Epic
ທ້າວຮຸ່ງທ້າວເຈືອງ
Not translated into English
Anonymous · 1500
Synopsis
The epic of a warrior chief, then of the man he becomes in a following life, who unify peoples and fight great battles for honour, love and power. What governs them is not religious morality but a code of arms, and invisible forces intervene on every page.
Context
The Thao Hung Thao Cheuang is a verse epic of more than twenty thousand lines, predating the Buddhisation of Laos: its heroes act according to a warrior code rather than the morality of the Buddha, and spirits intervene in it constantly. Studies date it from the middle of the fourteenth to the middle of the sixteenth century and attribute it to a court poet. The most complete version, three hundred bundles of palm leaves, was found in the National Library of Thailand in 1941 by Maha Sila Viravong; he transliterated it into modern Lao the following year, but the Ministry of Culture did not publish it in a single volume until 1988. The story comes from the Khmu, a people predating the Tai migrations.
Who it is for
A long, archaic epic, to be read in a modernised version or an anthology. Annotated editions are rare.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as the oldest Lao literary text, it is the subject of academic studies in Laos and Thailand.
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The pages consulted to check this page.