Ancient Laos Civilization in the Middle Mekong Valley

Ancient Laos Civilization in the Middle Mekong Valley

A number of princely fiefdoms based on wet rice cultivation and associated with the pottery and bronze culture of Ban Chiang developed in the middle Mekong Valley from the first century A.D. These fiefdoms exercised power over their neighbors, in circumstances of generally sparse populations, through expanding and contracting spheres of influence best described by the term mandala. Commerce, marriage contracts, and warfare served to expand a mandala.

Thus, a plurality of power centers occupied the middle Mekong Valley in early times. Sikhôttabong was a mandala whose capital was located on the left bank of the Mekong at the mouth of the Xé Bangfai and then moved westward as a result of the expansion of Champa, an Indianized state on the coast of Vietnam founded in 192 A.D. Cham, descendants of Champa, were present at Champasak (Bassac) in the fifth century. The Mon kingdom of Candapuri, the earliest name of present-day Vientiane, (Viangchan) was another mandala. The social structure of Sikhôttabong and Candapuri appears to have been strongly hierarchical, with an aristocracy, a commoner class, and a slave class. The fact that some kings came from the commoner class appears to indicate the presence of some sort of consensus in effecting royal succession. At its peak, another important regional power, Funan, had its mandala incorporate parts of central Laos. The smaller but also important Mon kingdom of Dvaravati (through which Theravada Buddhism--see Glossary--reached Laos in the seventh and eighth centuries) was centered in the lower Menam Valley beginning in the fifth century.

In the seventh century, a northwesterly migration of Thais from their region of origin in northwestern Tonkin brought to the Ta-li region in what is present-day Yunnan, China, a successor state to the Ai Lao kingdom. This new kingdom, Nan-chao, expanded its power by controlling major trading routes, notably the southern Silk Road. Culturally, this polyethnic, hierarchical, and militarized state was to have a great influence on later societies in Indochina, transmitting the Tantric Buddhism of Bengal to Laos, Thailand, and the Shan state, and possibly Cambodia, and the political ideology of the maharaja (protector of Buddhism). Nan-chao was organized administratively into ten prefectures called kien. This term seems to be the origin of place-names keng (for example, Kengtung), chiang (for example, Chiang Mai), and xiang (for example, Xiangkhoang). Moreover, the population and army of Nan-chao were organized in units of 100, 1,000, and 10,000, a form later found in Indochina. Also, the title chao (prince), appears to have been of Nan-chao origin. Another branch of this same migration began at the headwaters of the Nam Ou and followed it downstream to Louangphrabang and continued on through Xaignabouri to Chiang Mai.

As a result of the expansion and contraction of mandala, places of importance were known by more than one name. Muang Sua was the name of Louangphrabang following its conquest in 698 A.D. by a Thai prince, Khun Lo, who seized his opportunity when Nan-chao was engaged elsewhere. Khun Lo had been awarded the town by his father, Khun Borom, who is associated with the Lao legend of the creation of the world, which the Lao share with the Shan and other peoples of the region. Khun Lo established a dynasty whose fifteen rulers reigned over an independent Muang Sua for the better part of a century.

In the second half of the eighth century, Nan-chao intervened frequently in the affairs of the principalities of the middle Mekong Valley, resulting in the occupation of Muang Sua in 709. Nan-chao princes or administrators replaced the aristocracy of Thai overlords. Dates of the occupation are not known, but it probably ended well before the northward expansion of the Khmer Empire under Indravarman I (r. 877-89) and extended as far as the territories of Sipsong Panna on the upper Mekong.

In the meantime, the Khmers founded an outpost at Xay Fong near Vientiane, and Champa expanded again in southern Laos, maintaining its presence on the banks of the Mekong until 1070. Canthaphanit, the local ruler of Xay Fong, moved north to Muang Sua and was accepted peacefully as ruler after the departure of the Nan-chao administrators. Canthaphanit and his son had long reigns, during which the town became known by the Thai name Xieng Dong Xieng Thong. The dynasty eventually became involved in the squabbles of a number of principalities. Khun Cuang, a warlike ruler who may have been a Kammu (alternate spellings include Khamu and Khmu) tribesman, extended his territory as a result of the warring of these principalities and probably ruled from 1128 to 1169. Under Khun Cuang, a single family ruled over a far-flung territory and reinstituted the Siamese administrative system of the seventh century. Muang Sua next became the Kingdom of Sri Sattanak, a name connected with the legend of the naga (mythical snake or water dragon) who was said to have dug the Mekong riverbed. At this time, Theravada Buddhism was subsumed by Mahayana Buddhism.

