The Siamese are among the most ceremonious people, and in this respect equal, even if they do not surpass, the Chinese and Japanese. Their very language is a series of forms, by which persons of different rank address each other; and, although there may be no distinction of dress between a nobleman and a peasant, the difference of rank is marked far more strongly than could be done by mere dress. It is an essential point of etiquette, for example, that the person of inferior rank should always keep his head below that of his superior.
Should a man of low degree meet a nobleman, the former will stoop at the distance of thirty or forty yards, sink on his knees as his superior approaches, and finally prostrate himself on his face. Should he wish to present anything to his superior, he must do so by pushing it along the ground, and, indeed, must carry out in appearance the formal mode of address in which he likens himself to a worm. Just as the peasants grovel before the nobles, so do the nobles before the king; and if either of them has a petition to offer, he must put it in a jar, and so crawl and push it along the ground as humbly as if he were a mere peasant. Siamese artists are fond of depicting the various modes of approaching a superior, and never forget to indicate the great man by two points. In the first place, he sits erect, while the others crouch; and, in the second, he leans on his left arm, and bends the left elbow inward. This most strange and ungraceful attitude is a mark of high birth and breeding, the children of both sexes being trained to reverse the elbow-joint at a very early age.
As may be expected from the progress of civilization, the Siamese have a tolerably complete code of laws, which are administered by regularly appointed officers. The laws are rather severe, though not much more so than were our own a century ago. Murder, for example, is punished with death; and in every case of murder or suicide, the houses within a circle of eighty yards from the spot on which the crime was committed are considered responsible, and fined heavily. This curious law forces the people to be very cautious with regard to quarrels, and to check them before the two antagonists become sufficiently irritated to seek each other’s life. This respect for human life contrasts strongly with the utter indifference with which it is regarded in China and Japan.
Nobles of very high rank are exempt from capital punishment in one way, i. e. their blood may not be shed; but, if guilty of a capital offence, they are put into sacks, and beaten to death with clubs made of sandal wood. Some punishments are meant to inflict ignominy. Such, for example, is that of a bonze, or priest, who is detected in breaking his vow of chastity. He is taken to a public place, stripped of his sacred yellow robe, flogged until the blood streams down his back, and then kept in the king’s stables for the rest of his life, employed in cutting grass for the elephants.
Another similar punishment is inflicted on laymen. A cangue is fastened round his neck, his hands and wrists are chained, and he is taken round the city, preceded by drums and cymbals. The worst part of the punishment is, that he is compelled to proclaim his crime aloud as he passes through the streets; and if he ceases to do so, or drops his voice, he is beaten severely with the flat of a sword. Prisoners are mostly employed on public works, and at night they are all fastened together with one long chain.
Of the religion of the Siamese it is impossible to treat, because Buddhism is far too wide and intricate a subject to be discussed in a few pages. There is, however, one modification of this religion which must be mentioned; namely, the divine honors paid to the White Elephant.
By the Siamese, these animals are thought to be the incarnations of some future Buddha, and are accordingly viewed with the deepest respect. The fortunate man who captures a white elephant sends the news to the capital, and in return for the auspicious news is thenceforth freed, with his posterity, from all taxation and liability to military service. A road is cut through the forest, and a magnificent raft is built on the Meinam River, for the reception of the sacred animal. When the elephant reaches the raft, he is taken on board under a splendid canopy, and kept in good temper by gifts of cakes and sweetmeats. Meanwhile, a noble of the highest rank, sometimes even the First King himself, goes in a state barge to meet the elephant, accompanied by a host of boats with flags and music, and escorts the sacred animal to the capital, each boat trying to attach a rope to the raft. When arrived, the animal is taken to the palace, when he receives some lofty title, and is then led to the magnificent house prepared for him, where, to the end of his life, he is petted and pampered and has everything his own way, the king himself deeming it an honor if the sacred beast will condescend to feed out of his hand. On the head of the elephant is placed a royal crown, his tusks are encircled with precious rings, and a royal umbrella is carried over him when he goes to bathe.
When the animal dies, the hairs of the tail are reserved as relics of a divine incarnation, and the body is buried with royal honors. The hairs of the tail are set in golden handles, profusely adorned with precious stones; and the reader may possibly remember that the First King, Somdetch Phra Mongkut, sent one of these tufts to Queen Victoria, as a priceless proof of the estimation in which he held her. The King also gave the ambassador, Sir J. Bowring, a few hairs from the tail, as a gift about equal to that of the Garter in England, and when, to the great grief of the nation, the elephant died in 1855, the King sent Sir J. Bowring, as a further mark of his favor, a small piece of the skin preserved in spirits of wine.
The color of the elephant is not really white, but a sort of pale, brick-dust red. Albino animals of all kinds are venerated by the Siamese, the white monkey being in rank next to the white elephant. This veneration is so marked that a talapoin—a sort of preaching fakir—who will not condescend to salute the King himself, bows humbly if he should see even a white cock, much more a white monkey.
The architecture of Siam deserves a brief notice. It possesses some of the characteristics of Chinese, Japanese, and Burmese, but has an aspect that belongs peculiarly to itself. Ordinary houses are of comparatively small dimensions, but the temples are often of enormous size, and in their way are exceedingly beautiful. They are full of lofty and gabled roofs, five or six of which often rise above each other, in fantastic beauty, so as to lead the eye upward to the central tower. This is always a sort of spire or pinnacle, which is made of a succession of stories, and is terminated by the slender emblem of sovereignty, namely, an ornament that looks like a series of spread umbrellas placed over each other, and become less and less as they approach the summit. The whole of the tower is profusely adorned with grotesque statues in strange attitudes, and there is scarcely a square foot which is undecorated in some way or other.