What kind of cultural history does Thailand have?

Introduction to Thailand's history and culture Release time: 2010-01-28 11:38:40

Thailand, known as the "Land of Thousand Buddhas" and "The Land of Yellow Robe Buddhas", is located in Central Asia's Indochina Peninsula. With its beautiful natural scenery, friendly and hospitable humanistic atmosphere, and rich historical atmosphere, it has become Southeast Asia's leading tourist country.

Thailand is an ancient civilization with a Buddhist history of more than 2,000 years. In its beautiful and fertile land, there are more than 30,000 ancient temples and magnificent palaces full of mythology. The Thai Buddhist temple has a magnificent appearance and exquisite architectural decoration. It enjoys the reputation of "Thailand Art Museum" and is the essence of Thai culture. The country's famous tourist attractions include: Bangkok's Grand Palace of Thailand, Temple of the Emerald Buddha, Prachin Bodhi Tree and the Ancient City Museum.

Thailand is located in the tropics, and most areas have a tropical monsoon climate. It is hot all year round and can be said to be "like summer all year round." Except for a few mountainous areas, the average annual temperature in various places is generally around 27°C. The best season to travel to Thailand is from November to January of the following year, followed by April to October.

Country Introduction

Thailand is a multi-ethnic country composed of more than 30 ethnic groups, of which the Thai accounts for 40% of the total population, the Lao accounts for 35%, and the Malays account for 40% of the total population. 3.5%, Khmer accounts for 2%, etc. In addition, there are mountain ethnic groups such as Miao, Yao, Gui, Wen, Karen, and Shan. Thai is the national language. Buddhism is the state religion of Thailand, and more than 90% of the residents believe in Buddhism. The Malays believe in Islam, and a few believe in Protestant Christianity, Catholicism, Hinduism and Sikhism. For hundreds of years, Thai customs, literature, art and architecture have been closely related to Buddhism. When traveling to Thailand, you can see monks wearing yellow cassocks and magnificent temples everywhere. Therefore, Thailand is also known as the "Yellow Robe Buddha Country". Buddhism has shaped the moral standards of Thai people and formed a spiritual style of advocating, tolerance, tranquility and peace-loving.

Geographical location

Thailand’s national territory is approximately 513,115 square kilometers. The central and southern part of the Indochina Peninsula in Asia borders the Gulf of Thailand (Pacific Ocean) to the southeast, the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) to the southwest, Myanmar to the west and northwest, Laos to the northeast, and Cambodia to the southeast. The territory extends southward along the Isthmus of Kra to Malaysia. Coming to the peninsula, it is connected with Malaysia, and its narrow part is located between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Tropical monsoon climate. The whole year is divided into three seasons: hot, rainy and dry. The average annual temperature is 24~30℃.

Folk customs

Buddhism is the state religion of Thailand, and 90% of the people believe in Buddhism. For hundreds of years, almost all aspects of customs, literature, art and architecture have been closely related to Buddhism. In Thailand, all boys who believe in Buddhism must cut off their hair and become monks at a certain age, including the royal family and nobles. When traveling to Thailand, you can see monks wearing yellow cassocks and magnificent temples everywhere. Therefore, Thailand is also known as the "Yellow Robe Buddha Country". Buddhism has shaped the moral standards of Thai people and formed a spiritual style that advocates tolerance, tranquility and peace-loving

Ways of getting along

Thailand is known for its tolerance and hospitality. Everyone smiled and showed humility. Travelers generally adapt easily to local customs. However, the following are some that are particularly worth reminding:

Monarchy

Traditionally, Thai people have a deep admiration for members of the royal family. Visitors should show respect to the King of Thailand, the Queen of Thailand and their children. For example: every day at 08:00 am and 18:00 pm, you should stand when the national anthem is played in public places. When attending public events where members of the royal family are present, the best thing to do is to observe and imitate the etiquette of those present.

Microcosm of religion

Thailand’s laws have many chapters describing illegal activities against religions, including Buddhism and other faiths with the largest number of believers. All Buddha statues, whether large or small, intact or broken, are regarded as sacred objects. Please don’t climb the Buddha statue! The general requirement is not to behave "disrespectfully" toward Buddha statues. When visiting a Buddhist temple, you must dress neatly --- do not go topless, wear shorts, or sleeveless shirts. Shoes should not be worn inside temples where Buddha statues are enshrined. Please feel free to take off your shoes. The floors in the temple are generally clean. Buddhist monks are prohibited from contacting women. If you want to give something to a monk, you should first hand it to a man and let him do it for you. A long-sleeved blouse is buttoned up to the neck and a hair scarf is worn.

