Thai Greeting
The wai (, ) is a greeting in Thailand that consists of a slight Bowing, bow, with the palms pressed together in a prayer-like fashion. It has its origin in the Indian ''Añjali Mudrā'', like the Indian ''namaste'' and Culture of Myanmar, Burmese ''mingalaba''. The higher the hands are held in relation to the face and the lower the bow, the more respect or reverence the giver of the ''wai'' is showing. The ''wai'' is traditionally observed upon formally entering a house. After the visit is over, the visitor asks for permission to leave and repeats the salutation made upon entering. The ''wai'' is also common as a way to express gratitude or to apologise. Origins The ''wai'' gesture originated in Buddhism and has similar origins as ''namaste'' in Hinduism. It was basically a yogic posture of the palms and signifies the equal meeting of the two palms. It means that the other party is treated as an equal human being. The word often spoken with the ''wai'' as a greeting or farewell ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Indian Culture
Indian culture is the heritage of social norms and technologies that originated in or are associated with the ethno-linguistically diverse nation of India, pertaining to the Indian subcontinent until 1947 and the Republic of India post-1947. The term also applies beyond India to countries and cultures whose histories are strongly connected to India by immigration, colonization, or influence, particularly in South Asia and Southeast Asia. India's languages, religions, dance, music, architecture, food, and customs differ from place to place within the country. Indian culture, often labelled as a combination of several cultures, has been influenced by a history that is several millennia old, beginning with the Indus Valley Civilization and other early cultural areas.John Keay (2012), ''India: A History'', 2nd Ed – Revised and Updated, Grove Press / Harper Collins, , see Introduction and Chapters 3 through 11Mohammada, Malika (2007), ''The foundations of the composite culture i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Myanmar
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has a population of about 55 million. It is bordered by India and Bangladesh to its northwest, China to its northeast, Laos and Thailand to its east and southeast, and the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal to its south and southwest. The country's capital city is Naypyidaw, and its largest city is Yangon (formerly Rangoon). Early civilisations in the area included the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu city-states in Upper Myanmar and the Mon kingdoms in Lower Myanmar. In the 9th century, the Bamar people entered the upper Irrawaddy River, Irrawaddy valley, and following the establishment of the Pagan Kingdom in the 1050s, the Burmese language and Culture of Myanmar, culture and Buddhism in Myanmar, Theravada Buddhism slowly became dominant in the co ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Laos
Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and southwest. The country has a population of approximately eight million. Its Capital city, capital and most populous city is Vientiane. The country is characterized by mountainous terrain, Buddhist temples, including the UNESCO's World Heritage Site of Luang Prabang, and French colonial architecture. The country traces its historic and cultural identity to Lan Xang, a kingdom which existed from the 13th to 18th centuries. Through its location, the kingdom was a hub for overland trade. In 1707, Lan Xang split into three kingdoms: Kingdom of Luang Phrabang, Luang Prabang, Kingdom of Vientiane, Vientiane, and Kingdom of Champasak, Champasak. In 1893, these kingdoms were unified under French protection as part of French Indochina. Laos was und ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Cambodia
Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline along the Gulf of Thailand in the southwest. It spans an area of , dominated by a low-lying plain and the confluence of the Mekong river and Tonlé Sap, Southeast Asia's largest lake. It is dominated by a tropical climate and is rich in biodiversity. Cambodia has a population of about 17 million people, the majority of which are ethnically Khmer people, Khmer. Its capital and most populous city is Phnom Penh, followed by Siem Reap and Battambang. In 802 AD, Jayavarman II declared himself king, uniting the warring Khmer princes of Chenla Kingdom, Chenla under the name "Kambuja".Chandler, David P. (1992) ''History of Cambodia''. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, . This marked the beginning of the Khmer Empire. The Indianised kingdom facilitated ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Dehong Dai And Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture
The Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture is an autonomous prefecture in western Yunnan province, China. It is bordered by Baoshan to the east and Myanmar's Kachin State to the west. Its titular ethnic minorities are the Dai and Jingpo, who make up 28 and 11 percent of the prefecture's population, respectively. Etymology Tai Nuea is the origin language of the word "Dehong", in Tai Le script (the script used to write the Tai Nüa language by the Tai Nua people) is written as "", transliterated to Latin as . Dehong means the lower reaches of the Nu River. The Chinese characters for Dehong are "". These two characters are a compound of , "moral" or "value"; and , "magnificent" or "great". History Early history Dianyue and Ailao were the ancient countries recorded in Chinese literature in the Dehong area, and Guozhanbi ( Kawsampi) was an ancient country established by the Dai people and recorded in Dai legends. Dianyue In the history book ''Records of the Grand Hist ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Tai Nua People
