Khun Borom

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Khun Borom ( Lao ຂຸນ ບູ ຮົມ (old spelling), ຂຸນ ບູ ລົມ ALA-LC Khun Būlom [ kʰǔn bǔːlóm ] (new); Thai ขุน บรม ราชาธิราช , RTGS Khun Borom Ratchathirat [ kʰǔn bɔːrom ]) is a legendary figure of the Tai peoples in Southeast Asia , the is particularly regarded by the Laotians as their progenitor. The legend about him, a kind of creation myth , is called Nithan Khun Borom or Bulom ( ນິ ທານ ຂຸນ ບູ ຣົມ or นิทาน ขุน บรม ; "Legend of Khun Borom")

myth

According to a legend common among the Laotians and other Tai peoples, heaven and earth were still connected in prehistoric times, so that exchange and mutual visits by people and deities ( then or thaen ) were possible. However, people did not keep the commandments, which is why the gods destroyed them with a flood . Only three worthy chiefs (khun) left them alive, spent them briefly in heaven so that they could later become founders and leaders of a new kind of people. The chief of the gods, Phaya Then (who is equated with the Hindu god Indra ) sent the three chiefs back to earth and gave them a water buffalo to help them cultivate the land. They came back to earth in the land of Müang Then (there was a real Tai principality with the same name in what is now Điện Biên in northwest Vietnam ).

After three years of clearing the land and growing rice , the water buffalo died. A creeper sprout from its nostrils, from which three giant bottle gourds grew. There was a great noise from these, so that the Khun decided to open the pumpkins. The first khun opened a pumpkin with a poker; the relatively dark-skinned indigenous Mon-Khmer peoples, who the Tai / Lao traditionally called kha (today mostly called Lao Theung ) , stepped out of it . The second pumpkin was opened with a sickle, from which the light-skinned Tai / Lao emerged. A multitude of animals sprang from the third pumpkin (only in some versions of the legend).

When the world was so repopulated, both humans and animals multiplied and spread rapidly. The Khun then taught people how to build houses and how to grow rice. They also taught them proper wedding and funeral rituals, as well as respect for parents and ancestors. Soon there were too many people for them to control. They called the ruler of the heavenly kingdom Phaya Then for help. The two other khun he sent also proved to be overwhelmed (because they were too addicted to alcohol).

That is why Phaya Then decided to send his own son, Khun Borom . He came out of the sky on an elephant, accompanied by his two queens and followed by other khun who were subordinate to him and who bore the insignia of his dignity. He landed on a small, flat rice field. From this time on, Khun Borom appeared as the leader of the Tai peoples. He ruled the community of the Tai / Lao for twenty-five years, introducing the use of new tools, sacrificial rites, avoidance laws and music. Until then, heaven and earth were still connected to each other with a bridge or rope ladder made of rattan , so that communication between the two worlds was easily possible. However, Phaya Then finally destroyed this connection, so that there has been no direct contact between humans and gods since then.

Masked dancers as Pu Nyoe and Nya Nyoe at the Lao New Year celebrations in Luang Prabang

During Khun Borom's reign, it happened that a giant creeper grew larger and larger, so that its leaves blocked the world from sunlight, making agriculture impossible. An old man and an old woman, Pu Nyoe and Nya Nyoe (Lao: ປູ່ ເຍີ ຍ່າ ເຍີ ; “great grandfather” and “great grandmother”) agreed to cut the plant, but after they had succeeded, they were killed by parts of the plant. They are still venerated to this day, especially in northern Laos, where dances with huge masks are performed in honor of the Laotian New Year celebrations ( Pi Mai ) . Then the Tai / Lao could again cultivate their paddy fields and the "Kha" in the mountains slash and burn economy operate.

When his reign came to an end, Khun Borom divided the kingdom of the Tai among his seven sons and granted each part of the settlement area as a domain. The eldest son, Khun Lo , received the kingdom of Sawa ( Müang Sua), today's Luang Phrabang . According to tradition, the others ruled over Xieng Khouang , Ayutthaya and Chiang Mai (in present-day Thailand), Sipsong Panna (in southern China), the Shan states (in present-day Burma) and the Tai states in the northwest of present-day Vietnam.

research results

Some researchers attribute the legend to real events of the emigration of the Tai peoples from southern China. China, mythically identified as heaven, is considered to be its origin, and the type of succession with its division of the kingdom is in general agreement with the customs of the ancient Tai principalities, the Müang .

Several Tai rulers of Southeast Asia traced their origin to Khun Borom:

The American historian David K. Wyatt , who specializes in Southeast Asia , assumed that the myth about Khun Borom could provide insights into the early history of the Tai peoples of Southeast Asia. Versions of the legend can be found in Xieng Khouang as early as 698 and name Tai kingdoms that would only arise years later. This can provide an indication of why the Tai peoples are so widespread across Southeast Asia.

literature

  • Souneth Phothisane: The Nidan Khun Borom. Annotated Translation and Analysis. Dissertation, University of Queensland, Brisbane 1998.
  • David K. Wyatt : Thailand. A short history. 2nd edition. Yale University Press, New Haven CT et al. a. 2003, ISBN 0-300-08475-7 , pp. 9-10.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Yves Bonnefoy (Ed.): Asian Mythologies. University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1993, entry Southeast Asian Origin Myths and Founding Myths , edited by Solange Thierry, p. 142.
  2. ↑ John Holt: Spirits of the Place. Buddhism and Lao Religious Culture. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu 2009, p. 281 (fn. 31).
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Goran Aijmer: Reconciling Power with Authority. An Aspect of Statecraft in Traditional Laos. In: Man , Volume 14, 1979, pp. 734-749, here pp. 735-736. Quoted from John Holt: Spirits of the Place. Buddhism and Lao Religious Culture. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu 2009, pp. 35-36.