[
    {
        "id": 206461,
        "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-1972",
        "page_number": 9,
        "title": "RAS-1972",
        "content_text": "Council office, was appointed to fill the vacancy of Hon Secretary as required by Article 11 of our Rules. You will, however, not find her name on the Council list in the papers sent you relating to the business of this Annual General Meeting, for she left the Colony on transfer, only a few months after taking over the duties of Hon. Secretary. We were fortunate in being able to persuade Mr. Michael Smithies, a member of the administrative staff of the University of Hong Kong, to undertake the secretarial duties. We are indeed fortunate in obtaining his services.\n\nThe Journal. During the first decade of its existence, The Journal has rightly become a recognized repository for information concerning eastern Asia, and is to be found in the shelves of many libraries of cultural and academic institutions throughout the world. Like all such publications however, the cost of maintaining its size and standard has risen tremendously of late and your Council has very reluctantly had to raise the selling price per volume from fifteen to eighteen dollars to meet this additional expenditure. This has been done however without affecting the free issue of one volume per member per year. Members are only affected if they wish to have extra copies; then they, along with non-members, will have to pay at the increased rate for both new issues and for back numbers.\n\nAccommodation. This is as much an institutional problem in Hong Kong as it is a problem for private individuals and business firms.\n\nThe problem affects us in two ways: accommodation for our library and the storage of our journals, and accommodation for our meetings. Regarding the former, for years we have been fortunate in having help from the Librarian of the University of Hong Kong, and from the Hong Kong Representative of the British Council. But in both these cases, our increasing needs can no longer be met without detriment to the space requirements of our friends. We have, therefore, now had to rent godown space for our own bulk needs, although the British Council has very kindly agreed to continue to house our library books on its shelves for the convenience of members. We are most grateful for this help.",
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        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h",
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    {
        "id": 206728,
        "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-1973",
        "page_number": 5,
        "title": "RAS-1973",
        "content_text": "CONTENTS\n\nPRESIDENT'S REPORT FOR 1972 -\n\nHON. TREASURER'S REPORT FOR 1972 -\n\nTHE LIBRARY, 1972 -\n\nARTICLES:\n\n  \n    Page\n    \n  \n  \n    1\n    Transactions of the China Medico-Chirurgical Society, 1845-46 — H. A. RYDINGS\n  \n  \n    11\n    The Yaumatei Typhoon Shelter, Hong Kong, 1900-1915 A. J. S. LACK\n  \n  \n    13\n    The Kam Tin Gates PETER WESLEY-SMITH\n  \n  \n    28\n    Early Steamships in China-A. D. BLUE\n  \n  \n    41\n    \n  \n  \n    45\n    Persians, Arabs and Other Nationals In T’ang China CHIU LING-YEONG\n  \n  \n    58\n    Swatow (Ch'auchow) Horizontal Stick Puppets - HELGA WERLE\n  \n  \n    73\n    Five 19th Century Kwangtung Art Catalogues CHUANG SHEN\n  \n  \n    85\n    \n  \n\nREPRINTED ARTICLES\n\n  \n    Legends and Stories of the New Territories: Kam T'in SUNG HOK-P'ANG (with a memoir of the author by Lo Hsiang-lin)\n    111\n  \n\nNOTES AND QUERIES\n\n  \n    Notes on Chinese Temples in Hong Kong — CARL T. SMITH\n    133\n  \n  \n    'Ling Chih' at Canton, 27th May 1886 Hai Ju; Ming Patriot, Spark for Revolution and God\n    139\n  \n  \n    KEITH STEPHENS\n    144\n  \n  \n    Another Volontieri Map? -\n    \n  \n  \n    William Thomas Mercer (1822-1879) Hong Kong's Poet Laureate? HENRY JAMES LETHBRIDGE\n    146\n  \n  \n    Old Bills of Lading (McMullen Collection) — H. A. RYDINGS\n    151\n  \n  \n    Visit to the Sukhothai Sites in Thailand — MICHAEL SMITHIES\n    154\n  \n  \n    Deep Bay Marshes\n    163\n  \n  \n    \n    168\n  \n\nBOOK REVIEWS\n\n  \n    \n    169",
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    },
    {
        "id": 206736,
        "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-1973",
        "page_number": 13,
        "title": "RAS-1973",
        "content_text": "7\n\nList of activities arranged during 1973:\n\n8 January\n\nMr. James C. Y. Watt\n\n\"Recent archaeological discoveries in China” (illustrated)\n\n23 January\n\nMr. Pracha Guna-Kasem\n\n1-6 February\n\nMr. James C. Y. Watt\n\n21 February\n\nMr. Michael Smithies\n\nPanel presentation on \"The culture of Thailand\" prior to the Society's tour to Thailand.\n\n26 February\n\nMr. Michael Smithies (Organizer)\n\nArt and archaeological tour to Thailand (Bangkok, Pitsanuloke, Sukhothai, Srisachanalai).\n\n7 March\n\nDr. C. M. Turnbull\n\n\"The impact of western education on the Straits Chinese\".\n\n19 March\n\nMr. Quing N. Yng-Wong\n\n“Acupuncture\"\n\n26 March\n\nDr. Dale M. Craig\n\n“Chinese instrumental music” (with performers playing on traditional instruments).\n\n31 March - 1 April\n\nMr. C. M. N. Sahay\n\n\"Moghul Miniature Painting\" (illustrated by slides).\n\n11 April\n\nAnnual General Meeting followed by a dinner\n\n29 April\n\nProfessor Brian Lofts (Organizer)\n\nSymposium \"The fauna of Hong Kong\" (with field trips).\n\nProfessor Murray Groves\n\n\"The Motu in the modern world: Social Change & Musical Styles among a seafaring people\" (illustrated with tape recording and slides).\n\nMr. Ian Watson\n\nVisit to the Sikh and Hindu Temples in Happy Valley.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1973.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r",
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    },
    {
        "id": 206896,
        "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-1973",
        "page_number": 173,
        "title": "RAS-1973",