Tai Nüa ( Dehong Dai: ᥖᥭᥰ ᥘᥫᥴ ''Tai Lə;'' Chinese: 傣那 ''Dǎinà'') is one of the Tai ethnicities in Southeast Asia. They are primarily found in the Yunnan Province of China, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, and Vietnam, with some immigrating to the United States. There are, however, two distinct groups of Tai people called Tai Nua: one in China and Myanmar (Burma), and the other in Laos. Ethnonyms Tai Nua/Lua can be written as Tai Neua, Tai Nuea, Tai Nüa, or Dai Nua, and sometimes Tai Nau. They are also known as Dehong Dai, Dehong Tailurian, and Chinese Shan. The word ''Nua'' ( Thai: เหนือ, Dehong Dai: ᥘᥫᥴ ''Lə'') in the Tai languages means "north", so ''Tai Nua'' ( Thai: ไทเหนือ, Dehong Dai: ᥖᥭᥰ ᥘᥫᥴ) means "Northern Tai" and is used by Tai people to refer to other Tai groups living to the north. However, the naming of the Tai people can be confusing; some publications may also use Dai Kong, Dai Loe, Tai Mao, and others. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Xishuangbanna
Xishuangbanna, sometimes shortened to Banna, is one of the eight autonomous prefectures of Yunnan Province. The autonomous prefecture for Dai people is in the extreme south of Yunnan province, China, bordering both Myanmar and Laos. Xishuangbanna lies at latitude 21°10′-22°40′ and longitude 99°55′-101°50′ east, on the northern edge of the tropics south of the Tropic of Cancer. It has an area of 19,124.5 square kilometers, bordering Pu'er City, Pu'er City to the northeast and northwest, Laos to the Southeast Asia, southeast and Myanmar to the southwest. The border is 966.3 kilometers long, one river connects six countries, and there are four national ports. The prefectural seat is Jinghong, the largest settlement in the area and one that straddles the Mekong, called the "Lancang River" in Chinese. This region of China is noted for the distinct culture of its ethnic groups, which is very different from that of the Han Chinese. The people, architecture, language and cultu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Tai Lue People
The Tai Lü people ( Tai Lue: ᦺᦑᦟᦹᧉ, , ''Dǎi lè'', , ''Lư̄'', , , ) are an ethnic group of China, Laos, Thailand, Burma and Vietnam. They speak a Southwestern Tai language. Etymology The word ''Lü'' (ລື້) is similar to the ''Lao people'' in the Tai Lü language. Tai Lü can be written as Tai Lue, Dai Le and Dai Lue. They are also known as Xishuangbanna Dai, Sipsongpanna Tailurian and Tai Sipsongpanna. The word ''Lue'' ( Thai: เหนือ Tai Lue: ᦟᦹᧉ) in the Tai languages means "north", thus their ethnonym means ''Northern Tai'' which they share with Tai Nua people. Distribution In Vietnam, most Lu live in Lai Châu Province and their population was 5,601 in 2009. In China, they are officially recognized as part of the Dai ethnic group. The 2000 census counted about 280,000 Dai people speaking Lü language. The population in Thailand, where they are called Thai Lue (), was in 2001 estimated to be approximately 83,000.Johnstone and Mandryk 2 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after India, representing 17.4% of the world population. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and Borders of China, borders fourteen countries by land across an area of nearly , making it the list of countries and dependencies by area, third-largest country by land area. The country is divided into 33 Province-level divisions of China, province-level divisions: 22 provinces of China, provinces, 5 autonomous regions of China, autonomous regions, 4 direct-administered municipalities of China, municipalities, and 2 semi-autonomous special administrative regions. Beijing is the country's capital, while Shanghai is List of cities in China by population, its most populous city by urban area and largest financial center. Considered one of six ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Spread Of Buddhism
Mahayana Buddhism entered Han China via the Silk Road, beginning in the 1st or 2nd century CE. The first documented translation efforts by Buddhist monks in China were in the 2nd century CE via the Kushan Empire into the Chinese territory bordering the Tarim Basin under Kanishka. These contacts transmitted strands of Sarvastivadan and Tamrashatiya Buddhism throughout the Eastern world. Theravada Buddhism developed from the Pāli Canon in Sri Lanka Tamrashatiya school and spread throughout Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, Sarvastivada Buddhism was transmitted from North India through Central Asia to China. Direct contact between Central Asian and Chinese Buddhism continued throughout the 3rd to 7th centuries, much into the Tang period. From the 4th century onward, Chinese pilgrims like Faxian (395–414) and later Xuanzang (629–644) started to travel to northern India in order to get improved access to original scriptures. Between the 3rd and 7th centuries, parts of the land rou ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Hinduism In Southeast Asia
Hinduism in Southeast Asia had a profound impact on the region's cultural development and its history. As the Indic scripts were introduced from the Indian subcontinent, people of Southeast Asia entered the historical period by producing their earliest inscriptions around the 1st to 5th century CE. Today, Hindus in Southeast Asia are mainly Overseas Indians and Balinese. There are also Javanese (also other minorities of Indonesia) and Balamon Cham minority in Cambodia and south central Vietnam who also practice Hinduism. Hindu civilization, which itself formed from various distinct cultures and peoples, including also early Southeast Asian, specifically Mon Khmer influence, was adopted and assimilated into the indigenous social construct and statehood of Southeast Asian regional polity. Through the formation of Indianized kingdoms, small indigenous polities led by petty chieftain were transformed into major kingdoms and empires led by a Maharaja with statecraft akin t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |