3The ruins,the “savages” and the princess: Myths, migrations and belonging in Viang Phu Kha, Laos

Oct 17, 2026

Uploaded by Ezra

Heritage is treated as an ongoing process through which people use the past to construct shared meanings that have real material effects. The paper links sedentism to shared memory and place-related symbols rather than to the permanence of settlements, arguing that continual migrations in Northern Thailand and Laos continually remade local landscapes. Using Viang Phu Kha as a case study, it shows how “impeded sedentism” is accompanied by myths and rituals that organize and reproduce territorialized identities.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time55 min

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The origins of Viang Phu Kha: two stories

Sedentism, memory, and territorialized identities

Viang Phu Kha: ruins, uncertainty, and migration history

Oral literature and research objectives

Vat Mahaphot and the concentric-circle city legend

3The ruins,the “savages”and the princess:Myths,migrations and belongingin Viang Phu Kha,Laos. 合 OLIVIER EVRARDCHANTHAPHILITH CHIEMSISOURAJ Heritage is about the process by which people use the past;a discursive construction with material consequences.(Harvey 2008:19) This paper intends to show that sedentism relates less to the actualpermanence of a human settlement than to shared memory andsymbols related to a given place.This is especially clear in areassuch as Northern Thailand and Laos,where numerous migrationsduring the historical and contemporary periods have constantlyredesigned the human landscape,mixing various populations andpreventing them to settle durably in one same location.In sucha context of “impeded sedentism”,myths and rituals providea common matrix for the organization and the reproduction ofterritorialized identities. I take the case of a small city of North-West Laos known underthe name of Viang Phu Kha.Located on a small plateau along themain road linking China and Northern Thailand,its existence isattested from the 16th century onward.Ruins whose exact originis unknown surround it.These vestiges give rise to speculationsand different interpretations among the historians and the localpopulations.According to the formers,Viang Phu Kha remainsone of the most mysterious principalities of Laos (Lorillard,2008: Mapt:Cente oftndariete/Vang PuOha 134),mainly because of the scarcity of the written sources availableabout it.The latter attribute its foundation to invaders either fromChinese(ho),Northern Tai(yuan)or Burmese (man')origin.Theseuncertainties are not only due to the lack of deep genealogicalmemory among the contemporary inhabitants-mostly Tai(Yuan,Lue,Yang)and Mon-Khmer(Rmet,Samtao,Fhmu)speakinggroups.They are also a result of the continual political instabilityin this area during the last centuries and of the countless invasionsand displacements of populations that affected it.This is also truefor the recent period that saw numerous migrations during thetwo "Indochira wars"as well as massive resettlements of highlandvillages near che main road since the early 90s under the State ruraldevelopment policy. In this context,it is worth poting the existence and the relativepermanence among the local populations of a rich oral literaturerelated to the origins of Viang Phu Kha and of the ruins that lienearby the town.This oral literature has been largely ignored untilnowby those who have worked on the history of this part of Laos. Map 2:Sketch of the old walled cty of Vang Phu Kha (Vat Mahaphot) This is probably due to difficult conditions of access to fieldworkuntil recent times as well as to the reluctance of the historians totake into account oral sources that they consider less reliable andmore difficult to interpret than the written ones.By taking these oralsources into account and analyzing them,We pursue two objectives. Firstly,we contribute to an ethnohistory of Viang Phu Kha,that is not only to a better knowledge of the history of this placebut also,and above all,to a better understanding of how peopleput the present in relation to the past with their own categories.Wewant to show how the sense of belonging,either to a place or to anethnic group,is related to the interactive nature of myths:they are used to interpret history but at the same time they are constantlyupdated by the event. Secondly,we reflect on the common imaginary sharedby the Mon-Khmer and the Tai speaking populations and whatit tells us about the ethnic differences,their perception and theirperpetuation in this part of Asia.More precisely,we consider thatthe contemporary ethnic fragmentation in Viang Phu Kha is asmuch a product of complicated (in and out)migration movementsas a result of “dispersion”inside a common cultural matrix². # The origins of Viang Phu Kha:two stories The small city of Viang Phu Kha is surrounded by ruins of stupa,temples and old fortifications which origin is still unkn

FAQs

How does the paper explain the relationship between sedentism and settlement permanence?

Sedentism is linked less to physical permanence and more to shared memory and symbols attached to a place. Continual migrations are presented as reshaping landscapes and preventing durable settlement in one location.

Why are myths and rituals important in the context of “impeded sedentism”?

Myths and rituals provide a common matrix for organizing and reproducing territorialized identities. They help interpret history while being updated by new events.

What two main objectives does the paper pursue using oral sources?

First, it aims to develop an ethnohistory of Viang Phu Kha and explain how belonging to place or ethnic group relates to myths. Second, it examines the shared imaginary of Mon-Khmer and Tai-speaking populations and how it relates to ethnic differences and fragmentation.

Oct 17, 2026

Uploaded by Ezra