Social Customs

When Thai people say hello, they put their hands together as if praying. Thai people call it "Wai". Generally speaking, the younger person greets the older person first, and the older person then returns the greeting and puts their hands together.

Thais believe that the head is the highest part of the body, and they are not allowed to pat anyone on the head, even if it is a friendly gesture. If you accidentally touch someone's head, apologize quickly.

Similarly the feet are considered the lowest part of the body. Don't use your feet to point at people or objects. Don't touch anyone with your feet. Don't rest your hand on a table or chair. Don’t step over people, move around or politely ask them to move. When sitting on the floor, also keep your feet pointed at no one.

Public displays of love are unacceptable.

You may have seen some very Westernized young couples holding hands, but this is only common in enlightened communities. In Thai society, losing your temper is the last resort. Thais believe that this represents despicable manners.

Bangkok Folk Art

Thai people are good at singing and dancing, and the folk dances are beautiful and the music is beautiful. The accompaniment instruments mainly include drums, gongs, cymbals, clappers, flutes, huqins, shengs and other folk instruments.

Thai folk dance is not only expressive and contagious in its dance postures and eyebrows, but also many subtle emotional changes can be expressed by the actors' finger movements. The more representative folk dances include the interesting mask dance, the nail dance with twinkling jade fingers, the candle dance with candlelight flowing with fireflies, and the sweet Nanwang dance, etc. Watching Thai dance is one of the must-see activities when traveling to Thailand.

The Thai dance choreographed on the theme of Ramochion is most worth watching and savoring. The most famous Thai dance is the khon, which is performed by male dancers wearing masks. "Lakhon" and "Likay" are two popular offshoots of "Khon", which differ from "Khon" in that the performers do not wear masks. You can go to the National Center for the Performing Arts and some hotels with theatrical performances to enjoy it.

Bangkok’s nightlife is also colorful. In addition to common entertainment venues such as various cabarets and dance halls, discos, karaoke, KTV, and band bars, there are also a large number of public transvestite performances, gay bars, emperor restaurants, Thai baths and other special entertainment venues. It can be said that he is a sensual and sensual person who does everything he can.

Thailand’s transvestite performances are famous, unparalleled in the world, mysterious and hazy, and arousing people’s imagination. Bangkok’s Lido nightclub offers a glimpse of ladyboy performances.

Bangkok's folk sports activities are extremely rich and colorful, including Muay Thai, boat racing, elephant performances, bull racing, cockfighting, etc. You can enjoy the intense and intense Muay Thai at Ratchada Munon Boxing Gym and Lupini Boxing Gym.

Thailand’s ancient massage is part of Thailand’s long history and culture and is also a precious cultural heritage. After hundreds of thousands of years of continuous circulation, it has now become a tourist project in Thailand. In Thailand, almost every hotel has this service. In addition, there are places and personnel operating ancient massages all over the country, and even on remote island beaches, there are mobile massage personnel providing this service. Service, amazing.

Authentic Thai ancient massage can not only relax muscles and activate blood circulation, relieve pain and reduce blood clots, but also eliminate fatigue and restore physical strength. There are still many temples and schools that offer classes to teach the secret techniques of ancient Thai massage.

In addition, the "Massage Alley" in the Suriwong neighborhood and the Arima Hot Spring in it can make people come back with pleasure and leave satisfied; Royal Thai Army is a good place to indulge in golf addiction; The Royal Turf Jockey Club is a paradise to relive the fun of horse racing; Royal City Avenu is a paradise for romantic nightlife. If you travel to Bangkok in winter, you will also have the opportunity to participate in the local exciting marathon.

Thailand’s culture

Thailand’s culture has a long history, and its literature, art, and painting all have their own unique styles. The Thai government attaches great importance to maintaining the culture of its own nation. It believes that Thai culture reflects the national character, is an important foundation for maintaining national unity, and has a decisive impact on the stability and prosperity of the country. King Bhumibol Adulyadej once said: "To safeguard culture is to safeguard the country."

Thailand’s culture can be divided into three aspects: language culture, palace culture and traditional culture.

Language and Culture

Thai language is basically composed of monosyllabic words. It was created by King Ram Gan Xing of the Sukhothai Dynasty in 1283 AD based on Meng script and Jimi script. . After seven hundred years of history, today's Thai language consists of 44 consonants and 28 vowel letters. There are five tones, and they are divided into three types: secular language, royal language and monk language.

