[ { "id": 207038, "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": 109, "title": "RAS-1974", "content_text": "The monuments of Vientiane and Luang Prabang\n\n103\n\nwent to Bangkok and the temple in Vientiane lost its importance. It has been restored many times and is technically no longer a temple but a 'haw' or hall since services are not held and the building has been converted into a museum. At the entrance is a fine Dvaravati Buddha and there are several good examples of bronze Lao Buddhas with characteristic sharp, pointed noses both outside and inside the building. Among those inside is an elegant and extremely attenuated standing Buddha and two walking Buddhas. The restored pediments of the building are good examples of Lao woodcarving and so are the carved window panels.\n\nNearby is Vat Srisaket which is a quiet spot without having any particular artistic merit, though its galleries of Lao-style Buddhas, the carved ceiling of vihara and its naive frescoes of animals are worth seeing. The only other temple of note is Vat Ong Tu, near the market with good carving on the portal only in the Chiengmai style. The primitive wall paintings at Vat Oup Muong are a modern interpretation of the Ramayana but the temple is otherwise without interest; Vat Xieng Yuen and Vat Chantaburi, by the river Mekong, have peaceful and shady courtyards, and the temple of the Sankaraj, or Lao Supreme Patriarch, Vat Dong Mieng is remarkable mostly for its carving and hideous modern paintings.\n\nVientiane boasts the usual ministries of an administrative capital and a small modern royal palace for the occasions when the king comes from Luang Prabang. Modern Vientiane is largely without interest, the only building of note being the Monument to the Dead on the broad avenue leading to the That Luang; it is a top-heavy and as yet still incomplete miniature of the Arc de Triomphe. The teak-lined boulevards running parallel to the Mekong have a tranquillity which few capital cities can boast.\n\nThe difference between Vientiane and Luang Prabang is striking; the former has on occasions something approaching a bustle of modernity. Luang Prabang, a half-an-hour away by plane, is a century away in time. There are virtually no modern buildings, there is no traffic, and the ring of mountains around seems to keep the world away. The morning market is peopled by Lao villagers and Meo tribesmen, the latter heavy with silver and bright with colour; three soldiers look after a pig and half-a-dozen people watch a kettle boil on the side of the road. Local silk is offered at very low prices and the silverware is unusual. Luang Prabang is the", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1974.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077", "rank": 0 }, { "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", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "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", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 207245, "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-1975", "page_number": 13, "title": "RAS-1975", "content_text": "5 films have been shown many times. This time—in June—we had a new film on the boat people of Hong Kong \"Dragons of the Sea\" made with Miss Barbara Ward, an anthropologist and also an old friend of our Society. We were invited together with many of the boat people and others in Hong Kong who had helped make the film a success. In July one of Mr. Brian Brake's films \"Borobadur, Cosmic Mountain” was reshown. Borobadur is one of the world's greatest Buddhist monuments, situated in central Java. Mr. Brake is well-known for his documentary art films. In September another of his films \"Ramayana” a major epic of the Far East was shown. Ramayana has culturally influenced Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia and other parts of the East and has been represented many times in paintings, sculptures, dances and theatrical performances. In December films on Taiwan were shown in connexion with our excursion to Taiwan over the Christmas holidays led by Miss Werle. The Taiwan visit was a great success I understand (I never seem to be able to go on overseas trips myself owing to family commitments during the holiday seasons). Members visited Hualin, Taipei, the National Palace Museum and the Peking Opera School; various temples; and Tainan where a shadow puppet performance was seen. It was with great reluctance that we had to cancel our proposed visit to Borneo over the Easter holidays, owing to insufficient numbers. We realise, of course, that for many people this is not a “free” time and the possible lack of response was due to this fact.\n\nPUBLICATIONS\n\nSeveral of our talks for 1974 will be published in our coming 1974 journal, which will also include, apart from several original articles, two valuable reprints, one on the Tang Family of Kam Tin by the late Sung Hok-pang, and another on place names of Hong Kong and the New Territories by Mr. K. M. A. Barnett. Most of the items have already been passed to the printer and it is hoped the Journal will be ready for distribution by June this year. Also in press now, are the papers relating to the two symposia we held: Hong Kong, Chinese tradition and the Development of a Town; and The Flora of Hong Kong. Professor Lofts' symposium on the Fauna of Hong Kong is also in preparation.