• In Thailand, a country with a culture deeply rooted in superstition, tattoos are a lot more than just skin deep.
  For centuries, Thai men have covered their bodies with protective tattoos. Old temple murals show epic scenes of swords breaking apart when hitting a tattooed soldier’s skin. The tradition has been handed down generations of both monks and laymen who create the tattoos and empower them with special prayers. Since yantras can be drawn on cloth, paper, wood or sheets of metal, most Thais opt for this option to protect themselves from harm and improve their luck. The yantras are placed in cars and homes, or even worn as amulets. In Thai society, tattoos are still very much associated with prisoners and gangsters. Young men wishing to join the police or army are refused if they have tattoos; once accepted though, they can get tattoos done.
  Thai tattoos are engrained in everyday Thai life and spirituality; they are thought of as a physical connection with powerful spirits. Although they are often frowned upon and identified with the lower-echelons of society and the criminal underworld, a renewed interest in the practice is attracting men and women alike with “not so shady” occupations. Yantra tattoos are going more mainstream, along the lines of western tattooing. But the spiritual aspect of the practice in a modern, yet superstitious society like Thailand will no doubt keep it from becoming a mere fashion statement; at least for now.

  2022年10月24日

• During the reign of King Mindon (1853-1878), Burmese artists were officially appointed at the royal court. One of the duties of the royal painters was to record important events at the court and scenes from royal life in folding books (parabaik). Those paintings from the Konbaung period were forerunners of Burmese fine arts. Sixteen scenes of court ceremonies and entertainments are in the 19th century court parabaik, Or.16761. Scenes in the folding book are painted in water colours and enclosed in yellow panels, with a single line of explanatory text in Burmese script. Subjects include elephant herding, royal processions on land and by river, ceremonial ploughing, elephant taming, javelin throwing, coronation ceremony, elephant fighting, blessing ceremony, traditional cane ball game, dramatical performance, boxing, cock-fighting and royal barge procession. In ancient times these ceremonies were not only royal occasions but also the people’s occasions as they were competitions.
  Every Burmese king longed to possess a white elephant (Sinpyudaw) as they believed white elephants were signs and symbols of power and sovereignty. These auspicious white elephants were kept as an ornament or royal regalia when they were found. According to the story of the life of Buddha, Queen Mahamaya dreamt of a young white elephant after conceiving of Lord Buddha. They are regarded as a blessing for peace and prosperity in other Buddhist stories as well.

  2022年10月24日

• 柬埔寨外交部10月23日公布，东盟各国外长将于27日在印度尼西亚召开紧急会谈，讨论缅甸和平进程。
  柬埔寨外交部发言人谭宋瑞(Chum Sounry)称，会议将在雅加达的东盟秘书处举行，重点讨论关于缅甸局势的“五点共识”落实情况，旨在结束缅甸国内的暴力冲突。
  4月24日，东南亚领导人在印尼首都雅加达召开特别会议。会议就以下五点达成了共识：制止暴力，在各方之间进行建设性对话，由东盟派特使促进对话，开展人道主义援助和派特使访问缅甸。
  今年8月，缅甸国家管理委员会主席兼总理敏昂莱大将承诺今年将落实5点共识的部分内容。

  2022年10月24日

• 据在西班牙市场进行的一项调查结果显示，该国87%从18-64岁的人口喝咖啡和70%人口每日都喝咖啡。越南驻西班牙商务处认为，企业对该潜在市场出口咖啡产品的潜力仍巨大。
  为了促进咖啡乃至农产品对西班牙市场出口可持续发展，商务处认为各地方和行业协会需同商务处配合举行线上和线下座谈会，旨在向当地企业和两国各行业协会推介实施《越南与欧盟自由贸易协定》中的潜在合作商机。
  此外，需组织包括越南各进口商、分销商和大超市代表在内的代表团赴西班牙，同该国各地方和伙伴进行对接和直接进行贸易交流。各地方和协会向商务处提供各家企业和其优势出口产品相关信息，从而商务处能在各投资和贸易促进活动上有效开展贸促活动。
  商务处还要求各家生产和出口企业注重产品质量和出口产品品牌。此外，商务处还建议越南有关部门与商务处配合促进举行两国政府间经贸和投资合作委员会第一次会议等。

  2022年10月24日

• พิพิธภัณฑ์เครื่องปั้นดินเผาที่ทำในประเทศไทย

  2022年10月23日

• 密码保护：เกี่ยวกับคลังดนตรีไทย

  2022年10月23日

• 密码保护：Southeast Asian photographic collections of the École française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO) online
  From 1933, the EFEO engaged the services of a professional photographer, Jean Manikus, assisted by Nguyen Huu Tho, who created a photographic service that worked until 1959, resulting in the important heritage collections of the EFEO. When, under the pressure of political events, the EFEO had to move its headquarters from Hanoi to Saigon in September 1954, a copy of the photographic collection was sent to Paris where the headquarters of the School were eventually installed in 1961. The EFEO library in Paris was thus created, taking over from that of Hanoi.
  Today, more than 180,000 photographic items are kept at the library in Paris. The media, reflecting the evolution of photographic techniques, are different in nature: glass plates with silver gelatino-bromide; negatives; slides; silver prints and colors; digital photos. The themes illustrate the richness of the disciplines researched at the EFEO: architecture, archeology, epigraphy, ethnography, art history etc. Because of the history of the School and its missions, Cambodia and Vietnam are particularly well represented in the collections and, to a lesser extent, Laos and Thailand.
  These photographs attract major academic interest, complementing historical mission reports and publications in periodicals. In 2002, a digitization campaign was initiated in order to ensure the conservation of photographs and to disseminate the digitized photos to the academic community and the general public.
  The content of the website (text, graphics etc.) is protected by legislation on intellectual property. Any reproduction, total or partial reproduction, any use, any adjustment or modification by any means and by any person without the permission of the EFEO is strictly prohibited.