Muang Sua experienced a brief period of Khmer suzerainty under Jayavarman VII from 1185 to 1191. By 1180 the Sipsong Panna had regained their independence from the Khmers, however, and in 1238 an internal uprising in the Khmer outpost of Sukhodaya expelled the Khmer overlords.

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Education

Traditional temple schools, established during the 17th century to give young boys a Buddhist education, brought basic literacy to the Lao territories.

During the French colonial period the 1917 Law on Education passed by the French colonial government introduced a common education system for its Indochina territories modelled loosely on that of France. However, relatively few elementary schools and just one secondary school (the Lycée Pavie) were subsequently constructed by the French administration in Laos, and most of the country's elite were trained in Hà Nội, Sài Gòn or France.

For the great majority of the population during this period, the wat schools provided the only opportunity for schooling.

After 1955, with American aid, the Royal Lao Government began constructing elementary and secondary schools in major centres of population. Higher education came to Laos in 1958, when Sisavangvong University was established in Vientiane. By 1969 that university comprised three constituent colleges - the Institut superieur pedagogique, the Royal Medical Institute and the Royal Laws and Administration Institute. Regional technical colleges were also set up in Luang Prabang, Pakse (Champassak) and Savannakhet.

Formal arts training began in 1959 with the establishment of the National School of Fine Arts (now the National Faculty of Fine Arts) and the National School of Music and Dance) under the Ministry of Education, Sport and Religious Affairs.

However, by 1975 the Lao education system remained inherently weak.

Considerable efforts were made after 1975 to extend elementary education to all ethnic groups, and an adult literacy campaign was launched, but these efforts were seriously undermined by the exodus of qualified teachers. In 1987 educational objectives were redesigned in the context of overall economic development and in harmony with the New Economic Mechanism, recognising education as the driving force in socio-economic development and giving priority to the development of an education system which could provide the skilled workforce required by a modern economy. Since that time improvements have taken place in the education system at all levels, although across the country the sector continues to be hampered by shortage of human resources, under-qualified teaching staff, inadequate curricula, dilapidated facilities and lack of teaching equipment.

Literacy is currently estimated at around 50 per cent, and only 71 per cent of primary school aged children are in school. Net enrolment rates drop to 15 per cent at lower secondary level, and two per cent at upper secondary level. Another serious issue is the wide difference of enrolment rates between boys and girls, and between the different ethnic groups. The higher the level of schooling, the relatively worse the attendance of girls and ethnic minorities.

The general education system in Laos comprises pre-school education (creche and kindergarten), primary education (five years), lower secondary education (three years) and upper secondary education (three years). Private schools and colleges have been encouraged since 1990.

Following the exodus of teaching staff in 1975, Sisavangvong University was dissolved and carved up into separate colleges, leaving the country with no degree-awarding institution. In the 1970s and 1980s large numbers of graduates from upper secondary schools were able to pursue a higher education in East European countries and the USSR, but by 1990 this option was no longer available. However, in 1996 the National University of Laos (NUOL) was established, grouping together the former Vientiane Teacher Training College, National Polytechnic Institute, College of Medical Science, College of Electronics and Electrotechnology, Vientiane School of Transport and Communications, Vientiane School of Architecture, Tad Thong School of Irrigation, Dongdok College of Forestry, Nabong College of Agriculture and Veunkham Agriculture Centre.

NUOL now comprises 11 Faculties - the Faculty of Science (FOS), the Faculty of Education (FOE), the Faculty of Social Sciences (FSS), the Faculty of Economics and Management (FEM), the Faculty of Engineering (FOE), the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FMS), the Faculty of Agriculture (FOAG), the Faculty of Forestry (FOF), the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences (FLP), the Faculty of Letters (FOL) and the Faculty of Architecture (FOAR) - and a School of Foundation Studies (SFS). Further development of the National University is being funded by a loan from the Asian Development Bank.

Religion

According to Prime Ministerial Decree No 92 of 5 July 2002 on the Administration and Protection of Religious Activities in Lao PDR, ‘Lao citizens, foreign residents, people without citizenship and foreigners in Lao PDR have the right to carry out religious activities and participate in religious ceremonies in their places of worship at the temple or their own established churches or mosques' (Section 1, Article 4).

Predating Buddhism, the worship of animist spirits (phi) in Laos represents some of the region's most ancient religious practice. Animist shrines may be found in many parts the country.

The origins of Luang Prabang (Muang Sua) are deeply bound up with the legend of Khun Borom's loyal servants Phou Nheu and Nha Nheu, who to this day are revered as the settlement's devata luang or guardian deities at a shrine in the grounds of Wat Aham. Similarly, many residents of Vientiane still venerate the lak muang or district pillar at Wat Simuang, which is believed to contain the guardian spirit of the city.

