Siam and Laos, as Seen by Our American Missionaries

by Unknown

The attention of the traveler as he passes in his boat along the rivers and canals of Siam, in town or country, is often arrested by the sound of music proceeding from beneath an extemporized awning in front of some dwelling by the wayside. There a promiscuous crowd have gathered and are witnessing a theatrical performance, the actors and actresses with chalked faces or hideous masks and in glittering and fantastic attire. The centre of attraction, however, is manifestly a pretty child of a dozen summers or so, richly attired and fairly overlaid with jewelry—​necklaces, gold chains, armlets, bracelets and anklets.

A hair-cutting festival is in progress—​a kone-chook, as it is called, the ceremonies and the gayeties that attend the first clipping of the cherished topknot on the child’s head. This is the great occasion in the life of the child, and indeed second only to that of a wedding or a funeral in the life of the family. The Siamese in shaving the heads of their children, as they do from their earliest infancy, always leave a small circular lock of hair on the top of the head to be untouched by razor or shears till the child is eleven, thirteen, or fifteen years old. Were it to be cut at an earlier day or without the customary ceremonies, the parents would fear their child would become insane or a prey to a kind of demon they call a yak. This lock grows a foot or so long, and is kept oiled and neatly twisted into a knot. Through this a gilt or golden large-headed hairpin three inches long is thrust, and not unfrequently a garland of fragrant white flowers is worn around it, giving young Siamese children quite a pretty appearance.

REMOVAL OF THE TUFT OF A YOUNG SIAMESE.

When the right year has arrived and the lucky day for the hair-cutting has been fixed by the astrologers, the friends of the family are invited, and a band of play-actors engaged and a company of Buddhist priests, and for a day or two there is a constant round of prayer-chanting, play-acting and feasting of priests and friends. The ceremonies begin with the priests chanting in chorus their prayers, seated cross-legged on mats on an elevated platform, a thread of white cotton yarn passing from their hands around the clasped hands of the kneeling child and back to them again, serving as a sort of electric conductor to the child of the benefits their prayers evoke. The next morning, when the auspicious moment arrives, the man of highest rank among the guests with shears clips off the long-cherished lock, and the head is close shaved for the first time; and then the child, dressed in white, is led to an elevated seat under a canopy of white cloth and consecrated water is poured freely over it, first by the parents, then by kindred and friends. Its drenched garments are now replaced by gay attire, and a curious ceremony called weean teean is next gone through with. Candles are lighted, and while the music is playing loudly are carried five times round the child, who is seated on a kind of throne between two circular five-storied flowerstand-like altars, called bai-sees, containing cooked rice, fruit and flowers, offerings to the spirits of the air. The candles are then blown out in such a way that the smoke shall be borne toward the child. This is supposed to stock the boy or girl with spirit and courage for the duties of life.

The relatives and friends of the family now are expected to make a present in money to the child, each according to his ability or station, the sums varying from one to eighty pieces of silver (60 cents to $48), so that the newly-shorn youngster will on these occasions receive enough to give him quite a start in the world or if a maiden sufficient for a dowry.

And now a general feasting ensues, the yellow-clad priests being first served, and for a day or two more the music and theatrical performances continue. After this the children are reckoned as young men and young women. The kone-chook is in fact their “coming-out” festival.

Those whose poverty will not allow the expense of such an affair take their child when it arrives at the proper age to a Buddhist temple, and have a priest shave off the tuft with some simple religious ceremony.

If so much is made of this observance in the case of ordinary children, the celebration of the first hair-cutting of a young prince or princess, as may well be imagined, is a very grand affair. It is then styled a sokan. Preparations for it commence months beforehand; the governors of provinces far and near are summoned to be present; the highest priests in the kingdom are invited; and public festivities, with free theatres, shadow-plays, rope-dancing, etc., to amuse the immense crowds of people present, are kept up for many days.