The use of the term Southeast Asian languages in this article is based on linguistic considerations; however, the term is also employed by some scholars in a geographical sense to include three distinct language families of the region, namely, Malayo-Polynesian languages, Sino-Tibetan languages, and Mon-Khmer languages. A grouping together of the Malayo-Polynesian and Southeast Asian (or Austroasiatic) languages into a single Austric family has also been proposed on the basis of certain phonetic, lexical, and grammatical similarities, but this grouping has not yet been generally accepted.
Languages of the Mon-Khmer subfamily include Cambodian (or Khmer), Mon (or Talaing), and a number of other languages, such as Cham of Cambodia and southern Vietnam, Semang and Sakai of the Malay Peninsula, Nicobarese of the Nicobar Islands, and Khasi of Assam in India. Grammatically, the Mon-Khmer languages make great use of affixes (prefixes, infixes, and suffixes). They are agglutinative in that different linguistic elements, each of which exists separately and has a fixed meaning, are often joined to form one word. Cambodian and Mon have their own scripts, which are descended from alphabets of India. Both are written from left to right.
The languages of the Munda subfamily are spoken in parts of N and central India and comprise more than 20 tongues, the most important of which is Santali. The Munda languages use affixes extensively and are agglutinative. There are two genders for nouns in most of the Munda tongues, animate and inanimate. Most Munda languages also have three numbers—singular, dual, and plural. Suffixes and particles placed after the noun are used to express such features as number and possession, which are often indicated in Indo-European tongues by case inflection.
The Annamese-Muong subfamily is composed of Muong and Vietnamese (also called Annamese). Vietnamese is basically monosyllabic, but it has many words of two or more syllables. It is also tonal, with six tones that frequently help to distinguish homonyms. Vietnamese uses particles but has no prefixes and suffixes. Word order is very important for showing grammatical relationships since there is no inflection. The vocabulary has many loanwords from Chinese. An alphabet based on Roman letters and adapted for Vietnamese, as by adding diacriticals, is generally used today in place of the traditional Chinese-type writing of the past. The classification of Vietnamese is still disputed; some regard it as a Mon-Khmer tongue, others as a Tai (or Thai) language (see Sino-Tibetan languages), and still others as a language unrelated to any other known tongue.
See N. H. Zide, ed., Studies in Comparative Austroasiatic Linguistics (1966).
As Hinduism and Buddhism were introduced to Southeast Asia, their traditions were altered to conform to the traditions of the indigenous peoples. Works predating outside influence were generally made of perishable materials and have not survived. Neolithic sites in the area produced stone tools, baskets, and pottery. The Bronze age in Southeast Asia dates from about 800 B.C.; by c.500 B.C. there were recognizable divisions between those cultures influenced by China and those influenced by India.
The Dongson (or Dong Son) culture, which was centered around the Tonkin gulf in present-day Vietnam, was notable among those drawing influence from China. From this culture various artifacts of great beauty have been excavated such as bronze dagger hilts, ornaments, lamps, and tomb furnishings. Typical of Dongson style are spirals and Greek key ornamentation. Massive bronze drums for burial with the dead are also part of Dongson culture. Such drums are thought to have been part of rituals to create rain. Han China conquered much of the Dongson area in 111 B.C. after which Chinese taste and techniques became predominant in the area.
Opportunities for trade between W Indochina and India flourished and brought with commerce an influx of Indian expertise in mechanical engineering, social hierarchies, and a pantheon of deities both Hindu and Buddhist. The ancient kingdom of Fou Nan (or Funan, a name given by Chinese historians) spreading into Indonesia was a commercially based and powerful force in the area. Stone temples after the Indian prototypes are found dating back to Fou Nan in the 6th cent. The Fou Nan kingdom eventually moved up the Mekong and united with the Chen La (or Chenla) kingdom and flourished in the middle area of the Mekong. Its early monuments which anticipate Khmer art are for the most part statues of gods and goddesses whose smooth and gracefully sinuous bodies are clothed in draperies of extreme thinness.
The late 8th cent. saw the disintegration of Chen La, and beginning in the early 9th cent. the Khmer empire of present-day Cambodia began to flourish. Indravarman (877-89), the first Khmer king, began construction of Angkor, a remarkable temple-city which utilized a grid system of canals and large reservoirs to control the river (see Angkor for descriptions of Angkor, Angkor Wat, and Angkor Thom). The temples and palace complex derived much of their architectural style from Indian sources, but much of the style of carving on the deities and supporting figures is uniquely Khmer, with voluptuous figures and serenely smiling faces. So richly decorated were most of the monuments that entire building complexes become a sculptural whole. The empire spread and its wealth increased into the 11th cent.