        "content_text": "NOTES AND QUERIES\n\n167\n\nBy way of comparison, the tour also visited Ayuthia and saw the gigantic Buddha at Wat Phanan Cheong, by the river, and the ruins of Wat Yai Chai Mongkon, Wat Phra Sri Samphet, and Wat Phra Ram. The magnificent Wat Na Pramane in its peaceful country setting, with its elaborate carved pediment (the only one to survive the holocaust of the Burmese attack in 1767), its fine ceiling and remarkable bronze Buddha in kingly attire of the Ayuthia period in the main bot and the no less striking stone Dvaravati Buddha seated in the European fashion with its characteristically placid Mon face left a deep impression,\n\nBefore leaving Bangkok a visit was made to three representative temples of the Ratanakosin period, Wat Suthat, with its wealth of Chinese statuary and carved and gilded doors said to be the work of Rama II (the vihara was unfortunately closed and its murals could not be seen). However at Wat Borworniwes the unusual murals depicting scenes of western eighteenth century palaces introducing alien perspective were noted; the bot also contains the revered statue Phra Buddha Chinasara, a good example of Sukhothai statuary. The peaceful temple grounds with their canals full of turtles were in considerable contrast to the roaring city outside the temple walls. The better known Wat Benjamabhopit with its copies of various statues, including that at Pitsanuloke of which the original had been seen, was also visited. Most interestingly perhaps, on the last day the group visited the gold-leaf beaters' lane where for several days layers of gold are pounded by hand to produce the wafer-thin pieces which are applied on statues by the devout.\n\nIt should not be thought that the members of the tour remained aloof to daily life of contemporary Thailand; elements of this were seen at the weekend market at the Pramane Ground, and, in the country, working elephants, the pounding of rice flour in villages and the releasing of birds to gain merit in temple courtyards left their impression.\n\nIn what was effectively four very full days, a great deal was seen and much ground was covered (it took ten hours by bus to reach Pitsanuloke from Bangkok). The pace was intense but rewarding. The tour was considered culturally illuminating, revealing the many facets of the rich artistic heritage of Thailand.\n\nHong Kong, 1973.\n\nMICHAEL SMITHIES",
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    },
    {
        "id": 206925,
        "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-1973",
        "page_number": 202,
        "title": "RAS-1973",
        "content_text": "Plate XI. Hai Jui on a Teochew altar in Singapore, January 1970.\n\n(By courtesy of Major Keith Stevens)\n\nPlate XII. Tour to Thailand, February 1973; some of the members\n\ntaking part.\n\nFrom left to right: Mr. H. M. Weinrebe, Mr. D. M. Goodbody, Miss R. E. Carlson, Miss P. I. Young, Mr. R. O'Hara, Mrs. M. O'Hara, Mr. Michael Smithies (tour leader and Hon. Secretary), Miss Moira Knowles (Hon. Secretary from April 1973), Mr. J. S. Anderson, Mrs. W. C. Mao, Dr. P. W. C. Mao, Mr. B. S. McElney, Mr. Hownam-Meek, Mrs. K. Kesterton, Mrs. Hownam-Meek. Not in photograph: Mrs. L. H. Evans, Mr. R. J. Faulkner, Mr. A. H. Forsyth, Mrs. B. Laufer, Miss Lim Laye Tin.\n\n(Photograph by courtesy of C.P.A.)",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1973.txt",
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    },
    {
        "id": 206926,
        "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-1973",
        "page_number": 203,
        "title": "RAS-1973",
        "content_text": "Plate XIII. Tour to Thailand, February 1973. The tour leader, Michael Smithies, with the driver of the Society's bus at Wat Chang Rob, Kampengpetch Thailand.\n\n: Photograph by courtesy of Harry Weinrebel",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1973.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r",
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    },
    {
        "id": 206934,
        "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-1974",
        "page_number": 5,
        "title": "RAS-1974",
        "content_text": "CONTENTS\n\nPage\n\nPRESIDENT'S Report for 1974 · 1\n\nHON. TREASURER'S REPORT FOR 1974 · 8\n\nTHE LIBRARY, 1974 · 10\n\nTRANSACTIONS OF THE BRANCH: · 12\n\nThe Paper Chase-Archives and the Public Records Office of Hong Kong (A lecture given on 7th January, 1974) - A. I. DIAMOND · 28\n\nAdventurers in Hong Kong: the Marquis de Morès and David de Mayréna (A lecture given on 29th March, 1974) - HENRY JAMES LETHBRIDGE · 58\n\nDogs and Horses in Ancient China (A lecture given on 27th May, 1974) CAROLE MORGAN · -\n\nARTICLES: · -\n\nThe Craft of God Carving in Singapore- KEITH G. STEVENS · -\n\n\"Oh for the Joys of England\": Lt. Orlando Bridgeman's Letters from China and Hong Kong, 1842-1843– ROBIN MCLACHLAN · -\n\nFather Ernesto Gherzi, S. J., 1886-1973—G. J. BELL · 68\n\nNotes on the Sources of De Mailla, Histoire Générale de la Chine-Richard Gregg Irwin, with Introduction by L. Carrington Goodrich · 76\n\nThe Monuments of Vientiane and Luang Prabang (Report of the RAS Tour to Laos, 23-24 January, 1974)— MICHAEL SMITHIES · 85\n\nThe Hong Kong Region: its place in Traditional Chinese Historiography and Principal Events since the Establishment of Hsin-an County in 1573....-JAMES HAYES · 108\n\nREPRINTED ARTICLES · 136\n\nPlace Names of Hong Kong and the New Territories (1958) K. M. A. BARNETT · 160\n\nLegends and Stories of the New Territories: Kam T'in (1935-38) (continued) SUNG HOK-PANG · -\n\nNOTES AND QUERIES · 188\n\nThe European Grave on Shek Kwu Chau, Hong Kong JEAN MOORE · -\n\n\"Fung Shui\" Woodlands-L. C. SHEN · 190\n\nUnusual Trees in Hong Kong: the Cassia Bark Tree- L. C. SHEN · 191\n\nTraditional Farming Techniques and their Survival in Hong Kong-P. L. SIAK · 196\n\nProgramme Notes for Visits to Places of Interest in Hong Kong and Kowloon, 1974: Kennedy Town, Old Wanchai, Old Western District, the Diocesan Boy's School and La Salle College, and Ceramic Factory and Sam Tung Uk, N.T. JAMES HAYES, CARL SMITH, HELGA WERLE et. al. · -\n\nBOOK REVIEWS · 235\n\nLIST OF MEMBERS · 245",
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    },
    {
        "id": 206940,
        "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-1974",
        "page_number": 11,
        "title": "RAS-1974",
        "content_text": "5\n\nof disease and urbanisation in Singapore and Hong Kong. Finally Dr. Shih Hsiao-yen, Curator of the Far Eastern Department of the Royal Ontario Museum, and Adjunct Professor of the Department of East Asian Studies, University of Toronto, talked on the relationship between Chinese tomb figurines and monumental sculpture. Dr. Shih, who is presently visiting professor at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, illustrated her talk with many striking colour slides.