[
    {
        "id": 205791,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1969",
        "page_number": 97,
        "title": "RAS-1969",
        "content_text": "KING MONGKUT AND THE KINGDOM OF SIAM\n\n91\n\nthe Throne and Buddhism are, today as much as in the nineteenth century, the foundation of society.\n\nIn the West we might think that life in a Buddhist monastery was poor training for kingship. Not so in Siam. Prince Mongkut came to know his people as no Palace-dwelling King could ever do. His colleagues in the monastery were peasants, artisans, sons of nobles and merchants. He walked the streets of Bangkok with his begging bowl and saw the homes of his people. Like other monks he travelled across the country from one Wat to another. His father, Rama II, only left the Palace once a year for the ceremonial presentation of robes to monks at the end of each rainy season and his brother maintained the same semi-divine remoteness.\n\nMongkut's interests were not limited to Buddhism whilst he was in the Order. His intelligence was singular. He had that rare quality in oriental princes — intellectual curiosity, an eagerness to inquire into things. Not far from Wat Bowaniwate there lived a Roman Catholic priest, no less than the able Frenchman, Bishop Pallegoix, from whom we learn a good deal about the Prince. The Bishop and the Abbot became friends and Mongkut invited Pallegoix to preach Christian sermons to his brother monks in the Wat. The sermons and discussions were impressive. Mongkut admired the Christian morals and achievements which the Bishop explained to his yellow-robed congregation, but the Abbot could make nothing of Christian doctrine. With immodest presumption he commented: \"What you teach people to do is admirable but what you teach them to believe is foolish.\"\n\nBishop Pallegoix learned Pali and a great deal about Buddhism from the royal Abbot and, in exchange, he taught Mongkut some Latin and French. This was the Prince's introduction to the thought of the Western world. He learned about Christianity and the customs of Europeans. He became interested in mathematics and science. Other Christians of a different sort had recently come to Bangkok. These were the American Presbyterian missionaries who brought with them the first printing press, a new kind of Christianity which, to Mongkut's astonishment, included married priests, for they brought their wives and, most precious of all, the English language. Their leader, the Rev. Dr. Beach Bradley, became Mongkut's English tutor. He found in the Abbot a most apt and diligent student who quite quickly acquired a good",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1969.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 208201,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1977",
        "page_number": 240,
        "title": "RAS-1977",
        "content_text": "224 \n\nNOTES AND QUERIES \n\nment. Here is also a letter from an army doctor, which is as follows: Dear Sir, my regiment stayed in Pakhoi. The officers and soldiers were not accustomed to this new place, therefore most of them became sick. Fortunately, the doctor has the heart of Jesus and gave us treatment free of charge, so I have the honour to write and thank \n\nyou. \n\nSince Sept. 1938, I have been acting again as Customs Medical officer. I have also been the only doctor for the hospital and Leper Settlement about 3 miles away, and I would like to point out that without the self-sacrificing help of the hospital staff, I could never have been able to fulfil this work. We were most thankful for all the help Bishop Hall gave us through the British Relief Council, and we were also most grateful for all the help and inspiration from Deaconess Vincent, who was with us for 7 months, and are glad to welcome Miss Bradley, who is as eager and successful in the Maternity and Hospital work as Matron and interpreter, as in her pastoral work among the lepers. On March 6th, Bishop Hall paid us a visit on his way to Kunming; we were very glad to see him, and although his visit was short, it proved a great blessing both spiritually & practically. \n\nOur hearts are full of gratitude and thanks to God for the help we have received in so many ways through many people, both Chinese and foreigners. \n\nPakhoi, August 19th, 1939. Po Yan Hospital. \n\nAfter nearly 3 months of relative quietness, with only occasional alarms and machine-gun skirmishes with planes on their way or from the scene of real activity, we began to think that we were safe and quiet again. \n\nOn the 15th of July, some of the hospital's staff went down to the beach for a bathe in the late afternoon. We had not been there long, however, before the alarm signal sounded in the town. Two planes came up over the horizon very quickly, and before we could get ashore, they were flying overhead. Their real object of attack was a group of large fishing junks lying about 200 yards away, but it was unpleasantly near to us, and we were forced to take cover under the wooden frame of the diving board until the worst was over; some of the swimmers had managed to get ashore in time and took refuge in the bathing house. On the 14th of August, we had a \n\nPage 240\n\nPage 241",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n",
        "rank": 0
    }
]