Laos Essential Artistry: Sinxay

Sinxay, an important folk hero in Laos, seems to be gaining in stature by the Lao government who featured Sinxay in the opening of the SEA Games where he shot a flaming arrow to light the cauldron in the beautiful new stadium built especially for the SEA Games. You can see a video clip further below in this post from our YouTube channel showing Sinxay shooting the flaming arrow. But we're really writing this post because we recently learned in reading the flyer above (in Lao language) that the government is featuring a day about Sinxay, with lectures and performances and we wish we were there to enjoy all the events on this momentous day.

Photo from VOA Laos website

Sinxay is an important Lao mythological hero who goes back hundreds and hundreds of years and over the last year-and-a-half Bai and I have been working on the first English translation of this epic and are now completing our final edit. It's a great, great story, and when involved in a translation of this depth, where one really lives and breaths every aspect of the story it's easy for us to think of Sinxay being very real.

We became interested in the story for a number of reasons. One reason is tied in with our interest in Lao textiles and understanding the rich meaning of all the motifs, and one important motif in Lao textiles is Siho. Siho is often referred to as an lion-elephant, a figure with a lion body and elephant head. Motifs in Lao textiles aren't always easy to identify and often Lao weavers will identify a Siho as a Xang (elephant) or as Patricia Cheesman might say, a Xang Hong, a combination of the shamanic hong serpent and bird and a Buddhist elephant-bird-lion from the Himmaphan forest called nok hadsadiling. You can see Sinxay riding Siho in the illustration in the lower left of the flyer above.

Well, one day when we were browsing in the Dokked Book Shop owned by Douangdeuane Bounyavong, also the headquarters of her small Lao-based publishing house, we saw a book in Lao about Sinxay, which showed a young boy with a bow and arrow and sword, and by his side was one of his brothers, Siho, who had the body of a lion and head of an elephant. I had never heard of Sinxay before and there were two volumes in Lao and we bought both of them. And when Bai was skimming the book she told me there was also a Phanya Khut and Phanya Nak, and I had been extremely interested in learning more about these important mythological figures since I witnessed their "return" to the river in Bai's village after they had been invited to join the village during their celebration of Boun Kong Khao.

We talked with Douangdeuane two summers ago about Sinxay and she told us there was only one story about Sinxay, divided into two volumes and they sold both a Lao and French translation of both volumes. And that was it. There really weren't any other references to Sinxay. Thankfully she allowed us to copy an original copy of Sinxay and we have been working off of that copy to do our translation.

Not being very proficient in reading Lao I asked Bai if she could translate the copy Douangdeuane gave us and that I would help her. Little did I know that it would take hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of painstaking hours. I've never been involved in translating anything from one language to another and it's not an easy task because there are Lao words and phrases that don't easily translate into English and it takes a lot of research and thinking about the English words which would best convey the original meaning in Lao.

So we've been laboring on this in "obscurity" with no real goals in mind, but know have come to realize that Sinxay is being brought back to life by the Lao government as the "Sinxay of the New Era" who was featured in the opening ceremony of the SEA Games in Vientiane when he shot a flaming arrow to light the stadium torch. You can see the video of Sinxay below.

The timing really is amazing considering that as we are completing our translation of the Sinxay Epic, Sinxay is being promoted as an important Lao hero in Vientiane's 450th anniversary.

When we go to Laos in June and July we will be doing research for a background chapter that will help place Sinxay within a historical and cultural context within Laos. There are a lot of people we want to interview and with the sudden limelight being shined on Sinxay it's going to be really exciting to be able to tell "the rest of the story..."

So our thinking is that we will try to get Sinxay published so falang (foreigners) will be able to appreciate the story and gain insights into important Lao mythological figures like Khuts, Naks and Nyaks. It's also a story that older children should really enjoy, especially Lao American children who maybe are less aware of their Lao roots. If anyone has any suggestions we're open... So here, for the first time in English is a very condensed version of Sinxay.

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The epic of Sinxay begins with a description of Muang (Kingdom of) Pengchan and it's king, Phanya Kousarath. He is married to Queen Chanta and they don't have any children. He has a sister, Soumountha, who is the "crystal center" of Muang Pengchan. She is very beautiful and everyone admires and loves her. Unfortunately, so does Nyak Koumphan, the Ogre king of Muang Anolat.

