A Drunken Bee – Sunthorn Phu and the Buddhist landscapes of early Bangkok

Sunthorn Phu (1786–1855) is an unlikely figure through which to understand nineteenth-century Buddhism in Siam. Despite being described as a “drunken writer” by the court astrologer after his death, he is now the national poet of Thailand. In this talk, Paul Lewis McBain shall explain how his newly-published book A Drunken Bee argues that the irreverent, rebellious, and parodic voice of Sunthorn Phu is an invaluable resource for understanding the Buddhism of early Bangkok.

A wealth of information about the conflicts and contradictions of the religious thought of this period can be found in the ways in which the poet describes his local landscape. Following Sunthorn Phu on his journeys, readers encounter cities of celebration and rivers of sadness; kingly processions, railways, and unruly pilgrims on their way to the Saraburi Buddha Footprint; forests of spirit-guardians; and life-prolonging alchemical materials as well as the semimythical oceans of Buddhist cosmology. All are employed by the poet to make sense of the new, more varied world opening up to Siam in the nineteenth century.

About the speaker

Dr Paul Lewis McBain is Assistant Professor in Thai Studies at Pridi Banomyong Internatonal College, Thammasat University. Originally from Scotland, he completed his graduate education at the Universities of Chicago and Pennsylvania and has published widely on Buddhism’s expressions in Thai art and literature.

Registration

This event free, open to the public, and held in person only. If you would like to attend, please register using the link above.

• Organiser: SOAS Centre of South East Asian Studies
• Contact email: centres@soas.ac.uk 

Image credit: Weichao Deng via Unsplash