The Influence of Lan Chang Kingdom on the Way of Life of People in Mekong River Region
Keywords:
Lan Chang Kingdom, life of people in Mekong riverAbstract
The objectives of this research were: 1) to study the influence of Lan Chang Kingdom (Million Elephants) on the way of life of people in Mekong river region; 2) to study the influence of Lan Chang Kingdom on philosophy, art, culture and traditions of people in Mekong River Region; 3) to study the influence of Lan Chang Kingdom on creating unity of people in Mekong River Region. This study was conducted by means of the qualitative research methodology. The tools used in this research included in-depth interviews and behavioral observation of 30 key informants. The obtained data were interpreted by using the descriptive analysis.
The research results were as follows:
1. The influence of Lan Chang Kingdom on the way of life of people in Mekong river region can be seen in philosophy, idea and beliefs about spirits such ghosts, angles, house ghosts, tree ghosts, father and mother ghosts, grandparent ghosts, city ghost and ‘Thean’ ghost etc. Pluralism is a blend of philosophy, ideas and beliefs between ghost, Brahmanism and Buddhism.
2. The influence of Lan Chang Kingdom on the philosophy, art, culture and traditions of the people in Mekong River region is the application of Lan Chang art concepts to create the present day Buddhist art. This is an art created to serve Buddhism, such as churches, pavilions and pagodas. Lan Chang culture influences people of Mekong region in terms of material culture, moral culture, legal culture and multi culture. The tradition that has its influence on the people in Mekong River Region is ‘Heet Sip Song Kong Sip Si’, ‘New house cerebration’, ‘Wedding ceremony’ and ‘Su-khwan’ ceremony. etc.
3. The influence of Lan Chang Kingdom on the unity of the people of the Mekong River region between Thai people, and Lao people and between Thai people and Lao is that Lan Chang art that creates unity, such as the creation of Buddhist arts by restoration of Phra That Phanom; traditions to create unity such as the tradition of worshiping Phra That Phanom, worship of Lung Pho PhraSai; traditions create unity such as Phuk-Xiao ceremony, New house cerebration and Heet Sip Song. etc.
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