What did Rama I do in his life? A Brief Introduction to Rama I, the First King of Bangkok Dynasty in Thailand

Rama I (1737- 1809), the first king of Bangkok dynasty in Thailand (1782- 1809), was originally named Tong Luan. Also known as Chao P'ya Chakri, posthumous title Foyohua Chulalok, his Chinese name is Hua Zheng. Rama's father comes from a noble family in Thailand, and his mother's name is Dao Ruorong, and she has some China ancestry. In the forty-seventh year of Qianlong (1782), Zheng Xin was forced to abdicate because of a coup by the Guards. Zhao approved General Yechakri's return to the throne from Cambodia's front line and ordered him to be executed on the second day of his succession. In the eleventh year, Zhao approved Yekerry to pay tribute and called himself the son of Xin. The Qing court believed it and made it the king of Siam.

The life of the character

ascend the throne

1April 6, 782, after the overthrow of the Wu dynasty, Zheng Xin's subordinates made Zhaopi Yekeri king, with the title of Ramadi Bodhi, and his reign lasted from 1782 to 1809. His real name is Tong Luan, his father is a Siamese aristocrat, and his mother's name is Dao Ruorong, and he has some China ancestry. [2] His grandson (Jessadabodindra) is the King of posthumous title Pavel Julalo, Rama VI called him Rama I, Siam called him King I, and China history books called him Hua Zheng.

Move the capital to another place

The first major event after King I ascended the throne was to move the palace from the annexation of Wu Li to Bangkok, thus creating the Bangkok Dynasty, also known as Chakri Dynasty. Bangkok became the fourth national capital in Thai history. Rama I gathered craftsmen from all over the country and built a new palace modeled after the palace of a big city. Except for the demolition of Tunwulibao and the city wall, most of the building materials needed were purchased by China's Marsh the Great, and the world-famous Grand Palace and Jade Buddha Temple were built. In order to imitate the pattern of big cities, he recruited tens of thousands of Cambodians from Cambodia and built a moat with a length of 3,246 meters, a width of 20 meters and a depth of 2.5 meters. In addition, 5,000 Lao people were recruited from Vientiane and other places to build city walls and fortresses. These projects cost a lot of manpower, material resources and financial resources. Today, these are still well-preserved, located in today's Gusin Island area of Ratana.

reform

King I tried his best to restore and develop centralization and establish the sacred authority of the king. The king is not only the supreme ruler of the dynasty, but also the embodiment of the country. All laws and regulations of the country must be promulgated by the king, all administrative affairs of the country must be carried out in the name of the king, and all state affairs must be handled by the king himself. The king and his family are regarded as gods. He restored and improved the feudal hierarchy, and members of the royal family obtained the highest title and the highest administrative level, thus firmly holding power in their own hands.

After the establishment of the Bangkok dynasty, the Burmese army invaded the country five times, the country was unified and stable, production was restored and developed, the border was consolidated, and the sphere of influence was gradually restored in the heyday of the big city, making Siam a big country in Indochina again.

Culturally, in the early days of the dynasty, King I specially set up the Ministry of Religious Affairs to bring Buddhist organizations and activities under the royal jurisdiction. Seven decrees on Siam Buddhism were promulgated, and the rank of Buddhism was adjusted to improve the moral level of Buddhist monks and restore their prestige. Hundreds of eminent monks were invited to revise and compile the Buddhist classic Sanzang Sutra in Thai. And the construction of Buddhist temples, the Jade Buddha Temple built at that time, etc. , so far well preserved.

The literature of King I can be divided into religious literature, court literature and folk literature, but the latter is few. Poetry is the main form of expression at this time. In order to revive and prosper the literature of Bangkok dynasty, King I called a meeting of monks and civilian scholars from all over the country, asking them to praise the new dynasty and sort out the lost literary classics. It was also his own creation, and he wrote "Long song" in the anti-Burmese battlefield, and Lirarino written by contemporary poet Nalali has also become a masterpiece for later generations. On the basis of the collection of Marsh the Great, King I sent someone to collect and perfect the epic Rama Sword. Another important writer was Piet Hoang, who was in charge of foreign trade during the reign of the first king. He is famous for his title "Peter Pagosa". He wrote many poems, the masterpiece of which is Poem of the Crown Gem, which also created a precedent for prose writing. His historical novel W Zhu Ying was valued by the first king. At the behest of King I, he also translated China's novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which was widely circulated in Siam.

As early as the annexation of Wu Li, the chronicle began. 1795, King I convened a group of scholars, headed by Chauphie Paipaicha, to discuss the work of continuing to compile the annals of Siam. This chronicle was compiled at the behest of King Narai (1629-1688, king of big city kingdom). At present, this chronicle is kept by the Thai Ministry of Art, with a total of 22 manuscripts, which describes the history from the founding of the Thai people to the demise of the Wu Dynasty. Perhaps because it was preserved by Prince Tan Long's secretary, Panhu Village Marsh, it is now called Panhu Village Marsh Chronicle.

King I attached great importance to the revision and formulation of the code. In 1804, he ordered the code to be compiled. He ordered to compare the legal texts preserved by the court with those of local courts and other copies, and found many contradictions. Therefore, he appointed four ministers, three judges and four jurists to form an expert committee, which was responsible for sorting out the code left over by the big city dynasty. Finally, a complete code was compiled and copied in three copies, one in the palace, one in the parliamentary hall of Dali University and one in the palace of Bangkok. The code is stamped with the elephant head seal of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the lion head seal of the Ministry of War and the lotus head seal of the Ministry of Finance. This is the famous three-seal password.

Personal life

The first king had many princesses. Although the queen is his wife, she has never been officially awarded the title of queen by him in her life, which is entirely because of his favorite princess. Wan Fei's hometown is Laos. It is said that she is not only outstanding in appearance, but also good at makeup, and often dresses up very beautifully. She was very popular with my late king. One incident of Prince Piederon (1876- 1945 pen name Noda ≤ Suo) recorded in Three Dynasties shows that the queen's son, Buddha Lotra Nabalai, had sexual relations with his cousin, Princess Robben, which led to the pregnancy of Princess Robben. No one dared to tell the king about it, only Wan Fei had the courage to solve the problem for the prince. It's a pity that Wan Fei didn't give birth to a man and a woman for King I, maybe she was the queen who was chased. Behind the Buddha statue in the main hall of Batcher Dupont Temple, there is a stone statue of a golden married couple, engraved with the poem "……………………………………………………………………………" ("Shen Kun" is another name for Wan Fei, which means tiger. Legend has it that she likes to swear and scare the little prince, so the little princes call her "Shen Kun". According to Siam custom, people who are higher than themselves cannot be called by their first names, and nicknames are used instead of their first names. ) Because the relationship between her former king and queen broke down, the title of married wife has never been awarded. It was not until her son Isara Songtun ascended the throne that she was officially awarded the title of Queen Mother Songde.

1On September 7th, 809, Rama I passed away. Isara Songtun succeeded to the throne for Florotra Nahara.