Khun Chang Khun Phaen is an old story in the Thai language. It originated as a folktale some time before the eighteenth century, developed by storytellers who recited episodes for local audiences, and passed on the story by word-of-mouth. By the eighteenth century, such performances had become the most popular form of entertainment in Siam. The storytellers recounted the story in stylized recitation, using two small sticks of wood (krap) to give rhythm and emphasis. The performances typically lasted a full night.
The performance of Khun Chang Khun Phaen created a new genre known as sepha. For at least a century, only episodes from this work were known by this term. In the Fourth Reign (1851–1868), parts of the royal chronicles and a few other works were also rendered in this form on royal commission, but all but a few fragments have since disappeared.
The origin of this word sepha is disputed. There is a musical form of the same name, but this seems unconnected. Kukrit Pramoj thought that sepha meant a jail and that the genre was developed by convicts in jail. Sujit Wongthet argued a connection to the Sanskrit word sewa, indicating some original association with ritual.[1]
Khun Chang and Khun Phaen are the names of the two leading male characters. In the era when the poem's events are set, Khun was a title for one of the lowest ranks in the official nobility.
As a novice, Phlai Kaeo is schooled in the “inner ways" (Thai: ทางใน, thang nai). This phrase refers to beliefs in supernatural powers which exist within human beings and other natural objects, and which can be activated through taught skills. These beliefs stem from the esoteric school of Buddhism, and are found as a substratum in Buddhism throughout Southeast Asia and other parts of the Buddhist world.
The methods to activate these latent powers include meditation and recitation of mantras or formulas (elsewhere, yoga is another method). The power can also be transferred to objects, especially diagrams known as yantra (Thai: เลขยันต์, lek yan). In India, where they probably originated, such diagrams are composed mostly of geometric shapes with symbolic meanings arranged in symmetrical patterns (the mandala is a yantra). In the Thai tradition, these diagrams also include numbers in sequences with supernatural meaning, pictures of gods and powerful animals (lion, tiger, elephant), and formulas or abbreviated formulas written in Pali or Khmer. To have power, these diagrams have to be drawn by an adept under strict rules (such as reciting formulas continuously, completing the drawing in one sitting), and activated by reciting a formula.
Yantra (called yan in Thai) diagrams can be carried on the body in various ways: tattoed on the skin (sak yan - สักยันต์); imprinted on a shirt or inner shirt; imprinted on a scarf (Thai: ประเจียด, prajiat) tied round the head, arm, or chest; imprinted on a belt, perhaps made from human skin; imprinted on paper or cloth which is then rolled and plaited into a ring (Thai: แหวน พิรอด, waen phirot); inscribed on a soft metal such as tin which is coiled round a cord and worn as an amulet (Thai: ตะกรุด,takrut. The main purpose of these various forms of yan designs with Khom inscriptions, is to give invulnerability or protection against various forms of threat.
The same purpose is served by carrying amulets made from natural materials which have some unusual property which seems contrary to nature. A good example is mercury – a metal which has the unusual property of behaving like a fluid. Other examples include cat’s eye, a semi-precious stone which resembles an animal’s eye, and “fluid metal” (Thai: เหล็กไหล, lek lai), a metal-like substance believed to become malleable under the heat of a candle’s flame. These items can be strung on cords and worn around various parts of the body, or inserted under the skin.
Before going into battle or any other undertaking entailing risk, Khun Phaen decks himself with several of these items. He also consults various oracles which indicate whether the time and the direction of travel is auspicious. These oracles include casting various forms of horoscope, looking for shapes in the clouds, and examining which nostril the breath is passing most easily.
Khun Phaen is also schooled in mantras or formulas with supernatural power. They are used for such purposes as stunning enemies, transforming his body into other forms, opening locks and chains, putting everyone else to sleep, and converting sheaves of grass into invulnerable spirit warriors. Khun Phaen also uses love formulas to captivate women, and to allay the wrath of the king.
Finally, Khun Phaen has a corps of spirits which he looks after. They defend him against enemy spirits, act as spies, and transport him at speed. In a famous passage, Khun Phaen acquires an especially powerful spirit from the still-born foetus of his own son. This spirit is known as a Gumarn Tong (Thai: กุมารทอง), a golden child.
In the poem, the command of these powers is described using several combinations of the following words: wicha (Thai: วิชา), taught knowledge; witthaya (Thai: วิทยา), similar to the suffix, -ology; wet (Thai: เวท), from veda, the Brahminical scriptures;mon (Thai: มนตร์), mantra, a Buddhist prayer; katha (Thai: คาถา), a verse or formula; and akhom (Thai: อาคม), from agama, a Sanskrit word meaning knowledge, especially pre-vedic texts. These words position the command of these powers as an ancient and sacred form of learning.[2]