The most famous of Khmer monuments is Angkor Wat (or Vat), a vast temple-complex built in the early 12th cent. under Suryavarman II. It is an enclosure built of numerous shrines and courtyards the entirety of which represents the cosmic order in architectural sculpture. The Champa kingdom invaded Angkor in the 12th cent., and although it was reclaimed by Khmer kings it no longer had the same splendor. Angkor Thom and Bayon, built in the early 13th cent. under Jayavarman VII, shows the movement away from grace and lyrical carvings toward a more monumental style. From the 15th until the 18th cent. most of the art of Cambodia was wood sculpture, which due to climatic conditions has with rare exception not survived. Later works mostly follow the inspiration of Thai sculpture.
The Champa kingdom which was situated in Annam, lower Vietnam, was roughly contemporary with Chen La. Champa art is best typified by the sculpture associated with architecture, in which lavish ornament is paired with vigorous sensuality. Champa art declined altogether after the 13th cent. China held the Tonkin gulf area as a vassal state until the 10th cent. when the Vietnamese in 938 seized power from the T'ang. Much of the art owes its influence to Chinese models and neighboring Champa styles. Of particular note are ceramics similar to some provincial Sung Chinese wares.
In the 13th cent. the Thai peoples began to amass their considerable power in western Southeast Asia and by the 15th cent. were the dominant force. Siamese bronze sculpture of Buddhist figures in the 14th and 15th cent. showed an interest in an exaggerated elongation of limbs, a serene countenance and an interest in the pose known as the "walking Buddha." In the 16th cent. Buddhist figures adorned with jewels were widespread. Most extant Siamese paintings are of Buddhist subject matter and owe much to Chinese models, yet include a graceful linear quality and affection for brilliant color. The establishment of the capital at Bangkok and consequent increase in trade with the West brought other influences to bear on Thai art.
Laotian art was heavily influenced by neighboring Siam. Thai kingdoms were established there in the latter 14th cent., and in art and architecture Thai and Burmese models were followed. A few temples of stucco and brick survive but for the most part the typical Laotian architectural medium was and is wood, encompassing the quintessential Southeast Asian roof line of graceful upward sweeping curves. In Myanmar the lower Ayeyarwady valley was the most populous area, and Buddhist art forms merged with native beliefs in Nats. In Pagan a 9th-century Nat temple is among the earliest examples of Burmese architecture. Many examples of later date have the typical Burmese flame element, either above the windows or as part of the roof ornamentation. In their sculptural tradition, the Burmese were conservative, initially following Indian styles and later Khmer and Thai models. Burmese lacquerware, made for use in temples and monasteries, is one of the most celebrated of Burmese arts.
On the islands of Indonesia, there have been found artifacts from the Dongson culture, including the famous bronze drum known as the "Moon of Bali," the largest of the "rain drums." The culture of the Indonesian islands was strongly influenced by India. The great dynasty of Shailendra (776-864) from central Java made its influence known as far north as Cambodia. Sculptures from 9th-century Hindu temples in central Java show the influence of Indian models. Chandi Mendut, c.A.D. 800, is a Buddhist shrine incorporating many bas-reliefs which show the Javanese interest in sinuous forms and elegant composition.
The supreme achievement of Indonesian art is the monument of Borobudur, an architectural monument and cosmic diagram in one, built in the 8th cent. Receding terraces mount skyward and support on their walls bas-relief sculptures of great beauty and refinement. Buddhas appear at intervals along the walls, and the highest terraces house 72 Buddhas in stone latticework stupas. Bronze sculptures of Buddhist figures made after the 8th cent. continue the style of Borobudur. In the 11th cent. rock-cut reliefs continue the Javanese sculptural tradition. With the advent of Islam in the 15th cent., figural sculpture was abandoned and ornamentation of mosques took over the Indonesian interest in architectural embellishment. Modern Indonesia has taken a renewed interest in traditional crafts and art forms.
See B. Groslier, The Art of Indochina (1962); H. Munsterberg, The Art of India and Southeast Asia (1970); A. K. Narain, ed., Studies in Buddhist Art of South Asia (1986); P. Rawson, The Art of Southeast Asia (1990).
See also Sanskrit literature; Chinese literature; Japanese literature; and drama, Western.