Khoumphan finally decides that he will abduct Soumountha and one day swoops down from the sky while she is enjoying a beautiful afternoon in the palace gardens with all her servants and steals her away. He flies back to Muang Anolat where she becomes his queen. Meanwhile everyone back in Muang Pengchan is very upset and Phanya Kousarath decides he needs to become a monk to cool his heart and when the time is right go on a pilgrimage to find out what happened to Soumountha.

After becoming a monk, Queen Chanta takes over as ruler of Muang Pengchan and Phanya Kousarath leaves on his pilgrimage, which after many months takes him to Muang Champa. In talking to a monk he learns that Nyak Koumphan had flown over Muang Champa with Soumountha and the monk told him it would take someone who had special powers like Phra In (The leader in heaven) to bring Soumountha back.

When Phanya Kousarath went out the next morning begging alms there were seven sisters giving alms and Phanya Kousarath fell in love with them. He decided to return to Muang Pengchan the next day and when he arrived back at his palace they had a ceremony where he stopped being a monk and became king again. And shortly thereafter he sent some of his nobles to Muang Champa to arrange the marriage of the seven sisters for him, partly because Queen Chanta had not had any children and he knew he would have to have heirs who would eventually inherit and rule Muang Pengchan. He especially wanted sons with special powers like Phra In who could go and rescue Soumountha.

The seven sisters were brought back to Muang Pengchan and became his wives and queens. Queen Chanta and Queen Loon (the youngest sister) prayed one night to Phra In that they would have extraordinary sons with good karma and that night Queen Chanta, Queen Loon and Phanya Kousarath all had special dreams. The next day Phanya Kousarath had an astrologer come to make a prediction about the dreams and he said Queen Loon and Queen Chanta would have three extraordinary sons and the other six queens would have the most vile sons. Of course Queen Chanta and Queen Loon were very happy and the other six queens were mocked by all the people in the muang and were very unhappy.

An evil witch, Meenyafet, learned of the predicament of the six queens and met with the eldest sister and told her she could change their luck if they would give her some "red gold." They did and she made up some evil medicine which they put into the bath water of Phanya Kousarath and when he bathed with this water his mind became cloudy and confused and he asked the astrologer to come back and make another prediction. The six queens intercepted the astrologer and paid him in gold to say that their luck had changed, which he did, and he now predicted that Queen Loon and Queen Chanta would have strange looking babies that weren't human and were evil, and the six queens would now have normal sons. He told Phanya Kousarath that he would have to wait and he would see the truth when all the babies were born.

Shortly thereafter all of the queens, including Queen Chanta, gave birth to sons. Queen Loon gave birth to twins, a boy who was holding a bow and arrow and sword (Sinxay) and a boy with the body of a snail (Xangthong). Queen Chanta gave birth to a boy with the body of a lion and head of an elephant (Siho). The other six queens gave birth to normal looking sons. Shortly thereafter Phanya Kousarath declared that Queen Chanta and Queen Loon's sons were bad luck and must be released in the forest, and rather than abandon their babies Queen Chanta and Queen Loon left the palace with their babies and walked out into the forest.

It was a difficult life for them, living off fruits and roots and finally Phra In looked down from heaven and saw them living this destitute life and made a palace for them in the forest with delicious food, clothes, everything they needed. By the time Sinxay turned seven years old he had already grown wise beyond his age and one day he asked his mother for his bow and arrow and sword and shot an arrow into the sky which fell into the land of the khuts (half men/half birds - the Thai would call them Garuda).

Phanya Khut (king of the Khuts) saw the arrow and knew that it has been sent by someone with the powers of Phra In and brought all the khuts, millions of them to the palace, where they swore their allegiance to Sinxay and pledged to be his friend and protector.

Several months later Sinxay shot another arrow into the sky which fell into the ocean (mahasamut) of the naks (mythological and magical water serpents) and Phanya Nak (King of the Naks) )brought millions of naks to the palace where they too swore their allegiance to Sinxay and pledged to protect him and be his friend.

During this time the six brothers grew up and were quite impressive looking, but were in fact quite devious and one day Phanya Kousarath met with them and told them he wanted them to go seek out Nyak Koumphan, kill him and bring back Soumountha. They said they would, but first needed to go on a quest for saddtasin, the power that would allow them to conquer all foes.

