27 - 28 APRIL 2000
THE HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS
4th Euro-Japanese Symposium
On 27 and 28 April 2000 the fourth Euro-Japanese Symposium on Mainland Southeast Asian History took place at one of the seminar rooms of the Koninklijke Bibliotheek in The Hague. Some 25 scholars from eight countries met to discuss the topic: Mainland Southeast Asian Responses to the Stimuli of Foreign Material Culture and Practical Knowledge.
By BAAS TERWIEL
After the opening by Professor Wim Stokhof, the first morning was devoted to general, region-encompassing topics. The keynote speaker, Sunait Chutintaranond, drew attention to problems in using traditional conceptual frameworks and warned against the loose use of imperialist models. He drew attention to the importance of the indigenous local perspective in acculturation processes. Renee Hagesteijn's paper on the introduction of new weapons and their effect on Southeast Asian warfare served well to illustrate Sunait's chief thoughts. Eiichi Kato then analysed the history of shipping and Japan's closing off in the seventeenth century. Yoshiaki Ishizawa re-examined foreign influences under the labels of Indianization and Sinization.In the afternoon, three speakers addressed Siamese history. John Guy examined the trade of cotton goods between India and Siam over many centuries. Baas Terwiel showed that a group of Thai intellectuals in the 1830s was keenly interested in European inventions and that this helps explain later Thai history. Henk Zoomers reported on two Dutch diplomatic missions in the 1820s.
The second day began with three papers on the history of Myanmar. Than Tun provided an overall assessment of the role of Europeans, ranging from the introduction of new methods of warfare to the importation of many different plants. Anne-May Chew traced European style elements in the Temple complex of Po Win, and Guy Lubeight discussed the role of Ledi Seyado in the formation of Burmese resistance against the British.
During the final afternoon, two papers were presented on Vietnam. First, Nguyen The Anh reported on Vietnamese factions interpreting European influences, showing the different local strategies that were used. Frederic Mantienne analysed the role of fortress building and naval developments in Vietnamese history.
David Wyatt and Ralph Smith served as discussants, taking up general points from earlier symposia, stimulating debate and bringing in their personal experience. Altogether the fourth Symposium proved to be for all participants a most welcome occasion to continue earlier debates from previous meetings, to exchange new information, to test hypotheses and to bring all participants up to date with regard to developments in mainland Southeast Asian history. The papers were of high quality. The conveners were asked to prepare the contributions for publication.
It was decided to continue the series of symposia with a meeting in London, to be held in approximately eighteen months' time. The next theme was chosen to be Ceramics and Society in Mainland Southeast Asian History. *
Professor Baas Terwiel,
Leiden and Hamburg University
E-mail: or4a011@nw01.rrz.uni-hamburg.de