Sinxay: Renaissance of a Lao-Thai Epic Hero

Peter Whittlesey; Baythong Whittlesey

ISBN 10: 0996299025 / ISBN 13: 9780996299022

Published by Sinxay Press, 2015

May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0996299025I4N00

Synopsis:

Sinxay: Renaissance of a Lao-Thai Epic Hero brings to Western readers a time-honored, legendary, 17th-century story of gallant virtue and astonishing acts of selfless bravery. This is courageously exemplified by Sinxay, born holding a bow, arrows, and a sword.

The retelling of Sinxay is followed by an additional four scholarly chapters explaining the history, literature, religion, and geographical locations associated with Sinxay. Although not an academic book, the authors careful discussion of the Buddhist framing of the text and its literary, artistic and cultural impact, combined with vivid and plentiful illustrations, results in a book of real interest to scholars and students as well to the general reader.

In this updated translation of a Lao-Thai classic, Sinxay sets out on a harrowing journey to liberate Soumountha, beloved sister of his father, Phanya (King) Kousarat. Soumountha, her grace and virtue surpassing those of any other woman in the Pengchan kingdom, is abducted at the beginning of the story by an ogre king named Koumphan, with extraordinary powers from a distant kingdom.

Kousarat is devastated. Deciding temporarily to renounce the throne, he becomes a Buddhist monk, feeling the need to calm his mind. Once achieving equanimity he leaves the kingdom to search for his sister. On his journey and during morning alms in a faraway city, he meets seven beautiful sisters, who later become his wives. The youngest sister, Loun, and his first Queen Chanta, pray to the god Indra, who hears their prayers and chooses three of his sons to go to Earth. Loun gives birth to twins: Sangthong, who has the body of a conch shell, and Sinxay, who is born holding a sword, bow, and arrows. Chanta gives birth to Siho, with the body of a lion and the head of an elephant. Loun s six sisters give birth to normal-looking sons.

Loun and Chanta and their sons are banished from the palace because of the babies strange appearance. Indra seeing their hardships while trying to struggle to survive in the forest builds a small palace for them where the three brothers grow in strength and splendor.

Meanwhile, Sinxay's six half-brothers grow up in the palace, deceitful and dishonest. After Kousarat requests they rescue Soumountha, the six brothers leave the palace, and after many misadventures, eventually meet Sinxay. It s then they trick him into believing the king chose Sinxay to be the one to rescue Soumountha. Embarking on an arduous quest, Sinxay eventually rescues her. This leads to two battles against the ogres, and in the second battle Koumphan is killed.

As they are returning to the king s palace, Sinxay s six brothers push him over a waterfall, eager to take sole credit for rescuing Soumountha. But unknown to all, Indra descends from the heavens and brings Sinxay back to life.

The king eventually learns the truth and the six brothers are put in jail. The king leaves to search for Sinxay, and after being reunited, Sinxay returns to become king. Shortly thereafter the heavenly ogre king descends to earth and brings Koumphan back to life. Still full of rage, Koumphan travels to Pengchan and abducts Soumountha, and Sinxay.

When Indra sees what has taken place, he descends and counsels Koumphan. Koumphan s anger finally dissipates and he agrees to ask for Soumountha s hand in marriage. Accepting his proposal, they marry, and Koumphan builds a saphanthong, a golden bridge connecting the two kingdoms, a symbol of alliance.

Printed in full color this book is worthy of being on anyone's coffee table. It will be a joy to anyone interested in Southeast Asian history and Buddhism. Just like the golden bridge created at the end of the story, the authors have built a bridge of understanding between cultures.

About the Author: Peter has been an educator for over thirty years and is currently a high school librarian in Sacramento, CA. Peter began traveling to Laos in 1998 when most people believed Laos was a country wrapped in mystery and too difficult to attempt to travel to. Peter quit his job teaching in 2000 and moved to Laos, wanting to learn the language and immerse himself in the culture. During the year he lived in Laos he worked on a variety of research projects and traveled throughout the country photography the amazing diversity of the country and its people. His award-winning photographs of Laos since then have been published in numerous journals.

Peter met his wife, Baythong (Bai), in 2001, and they were married in Laos in 2002. Bai came to the states in 2003 and became a naturalized citizen in 2006. They have a daughter, Phetmany Sidachan, born in April 2012. They have been living in Sacramento since 2003, yet continue to visit Laos yearly.

Bai grew up in a village where many of the women are weavers, and Bai too, was taught to weave at a young age. Before they became aware of Sinxay, Peter and Bai made a decision to establish an online business to promote Lao weavers and their beautiful textiles, which they named Laos Essential Artistry. Over the years they sold textiles to customers throughout the world and their website became an educational resource for anyone to learn more about the wide diversity of Lao textiles.

In 2006 Peter first learned about the story of Sinxay when Peter and Bai visited Bai s parents in Ban Na Ang, the small village where she grew up. The village is located in the Muang Fuang district in the northwestern part of Vientiane Province, known for its spectacular karst formations. One early evening as they were walking on a dirt road back to the village, they stopped to gaze where the sun was setting over the rocky limestone cliffs, serving as a backdrop to a patchwork of village rice paddies. While they were enjoying the sunset, Bai pointed to where a section of rock seemed to be missing. She told Peter that according to a local legend, it had been knocked out during a battle between a famous Lao epic hero named Sinxay, and an evil ogre named Nyak Koumphan.

This captured Peter s imagination and when Peter and Bai returned to Vientiane, the capitol city, they looked to see if there were any Lao versions of Sinxay in book form. Luckily they found one, and over the next two years Bai and Peter painstakingly translated the Lao prose version of Sinxay into English. It was during this lengthy process of translation that they decided they wanted to write a book about Sinxay.

This decision lead them on a quest to learn as much as they could about Sinxay. Over the next six years they traveled throughout Laos and Isan, interviewing monks, community and government officials, exploring hundreds of Buddhist temples and taking extensive photos of Sinxay murals at older temples in Isan. While it was their translation of Sinxay that initiated their six-year quest, what they learned while researching Sinxay motivated them to use the translation as a base for writing a more extensive retelling of Sinxay.

Their intent in writing Sinxay was not to produce an authoritative text (though they hope others may be motivated to pursue this path after reading the book) but to have Sinxay come alive by telling the story in such a way that it is meaningful for readers today, while remaining faithful to the original Sang Sinxay as written more than 350 years ago.

Peter and Bai will be giving two presentations on Sinxay in Bangkok in July 2016, one for the triennial Lao Studies Conference, and one for the Siam Society.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Sinxay: Renaissance of a Lao-Thai Epic Hero
Publisher: Sinxay Press
Publication Date: 2015
Binding: Unknown
Illustrator: Nick Bowen; Khamla Phanyasith
Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket