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Counting the beads...
there should be 108 sandal wood beads:
I counted 100....
Mooted over kopi at Ya Kun Central, this dream run became reality as Yeo Say Ann and I managed to get gracious Grand Aunt Siri to anchor this run.
This chart should put key players in their place...
TRIMMED GENEAOLOGY
1 Tan Tock Seng
2 Mdm Chua- Tan Kim Ching- Mdm Ying
3 Soon Toh s/o Chua Hay Leng s/o Ying Choon Neo (Grandma Chun) d/o Ying
4 Boo Liat s/o SoonToh Alice d/o HL Molee d/o Chun
5 Kenny & Polly c/o BL Jackson s/o A - Rene w/o J Woody s/o Molee - Siri w/o W
6 Sopha d/o K- Pong h/o Sopha Rosie d/o Polly Isabella (4 months) d/o Jackson
7 Su Min s/o Rosie- Sing Yu w/o SM .
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Eight hard core Brownies were let into this secret and converged onto LubD Siam
P Siri presented Power Point with aplomb and grace.
(Aunty Sopha and Aruphong joined us for the Powerpoint.
In the evening they hosted dinner at Asiatic)
Siri spent the whole day showing us around. We were safely driven in a 15 seater.
We visited Siam House, 591 Prasamen Road, originally of Tan Kim Ching: now still in the family: run as a wedding venue.
We went to Ayutthaya, 100 miles north of Bangkok. Grandma Chun's house was donated to the Bhuddist college there and transported whole....
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| Grandma Chun's transported house |
We visited one ancient temple Watchai Watanaram at Ayutthaya
I thought that the spires were reminiscent of some science fiction alien spaceship story....
Desperately hungry, we could not find a riverside restaurant:
But this lady besides the Wat Chai Watanaram provided a meal for us.
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| Metal Temple |
The Metal Temple (Lohat Prasad) was a quick photo op/ sketching opportunity.
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| The two mango trees |
Chaozhu were worn with court dress by nobles and higher officials, or
by lesser officials for certain ceremonial occasions only. These court
beads were status symbols but not actual indications of rank in the
same manner as mandarin squares and hat finials. The choice of beads
was left up to the individual except for the emperor, empress and
dowager empress, who wore fresh water Manchurian pearls mandated by
law for them alone.
The prototype of court beads is thought to be the rosaries used by Lama Buddhist monks of Tibet and Mongolia for counting repetitions of a prayer or mantra. (Cammann, 4:1979) In 1643, a year before the invasion of China, an envoy of the Dalai Lama presented the Manchu leader with a rosary.
The prototype of court beads is thought to be the rosaries used by Lama Buddhist monks of Tibet and Mongolia for counting repetitions of a prayer or mantra. (Cammann, 4:1979) In 1643, a year before the invasion of China, an envoy of the Dalai Lama presented the Manchu leader with a rosary.
The traditional rosary and the court beads which resemble them consist
of 108 small counting beads, divided into four groups of twenty-seven
by three large spacer beads called fotou (fo-t'ou), or "Buddha
heads." The ends of the cord then pass through a vase or
pagoda-shaped bead from which extends a silken ribbon, a flat,
rectangular stone, sometimes in a metal frame, beiyun (pei-yun) and
several more inches of ribbon culminating in a drop pendant, dazhui
(ta-chui). This extension hangs down the wearer's back and acts as a
counter-weight so the beads will be more evenly balanced between front
and back and more comfortable to wear. Suspended from the back of the
necklace are an additional three strands of ten beads each, jinian
(chi-nien), ending with a drop pendant
Dinner was at a fancy place: Asiatique, the "in" place: Half of Bangkok was there! Fusion food, live band etc. And crazy traffic jam.
IN SUMMARY
Overwhelmed with graciousness of my Thai relatives
Touched by keen interest of Brownies on my family
Facinated to be part of the living heritage that is the legacy of Bukit Brown
