|
|
CultureThe basis of Laotian culture is religion and tradition. Art,
literature, music, and drama draw mainly from these sources. Towns along the Mekong are
exposed to Western culture through Thai mass media.
Theravada Buddhism entered the country in the
14th century. This religion and Hinduism have been major influences on cultural and
intellectual life in Laos. The story of the Buddha and Hindu myths are the subjects of the
carvings and sculptures found in all religious places. In the south, Khmer influences on
the peoples of Laos are strong; in the north, Myanmar and Thai influences are readily
apparent. As elsewhere in Southeast Asia, religious symbols, stories, and themes have been
modified and localized. The snake, for example, representations of which adorn religious
and royal buildings, symbolizes the benevolent spirit of the water and the protector of
the king.
The Laotians have a variety of folk arts,
including weaving, basketmaking, wood and ivory carving, and silverwork and goldwork.
There are a number of Laotian musical instruments, of which the khen, a bamboo wind
instrument, is most widely known. Music is not written down but is played from memory.
Dancing is a profession rather than a form of
recreation; the professional dance troupes travel throughout the country performing for
religious celebrations or on important holidays. Their main themes are drawn from the
Indian epics. All professional dancers are male, the female roles being performed by young
men and boys.
Laotian literature is predominantly religious
and linked to the Buddhist tradition. There is also a secular literary stream based on
themes of the Hindu epic poems, which have been transmuted into popular language; an
example of this is the Laotian epic the Sin Xay, written between the mid-16th and
the late 17th century. The popular poems and songs are often satiric.
Source: © Encyclopedia Britannica
People
The peoples of Laos are divided by language,
culture, and location. Lao officials distinguish four basic ethnolinguistic groups: the
Lao-Lum, or valley Lao; the Lao-Tai, or tribal Tai; the Lao-Theung, better known as the
Mon-Khmer; and the Lao-Soung, or Hmong and Man. Mountain people sometimes are called Kha
("Slaves"), a pejorative term.
The Lao-Lum live in the lowlands, on the banks
of the Mekong and its tributaries, and in the cities. They speak Laotian Tai, which is
closer to the language spoken by the Thai of Thailand than it is to the language of the
local Tai-speaking tribes.
The Lao-Tai include such local groups as the
Black-Tai (Tai Dam) and Red-Tai (Tai Deng), both names referring to the dress of the
women; the Tai Neua, or Tai of the north; the Tai Phuan of Xiangkhoang province; and the
Phu Tai. The Lao-Tai live throughout the country, chiefly in upland areas, and their
various dialects are mutually intelligible.
The Lao-Theung (Mon-Khmer) include many groups
of people scattered throughout Laos, northeastern Myanmar, northern Thailand, and southern
China. They are thought to be descendants of the earliest peoples to inhabit the region.
These people do not form a single coherent group but rather include between 25 and 30
distinct groups, some of which are closely related while others are only tenuously
identified as being part of this linguistic group.
The Lao-Soung, which include the Hmong (formerly
called the Meo, or Miao) and the Man (Yao), are believed to have been coming from southern
China since the late 18th century. They are divided into subgroups, and neither
constitutes a large proportion of the population of Laos.
Other distinct linguistic groups are few in
number. Speakers of Tibeto-Burman dialects, who also came from southern China, live in the
north and northwest. Chinese and Vietnamese live primarily in the urban areas. Initially,
French was the language of the Lao elite and of the cities, but by the 1970s English had
begun to displace it. Under the leadership of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party,
Vietnamese has become the third language of the elite.
Prior to the establishment of the Lao People's
Democratic Republic (LPDR) in 1975, it was accurate to say that the Lao-Lum peoples had a
distinct pattern of culture and dress. They also had a well-defined social structure,
differentiating between royalty and commoners. The members of the elite included only a
few outsiders who were not descendants of nobility. Most of the elite lived in the cities,
drawing their incomes from rural land rents or from urban occupations. After 1975 a new
elite emerged representing the victorious leftist forces. Many of this group, however,
were of aristocratic origin.
Traditionally, Lao-Tai society had a stratified
social structure and a political hierarchy. The people were organized into groups larger
than villages called muong, each of which was ruled by a hereditary ruler called
the chao muong. Within this broad grouping, however, there were ethnic variations.
Among the Black Tai, the nobility consisted of two descent groups, the Lo and the Cam, who
provided the rulers of the muong. The religious leaders came from two other descent
groups, the Luong and the Ka. The Black Tai tribal organization had three levels: the
village; the commune, which was composed of a number of villages; and the overall muong.
The latter two were ruled by nobles, while the village headman was selected from among
the commoners by the heads of households. The Red Tai had a similar social structure, with
the addition of a council of five to aid the chao muong. The nobility owned the
land and had the right of service from the commoners.
The Mon-Khmer had no political or social
structure beyond the village. They were led by a village headman, who was their link to
the central government; but his role in the village was not clear.
Among the Lao-Soung, the Hmong maintained the
tradition of a king and subchiefs and a large-scale organization, although in practice
this usually was limited to the village. The village consisted of several extended
families. In some villages, all the heads of households were members of a single clan, and
the head of the clan was the headman of the village. Where several clans resided together
in a large village there were several headmen, one being the nominal head and the link to
the government. The headman had real authority in the village and was aided by a council.
The Hmong extended their organization beyond the village for military purposes.
Laos is an underpopulated country. It has the
lowest population density of any Southeast Asian nation, and its population is also one
the most youthful. A high birthrate is offset by one of the highest infant-mortality rates
in the region. About half the people are concentrated in the lowlands, and only about
one-fifth are urban dwellers. The Lao-Lum are the largest ethnic group. There has been a
considerable out-migration of people from Laos since the mid-1970s, including most of the
country's educated and professional elite.
Source: © Encyclopedia Britannica
Religion
The predominant religion of Laos is Theravada
Buddhism, which is professed by most Lao and by a small number of other ethnic groups.
Most of the rest of the people are animists, or spirit worshipers, especially in the more
isolated upland areas. Many see no contradiction in being both, since Buddhism shows the
way to enlightenment, while spirit worship helps a person to cope with daily and local
problems. Among the hill peoples, especially those who have migrated from southern China,
are found groups that mix Confucian ideas with Buddhism and animism. One subgroup of the
Mon-Khmer, the Lamet, practices ancestor worship, and the Hmong are both spirit and
ancestor worshipers. Roman Catholic and Protestant missionaries were present in the
country before 1975, but only a tiny proportion of the population is Christian. The
Vietnamese, who live both in the cities and in the northeastern rural areas, practice a
mixture of Mahayana Buddhism and Confucianism.
Source: © Encyclopedia Britannica
|