Animism continues to permeate many aspects of Lao Buddhist ritual, and even the traditional Lao baci ceremony, commonly held to bestow good luck by the tyeing of white strings around the wrist when people receive promotion, move house, start a new job, marry or have a new baby, is derived from the worship of guardian spirits known as khuan.

Buddhism was introduced into the region as early as the first millennium CE, but was not widely practised amongst the Tai principalities until the late 13th or early 14th centuries. Fa Ngum (1353-1371), founder of Lane Xang, established Buddhism as the state religion, but it is clear that the worship of animist spirits continued to predominate for centuries after this, prompting the devout Buddhist King Photisarath in 1527 to promulgate an edict banning the worship of spirits and construct Luang Prabang's Wat Aham and Vientiane's Wat Simuang on the sites of the afore-mentioned animist shrines.

After moving the capital to Vientiane, Phothisarath's son King Sai Setthathirat I (1550-1571) made strenuous efforts to make Vientiane a regional Buddhist centre. However, Buddhism only gained a firm foothold in Lao society during the 17th century, when it began to be taught in schools.

Today some 60 per cent of the Lao population (predominantly lowland Lao and some other Tai-speaking groups) follow Theravada (Hinayana or 'small vehicle') Buddhism, which was based on the earliest teachings of the Buddha and was preserved in Sri Lanka after Mahayana Buddhism branched off in the second century CE; Theravada Buddhism is also the dominant school in Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar. Buddhism is an inherent feature of daily life in Laos and an important influence on Lao society and culture. Almost every Lao Buddhist male becomes a monk for a short period of time, usually before marrying, and many young boys spend long periods as novices in temples, earning their families 'merit'. Most Lao Buddhists try to gain 'merit' for a better next life by giving donations to their local wat and through regular worship.

Tha Lao Buddhist sangha has been organised into the Lao Buddhist Fellowship Organisation, a mass organisation established in 1976 with the aim of managing, developing and educating its members and ensuring that they observe the laws of the country.

Most of the ethnic minority communities practise a combination of animism and ancestor worship, but some Mon-Khmer, Hmong and Yao communities hold Christian beliefs.

Vientiane's tiny Islamic Cham community worships at the Alaishad Mosque in Ban Pounsawat Tai (known locally as Wat Khmer). The Vientiane Jamia Masjid near Nam Phu Square in the centre of the city is used primarily by Islamic settlers from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Language

The official language of Laos is Lao (pasaa Lao), a tonal Tai-Kadai language which is spoken by an estimated 15 million people in Laos and North East Thailand (Isaan), as well as in numerous diaspora communities around the world. Since the Lao language is closely related to Thai, most Lao and Thai people can understand each other relatively easily.

The Lao language may be divided into five main dialects: Vientiane Lao, Northern Lao (Luang Prabang), North Eastern Lao (Xieng Khouang), Central Lao (Khammouane) and Southern Lao (Champassak); the Lao script is based on Vientiane Lao, a dialect which is widely understood throughout the country.

There is no official Latin transliteration system for the Lao script, and although French-based transliteration is generally used there are many inconsistencies of spelling, particularly of vowels.

Lao speakers (including Lao Isaan and Lao Ngaew) are believed to make up just 52 per cent of the total population; another 15 per cent of the population is made up of other Tai-Kadai speakers, while the remaining 33 per cent comprise over 90 culturally distinct ethnic groups, many of which have their own language.

French and Vietnamese are spoken widely, particularly amongst the older generation, but English has become the language of business and tourism and is increasingly promoted at government level in the context of Lao membership of ASEAN.

People

Laos is a predominantly rural country.

The most recent government census of 2005 reveals a total population as 5,609,997, and although a detailed breakdown of this figure is not available at the time of writing, the previous census of 1995 showed that approximately 85 per cent of the total population live in rural areas.

According to the 2005 census, the largest centres of population are Vientiane Prefecture (695,473) and the provinces of Savannakhet (824,662), Champassak (603,880), Luang Prabang (405,949), Vientiane (386,558) and Khammouane (336,935).

The population of Laos has been significantly depleted over the past half century by warfare and mass exodus of refugees, and the current population density of some 25 people per square kilometre is one of the lowest in Asia. Another legacy of the country's turbulent history is that females still outnumber males by c 2:1. The Lao government is currently encouraging repopulation, and a large proportion of its population is currently made up of children.

