceylon, with slight Religi
doctrinal differences, much insisted on, from the Burmese. It is,
however, professed in its purity by very few. The religious re-
form initiated by King Phra Mongkut, himself for many years a
priest, has divided the people of the capital into two sects,-the
reformed, known as Dhammayut, and the older or unreformed,
Phra Maha Nikai. The former attach more weight to the obser-
vance of the canon than to meditation. The other sect is again
divided into two parties, the one holding more to meditation, the
other to the study of the scriptures. The only Brahmanical
temple remaining in the country is at Bangkok, and its priests are
said to be of Indian descent. Brahmans, however, are constantly
employed in divination, in fixing the fortunate days for warlike
expeditions, business transactions, marriages, and the like, and in
arranging festivals. Buddhism is corrupted by a general worship
or propitiation of nats or phees (spirits or demons); superstition
in the more remote districts constitutes practically the only reli.
gion. The belief in these spirits informs and affects every depart-
ment of life. There are local earth divinities to whom temples
or shrines are erected. Others with human or animal form dwell
in the water. Others cause children to sicken and die. Others
wander and deceive as ignes fatui. By certain spells men can
become tigers or were-wolves. Bodies of the dead are sometimes
possessed, and they are carried out not by the door but by an
extemporized opening, so that they may not be able to find their
way back. The numerous offerings and honours paid to these
spirits lead to drunkenness and to killing of animals in sacrifice.
Phallic worship prevails to a considerable extent, notwithstanding
the efforts of the king to put it down. A female incarnation of
deity, the Nang Tim, is found in one or two villages of east Laos.
Pilgrimages are frequently made to sacred places with Indian
names (all the chief towns, indeed, have an official Indian name).
Many of the figures and designs employed in the ornamentation of
houses are really talismans intended to avert evil. The temples,
with their surrounding monastic establishments, form a conspicu
ous feature everywhere. Some are very extensive, covering alto-
gether an area of 100 or 150 acres. New temples are often built, or
the priests' quarters in the existing buildings repaired, by rich men
desirous of "acquiring merit." The temples (wats) hold very little
landed or house property; but, where they have been built or re-
paired by the king, or presented to him by some high official, they
enjoy a small income chargeable on the revenues of the district, be-
sides receiving presents from the king when he visits them in
state. The priests of such temples are bound in return to give their
services at state ceremonies, and their secular affairs, including
repairs of temples and disciplinary matters, are administered by a
special department of state. There remain now at Bangkok only
two communities of nuns, who are employed in the service of the
temples, and are allowed to receive voluntary offerings.

Skill is shown in the casting of large metal statues 50 feet high or more, in repoussé work in gold and silver, in enamelling on metals, and in gold and silver tissue work. Their drawing is spirited, but strictly conventional. The system of music is elaborate, but with no written notation. There is no harmony, but all the instruments of the orchestra play in unison, breaking off into

The numerous public festivals are partly connected with religion, but are accompanied with much rejoicing and amusement. Among them are the lunar and the fixed New-Year's Day, and the festival of agriculture, when the plough is guided by the minister, the ladies of the court following and sowing seeds, which are picked up by the people to add to their usual sowings. At the ceremony at which the king and his ministers pledge themselves, the former to administer impartial justice, the latter to be faithful and loyal in their service, the oath is taken by drinking water, and the meeting of the king and nobles, with all the attendant paraphernalia, forms a gorgeous spectacle, the day terminating with fireworks and processions of boats. On the king's state visits to the wats there are festive processions of boats and troops. Other festivals are at the beginning and end of the rainy season. When the floods begin to subside there is a great water procession, and the priests command the waters to retire. Even the cutting of the king's hair is made an occasion for rejoicing. In every family the cutting at the age of twelve or thirteen, of the tuft left on the top of the head is a great ceremony; it is not practised, except by way of imitation, among the Laos. The head is considered very sacred (this is a characteristic Papuan notion); no one must touch it, nor may it be raised above that of a superior, as in a carriage or boat. The funeral ceremonies of a prince or great man, often delayed for some months after death, are also attended by elaborate feasting, dancing, and other amusements in temporary buildings erected for the purpose. The dead, with the exception of the poor, whose bodies are given to the vultures and wild beasts, and women who die in childbirth, are usually burned within the wats, the ashes being preserved, or mixed with lime to plaster the sacred walls. A rich man will often bequeath a limb to the birds and beasts.

The Siamese month is lunar, and, as a lunar month contains 291⁄2 days, they give the odd months 29 and the even 30. This gives

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