After paying their respects to their father and mothers the six brother left the palace, but quickly became lost in the forest and feared for their lives. Phra In saw their confusion and created a road for them to reach the palace where they met their brothers, Sinxay, Xangthong and Siho and their two aunts, Queen Chanta and Queen Loon. They soon discovered that Sinxay had the power, saddtasin that they themselves coveted and begged him to show them how they could get the same power. But Sinxay told them all he did was shoot an arrow into the sky, that was it.

Realizing they couldn't get the power themselves the six brothers tricked Sinxay into commanding all the animals, including the naks and khuts to enter the palace at Muang Pengchan after the six brothers returned to the palace. When the six brothers returned to the palace and all the animals, including the khuts and naks came, everyone was quite scared, including the six brothers, terrified really, and thankfully the animals left as quickly as they came, just as Sinxay said they would. Phanya Kousarath and everyone in the muang thought that it was the magic and power (saddtasin) of the six brothers who had brought all the animals and they were tremendously impressed. That night Phanya Kousarath held a ceremony and baci and honor of the six brothers who he then ordered to go and bring back Soumountha.

The six brothers left and again ended up at the palace in the forest where they lied to Sinxay about how Phanya Kousarath was impressed at his powers and that Phanya Kousarath was so sad he had banished them all from the kingdom and now begged Sinxay to go bring back Soumountha and kill Nyak Koumphan. Sinxay, being good-hearted, believed them and so he, Xangthong and Siho left with the six brothers to bring back Soumountha.

After several days they came upon a large snake, huge, several stories tall, and when the six brothers saw the snake they were terrified and ran and hid behind some rocks and Sinxay and Siho fought the snake fought the snake themselves, and when Sinxay shot an arrow into the head of the snake it finally died. All of them then continued on their journey and when they came to a wide raging river the six brothers were again terrified and begged Sinxay to take them back to Muang Pengchan because they were too scared. It was then Sinxay knew their true nature and ended up having Siho stay by the river with the six brothers.

Xangthong then transformed himself into a boat and he and Xangthong crossed the river in seconds. Xangthong always went first, clearing the way with Sinxay following him. They had many adventures, first fighting Valoona Nyak and then intimidating Phanya Xang (King of the Elephants) and his millions of elephant followers into submitting to them and accompanying them to the border of Muang Anolat (Nyak Koumphan's kingdom). After crossing the border they had to fight four nyak guards, and then Sinxay met Nyak Khinee who transformed herself into a beautiful girl trying to entice him to become her husband. He could tell by her eyes what her true nature was and quickly left. He then had to fight some Phanyathones (a kind of forest spirit) and then Nyak Atsamoukhi (with a face like a dog) who grabbed him and wanted to carry him off to her cave, and after he couldn't convince her to let him go, reluctantly killed her.

Sinxay then climbed to the top of a mountain and came upon the Tree of Life (Tdon Kalapheuk). It was an incredibly moving experience for Sinxay looking at all the gorgeous textiles hanging from the gold gilded branches and he kept one, Pha Goxai for himself, which he folded carefully and put in his quiver.

Coming down from the mountain he came upon a waterfall where he saw a group of kinnaris ( "half-bird, half-woman creatures. One of the many wondrous creatures that inhabit the mythical Himavanta forest. They have the head, torso, and arms of a woman and the wings, tail and feet of a swan. They are renowned for their dance, song and poetry, and are a traditional symbol of feminine beauty, grace and accomplishment") bathing and fell in love with one, Nang Kiengkham, and they spent seven wonderful days together.

Sinxay then left her promising to return in a month and met up with Xangthong and they located Nyak Koumphan's palace where Sinxay finally met his Aunt Soumountha in the palace while Khoumphan was out hunting for food. The truth was that after being abducted Somountha had accepted being Khoumphan's wife and queen and they had a daughter together, Sidachan. Soumountha didn't really want to leave Khoumphan, but when Sinxay demonstrated his power by shooting his arrow which lit up the sky like the sun, Soumountha realized Sinxay's powers were greater than Khoumphan's and she agreed to leave with Sinxay, although very reluctantly.