\n\nARTS CENTRE\n\nAs old members will recall, the Society is a constituent member of the Hong Kong Arts Centre. For new members our object is", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1975.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 207816, "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": 204, "title": "RAS-1976", "content_text": "The Ancient Mon-Pagan, Peru & Nakorn Pathom 189\n\n(Rama VI) complete with Shakespearian house and a statue to his dog whom he suspected had been poisoned by jealous courtiers.\n\nThe Pagan theme of temple paintings, though of a different period, may also be taken up again in Dhonburi, across the river from Bangkok. Dhonburi was the capital between the fall of Ayuthaya in 1757 and the establishment of Bangkok in 1782 and boasts a number of old temples, many still having their original mural paintings. The little visited Wat Wai Thepnimit is lost amid sluggish canals and has paintings in good condition dating from the late 18th century. Like many of such temples, the scene above the main door inside represents the victory of the Buddha over the temptations of Mara; the scene behind the altar shows the division of the world into paradise, earth, and hell; and at the lower levels on the sides, between the windows, are the stories from the last ten Jataka tales, while above are serried rows of alternating orahan, or devotees, and yaksa or giants. In better condition, though in not so charmingly dilapidated a building, is the temple of Wat Chaiyathit, which can only be reached by a walk by narrow canals and a railway track. The well-known paintings at the fine Wat Suwannaram on Klong Bangkok Noi need little introduction. The small dual buildings of Wat Rumarin Ratchapaksi near Wat Dusit, bombed by accident in the last war, are now at last being repaired, though not before the weather has caused considerable damage to the quality of the paintings. One of the most impressive buildings to survive the passage of time and weather is the old library at Wat Rakhang, the Ho Trai. This has three rooms and was formerly part of a dwelling of General Chakri, the founder of the present dynasty, in the 18th century. He had it converted into a library for the temple after he became king. The carved entrance doors are magnificent, and the Ayuthia period lacquered library cupboards are in very good condition. The paintings, which had been much damaged by time and smoke from a fire at the temple, are now being restored. The scenes depict barely recognisable episodes from the Thai version of the Ramayana.\n\nBangkok does not lack evening entertainment, but there is not much that can rival the setting of Krisnavara House, with its collection of antiques beside the Chao Praya River, for a performance of the now rarely presented hoon krabawk, or stick puppet theatre. The figures are clothed in 19th-century court dresses and", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1976.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211523, "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-1988", "page_number": 240, "title": "RAS-1988", "content_text": "216\n\nwelcomed Greeks as government servants, mercenaries and artisans. Among many mutual influences between the two cultures one of them was that the Eastern countries imitated Greek coinage and did so even before Alexander. For example, under the occupation of the Persians in Judaea, imitations of Attic coins were minted, adding on them the word “Yahud\" i.e. \"Jewish\". Our coin is a good instance of the use of Greek currency, either genuine or imitated.\n\nThere is evidence of relations between Greece and India, as early as the 10th century B.C., in the Epic of Ramayana, where we find the counterpart of the Greek Centaur, Kinnara of the Sanskrit, and in that of the Bharatas (Mahabaratas) in the similarity between Arjun and Karna and Achilles and Hector of the Illiad of Homer. In philosophy the cynicism of Diogenes of Sinope pervaded the system of the Pasupatas of India. And we find the name of the Indian hero Lakulisa borrowed from that of the Greek hero Heracles (semantically Laku means club; Lakulisa is the cognate of (H)erakle).\n\nThis present coin was found in Papua New Guinea. It must have been brought there by some one from Asia, i.e. India, Malay or other Asian countries. This, in fact, is not only possible but even probable because of the extent of the Greek connections with all these countries in ancient times.\n\nIt would be impossible to know who owned this bracelet with the coin. A probable owner would have been an Indonesian, as these neighbouring Malays used to organize frequent expeditions into New Guinea, looking for gold, paradise-bird feathers and slaves. In that case, we may be allowed to speculate that the coin could have been a significant symbol to the owner.\n\nThe Greek figure could have represented for him Iskandar i.e. Alexander the Great, the alleged ancestor of the Malay race. The word TAPA could have been taken for a Malay word denoting asceticism in the sense of body training, yoga, endurance, etc. On the other hand, the dolphin or porpoise, “lumba\" in Malay, is synonymous with, and a symbol of, play, competition, contest. So, if my speculation is correct, this object would have been a sportsman's token, an emblem of effort in sportsmanship, or ... a simple commercial ornament. In any event,\n\nPage 240\n\nPage 241", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1988.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q", "rank": 0 } ]