Sanskrit drama is part of Sanskrit literature, the classical literature of India, which flourished from about 1500 B.C. to about A.D. 1100. The earliest extant critical work on Sanskrit drama is attributed to Bharata, the legendary formulator of the dramatic art in India. That work, the Na ya-sastra (c.2d cent. A.D.) is relatively late but could be a reworking of a much earlier version. References to the drama and to dramatic criticism in the work of the grammarian Panini constitute a more certain indication of an early date for Sanskrit drama. The earliest-known Sanskrit playwright was Bhasa (c.3d cent. A.D.) while among the most renowned were Kalidasa, Bhavabhuti (c.8th cent. A.D.), and King Harsha. Few Sanskrit plays survive, perhaps due to the limited size of their exclusively aristocratic audience as well as to their antiquity.
The Sanskrit plays were performed in palaces and, as in all Asian drama, the performances were highly stylized in terms of gesture and costume, and music and dance played a significant part in them. To the Westerner, Sanskrit plays would probably seem overladen with religious and supernatural elements. However, they are also firmly grounded in the real world, which often forms a positive contrast to the negative aspects of the supernatural; the plays of Kalidasa convey a sense of the natural world with a fine simplicity, whereas those of Bhavabhuti depict a more grandiose nature.
It is undoubtedly the religious influence that explains the happy endings occurring in all Sanskrit drama. Love and heroism are the two most common sources of emotion in the plays, although there is a frequent infusion of a sense of wonder produced by the supernatural elements. Indeed, some plays are almost totally concerned with the supernatural (Kalidasa's Vikramorvasi) while others treat political and historical topics (Kalidasa's Malavikagnimitra). Another type is represented by Mrcchakatika, attributed to the legendary King Sudraka, which concerns ordinary people and is profuse in exciting, melodramatic incident.
Sanskrit drama later developed into a didactic form of religious allegory represented by the Prabodhacandrodaya of Krsnamisra (11th cent.). The language of Sanskrit drama alternates between prose and lyric poetry. Since Sanskrit is a literary language, it is used only by important characters; inferior characters speak in the vernacular known as Prakrit.
The classical Chinese theater developed during the Yüan dynasty (1260-1328). Springing from story cycles made familiar by professional storytellers, Yüan plays relied for their appeal on romantic or sentimental plots. During the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) the drama utilized the plots of popular novels. Until the 19th cent., Chinese drama was not spoken; it was a mixture of music and declamation. Like the Sanskrit, Chinese drama avoids tragedy as that term is understood in the West. However, it is frequently infused with pathos, often involving the deaths of women.
Although acting style, character types, stage properties, and other external features of Chinese drama are highly conventionalized, there is great narrative freedom in the plays themselves. Often they are replete with Confucian ethical precepts, propounded with rigid didacticism. Many of the plays, however, embody a Taoist mysticism that runs counter to Confucian influence. Chinese drama is more social and less concerned with romantic love than is the Sanskrit. Family and country are frequently regarded as of more importance than the individual.
In contrast to the Sanskrit, Chinese drama was written for a popular audience, and dramatic performances took place in virtually every village. There are many Chinese plays extant, ranging in mood from pathos to farce. Among the masterpieces of Chinese drama are The Injustice Suffered by Tou F by Kuan Han-ch'ing, The Western Chamber by Wang Shi-fu, and The Orphan of the House of Chao by Chi Chun-hsaing (all 12th-15th cent.); The Peony Pavilion by T'ang Hsien-tsu (16th cent.); and The Palace of Long Life by Hung Sheng (17th cent.).
In the West, Chinese drama has traditionally been regarded as an entertainment rather than a serious art form. There are several reasons for this judgment: first, the formlessness of Chinese plays, as, for example, Hung Sheng's Palace of Eternal Youth (1688), a play in 49 scenes without any act divisions; second, the spectacular nature of Chinese drama, which relies heavily on music, song, acrobatics, mimicry, and costuming; and third, the preponderance of stock characters, such as the comic drunk.
In Chinese drama no attempt is made at realism; props and scenery are symbolic (for instance, a flag represents an army); the property man is present on stage; characters at times directly address the audience. Often only parts of plays are performed, or scenes are performed in arbitrary sequence. Since the early 19th cent. the Beijing opera has been the dominant force in the Chinese theater. After World War I a realistic, spoken drama, patterned after Western plays, developed, but after the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949 the theater (except on Taiwan) devoted itself to political propaganda until the 1990s.