\n\nOur overseas trip this year, which took place over five days at the Chinese New Year, proved very popular. It was, like our previous Thailand excursion, very ably led by Mr. Michael Smithies. Forty-one members joined the party, starting at Vientiane, proceeding to Luang Prabang, and returning again to Vientiane. They visited museums, Vat, a silk-weaving village, and other handicraft centres, caves and ceremonies; and they saw a rare performance of classical dancing given by the Royal Lao dancers. It is hoped that we may continue to arrange at least one overseas trip a year and we have already received offers to lead future excursions from two of our members. I regret to say that our proposed trip to China has not advanced very far. On the advice of the China Travel Agency we revised our original proposals, suggesting several small groups of ten to fifteen members—and also the possibility of diversifying, some groups making a longer (approximately three weeks) trip to take in Peking and other northerly areas, and some making a shorter (about ten days) trip to places within Kwangtung Province to include museums, potteries and archeologically interesting areas. Recently members of another learned society in England made a trip to China and we can only hope that we are not too far down China's list of priority groups.\n\nARTS CENTRE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE\n\nA few words about the progress of the Hong Kong Arts Centre and our participation. The Society became a constituent member of the Arts Centre in January 1973, paying its entrance fee in February of that year. The Society had long wished to have its own premises both for holding lectures and discussions and for housing its library and archives, but despite efforts it was never able to afford to fulfil these wishes and now with astronomical rents it is clearly most unlikely that it ever will. We joined the Arts Centre so that when its buildings are completed we may enjoy",
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    },
    {
        "id": 207036,
        "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-1974",
        "page_number": 107,
        "title": "RAS-1974",
        "content_text": "The Monuments of Vientiane and Luang Prabang\n\nMichael Smithies*\n\nThe second international tour organized by the Royal Asiatic Society, Hong Kong Branch, went over the Chinese (Lunar) New Year 1974 to Laos. 41 members and their guests visited Vientiane and Luang Prabang from 23 to 27 January, flying directly between Hong Kong and the Laotian capital. Some persons on the tour went ahead to visit Chiengmai in Thailand or Vat Phu in southern Laos and joined up with the main group later.\n\nThe attractions of the monuments of Vientiane, the administrative capital of the Kingdom of Laos, are slight in comparison to those in the royal capital of Luang Prabang. This is less a reflection of the religious fervour or artistic sensibility of the inhabitants of Vientiane, but a proof of the efficiency of the Siamese sack of the city in 1828 as a reprisal for Chao Anou's attempted attack on Bangkok two years previously and his subsequent alliance with Hué.\n\nVientiane's position in relation to Luang Prabang is ambivalent. Luang Prabang was the original capital of the Kingdom of Lane Xang (a million elephants) which was founded in 1353 by Fa Ngum, the son of a Lao chief who had been in exile in Angkor. King Potisarat moved the capital to Vientiane in 1520 and it was from the more central position of the kingdom, which then included much of the territory now in northeast Thailand, that the most famous Lao monarch, Souligna Vongsa, ruled from 1637-1694. On his death, however, the kingdom split into three, not counting the semi-independent existence of Xieng Khouang in the northeast: Vientiane, in alliance with Burma and a vassal of Annam; Luang Prabang, which at first drew support from China and later Siam; and in the south Champassak, which drew ever closer to Siam. The devastation of Vientiane by the Siamese in 1828 and the elimination of the line of Vientiane left in the centre a power vacuum, which the...\n\nMr. Smithies, at the time of this visit and report, Lecturer in French at the University of Hong Kong, was Secretary of the Hong Kong Branch 1972-73 and Councillor until his departure from the Colony in 1974. He organized and led this visit to Laos.",
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    },
    {
        "id": 207037,
        "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",
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        "document_key": "RAS-1974",
        "page_number": 108,
        "title": "RAS-1974",
        "content_text": "102\n\nMICHAEL SMITHIES\n\nFrench, advancing up the Mekong from Saigon, over-anticipating its value as a trade route to China and claiming suzerainty over Annamese vassals, slowly filled.\n\nThe explorer Mouhot was at Luang Prabang in 1861 and Doudart de Lagrée and Francis Garnier shortly thereafter. The Kha rebellion of 1885 gave the French an excuse for intervention and stopping further extension of Siamese power in Laos; in 1886 a provisional Franco-Siamese convention was signed giving the French the right to establish a vice-consulate at Luang Prabang. The first mission by Pavie to Luang Prabang took place early in 1887, but French expansionism was effectively held in check for three years by the devastation caused by Deo Van Tri and the Black Flags (the Ho 'pirates' operating from Yunnan and Tonkin). Incidents increased between Siam and France and culminated with the French naval demonstration at Bangkok in 1893; the Siamese gave way and ceded the left bank of the Mekong to France. The Franco-Siamese treaty of 1907 gave the right-bank province of Sayaboury and those right bank parts of Champassak to France, but recognised Siamese authority over the rest of the right bank. The present frontiers of Laos were effectively decided by the French, from whom the Lao gained independence in 1949 under King Sisavong Vong. Prince Boun Oum of Champassak having in a secret protocol of 1946 renounced his right to the kingdom. More recent events have been well chronicled and the agreement of the three major political princes of left, right and centre in 1974 to form a joint government offers hope that the troubled post-war history of Laos might enter a more peaceful phase.\n\nThe buildings in Vientiane then are either restorations or totally modern and, as always in mainland southeast Asia, the monuments of note are almost exclusively religious. The most attractive shrine is the That Luang slightly outside the city. This solid tapering square tower was built in the 16th century by King Settathirat and is said to contain Buddhist relics. It was badly destroyed by the Red Flags in 1873 and its reconstruction was completed in 1929. It is an impressive pile set in a large open square fringed with trees. A vast fair takes place here every November and assumes a national importance.\n\nVat Pra Keo was also built originally by King Settathirat to house the Emerald Buddha on its arrival from Chiengmai; the statue",
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    },
    {
        "id": 207039,
        "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",
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        "document_key": "RAS-1974",
        "page_number": 110,
