Thai roots
There is much left to learn about the origins of the Thai people-now scholars from southern China are contributing to the search for answers
Story by
SUTHON SUKPHISIT

    Where did the Thais come from?This simple question has been puzzling people for a long time.
    Until fairly recently,most historians accepted the ideas of Dr William Clifton Dodd,an American missionary based in north Thailand in the early part of the last century,who had traced the movements of ethnic groups speaking variants of the Thai language through-out the region.
    According to Dodd,the Tai peoples originally lived in the north of China near the Antai mountain range and gradually migrated south to Tali Fu,a rich and comfortable environment.The Nongsae lake there provided food and plenty of water for agriculture.But the Tais were regularly attacked by other groups from the north, and they moved further south until they finally established kingdoms in the territory that has become present-day Thailand.
    This theory established itself in Thai historical studies about 60 years ago.Soon after,it became national policy to base Thai patriotism on the concept-now superceded-that the Thai nation was an ancient superpower that was once located in China but had to move south.
    For many years,scholars studying Thai history had difficulty finding new facts on the issue,especially in China,which didn't put out a welcome mat to foreign academics.Without new input,Thai historical studies remained firmly rooted in Dr Dodd's theory.
    But as China became more open to outsiders,Thai historians began visiting the country to try to find more solid answers to the old question of where the Thai people originally came from.
    A new theory evolved.It held that the Thai,or Tai,peoples,which included a subgroup known as the Dai,were an ethnic group that spread over Yunnan province in southern China,Burma,Laos,and the north of Thailand.They lived along the Mekong and Red rivers,and had never fled any original homeland in northern China.Instead,they had simply spread out,in the manner of a growing family,expanding into new communities while remaining in contact with each other.
    Chinese scholars had been conducting investigations along the same lines,and had come to similar conclusions.They were also interested in studying the culture of the indigenous Dai-Tai in Yunnan-what they ate,how they made their living,what kind of religious beliefs they held to maintain ethical behaviour within the community,what their customs were,and what traditional knowledge they possessed.
    The more China has modernised,the more earnest it has become about conducting research of this kind and using it to plan for the development of Dai-Tai culture.
    One of the leading Chinese students of the Tai ethnic group is Professor Zheng Xiaoyun,deputy director of the Institute for Ethnology and Development at the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences in Yunnan Province,China.
    Here he talks briefly about recent Chinese research into the history and culture of his country's Dai-Tai minority community:
    'First,I have to say that it [the research] is important and beneficial for deepening understanding between China and Thailand,for enhancing cultural and economic relations between the two countries,and for understanding our historical ethnic and cultural ties.
    "Nowadays the peoples of the Tai linguistic family are distributed throughout South China.They have a long and complex place within Chinese history.
    "The Tai people in China,formerly known as the Dai nationality,number around 1.2 million.They are concentrated in Yunnan province.They're in areas like Xishuanbana prefecture,Linchang prefecture, Dahong prefecture and the reaches of the Mekong and Red rivers.
    "The Tai-Dai have direct ethnic and cultural relations with north Thailand.The cultures of both areas are very similar.
    "That's why myself and some other Chinese scholars have a deep interest in the field of Tai-Dai ethnic history and Tai-Dai comparative cultural studies.
    "I believe that as China enters the World Trade Organisation and as the whole region develops,old ethnic relationships,including those between south China and Thailand,will be an important basis for the future development of culture,tourism,trade and so on.
    "After the 1950s,Dai society was transformed from a local feudal society into a part of regular Chinese society,and a new epoch began.Modern education,culture,medical treatment,transport,telecommunication,tourism development arrived rapidly,especially in the last 20 years.
    "Such developments have influenced Dai society and culture deeply.For example,the Dais now speak Chinese and read Chinese scripts as well as use their own ethnic language.
    "They still have their Buddhist faith and their ethnic identity.They still enjoy their own ethnic housing,dress,food,folk and lifesty-les.
    "But they also face new and strange challenges-globalisation,social change,tourism and economic development.How to protect ethnic culture and also have development is an important issue now.
    'The focal-point for Dai-Tai studies in China is Yunnan.Scholars there are interested in the fields of language, history, culture,social change,and international Dai-Tai comparative research.
    "But as a result of the current changes to Dai-Tai culture, more and more scholars are paying attention to issues to do with development,society and economy. For example,they're looking at how to protect Dai culture as it experiences waves of tourism.
    "My research in recent years has focused on three topics:current cultural change among the Dai-Tai under globalisation;comparative research on cultural diversity among the Dai-Tai in Southeast Asia and the history of ethnic relations between China and Thailand.
    "Last year I conducted fruitful research on changes among the Dai on the reaches of the Red River and I cohosted an international conference on the same topic, which attracted international academic interest.
    "This year I'm very pleased to be Finishing an important three-year project titled'Dai-Tai Cultural Diversity:Comparative Studies of Yunnan and Southeast Asia Under Globalisation',funded by The National Foundation of Social Sciences of China.
    "The project looks at Dai-Tai cultural diversity and change as globalisation enters Yunnan and Thailand,Myanmar,Vietnam,Laos and India.I believe the research will be beneficial to a new understanding of Dai-Tai culture.
    "This is a nice era for scholars in China and Thailand to deepen their academic cooperation in this field. We have many common interests, such as the history of Tai migration, how to protect Dai-Tai cultural diversity in a period of rapid social change,Tai language diversity and so on.
    "By the way there are some bifurcations still among us. For example,some Thai scholars and regular Thai people still believe that the Tai ethnic group originated from north China,even Mongolia,even though there is a lack of evidence.
"So I think it's necessary for more academic exchange and study to go on.More cooperation will contribute greatly to understanding and friendship between China and Thailand in the new century.”

* Professor Zheng Xiaoyun,deputy director of the lnstitute for Ethnology and Development at the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences in Yunnan,China.