Identification. The Lao are a lowland people who speak the Lao language and live in Laos and parts of northeast Thailand. They are predominantly Buddhist, but also respect animist spirits. The traditional Lao name for their country is "Pathet Lao," meaning "the country of the Lao," but this name was also applied to the insurgent Communists during the Second Indochina War. The present name for the country is the Lao People's Democratic Republic.

Location. Laos extends 1,400 kilometers in a northwest-southeast direction between 14° and 23° N and 100° and 108° E. The Lao live primarily in the valleys of the Mekong River and its tributaries, at elevations below 1,000 meters. Northeast Thailand on the right bank of the Mekong is also home to many more Lao than presently live in Laos; they are called Lao (or Thai) Isan after the Thai name for that region. The north and east of Laos is characterized by rugged mountains and narrow valleys, while the terrain close to the Mekong and south of the capital, Vientiane, is more level and more heavily populated. Numerous non-Lao minority groups inhabit the upland areas of Laos throughout the country. The tropical monsoonal climate has three seasons: a warm rainy season lasting from June to November, a cool dry season from December to February, and a hot dry season from March to May.

Demography. The present population of Laos is about 4.2 million, of which about 2 million are Lao. The population density in Laos averages 17 persons per square kilometer. Separate demographic data are not available for the Lao, but national population growth is about 2.9 percent per year, and the crude birth rate is about 47 per thousand. Life expectancy at birth in Laos is about 50 years.

Linguistic Affiliation. Lao is included in the Tai Family of languages. Numerous dialects, for the most part mutually comprehensible, are spoken by different subgroups across the country and in northeast Thailand. Lao is a monosyllabic, tonal language, with numerous borrowings from Pali and Sanskrit. Orthography was simplified following the accession of the present government in 1975, and was made completely phonetic. The writing system uses twenty-six consonants and eighteen vowel symbols that can be combined to represent twenty-eight vowel sounds. There are two tone markers.

Lao - History and Cultural Relations

Original Lao settlers were part of the overall Tai migrations from southern China, beginning over 2,000 years ago. By the eighth century, Tai groups had settled through much of northern Southeast Asia, commonly in semi-independent muang, or principalities, each under the leadership of a local lord. Shifting alliances and the rise and fall of petty kingdoms continued until King Fa Ngum first unified a Lao state in 1353, with its capital at Luang Prabang and encompassing all of present-day Laos and northeast Thailand. This kingdom of Lan Sang (Million Elephants) lasted about 200 years, but disintegrated under the Burmese invasions of the late sixteenth century. King Soulingna Vongsa briefly revived the kingdom during the latter half of the seventeenth century, but it again foundered and remained divided variously under Thai, Burmese, and Vietnamese influence and control until the French entered in 1893. French colonial rule served to unify the Lao provinces on the left bank of the Mekong, and reestablished the royal house of Luang Prabang under a French protectorate, but otherwise had little effect on village life. Two major periods of war (the nationalist struggle against the French between 1944 and 1954 and the Second Indochina War between 1956 and 1975) disrupted Lao villages and distorted the development of Lao towns. A Communist government took control of the present area of the Lao People's Democratic Republic in late 1975, ushering in a period of revolutionary enthusiasm, reorganization, out-migration, and consolidation. The mainly subsistence economy of Lao villages continued after 1975, but was modified by government efforts to establish collective work groups and villagewide agricultural cooperatives and to bring education and administrative oversight to rural areas. By the early 1980s the hardships of war and rapid revolutionary transformation had diminished, returning village life to approximately the same level and style as in the early 1960s. In the late 1980s, Laos gradually allowed the entry of foreign businesses and tourists, and took tentative steps toward greater political openness.

Lao and Thai have long been closely aligned culturally, and prior to 1975 the Mekong was more a communication path than a frontier. The absence of good education in Laos prompted many Lao to study in Thailand, and villages in border regions regularly participated in each other's traditional celebrations and festivals. Prior to the 1970s the Lao educational system was based on a French curriculum, and a small Lao elite was educated at French schools elsewhere in Indochina or in France itself.

Lao - Marriage and Family

Marriage. Marriage partners are not prescribed. Young people often marry cousins or others from their own village. Marriage partners may be proposed either by parents or by the young people, but parents of both families are generally consulted and must approve in order for traditional marriage negotiations to proceed. Bride-price varies greatly, but usually includes gold, one or more animals, and, these days, cash. The marriage ceremony itself takes place at the bride's family home and is a Brahmanic/animist ceremony. Polygyny was practiced but uncommon before 1975, but has been prohibited by the present government. Divorce is discouraged, though it may be initiated by either party. Initial residence varies, but is usually uxorilocal; patrilocal residence is also common. Most couples establish an independent residence after several years, though there is a strong tendency for the youngest daughter to continue to live with her parents to care for them in their old age.

Domestic Unit. The domestic unit is usually a nuclear family but may include grandparents and/or siblings or other relatives, often on the wife's side. The average household consists of six to eight persons. Two or more related households may farm together and store their rice in a common granary.

Inheritance. The custodial daughter and her in-marrying husband often inherit the house compound and much of the parental paddy land. Other children may receive an inheritance when they marry or leave home, with sons and noncustodial daughters receiving relatively equal shares. The content and the timing of each child's inheritance is determined by the parents. The passing on of house and field ownership to the custodial child and spouse signals the passing of authority to the next generation.

Socialization. Children learn by observation and direct instruction. Infants and very young children are indulged; older children are expected to obey their elders and help with family tasks. By age five, girls help with household work; by age nine, boys pasture cattle or buffalo. By adolescence, children can carry out nearly all adult subsistence tasks, at least with supervision. Both boys and girls attend village schools, although usually only a few boys are encouraged to continue their education in the district or provincial 

Lao - Religion and Expressive Culture

Religious Beliefs. Most Lao are Theravada Buddhists, but also practice aspects of animist worship. Small numbers have been converted to Christianity. Lao believe in spirits that inhabit certain locations, such as rivers, rice fields, or groves of trees. In addition, villages may have tutelary spirits and there is a goddess of the rice crop. Many of these spirits, especially village spirits and the rice goddess, received regular offerings in the past, but the present government has strongly discouraged such rituals. Malevolent ghosts or other spirits can possess people, and/or cause illness, which must be exorcised by a spirit doctor.

Religious Practitioners. The traditional ideal was for all men to become Buddhist monks for at least a short period. Today only a few choose to be ordained. Monks officiate at cyclical religious ceremonies and festivals, as well as at Buddhist household ceremonies and funerals. Occasionally they become active community leaders. Spirit practitioners are commonly elderly men, and there are mediums of both sexes. Practitioners are called upon to officiate at weddings, birthrelated rituals, and numerous informal ceremonies, called basi or sou khouan, marking such life events as recovery from illness, departure on or return from a journey, or construction of a new home.

Ceremonies. The Buddhist lunar calendar has a festival ( boun ) at the full moon of almost every month. The most important calendrical ceremonies are Buddha's enlightenment in the sixth month (May), the beginning and end of Lent (July and October), and New Year (15 April). Vientiane celebrates the That Luang festival in November. Families may also sponsor Buddhist ceremonies to bless the house, gain merit, or ordain a son. Animist basi ceremonies are performed by individual households.

Arts. Classical music, dance, and literature are strongly influenced by the Hindu epics such as the Ramāyana, and are similar to Thai and Khmer court forms. One popular form of folk music uses the khene, a bamboo-and-reed mouth organ accompanying one or two singers ( mo lam ) who improvise stories, banter, and courting duels. Buddhist temple architecture is characterized by steep tiled roofs, with frescoes and mosaic decorations on the walls depicting events in the Buddha's lives.

Medicine. Illness is traditionally ascribed to imbalance of the body's spirits, spirit possession, or simply to change in weather. Western notions of germs and disease are now common, however, and use of patent medicines and antibiotics rivals traditional herbal and spirit cures among families who can afford them.

Death and Afterlife. According to Buddhist belief, death is followed by rebirth in a life appropriate to one's past karma. Following death by natural causes, the body is kept at home for one to three days, during which time villagers come to pay their respects and assist the family of the deceased during a more or less continuous wake. The body is usually cremated, but in some cases may be buried

Bibliography

Condominas, Georges (1962). Essai sur la société rurale lao de la région de Vientiane. Vientiane: Royaume du Laos, Ministère des Affaires Rurales; UNESCO.

Ireson, W. Randall, and Carol J. Ireson (1989). "Laos: Marxism in a Subsistence Rural Economy." Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars 21(2-4): 59-75.

Stuart-Fox, Martin (1987). Laos: Politics, Economy , and Society. London: Frances Pinter.