        "title": "RAS-1974",
        "content_text": "104\n\nMICHAEL SMITHIES\n\nhome of the Lao royal family and the small royal palace at the foot of the Phu Si or central hill sets the modest tone of the town. Its temples are so numerous that it would be impossible to detail each one, and unrewarding, for many are extremely simple, testimonies to the faith of an unaffected and devout people.\n\nThe most splendid is undoubtedly Vat Xieng Tong, originally approached from the Mekong river up a broad stairway. It is the largest temple in area and the compound has a number of interesting buildings; the vihara has high curving roofs coming down very low to the sides and surmounted by an elegant dort xoi fa (flowers pointing to heaven), the many-pronged symbol of the universe, each point tipped with a tiered parasol, that is to be found on nearly every Lao temple roof. The carved portico is striking and the inside of sober simplicity; the altar has a large antique Lao Buddha statue and the ceiling is coffered and painted. The runnels with decorative dragon-head spouts used in ordination ceremonies are kept in many temples in Luang Prabang and there is a good example in Vat Xieng Tong. At the back of the altar, on the outside wall, is a mosaic representing the tree of life, and nearby a small chapel to a Lao hero, Sri Sawai, is entirely covered with charming mosaics on a red background. There are a number of other chapels in the grounds, as well as a small building for a prayer drum. The most opulent of these is undoubtedly the building containing the royal funeral carriages; the carving and gilding is almost overwhelming on the outside, and if the inside of the building is simple, the objects it contains are not; the royal funeral carriages are masterpieces of carving which, until the present king changed the tradition of burning them after the cremation of the monarch they had borne, used to disappear without trace.\n\nAlong the main street going towards the Phu Si is Vat Sene, with a three-tiered roof in the Lao style. The entrance is elegant and raised on octagonal columns and the walls are decorated gold on a red background. Nearby is Vat Pak Khe, one of the most unusual temples in Luang Prabang, with Siamese style frescoes inside and on one of the entrances are supposed to be represented Dutchmen and on a window Venetians. Certainly the objects of the panel carver's attention are European and the style of the dress dates from two to three centuries before the founding of the temple in 1861. Father de Leria visited Vientiane between 1642 and 1647 and his information is recorded in Father Filippo de Marini's book",
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    {
        "id": 207041,
        "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",
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        "document_key": "RAS-1974",
        "page_number": 112,
        "title": "RAS-1974",
        "content_text": "106\n\nMICHAEL SMITHIES\n\nrepresenting the age of the person who placed the offering in the temple, and also long metal forks offered to priests indicating their age. In the grounds of Vat Vixun is the melon-shaped stupa in memory of a Lao queen, the That Mang Mo and another vihara, unrestored, lies nearby. Vat That Luang is raised on a mound overlooking a sports field and is very sober. The vihara has a two-tiered roof and rises from an ornamental stucco band with medallions on the walls. There is an excellent and large carving of a scene from the Ramayana at the back of the altar, and the temple possesses a number of fine palm-leaf manuscripts which are copied by novices. At each end of the vihara is a chedi; the square one to the south is topped by bronze metal plates and is impressive.\n\nThis is by no means an exhaustive list of the temples of the city; temple building still continues, and Vat Monnorom, which used to consist of nothing except a large torso of an antique Buddha statue, is now being rebuilt around the statue. The energetic may climb to the top of the Phu Si less to visit the shrine, which is without interest, but to admire the magnificent view over the Mekong valley and that of its tributary, the Nam Kam. The Vietnamese temple is in hideous taste but again has fine views over the river. The small modern royal palace may not be visited and the residence of the crown prince is a modest French-style colonial building. A number of side streets are worth strolling down, if only for their tranquility; they are unpaved, the houses are of bamboo matting and atap, the gardens bright with bougainvillias and children look with amazement at westerners.\n\nSome thirty kilometres up the Mekong river are the Pak Ou caves. The scenery becomes ever wilder, the mountains more dramatic and the rapids stronger. Pak Ou consists of a limestone block straddling a bend in the river at the point where the Nam Hu joins it. There are two caves; the first, Tham Tong, contains numerous statues of the Buddha left there by the faithful (and some of which have recently been removed by the unfaithful, which is why it is necessary to report to the police on arrival and to be watched throughout the visit); through the frangipanni trees a path leads upwards to a second cave which goes further into the rock. The entrance to this is of carved wood and it is guarded by a jovial Buddha of Chinese inspiration; remnants of carved and decorated posts are to be found inside, leading one to suppose that there might have been a kind of baldachino.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1974.txt",
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    {
        "id": 207200,
        "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-1974",
        "page_number": 271,
        "title": "RAS-1974",
