Culture is mix and match and ever-evolving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we are obsessed over \u201cwho owns what,\u201d we then fall into the trap of nationalism, ethnocentrism, and racism\u2014the devolution, not the evolution, of humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nonetheless, we should recognize history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Regarding the inadvertent war our 13 September article \u201cWhat cultural ownership does Thailand have?\u201d ignited between Thai and Cambodian posters, the book \u201cTheater in Southeast Asia\u201d by James R. Brandon may best explain:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[\u201cThe year 1431 marks a violent end to the arts which were so lavishly patronized by Khmer kings, for in that year Angkor was sacked by the Thai and the court was carried off in captivity to Thailand.\u201d]<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thus we have the historical context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[\u201cWe hear nothing more of the performing arts in Cambodia until vassal kings of Thailand reintroduced Thai dance much later.\u201d]<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The keyword here is \u201creintroduced,\u201d not \u201cintroduced\u201d by Thailand\u2019s \u201cvassal kings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This means the culture existed before by someone and was later \u201creintroduced\u201d by someone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[\u201cBetween the thirteenth and the nineteenth centuries, the Thai developed Khmer dance and music in distinctive new directions.\u201d]<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[\u201cPresent-day Cambodian dance drama is virtually a copy of this Thai creation from earlier Khmer forms.\u201d]<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s the ever-evolving human culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If there weren\u2019t Angkor Wat, there wouldn\u2019t be anything for the Thai to \u201cdevelop\u201d from and modern Cambodia to \u201ccopy\u201d from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the bigger picture, if it weren\u2019t for Indian civilizations, the culture of Angkor Wat wouldn\u2019t have been what it was, and the culture of Cambodia and Thailand wouldn\u2019t be what it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As well, Thai and Cambodian culture today is a mix and match of many other cultures, not just from around the region, but around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the circle of life in all its wonders and tragedies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if we don\u2019t break the cycle of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo! It\u2019s mine!\u201d
\u201cNo! It\u2019s mine!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then we are but two kids fighting over a piece of candy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, let\u2019s recognize the good, the bad, and the ugly of history, and then let\u2019s evolve humanity and the human culture together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[cue the dramatic music]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Culture is mix and match and ever-evolving. If we are obsessed over \u201cwho owns what,\u201d we then fall into the trap of nationalism, ethnocentrism, and racism\u2014the devolution, not the evolution, of humanity. Nonetheless, we should recognize history. Regarding the inadvertent war our 13 September article \u201cWhat cultural ownership does Thailand have?\u201d ignited between Thai and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[24,23,12,14,13],"class_list":["post-146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-thisurpt","tag-cambodian-culture","tag-thai-culture","tag-thailand","tag-thisrupt","tag-whatshappeninginthailand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisrupt.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisrupt.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisrupt.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisrupt.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisrupt.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thisrupt.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":148,"href":"https:\/\/thisrupt.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146\/revisions\/148"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisrupt.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisrupt.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisrupt.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisrupt.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}