The ‘Soul’ of the Tai re-examined – The Khwan Concept and Tham Khwan Ceremony of the Tai-Speaking Peoples
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Khwan is certainly one of the most enigmatic concepts one encounters in the study of the Tai-speaking world. Variously rendered as ‘soul’, ‘vital principle’ or ‘life essence’, the concept eludes unambiguous translations as Western ontologies and the languages that reproduce them simply lack an analogous signifier. While a lot has been written on khwan, it seems that little progress was made in understanding their place in Tai conceptualisations of personhood and sociality. One reason for this may be that authors addressing khwan in their scholarship are frequently referring to the same seminal publications while ignoring others. This fostered a quasi-canonical understanding of what khwan are that is rarely critically scrutinised. With this edited volume we seek not only to honour Barend Jan (Baas) Terwiel, but also to problematise this conventional understanding of what khwan are. In the field of Tai Studies, Baas’ name stands out as a beacon of knowledge and understanding, illuminating the rich tapestry of Thailand’s history, culture, and society. Through meticulous scholarship and a profound love for the subject, Baas has left an indelible mark on the field, enriching our understanding of Thailand in ways that go beyond the surface. Join us on a journey through texts Baas has written over 50 years in order to explore what khwan are and how Tai-speakers all over the Tai-speaking world interact with them in order to strengthen their well-being and maintain personhood. Our goal with this volume is to make Baas scholarship on khwan more easily available and thus to celebrate his remarkable contributions to the world of Tai Studies. Therefore, we have edited, commented, and streamlined his original and sometimes hard to find texts and ordered them in a way that allows readers to better understand khwan as well as their similarities and differences all over the Tai-speaking world.
Barend Jan Terwiel retired in 2007 from the Chair of Thai and Lao Languages and Literatures, Hamburg University. He has conducted anthropological fieldwork in Thailand and in Assam. He has written extensively on Thai history, Theravada Buddhism and the Tai-speaking peoples of Assam.
Benjamin Baumann is an assistant professor at Heidelberg University's Institute of Anthropology. He received his PhD in Southeast Asian Studies from Humboldt-University zu Berlin. In his ethnographic fieldwork in Thailand's Lower Northeast he looks at the intersections of ritual, mythology and communal sentiments of belonging.
CONTENTS
About the Series v
Editor’s Preface vii
Preliminary xiii
Figures xix
Texts xxi
Maps xxiii
Introduction xxv
1 The Concept “Khwan” ……………………………………..1
2 Three Excerpts from Monks and Magic …………….7
3 What the “real” Phraya Anuman thought
about Khwan ………………………………………………….23
4 Khwan Etiquette in Everyday Village Life ………29
5 Death-related Khwan Ceremonies
—Or Delving into the Sources ……………………….33
6 A Congress leading to a Surprise Visit
to Assam ………………………………………………………..85
7 The Second Journey to Assam and
the Write-up in Hamburg ………………………………95
8 Tai Khwan in Translocal Comparison …………..113
9 Assamese-Tai Funeral Customs ……………………147
10 A Phakey Calling the Khwan Text ………………..165
11 Rice and Khwan ………………………………………………………… 179
12 Khwans and the Lunar Calendar ……………………………….. 221
13 Conclusions ……………………………………………………………… 233
APPENDIX 1: THE THREE PAGES OF PHRAYA
ANUMAN’S BOOK, TRANSLATED
IN CHAPTER 3 ……………………………………. 243
APPENDIX 2: THE PHAKEY HAEK KHWAN TEXT ……….. 245
REFERENCES …………………………………………………………. 251