        "content_text": "LIST OF MEMBERS\n\nORDINARY OVERSEAS MEMBERS:\n\nJOHNSON, Mr. & Mrs. Paul K. +\n\nJOHNSTON, James J.\n\nJUNKER, Mrs. Sibylle\n\nKRAMERS, Dr. R. P. -\n\nKIDD, S. T.\n\nLEAKE, Mrs. Sima B.\n\nLECKIE, J. B. H. - + -\n\nLYNCH, Rev. P. Francis, M.M.\n\nMACK, A. M.\n\nMcCOY, J. -\n\nORR, Iain C.\n\nPENNELL, W. V. -\n\nRAINBIRD, S. W. O.B.E.\n\nRASSIM, Mrs. E.\n\nSCOTT, J. M. P +\n\nSMITH, Dr. Ralph B. -\n\nSMITHIES, Michael\n\nSOO, Dr. Hoy Mun\n\nSTOKES, John -\n\n265\n\nc/o Nan Shan Life Ins. Co. Ltd., 15, Nan King E. Road, Section 2, Taipei, Taiwan.\n\nP.O. Box 65, Marshall, Arkansas 72650, U.S.A.\n\nc/o Federal Foreign Office, Referat 412, Bonn (Germany-West), Adenauerallee 101.\n\nc/o Ostasiatisches Seminar, Der Universetat Zurich, Muhlegasse 21, 8001 Zurich, Switzerland.\n\nc/o Hong Kong Govt. Office, 54, Pall Mall, London, S.W.1, England.\n\nc/o American Consulate, Calcutta, India.\n\nc/o H.K. Trade Development Office, Britannia House, 30, Rue Joseph 2nd, Brussels 4, Belgium.\n\nMaryknoll Centre House, 120 San Min Rd., 1st Section, Taichung City 400, Taiwan.\n\n34, Wilton Crescent, London, S.W.1, England.\n\nDept. of Modern Languages, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 14850, U.S.A.\n\nPearce Institute, Govan Cross, Glasgow, S.W.1, U.K.\n\nCan Boyet Mear Puerto Pollensa, Majorca, Spain.\n\nc/o Hong Kong Govt. Office, 54, Pall Mall, London, S.W.1, England.\n\n101, Holland Road, Hove 2, Sussex, England.\n\nc/o The Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp., 9, Gracechurch Street, London, E.C.3, England.\n\nSchool of Oriental & African Studies, Malet Street, London, W.C.1, England.\n\nEng. Language Training Unit, University of Jadjahmada, Jogjakarta, Indonesia.\n\n249, Jalan Pekeliling, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.\n\nc/o Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp., Bandar Seri Begawan, State of Brunei.\n\nSTRICKLAND, Mrs. P. G. Jaishan, Apartada 56, Marbella, Provincia de Malaga, Spain.\n\nSTURM, Dr. F. G. + c/o Dept. of Philosophy, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, U.S.A.\n\nUHALLEY, Dr. Stephen, Jr. 7103, Kukii Street, Honolulu, Hawaii 96821, U.S.A.\n\nWATSON, Dr. James L. - + c/o School of Oriental & African Studies, Malet Street, London, W.C.1, E7 HP, England.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1974.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077",
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    },
    {
        "id": 207626,
        "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-1976",
        "page_number": 14,
        "title": "RAS-1976",
        "content_text": "CONTENTS\n\nPage\n\nPRESIDENT'S REPORT\n\nTREASURER'S REPORT\n\nTHE LIBRARY\n\nARTICLES:\n\n· Reflections on the Comparative Study of Modernization in China and Japan - RICHARD J. SMITH\n\n· The Teochiu: Ethnicity in Urban Hong Kong - Douglas W. SPARKS\n\n· Interethnic Interaction-a matter of Definition: Ethnicity in a Housing Estate in Hong Kong DOUGLAS W. SPARKS\n\n· \"Patterned Bands\" in the New Territories of Hong Kong - ELIZABETH L. JOHNSON\n\n· A Hawaiian King Visits Hong Kong, 1881 - TIN-YUKE CHAR\n\n· In Search of the Chinese Name for \"Li Sun\"-TIN-YUKE CHAR\n\n· Chan Lai-sun and his Family: a 19th Century China Coast Family - CARL T. SMITH\n\n· Notes on Friends and Relatives of Taiping Leaders - CARL T. SMITH with Additional Notes by JEN YU-WEN\n\n· Operation and Maintenance of a Road Transport System in West China 1942-46 — W. A. REYNOLDS\n\n· Land and River Routes to West China - A. D. BLUE\n\n· In the Path of the Ancient Mon: Pagan, Pegu and Nakom Pathom - MICHAEL SMITHIES\n\nREPORT:\n\n· A Report on Social Research in the New Territories of Hong Kong, 1963 - MAURICE FREEDMAN\n\nNOTES AND QUERIES:\n\n· Visit to Tung Wah Group of Hospitals' Museum, 2 October 1976 — CARL Smith and JAMES HAYES\n\n· Political and Pugilistic Freemasonry? - Y. F. LAM\n\n· Sandal Wood Mills at Tsuen Wan - JAMES HAYES\n\n· Chinese in the Volunteer Forces of Hong Kong — James HAYES\n\n· A Missing Chinese Library? - JAMES HAYES\n\n· Notes on Ho Chung-a 19th Century Artist in Kwangtung - CHUANG SHEN\n\n· Chinese Preserved Monks - KEITH STEVENS\n\n· Preliminary List of the Baker Collection of New Territories Genealogies in The British Library — H.G.H. NELSON\n\n· The Occurrence of Troides Helena (Linn.) in Hong Kong - J. CAREY-HUGHES AND J. B. PICKFORD\n\nPage\n\n1\n\n6\n\n10\n\n12\n\n25\n\n57\n\n81\n\n92\n\n107\n\n112\n\n117\n\n135\n\n162\n\n179\n\n191\n\n262\n\n281\n\n282\n\n283\n\n284\n\n285\n\n292\n\n297\n\n301",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1976.txt",
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    },
    {
        "id": 207629,
        "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-1976",
        "page_number": 17,
        "title": "RAS-1976",
        "content_text": "and living in a resettled village, on their field observations relating to urban development. In November we had a talk on diplomatic systems in East Asia as part of general philosophies of state by Dr. Frank W. Ikle and in December Dr. Ralph Smith, a visiting historian specialising in Vietnamese society at the School of African and Oriental Studies spoke on the Cao-Daist and Hoa Hao religious sects. Another visitor to Hong Kong—visiting professor in anthropology at The Chinese University—Professor Francis L. K. Hsu, spoke to the Society in January giving his views about Chinese motivations and values and comparing them with Western values and motivations as he sees them. In February we held our symposium: this time on Architecture and the development of Hong Kong. We were fortunate enough to obtain the kind services of Mr. Tao Ho here, a well-known local architect and designer, who gathered a team of experts to talk on problems of community and town planning, building, mass transit and the historical development of ethnic clusters in relation to building. This was very well attended and there was some lively discussion. We look forward to seeing the papers in publication: Mr. Ho is presently editing them for the Society. The last lecture of the period was given by Professor Daffyd Evans of Hong Kong University who spoke on early European residents in Hong Kong. We look forward to seeing some of these talks in print in the Journal.\n\nForeign tours are now an established feature of our annual programme. This period included a tour of Burma guided by Mr. Michael Smithies, a former Secretary of your Society, now resident in Indonesia, who has led past tours so successfully. It was organised this end by Ms. Helga Werle of your Council. This was also a very successful venture and I understand that it has been followed by a reunion of tour members who are anxious to have more of the same.\n\nFor the future: Ms. Werle and Mr. Smithies, and also Dr. Leigh Wright are offering tours abroad—to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Indonesia, Korea, and Borneo—dates will be decided on the basis of majority response to several offered to members in a recent circular. A visit to Tai Mo Shan is also planned for this weekend (April 3), and will include the Shing Mun or Jubilee Reservoir. Talks and notes will be given on history and ethnography of the area, plant and insect life, and birds of upper Tai Mo Shan—by Dr. James Hayes.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1976.txt",
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    },
    {
        "id": 207632,
        "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-1976",
        "page_number": 20,
        "title": "RAS-1976",
        "content_text": "5th\n\nbeen covered before many of the older buildings of interest were pulled down. In addition, expeditions were made to other areas to photograph buildings of particular interest which were soon to be demolished. The photographs taken so far have been sorted and catalogued largely by Mrs. J. Edmunds, for whose assistance in this work the Council is very grateful.\n\nThe exhibition of photographs mounted at the last Annual General Meeting was afterwards shown at the British Council and again at the Library of the University of Hong Kong, where it attracted considerable public interest. Encouraged by this, the Council has been considering the publication of a volume of photographs selected from those taken in the course of the Survey so far, for sale to members and the public. It has been proposed that the publication should illustrate the history and character of the district both by photographs and in text. If successful, the volume might form the first of a series.\n\nParticipation of members of the Society in this work of the Survey, either as photographers or cataloguers, would be very welcome, and anybody who is interested should contact the Secretary, Mr. Ian Diamond—why not tonight?\n\nAcknowledgements\n\nIn closing, I would like to acknowledge with many thanks the voluntary help we have received from sources outside the Council. Mrs. Edmunds with the Photographic Survey, Michael Smithies with overseas visits, Mr. Westcott of the British Council for his continuing help with some of our office problems, Mr. Tao Ho for organizing our last symposium, our auditors, Messrs Wong, Tan & Co., and finally, Sir Lindsay Ride, who as a member of the Hong Kong Club has continued to act as our sponsor for booking accommodation for lectures, this meeting, and for the dinner to which we will soon thankfully proceed.\n\nApril, 1976.\n\nMARJORIE TOPLEY",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1976.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q",
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    },
    {
        "id": 207806,
        "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-1976",
        "page_number": 194,
        "title": "RAS-1976",
        "content_text": "IN THE PATH OF THE ANCIENT MON --PAGAN, PEGU and NAKORN PATHOM\n\nMICHAEL SMITHIES\n\nThe fourth overseas tour of the Hong Kong Branch, Royal Asiatic Society and the third led by the author of this article, went to Burma from 26 December 1975 to 2 January 1976. Forty-two members and guests went on the tour, and most stayed on for a two-day extension in Bangkok.\n\nMount Popa, the extinct volcano which is the home of the 37 nat or spirits worshipped by the originally animistic Burmese, can be clearly seen on fine days as the plane comes to land at Nyaung-U. But the short drive from there to Pagan past an incredible number of vast ruined brown brick temples (whitewashed where they are still in use), soon gives an idea of the Kings' and peoples' devotion to Buddhism and the splendid ensemble Pagan must have been at the time of its greatness. This lasted from 1057, the date of the conquest of Thaton by the Burmese king Anawratha, to 1287 when the grandson of Kublai Khan, Prince Ye-su Timur, occupied the city and overthrew the dynasty. Some 5,000 temples still remain in part but virtually no lay buildings, with the exception of the traces of the city wall of Pagan and the Sarabha gate to the old city dating from the 9th century. Both are probably relics of the period of the Pyu, about whom little is known after 832 since they became totally absorbed by the incoming Burmese quite early.\n\nAnawratha brought from Thaton to Pagan thirty elephant loads of sacred texts, many monks, innumerable craftsmen as well as the conquered Mon royal family, and Mon culture was dominant in the early period of Pagan, to the extent that the Burmese adopted and still use the Mon script. Mon buildings were characterised by narrow blocked windows and a certain functional squatness. The materials used were brick, with a true arch, which was covered with stucco into which were sometimes inserted green glazed terracotta plaques. The inside of the buildings was nearly always covered in paintings applied to a dry surface and so not correctly frescoes. The buildings essentially form two different types. The first is the solid stupa, often raised on receding terraces, and the second a...",
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    },
    {
        "id": 207807,
        "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-1976",
        "page_number": 195,
        "title": "RAS-1976",
        "content_text": "180\n\nMICHAEL SMITHIES\n\ndevelopment from this, a temple built around a solid core. A narrow passage runs around the central core in which is set a niche containing the principal Buddha statue. The hollow temple, with immensely thick walls to support the weight of the vaulted roof, was in its early stages a core with the passage around and an antechamber or nave in front, usually on the eastern side. The stupa rising above the core could be of any shape, the Singhalese bell form or the stepped figured squares topped with a pinnacle, a form inspired by Pala architecture from India (particularly from one of the sacred Buddhist shrines at Bodh Gaya where the transformation of the Buddha took place). A development from this simple shrine is the Greek cross plan exemplified by the magnificent Ananda temple built by Kyanzittha, Anawrahta's son, in 1091. This still has the solid core but a double gallery around and antechambers on the axes of all four sides. A further development of this was where the whole temple was raised a level and the central core shifted slightly to contain and enfold the main Buddha facing east; the Thatbinnyu and Sulamani temples are good examples of this later style.\n\nOf the early buildings the Ananda is undoubtedly the most impressive, and the recent (mid-1975) earthquake, far from apparently damaging the building, has removed in parts the plaster and whitewash and shown the arching to be of bricks of alternating light and dark colours. The four main statues in the teaching posture have with overgilding lost their interest, but they impress by their size and the illumination from the hidden upper windows which show the Mon craftsmen as highly skilled technicians. The numerous glazed terracotta plaques ornamenting the base of the temple tell different Jataka tales (the lives of the hundreds of Buddhas before the Gautama Buddha and often taking the form of morality fables) and the small stone sculptures set in the internal walls tell the story of the life of the Gautama Buddha himself.\n\nThe terracotta plaques (the great invention of Pagan, as the distinguished archaeologist Bernard Groslier indicated in a lecture to the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society at Pagan) can be seen at their best at the very late (1284) Mingalazedi temple, a little damaged by the earthquake, and the two Petleiks of the 11th century, where the exceptional series is preserved almost in entirety.\n\nThe early temples near Myinkaba are remarkable for their excellent preservation and for the quality of their decoration. One\n\nPage 195\n\nPage 196",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1976.txt",
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    },
    {
        "id": 207809,
        "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-1976",
        "page_number": 197,
        "title": "RAS-1976",
        "content_text": "182\n\nMICHAEL SMITHIES\n\nwhitewashed, and any paintings there might have been are obliterated. The views from the upper floor, particularly over the river and the plain at sunset, are of remarkable beauty and peace. The Manabodhi is a late temple modelled on the Pala decorated spire. The Shwesandaw pagoda outside the old city walls is a solid stupa raised on five terraces and was the first built after the conquest of Thaton and nearby is the Shinbinthalyaung or sleeping Buddha of the 11th century; like most such images, being horizontal rather than vertical, it fails to impress and is too narrowly confined within its building.\n\nIn the village of Nyang-U is to be found the much-revered Shwezigon pagoda, which is believed to contain a bone and a tooth of the Buddha. It was started by Anawratha and completed by Kyanzittha. The gilded cone of the stupa cannot be seen at present as it is sheathed in a decorative and complex framework of bamboo scaffolding in order that repairs to earthquake damage can be carried out. The only noticeable damage was to the hti or gilded and jewelled ornamental umbrella at the top, which as Groslier pointed out were 18th and 19th century additions to temples of no archeological and little artistic consequence. However, the Shwezi-gon hti is currently displayed in a building on the ground floor and one can see the precious stones close to. Of more consequence is the magnificent Kubyaukki near Wetkyiin village. This is fairly late, dating from the early 13th century and relatively small, with a stupa in the Bodh Gaya form. Its importance lies in the very good state of preservation of the wall paintings, neatly lined up in rows and illustrating the Jataka tales with a Burmese inscription beneath each scene. The colours are still in very good condition. Unfortunately most of the paintings on the lower half of the nave were removed to Germany by Thomann at the end of the nineteenth century, but what remains in place is extremely fine.\n\nHtilomino, built in 1211, is a double-storeyed building like the Thatbinnyu. There is some excellent stucco decoration still on the building, particularly on the frieze below the cornice, the ornamental corner pilasters and the pediments of the arches. There are four Buddhas on the ground floor as well as the floor above. Like all the other temples, this was once painted, but little remains except some decoration on the vaulting. Sulamani and Dhammayangyi are located near to each other and are superficially similar, the former dating from 1183 and the latter from the middle of the 12th",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1976.txt",
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    },
    {
        "id": 207811,
        "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-1976",
        "page_number": 199,
        "title": "RAS-1976",
        "content_text": "184\n\nMICHAEL SMITHIES\n\nare those that form a complete contrast with the classical structures of the first major Burmese capital. These are the 19th century temples in wood. The Shwenandaw was built by Thibaw in 1880, five years before he was taken away in captivity by the British and the kingdom ended. Most of the materials came from part of a palace occupied by King Mindon which was dismantled. The elaboration of the carving is overwhelming and one suspects that to like it, after the sober majesty of Pagan, is to border on bad taste. The Shweinbin to the south of the city is even more elaborate, and still being a very active monastery the monks' saffron robes form a strong contrast to the teak wood greying with age, sun and rain on the outside. Like all wooden buildings these temples are raised above the ground on pillars and the space beneath is used for storage.\n\nMandalay has few other temples of note; those on the hill are mostly modern, and the Kuthodaw near its base dates from 1857 and is more important for the 729 stone slabs containing all the Buddhist scriptures which King Mindon had made for the Fifth Synod. The authorized version of the Tripitaka was inscribed on the slabs, each beneath its own vaulted canopy. Atumashi was built in 1880 and resembles more an Italian palace, but as only the base remains after a fire in 1890 it is hard to judge fairly. The Mahamuni was rebuilt after a fire in the 19th century and is architecturally without interest. The gold-covered bronze image is much revered and seen at night with chanting monks and the faithful at its feet is impressive.\n\nThe most interesting thing in the temple, apart from the stalls lining the temple approach, are the six bronze figures in one of the adjacent buildings. They are two of men, one probably a warrior, three of lions, and one of a three-headed elephant (erewar) and are undoubtedly Khmer, possible of the 12th century. They were probably taken by the Siamese at the sack of Angkor in the 15th century and removed to Ayuthia. The Burmese king Bayinnaung took them from Ayuthia when he sacked the city in 1563 to the then capital at Pegu. King Rajagyi of Arakan took them as spoils of war from Pegu and they were taken from Arakan by Bodawpaya in 1784 to Mandalay.\n\nThe journey to Sagaing takes one past the numerous sites of the capitals of the Alaungpaya dynasty which estimated that a new centre would give a new direction to adverse fortune associated with the old. In this way Shwebo was capital from 1752 to 1765, Ava from 1765 to 1783, Amarapura from 1783 to 1823, Ava again",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1976.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q",
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    },
    {
        "id": 207813,
        "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-1976",
        "page_number": 201,
        "title": "RAS-1976",