One of South East Asia's most ethnically diverse countries, Laos has long defied the best efforts of anthropologists and linguists to classify its complex array of ethnicities and sub-ethnicities, many of which utilise several different names and synonyms given to them by the government or by other ethnic groups.

In the 1970s the Lao government began to classify its ethnic minorities according to the simple threefold designations Lao Loum (‘Lowland Lao’, corresponding to Lao, Lu, Phuan and other Tai-speaking Austro-Thai language family peoples), Lao Theung (‘Upland Lao’, embracing all Austro-Asiatic language family peoples) and Lao Soung (‘Highland Lao’, comprising Hmong-Mien peoples of the Austro-Thai language family and all Sino-Tibetan language family peoples). However, although this classification system is still quoted widely by civil servants and in many books on Laos, it is no longer given official credence; a more universally accepted method of organisation classifies Lao ethnic groups according to the three great language families - Austro-Thai, Austro-Asiatic and Sino-Tibetan.

According to the government census of 1995, the so-called Lao Loum or 'Lowland Lao' made up just over 3.1 million or 68 per cent of the then total population of 4.58 million. Of these just under 2.4 million (52 per cent of the total population) could strictly be designated as ethnic Lao; the remaining 700,000 (15 per cent of the total population) comprised various other Northern, South Western and as yet Unclassified Tay-Tai speaking peoples. Of the remaining 1.48 million Lao citizens, just over 1 million (22 per cent of the total population) comprised Austro-Asiatic Mon-Khmer peoples (designated by the government as Lao Thueng or 'Upland Lao'), just over 400,000 (9 per cent of the total population) were Lao Soung or 'Highland Lao' (Hmong, Yao, Haw, Akha, Ha Nhi, Kado, Kongsat, La Hu, Lolo, Phanna, Phunoi, Poussang and Si La) and around 45,000 (1 per cent of the total population) ethnic Vietnamese and Chinese.

More recent estimates suggest that out of a total population of 5.6 million (2005) there are now over 3 million ethnic Lao and around 2.6 million other cultural distinct ethnic people, including other Tay-Tai speakers.

The most numerically significant of the non-Lao ethnic groups in Laos are the Khmu (500,957, 1995), Hmong (315,465, 1995), Lu (119,191, 1995), Phuan (115,000, J Schliesinger estimate 2001), So (102,000, SIL estimate 1993), Katang (95,440, 1995), Akha (66,108, 1995), Tai Dam (65,000, J Schliesinger estimate 2000) and Bru (64,000, SIL estimate 1993).

Economy

Economy

According to the World Bank, Laos remains the poorest and least developed country in East Asia and one of the ten poorest countries in the world, with a per capita income of around US$320. Infant mortality remains high, and in remoter regions inadequate diet, poor sanitation and limited healthcare still give rise to debilitating and fatal diseases.

In the decade after 1975 the economy grew at just 2.9 per cent each year, barely enough to feed the population, and an abortive attempt to collectivise agriculture during the late 1970s seriously disrupted production. Reform was initiated in 1986 when, like its neighbour Việt Nam, the Lao government adopted a programme of structural reform known as the New Economic Mechanism (NEM), the main objective of which was to bring about the transition from a centrally-planned economy to a market-oriented one. Because of the country’s land-locked location and underdeveloped communications infrastructure, the reformist economic policies of the 1980s have taken longer to take root in Laos than they did in Việt Nam, but from 1991 until 1997 growth averaged 6 per cent, and Laos succeeded in attracting substantial foreign investment in mining, food processing and the textile industry. Heavily reliant on Thailand for both imports and exports, the country was hit badly by the Asian crisis of 1997, but since 1999 annual growth has recovered, averaging 5 per cent per annum. Private enterprise has developed considerably since receiving official encouragement in 1987, although the government still subsidises a number of loss-making state enterprises.

More than three quarters of the country's population are still engaged in subsistence farming, although it has been estimated that as much as 40 per cent of arable land remains barren as a result of decades of warfare.

Agriculture accounts for around 53 per cent of GDP and includes the farming of glutinous rice, coffee, corn, sugar cane, vegetables, sweet potatoes, ginger, tea, peanuts, tobacco and cotton, and the raising of water buffalo, pigs, cattle and poultry. Industry accounts for 23 per cent of GDP and includes garment manufacturing, hydroelectricity production and sales, gypsum and tin mining, wood processing, cement manufacturing and agricultural processing. The remaining 24 per cent of GDP is based on the services sector, which includes tourism and communications.

