Pre-Colonial Southeast Asia

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Pre-Colonial Southeast Asia

• Part I An Area View
• 1450 - 1680

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A Special Time

• 1450-1680 was a period of an explosive increase
  in trade which brought great wealth. Some call
  the period Early Modern.
• Trade included all parts of Asia plus Europe.
• Frequently a monarch was a countrys principal
  trader who exercised a monopoly over certain
  items. Ex gems, teak.
• Great wealth led to better weaponry which led to
  greater consolidation of political power.
  (Consider the relationship to modern terrorism.)
• Dispel the idea of Europe discovering Asia.

3
An Overview

• Life Style
• Health
• Appearance
• Housing
• Government
• Warfare
• Weapons

• Legal Practices
• Marriage
• Festivals
• Sports
• Literacy

4
Life Style

• Numbers
• 33 million estimated in 16th Century.
• 593 million report in 2004 (114 million in Java)
• Health Amazingly disease free. Suicide
  practice of Amok
• Tattooing - Talismanic
• Hair Styles Long vs. Short. Brush Cut
• Finger Nails Sign of wealth position

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Life Style (Contd)

• Ear Lobes Distended
• Clothing Topless Sarong
• Housing
• Residential Bamboo on stilts
• Religious Stone
• Patronage A system of obligations
• Slavery POWs, debtors and corves labor

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Housing

• Common Housing

• Native Chiefs House

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Governmental Model

• Mandala model of semi-feudal power centers of
  variable size.
• King ruled by right of birth and religious merit.
• Members connected by common ancestry, loyalty,
  patronage and religious beliefs.
• Members obligated at times of planting, harvest,
  festive occasions and war.

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Mandalas
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Cosmic Harmony

• Government is responsible to maintain harmony
  between heaven and earth. Otherwise terrible
  calamities would befall the kingdom. To do so,
  governments sought to imitate heaven to the
  extent possible.
• Architectural layout of capital city.
• Organization of government
• The functions of king and court

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Hindu/Buddhist Cosmos

• This is a Mahayana Buddhist conception of the
  universe.
• Mount Meru is at the center of the universe.
• It is surrounded by seven mountain ranges
  separated from each other by seven annular seas.
• Beyond the seas lie four continents, one at each
  cardinal direction.
• The continent south of Mount Meru is Jambudvipa.
• On the slopes of Mount Meru are the four great
  kings/guardians of the world in the lowest
  paradise. On the summit in the second paradise
  are the 33 gods in the city of Sudarsana with
  Indra reigning as king.

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Where Is Mount Meru

• Some say Mount Meru is the North Pole. Others
  believe it is located in the Himalayas, Mt
  Kailash.

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Creating the Cosmic Setting

• The earthly capital of an empire was believed to
  be its magic center.
• The capital took the form of a large square,
  facing in the cardinal directions. It represented
  Jambudvipa.
• At the center, a hill and/or temple represented
  Mount Meru. In the temple was placed the lingam
  of Siva. It represent the Deva Raja.

Shiva
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Imitating The Cosmic

• To imitate the city of Sudarsana, 32 main gates
  were built with a palace making 33. The 32 also
  corresponded to the number of provincial chiefs
  with the king being number 33.
• The king was supposed to have four principal
  wives and four secondary wives, representing the
  four cardinal points and four intermediary
  directions. They symbolized the four guardian
  kings of Mount Meru.

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Imitating The Cosmic

• The cosmological principle led to four
  undersecretaries of state, eight assistant
  undersecretaries, four heralds, four royal
  messengers, etc.
• In a variation on this theme, the king himself
  could represent the cosmos. His body was Mount
  Meru his eyes, the sun and the moon his arms
  and legs, the cardinal points the point on his
  crown, the spire of Indras crown.

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Warfare

• Armies composed of peasant farmers.
• Recurring village vs. village conflict.
• People a form of wealth.
• Absence from fields could cause crop failures.
• Warfare consisted of amassing posturing.
• Use of elephants equivalent to tanks.
• Use of champions common.
• Victors sought to capture rather than kill.
• Dislocation a primary source of depopulation.

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Kris

• A short, curved knife/sword. Frequently
  elaborately decorated.
• Carried by almost all men.
• Considered to possess magical powers a soul.

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Judicial Practices

• Custom more important than legal codes.
• Oaths and trial by ordeal.
• Immersion in water.
• Immersion of hand/foot in molten tin or lead.
• Punishments Fines, flogging, loss of limbs,
  strangling, trampling by elephants, krissing to
  death, beheading slavery in lieu of fines.
• Capital punishment required consent of sovereign.

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Marriage

• Status of women higher than in Europe.
• Bride price.
• Couple became part of womans family.
• Women retain name.
• Age of women when married
• Islamic 12 to 14.
• Average 18.
• Faithfulness in marriage expected divorce
  possible.
• Acceptance of any attention/favors considered a
  slight to husbands honor.

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Marriage (Contd)

• Short term marriages.
• Foreign traders.
• Role in negotiation and business.
• Vietnamese exception.
• Patriarchal.
• Confucian role of eldest male.

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Festivals Amusements

• Greater opportunity for leisure.
• Mild climate and availability of food.
  (Sago-Palm)
• Social obligation.
• Underlying objective to enhance prestige of
  monarch.
• Rituals role of Brahman priests.
• Processions Parades and flotillas of huge
  numbers of persons and animals.
• Contests combat between humans and animals.
• Drama and Musicdance, puppetry shadow theater.

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Entertainment

• Singing and dancing were principal forms of
  entertainment. Dancing evolved from temple art.
• Music was influenced by India with gongs and
  cymbals used.
• Drama was frequently intertwined with dance.
• Puppetry and shadow theater remain serious art
  forms. Themes are often derived from Hindu
  epics.

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Sports Amusements

• Cross between soccer and haki-sak.
• Jousting with lances on horseback.
• Kick boxing.
• Cock fighting.
• Boat Racing.
• Flying Kites.
• Playing cards and dice.

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Literacy

• Paucity of written records.
• Climate
• Use of palm leaves and bamboo.
• Stone and Copper.
• Local syllabary modeled on Indian letters.
• Written language taught in monasteries.
• Tradition of romantic courting poetry.
• Vietnamese exception Chinese ideograms.

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Questions

• Was the health of most S.E.Asians better or worse
  than Europeans? Why?
• What was principal measurement of wealth?
• What model did government normally follow?
• What was the tactical objective of most battles?
• What is a kris?
• Give two examples of trial by ordeal?
• What was the effect of the bride price on the
  status of women?

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More Questions

• S.E.Asian music and drama were heavily influenced
  by what country?
• The syllabaries used to write most languages drew
  heavily on the practices of what country?
• What was the significance of long fingernails?
• What color teeth were fashionable?
• In what attire did most S.E.Asians cloth
  themselves?
• How were most homes built?

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The End