        "content_text": "186\n\nMICHAEL SMITHIES\n\nWith Pegu one is back to the culture of the early inhabitants of Burma, the Mons. Their original centre was around Thaton, further east than Pegu and this was certainly in existence by the 5th century AD. It was a Mon monk who had converted the Burmese King Anawrahta in the middle of the 11th century to Buddhism, and the king had requested certain relics and texts from king Manuha, who had refused. The result of the refusal was the destruction of the Mon kingdom but its cultural preeminence was recognised in the religion, architecture and art of early Pagan. After the fall of Pagan the Mons reestablished their kingdom, first at Mataram, and then, from 1369 at Pegu (Hanthawaddy or Hamsavati). They were temporarily ruled by the Burmese from 1539-1550 and again from 1551-1740; but Mon independence was due to be short-lived and the last king Binnya Dala was killed in 1747 by Alaungpaya and the Mons, like the Chams in Vietnam, then became a people without a country, though they still exist in large numbers in lower Burma near Moulmein and also in scattered villages in central Thailand.\n\nPegu is a day trip out of Rangoon, but as much as the present capital now reflects the condition of contemporary Burma, so Pegu is lost in its past. Its most famous sight is the Shwemawdaw pagoda, centred round a stupa with a broad stepped octagonal base and which is still taller than the Shwedagon in Rangoon. It is in many ways the palladium of Mon culture. Its foundation date is not known, but it was already raised in height by the Mon king Thamala in 825. In the twentieth century it suffered three severe earthquakes, and the present spire effectively dates from 1954 when restoration was completed. A number of ancient Buddha images was found when much of the stupa collapsed in the 1930 earthquake. Not very far from the Shwemawdaw is the spot where the two Hamsa birds alighted, one on the other's back, on a shallow spot in what was then the sea. The Hamsa is the symbol of the Mons and is also of course the mount of Brahma. This site is the Hinthagone, which now boasts a rather horrible modern shrine with vulgar paintings of hamsas but with a good view towards the Shwemawdaw. Hardly less vulgar is the reclining Buddha, the Shwethalyaung, reputed to be largest such image and certainly one of the ugliest. It was originally built in 994 but fell into disrepair and was restored in the 15th century. It was neglected again and became overgrown, to be rediscovered by a railway engineer at the",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1976.txt",
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    },
    {
        "id": 207815,
        "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",
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        "document_key": "RAS-1976",
        "page_number": 203,
        "title": "RAS-1976",
        "content_text": "188\n\nMICHAEL SMITHIES\n\nthe minority dances like those the repetitious groupings of the Karen, but in the pwe, a complicated form of popular opera where the narrative of a traditional story is intertwined with a modern play which, reaching its end about two or three in the morning, then reverts to the rest of the pwe story. Pwe has everything for the villager wishing to take his mind off current cares, for it includes love songs, stories of handsome princes chasing after princesses who can wiggle their bottoms, often in contrary directions, with regal exquisiteness, and the strident orchestra gives the appropriate support to the stage. Mandalay is the great centre for pwe activities.\n\nThe Mon theme can be resumed in Thailand by a visit to Nakorn Pathom, a few hours drive from the city. Like Pegu, Nakorn Pathom is an ancient Mon centre, called Davaravati in Siam, and is thought to date from the 5th century. Just before arriving at the modern city, which was established in the 19th century, is the Phra Pathone; little remains of the original stupa which is probably the oldest Buddhist monument in Thailand. Nearby a kind of grotto has recently been erected by a deceased monk into which are inserted heads and objects found in the temple grounds; they are nearly all Davaravati period and some Buddha heads are of much beauty. Not far from this is the unimpressive brick remains of Wat Chulapathone which has however yielded considerable artistic riches in the form of terracotta bas-reliefs which were originally placed around its base. These illustrate Mon versions of the Jataka tales and are to be seen in the new museum to the south of the giant chodi in the town. Wat Pramane is a much-excavated brick ruin to the south of the city giving but a faint idea of its early importance. But the chief pride is the 19th century stupa erected over the original stupa that was Phra Pathom. The work of building the enormous tiled cupola was started by King Mongut, who discovered the original stupa when still a monk, and was continued by his son Chulalongkorn. The stupa may be higher than the Shwe-dagon in Rangoon but it cannot begin to compare in interest. At its base, on the upper terrace, are twenty-four small turrets with bronze bells for the faithful to ring. The projecting chapel to the north contains a venerated statue in the Sukhotai style, and in a detached prayer hall to the east is an excellent Davaravati stone Buddha seated in the European fashion. Also of interest in Nakorn Pathom is the Sanam Chan palace built by King Vachiravuðh",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1976.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 207817,
        "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-1976",
        "page_number": 205,
        "title": "RAS-1976",
        "content_text": "190\n\nMICHAEL SMITHIES\n\nthe plots are largely traditional stories of love, transubstantiation and the magical. The music is strident and the voices, singing rhyming couplets, not without beauty. Not as lively as the Burmese pwe (the Thai version of which is the likay), the hoon krabawk is an interesting dramatic art which deserves to survive the rival but mundane attractions of the cinema and television.\n\nThe vestiges of the early Mon can be explored further by visiting the ancient sites of Sri Thep and Lampoon (the old Haripunchai) in Thailand and their present situation seen in villages in the Laadgrabang and Prapadaeng areas near Bangkok or, if one could get there, in lower Burma in the Ye or Kyaikkami (Amherst) district.\n\nAs a theme on which to build a visit to Burma with an extension in Bangkok the Mons, with their distinguished cultural past, may start as an excuse but become a justification; they established the earliest kingdoms in the mainland Southeast Asian region, were the first to be Buddhist and gave their religion to the incoming Burmese, Thai and Lao peoples, and built the earliest surviving religious shrines. Their influence can still be seen in the Buddhism of the region and in the use of the Burmese script. If today they are dispersed, dispossessed and disappearing, they have a noble place in antiquity.\n\nYogyakarta, January 1976.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1976.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q",
        "rank": 0
    }
]