The Japanese No (or Noh) drama stands in stark contrast to both the Sanskrit and the Chinese. No plays are very short, virtually plotless, and tragic in mood. Performances of No plays are highly stylized, and they move at an extremely slow pace, often stretching a text of two or three hundred lines into an hour-long stage play. Such performances integrate singing, speech, instrumental music (three drums and a flute), dancing, and mime into a unity in which no single element dominates. Wooden masks are used by the principal character, women characters, and old people.
The No drama was developed in the 14th cent., bringing together elements from the earlier sarugaku [monkey music] and dengaku [rustic music]. Its invention is attributed to Kanami Kiyotsugu (1333-84), while his son Zeami Motokiyo (1363-1443) brought the No to its peak of refinement. Zeami was also a playwright who produced such classics of the No drama as The Well-Curb and The Lady Aoi. There may have been thousands of No plays written, but only about 250 are still performed. The language of the No is highly concise and symbolical. Quotations from Chinese and Japanese poetry are included to give the works a traditional basis; they are often central to the theme.
The setting is usually limited to a single place of extreme importance to the main character. All the actors are male. The plays center around a single character called the shite. Of secondary importance is the waki, who is often a priest and who serves as a foil to the shite. Both the shite and the waki have one or two attendants. There is also a chorus whose sole function is to sing. Frequently the chorus sings the lines appropriate for the shite, while he dances or mimes the action. It is common for characters to speak lines that seem meant for another character or to finish up another character's speech; finally, a character may speak of himself in the third person. The effect of these devices is to objectify and universalize what otherwise is a highly emotional and personalized experience.
The usual form of the play is to present two manifestations of the shite. In the first part the shite presents a false or disguised appearance. In the second part he presents his true or spiritual self. The No stage is a plain platform about 20 ft (6 m) square with a walkway leading from the back of the stage to the greenroom. The musicians are placed at the back of the stage, and the chorus is on the right. The positions of all characters are very precisely set, as is the stylized movement on stage. Developing about the same time as the No was a type of short farce known as the Kyogen. The Kyogen are placed between No plays as comic relief. They do not use music, take about 20 min to perform, and are broad in their humor.
In the 16th and 17th cent. two forms of drama developed in Japan that have since surpassed the aristocratic and difficult No drama in popularity; they are the Ningyo-shibai [marionettes] and the Kabuki. The Ningyo-shibai reached its peak in the 18th cent. with the work of the playwright Monzaemon Chikamatsu; both it and the Kabuki show similarities to the No in their integration of movement, music, and language. Also, like the No, the Kabuki uses only male actors, even for female roles. However, both the Ningyo-shibai and Kabuki place greater emphasis on excitement and conflict in the plot.
The Kabuki uses more characters than the No, features much stage action as opposed to the stately, slow movement of the No, and avoids the use of recondite symbolism and allusion that frequently make the No a puzzle. The most popular play in the Kabuki repertoire is a revenge play entitled The Treasury of Loyal Retainers. One interesting facet of Kabuki, perhaps reflecting its popular origins, the Kabuki stage is marked by a walkway (hanamichi), which extends from the stage into the audience and to the back of the auditorium. The Kabuki, both in classical and modernized form, continues to be popular in Japan while the No is restricted to a few theatrical groups and is often obscure even to Japanese.
In the 20th cent. the Japanese have produced many Western plays, but their influence on Japanese drama has not yet been significant. The contemporary novelist Yukio Mishima wrote some No plays that, with their modern setting and pessimism, are far different in spirit from the originals.
See F. Bowers, Japanese Theatre (1952); J. J. Brandon et al., Studies in Kabuki (1978); A. Waley, ed., The Nō Plays of Japan (1922, repr. 1957); H. W. Wells, The Classical Drama of India (1963) and The Classical Drama of the Orient (1965); A. C. Scott, ed., Traditional Chinese Plays (3 vol., 1967-75); M. Gunji, Kabuki (tr. 1969); D. Keene, ed., Twenty Plays of the No Theatre (tr. 1970); L. C. Pronko, Guide to Japanese Drama (1973); I. Sekhar, Sanskrit Drama: Its Origins and Decline (1977); T.-C. Hsu, The Chinese Conception of the Theatre (1985).
International organization established by the governments of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand in 1967 to accelerate regional economic growth, social progress, and cultural development and to promote peace and security in the region. Brunei became a member in 1984, Vietnam in 1995, Laos and Myanmar (Burma) in 1997, and Cambodia in 1999. ASEAN became a leading voice on regional trade and security issues in the 1990s; in 1992 member nations created the ASEAN Free Trade Area.
Learn more about ASEAN with a free trial on Britannica.com.