When Nyak Koumphan realized Sinxay had taken Soumountha he became very angry and confronted Sinxay and Xangthong after they had secured Soumountha in a cave. In their first fight Sinxay cut off his head, but Koumphan was able to regenerate himself into seven nyaks with gold clubs and when Sinxay used his sword in fighting the nyaks it gave off bolts of lightning killing swarms of nyaks, but for each nyak who died, seven nyaks emerged. Finally Sinxay had to use his arrow which gave off a current of hot fire killing almost all the nyaks and for those who still showed some life, Xangthong smashed their heads with his body. The nyaks still alive quickly dispersed and Sinxay and Xangthong went back to the cave to get Soumountha and and quickly set out on a road that led into the forest.

It was here they discovered a palace Phra In had created for them. It was in this forest where Sinxay, Xangthong and Siho had incredible battles with Koumphan and all the nyaks. The numbers were incredible, hundreds of millions of nyaks, hundreds of thousands of horses and millions of elephants. The nyaks showed many kinds of powers and some of them transformed their heads into elephant heads, heads of cows, heads of bears and also their bodies became the bodies of horses able to jump and fly up. Some of them were half-buffalo and half-rhino or half-goat and half-tiger, or half-rhino and half-giraffe, but they always failed to frighten Sinxay. They even tried transforming themselves into a Brahmin, but Sinxay did not fall prey to any of their tricks.

Eventually Sinxay killed Koumphan, and Soumountha, although with Sinxay, was quite sad to see her husband killed. It was then she told Sinxay that her daughter Sidachan had married Phanya Nak (another Nak king), and his name was Valunnalat, and she wanted Sinxay to bring her daughter back to her since she was going to have to return to Muang Pengchan. After three days rest Sinxay and Xangthong began their travels to Muang Nak and Xangthong parted the ocean revealing a road that led them quickly to Phanya Nak's palace.

It was there Sinxay challenged Valunnalat to a game of maksaga (chess) and he bet his bow and arrow, sword and Xangthong, who had transformed himself into an ordinary snail. Valunnalat bet his kingdom (muang). After three games, Sinxay won them all and Valunnalat was angry and tried to arrest Sinxay since he looked just like a harmless boy, but Sinxay and Xangthong easily defeated the naks and Sinxay asked that Sidachan return with them to her mother. But before they left Sinxay lectured Valunnalat about how to rule his kingdom in a fair, Buddhist way.

After returning back to Muang Nyak they held a funeral ceremony for Koumphan, worthy of being the honorable king he was. Sinxay then went and located Koumphan's brother, Pannula, and lectured him like he did Phanya Nak about how to rule his kingdom fairly and in a Buddhist way.

Then Sinxay, Xangthong, Soumountha and Sidachan left to travel to the river where his six brothers and Siho were waiting for them. The six brothers were excited to see Soumountha and Sidachan and began scheming how they could take credit for rescuing Soumoutha and Sidachan themselves. Sinxay wanted the six brothers to take Soumountha and Sidachan back by themselves so he, Xangthong and Siho could return to their mothers who had been waiting for them for so long. But the six brothers pleaded with Sinxay for him to accompany them to assure their safety and again he consented to their demands.

Several days later in their travels on their way back they stopped at a tall waterfall and the six brothers asked Sinxay to join them in bathing at the top of the waterfall. It was there they pushed him over the edge and came back and told Soumountha and Sidachan that he had slipped in the water and gone over the edge and was now dead. Soumountha was suspicious and left three items by the river for someone to find if Sinxay was still alive. Soumountha and Sidachan were then forced to go with the six brothers who treated them quite rudely.

When they reached Muang Hon, the muang right before Muang Pengchan, the brothers stopped and had the muang leader build a pavilion for themselves and one for Soumountha and Sidachan to relax in while they sent a messenger to their father, Phanya Kousarath, telling him they had brought back Soumountha and Sidachan. They then warned everyone to stay away from Soumountha and Sidachan because they had nyak hearts and that when they saw people it was like they were seeing fish or meat!

Phanya Kousarath was of course extremely happy to hear that his six sons had returned with Soumountha and Sidachan and sent one of his nobles to accompany them from Muang Hon to Muang Champa in a royal procession. Sidachan was extremely sad thinking she would be abandoned by her uncle because she had nyak blood and a nyak heart, but Soumountha told her Phanya Kousarath loved her like he loved Soumountha, that they all had royal blood and that he would always take care of them.

