Lau Lady

Lua: the primitive people who’re a founder of our community

One of the great leap forward in human evolution is the cultivation. This is the foundation for human settlement, community building, the transition of early humans from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to an agricultural one has led to the formation of human settlement. And when human lived together as a community or society, it has caused lifestyle, culture and local wisdom that was passed from generation to generation until today.

In Southeast Asia region, “Lua” is considered as one of the oldest prehistoric ethnic groups who lives in the different areas of the north of Thailand, Xishuangbanna, and Yunnan in South West China. Lua is the ethnic minority that plays the important role in community settlement.

There are many historical pieces of evidence showed that Lua is a group of people living in this territory for a long time since before the 14th century. For example, in legendary folktale (ex. Legend of Suwan Kham Daeng, Legend of Inthakin), these legends related with the stories of Lua, the civilization of Lua people, public service, community building, social organization and division of labor, these represented the beginning of the complex society’s creation.

Lua children

Photo by Vithi Phanichapan

More interesting things about Lua, the discovery of clay tablets written in cuneiform characters, liked the ancient Sumerians of Mesopotamia’s one. The characters were represented through basic graphics such as triangle, wave, circle and etc. Also, these basic graphic patterns were used in creative decorations in daily life, for example, the clothing patterns that are simple, straightforward and not complicated but full of interesting sides.

Lua's clay tablet

Photo from http://allmysteryworld.blogspot.com

Lua, for me, the legend is still alive that makes us study the origin and understand more about our identity.

Fern

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