Because Thai is a pinyin script and a tonal language with five different tones, it often confuses foreigners who do not understand this culture. For example, the different tones of Suea represent different meanings: the falling tone of Suea is a mat, a mat; the tones of Suea are clothes.

Like many other languages ??in the world, Thai is a complex and diverse mixture. Many words in Thai originate from Pali, Sanskrit, Khmer, Malay, English and Chinese.

The text is written in the form of continuous script, written horizontally from left to right, without punctuation between words, without leaving spaces. A sentence is spelled continuously from beginning to end, with two letters in the space. A gap or a small pause in a sentence represents a sentence.

The printing of Thai letters is like the notes on the staff, and most of the letters have small circles, so some people compare it to tadpole writing. Thai script is very similar to Cambodian script and Lao script.

When it comes to speaking and writing in Thai, its basic word order is the same as Chinese: subject-predicate-object structure. However, the biggest difference from Chinese is that the modifier comes after the modifier. For example, we want to say " These blue socks are so beautiful” and the word order should be said to be “the beautiful socks are so beautiful”. That is to say simply: Thai adjectives should be placed after the noun and adverbs after the verb.

Palace culture

Palace culture refers to painting, architecture, literature, drama and music.

In the past, palace culture was mainly supported by the palace and nobles. Most of the works served Buddhism. Its system was further integrated and developed with the influence of India to form a unique Thai culture.

Painting: Thailand's classical paintings are mostly limited to murals in temples and palaces. The themes are related to Buddhism, such as the life of Sakyamuni Buddha; stories of heaven and hell and related traditional customs. The main purpose of painting is to spread Buddhism, promote the development of Buddhism, and enlighten people.

Architecture: In addition to the buildings in the royal palace, Thailand's classical architecture can also be seen in Buddhist belongings - pagodas and temples. Drawing on the architectural art of countries such as India, China and Myanmar, the Thai people created their own unique architectural style - multi-layered roofs, towering spiers, decorated with wood carvings, gold leaf, porcelain, stained glass, pearls and other inlays. Under the sunlight, these buildings glow with brilliant artistic light.

Carving: Thai carvings focus on the performance of Buddhist figures and elephants. In Thailand, there are many Buddhist figures. These figures are made of wood, metal, ivory or rare stone tools and plaster.

Literature: Early Thai literature was related to religion, royalty, and nobility, and was expressed in the form of poetry. In the early twentieth century, King Rama VI had reformed Thai literature. Since then, prose has become a favorite writing form of Thai writers. In their works, they also describe ordinary daily life. One of the most important literary works is Ramajan.

Drama: Thai drama and dance are inseparable. The dance originated in India, but the Thai people transformed it into slow and graceful movements. During the Ayutthaya Dynasty, there were mainly southern Thai dance dramas, folk dramas and court dramas. By the time of the fifth king of this dynasty, influenced by Western drama, ancient drama, Zaju, opera and drama were added. Earlier, dramas were usually performed in palaces and noble residences, and ordinary people could only see them in Buddhist programs.

Music: Thai classical music uses diatonic tunes with fresh and euphemistic tunes, a clear and slow rhythm, and a wide and low range. The musical instruments are divided into strumming, stringing, percussion and blowing. The instruments played include the guzheng; the instruments played include strings; the instruments played include drums and cymbals; and the instruments played include the oboe and flute. Classical music is played at religious ceremonies, traditional ceremonies and programs. Thailand's classical music has more than 1,200 tunes, which are divided into several categories according to their respective functions: tragic music, angry music, entertainment music, and Buddhist music. Most of them are accompaniment music for "Ramajan" dramas and are rich in content.

Traditional culture

Traditional culture refers to customs related to agriculture and humanities, as well as craftsmanship for making daily necessities. Thai traditional customs are based on the family (consisting of two parents). As in China and other countries in Asia, young people are expected to respect and obey the wishes of their parents, elders, teachers, and monks. When talking about traditional Thai culture, we cannot fail to mention temples and Buddhism. Buddhism has spread throughout Thailand for hundreds of years and has deeply influenced the Thai people. Temples have become the center of villages and towns, and are places where people receive education, hold awareness, and celebrate festivals. Now, due to the rapid development of science and technology, traditional lifestyles have inevitably changed, especially in big cities. However, in the marginal areas where modern civilization has not yet penetrated, the ancient traditional way of life still remains to a large extent.