When they arrived at the palace in Muang Pengchan there were crowds of people gathered along side the road and within the palace eager to welcome back Soumountha, the crystal center of Muang Pengchan. After the ceremony welcoming back the victorious six brothers, Soumountha settled back in the same room she stayed in before Koumphan stole her away. Even thought their lives were very comfortable now including such luxuries such as being served delicious deserts on gold trays, it was clear that Soumountha and Sidachan were very unhappy, and it wasn't long before Phanya Kousarath knew about the unhappiness of Soumountha and Sidachan.

Phanya Kousarath finally "woke up," realizing something was terribly wrong and ordered his six sons to come and pay their respects to their father and he interrogated them about what had really happened on their travels. They continued to tell their father lies and Phanya Kousarath still suspected something was wrong so he ordered Soumountha and Sidachan to come and pay their respects and he asked if there was anything provoking their hearts. It was then they told him the truth about what had really happened and how Sinxay had been the one who had fought to set them free.

Soumountha told Phanya Kousarath she had deep suspicions about what really had happened at the top of the waterfall when the six brothers said Sinxay had fallen to his death and she had left three items and asked Phra In to have someone return them if Sinxay was still alive. Phanya Kousarath was excited, happy and sad, all at the same time because while he realized he had made a mistake in banishing Queen Chanta and Queen Loon and their three sons after they were born, he now knew they were still alive! If he only had some proof of what his six sons had done...

Several days later a mariner coming from China came to pay his respects to Phanya Kousarath and gave him three items he found by a stream on his travels to Muang Pengchan. Phanya Kousarath called in Soumountha and she said that yes, they were indeed the three items she had left by the waterfall where the six brothers said Sinxay had died. Soumountha and Phanya Kousarath were overjoyed and immediately Phanya Kousarath put together a procession which he would lead in searching for Sinxay and his brothers. Before the procession left he had his six sons arrested, along with their mothers and the astrologer and the evil witch, Meenyafet, and they were all put into a jail with studded walls.

Sinxay, when he was pushed over the waterfall was being watched by Phra In, who prevented his death, and had transported him to his palace in the forest where his mother, Queen Loon, and his aunt Queen Chanta and Xangthong and Siho were waiting for him to return. Since the fateful day when Phra In had returned Sinxay to the palace they all had been living their lives peacefully.

The day came when one of the naks watching over the palace heard the noise from Phanya Kousourath's procession and he went and told Sinxay that he heard what he possibly thought were the sounds of a foreign army. But Sinxay, when he listened carefully, said he thought they were just the sounds of his family looking for him and he sent a nak who transformed himself into a handsome young man to go meet the procession and bring them back to the palace.

And it was when the nak led the procession to Sinxay’s palace that finally Phanya Kousarath got to meet his three sons, Sinxay, Xangthong and Siho and begged them and Queen Chanta and Queen Loon to come back to Muang Pengchan. He told them if they didn't come back he would come to live in their palace in the forest because he regretted with all his heart the mistakes he had made in the past.

They agreed to go back to Muang Pengchan and when they arrived there was a ceremony where Sinxay became the new king and was given a new name, Phanya Xang Sinxay Mahaajakapadtila. Sinxay ruled the muang fairly and treated all people equally and released his six brothers and their mothers from the jail and sent them back to their grandfather in Muang Champa.

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Yes, this version is very condensed, 3110 words vs 39,500 words in the full translated version! But it does provide a good overview of the story and will have to do until we can figure out a way to publish the full version with illustrations. Two sample illustration by Bai's sister's boyfriend are below. The first one shows Sinxay with his two brothers, Xangthong (with the body of a snail) and Siho (with the body of a lion and head of an elephant). Both Xangthong and Siho have magical transformative powers. The second illustration shows the palace of Phanya Kousarath in Muang Pengchan.

What is a muang? In the Spirits of Place by John Holt, he writes that "Transcending the individual ban (village) is the muang, a nearly untranslatable term, but essentially a cluster of ban related to each other not only because of geographic proximity, but also for politically defensive reasons as well, with the ban that has the most economic means and most politically powerful family (usually meaning the greatest ability to produce rice) serving as its hub in hierarchical relation to the other ban."