  2022年10月23日

• The Royal Commonwealth Society Library has just created an electronic catalogue for one of its largest and most significant manuscript collections: the papers of the diplomat, colonial administrator and orientalist Henry Burney (1792-1845). Burney was born in Calcutta, the son of a Senior Master of the Calcutta Military School for Orphans. His grandfather was the musicologist Dr Charles Burney and his aunt the novelist Frances Burney. Burney was commissioned into the East India Company’s army in 1808, but transferred to its political service when appointed Military Secretary to the Governor of Penang in 1818. From 1825 he served as Political Agent to the states adjacent to Penang and led several political missions. From the beginning of his career, Burney had displayed a gift for oriental languages, soon mastering Hindustani, and during this time he acquired Siamese and Malay. Burney’s grasp of local politics and languages led to his appointment as Envoy to the Court of Siam, and he travelled to Bangkok in September 1825. By June 1826 he had successfully negotiated a treaty with the King.
  In 1827 Burney was posted to the new British province of Tenasserim, which had been acquired during the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-1826), serving as Deputy Commissioner of Tavoy. Burney immediately began learning Burmese. In 1829, he acted decisively to suppress a rebellion. His diplomatic experience and linguistic skill were further recognised in 1829 with the appointment as the Indian government’s representative to the Burmese Court. Burney arrived at the capital of Ava on 24 April 1830, establishing the first British Residency. Burney’s study of Burmese (with the aid of a tutor) had advanced so rapidly that by April 1832 he was able to communicate directly with the Burmese ministers in their own language. He enjoyed initial success, resolving the problem of banditry on the Arakan and Tenasserim frontiers and a territorial dispute on the Manipur border. He also persuaded the Burmese government to pay the final instalment of the indemnity owed as part of the war’s settlement.
  King Bagyidaw appreciated Burney’s efforts to foster good relations, honouring him with a Burmese title inscribed on gold leaf, Mahaz-eyayazanawrahta, accompanied with a badge of office, a nine-stranded salwe. Burney’s position, however, was undermined in 1837 when Bagyidaw was deposed by the Prince of Tharrawaddy, who later became King, and he found it difficult to work with the new regime. Burney was recalled on 8 March 1838 and went on furlough to England. In 1842, he returned to active service with the EIC army, but died at sea in 1845 while travelling to England on medical leave.
  The collection preserves important records of Burney’s diplomatic missions: his instructions, travel, correspondence, journals and reports, which include rare insight into the Siamese and Burmese Courts. It also contains examples of traditional texts, such as Siamese kradat phlao and Burmese black parabaiks and palm leaf manuscripts. Burney shared the family’s intellectual curiosity and literary flair, and was fascinated by Siamese and Burmese culture. He researched the two countries’ climate, geography, languages, history, philosophy, religion, astronomy, mathematics and astrology, and collected important translations from original sources. Burney presented papers to learned bodies such as the Royal Asiatic Society and published in the ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal’, the ‘Asiatic Journal’ and the ‘Journal of the Statistical Society.’ During the early 1840s, Burney received permission from the EIC to publish the journal of his mission to Siam and it is possible that he also contemplated writing a pioneering English language history of Burma. With the resumption of his military career, ill health and an early death at the age of 53, however, these plans never came to fruition. The RCS is also fortunate to possess a number of early photograph collections relating to Burma dating from the 1870s (RCS Y3029A-F), which complement the Burney archive.

  2022年10月23日

• In the 12th Century AD, the Khmer Empire ruled most of what is now Southeast Asia. As Europe struggled in the Dark Ages, King Suryavarman II built the massive edifice of Angkor Wat at the height of his empire’s glory.
  But within 200 years, the powerful Khmer civilization mysteriously collapsed. Theories about the cause of its downfall abound but nothing is definite. You see, aside from limited temple inscriptions no written records of the great Khmer Empire survived its demise. The “best” written account available is from the Chinese diplomat Zhou Daguan, who recorded his journey to Suvannabhum — the legendary Khmer “Land of Gold” — 150 years after Angkor Wat was completed.
  Centuries passed. Dense jungle swallowed the magnificent Khmer temples and cities. Western scholars had never even learned that the great Khmer race ever existed.
  But in the 19th Century, French explorers rediscovered the ruins, initiating 150 years of intense scholarship that continues today. Yet we believe that they have missed the most important keys to the puzzle, hidden in plain sight…
  People worldwide instantly recognize Angkor Wat.

  2022年10月22日

• 密码保护：Tribal Music of Asia

  2022年10月22日