After a comparatively late start in the mid 1990s, tourism emerged by 2000 as one of the country's top foreign income earners. In 2004 tourism visitor numbers showed a 22 per cent increase over 2002's previous high to reach a total of 894,806, generating US$118,947,707 in revenue. By 2010 the Lao National Tourism Administration aims to attract 1.2 million visitors each year, with attendant revenue of over US$189 million per annum

Although Laos has in recent years experienced an increase in export earnings, it still faces an annual trade deficit. Lao exports generated total revenues of c US$332 million in 2003, and included garments, electricity, wood and wood products, coffee, cardamom, rattan and tin, primary markets being Thailand, Việt Nam, France, and Germany; imports amounted to US$492 million in 2003 and included fuel, food, consumer goods, machinery and equipment, vehicles and spare parts, mainly from Thailand, Việt Nam, China and Singapore.

Government

Government

Under the 1991 constitution, the supreme political and policy-making authority of the People's Democratic Republic of Laos is the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (Phak Pasaxon Pativat Lao), the work of which is reviewed at five-yearly Party Congresses which consider plans and strategies for national development and elect the President of the Party, the members of the Political Bureau (Politburo) and the members of the Central Committee. The current President of the Politburo and Central Committee, Mr Khamtay Siphandone, is also President of the Republic. A Standing Committee made up of members of the Politburo elected by the Central Committee oversees the functioning of the Party and follows up the implementation of Party resolutions; guidelines are issued by the Party Central Committee.

The unicameral National Assembly (Sapha Heng Xat) is currently made up of 166 members who are elected by universal adult suffrage to serve for a five-year term. The National Assembly elects the President of the People's Democratic Republic, who is Head of State.

The executive is headed by a Prime Minister and a Council of Ministers, which are appointed for five-year terms by the President with the approval of the National Assembly.

The judiciary comprises the People's Supreme Court and subsidiary courts; the President of the People's Supreme Court is elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the National Assembly Standing Committee, while the Deputy President of the People's Supreme Court and the judges are appointed by the National Assembly Standing Committee.

Six mass organisations play an important role in conveying the Party's directives and policies and the government's regulations and laws, and involving people in the political life of the nation. These are the Lao Buddhist Fellowship Organisation, the Lao Federation of Trade Unions (LFTU), the Lao Front for National Construction (LFNC), the Lao People's Revolutionary Youth Union (LPRYU), the Lao Veterans' Association (LVA) and the Lao Women's Union (LWU).

The country is divided into 16 provinces (khoueng) - Attapeu, Bokeo, Borikhamxai, Champassak, Houaphanh, Khammouane, Luang Namtha, Luang Prabang, Oudomxai, Phongsali, Saravane, Savannakhet, Sayaburi, Sekong, Vientiane and Xieng Khouang – plus the special region (khetphiset) of Saysomboun which was formed in 1994 from parts of Borikhamxai, Vientiane and Xieng Khouang Provinces. The capital city of Vientiane is an independent prefecture (kamphaeng nakhon) which enjoys administrative parity with the provinces. The provinces are in turn sub-divided into districts (muang) and villages (ban).

There are between three and 13 districts (with an average of six) in each province, about 100 villages per district, and around 11,500 villages in the entire country. The average population size of a province is 230,000, of a district 36,000, and of a village approximately 300-400 (40-70 households).

The Lao People's Revolutionary Party is represented at provincial level by the Provincial Governor, who is by default also the Chairperson of the Provincial People’s Committee. In the same way District Governors and Village Heads are also responsible for chairing District and Village People's Committees.

Introduction to Laos

A general overview of the geography and topography, history, government, economy, people, languages, religion and educational system in Laos.

Geography and topography

The People's Democratic Republic of Laos is a landlocked country, bordered to the north by China, to the west by Myanmar, to the east by Việt Nam and to the south by Thailand and Cambodia. It covers a total land area of 235,000 square kilometres (an area slightly larger than Great Britain), some 70 per cent of which is made up of mountain, highland and plateaux.

Southern and central Laos lie just to the west of the Annam Highlands, a formidable mountain range with an average height of 1,200 metres which has long divided the indianised and sinitic civilisations of the region. All tributaries west of this range drain into the Mekong River, which forms a large part of the border with Thailand and continues on through Cambodia and southern Việt Nam into the South China Sea. The Mekong and the tributaries which flow into it have always been at the heart of Lao civilisation and culture, indeed most of the country's population lives in the fertile plains in their immediate vicinity.

History

Standing at the crossroads of mainland South East Asia, the territory which now comprises the People's Democratic Republic of Laos was for some 350 years the heartland of the powerful kingdom of Lane Xang. Since the demise of Lane Xang the Lao territories have all too often been the arena for wider conflicts between more powerful neighbours.

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