Interesting to note how the early Tai’s social environment with their underlying animistic folk beliefs led to a favourable view on the status of women, certainly by contrast with the inferior view of women among their Chinese and Indian neighbours.
Because of the Tai expansion into unchartered regions, establishing village life meant that everyone in the nuclear families played an important role in rice agriculture, fishing and gathering of forest products.
Because the region was underpopulated, labor was highly valued and women enjoyed a relatively high social status… In determining inheritance, for example, equal value was accorded to the maternal and paternal lines, and sons and daughters usually received equal shares of their parents’ estates.
– David Wyatt, Thailand: A Short History, p.3
In the establishment of villages, the livelihood and sustenance of the people are important because they provide the much needed labour force. But in the worldview of the Tai people, being aware of the well-being of spirits is equally important as these spirits have the power to aid or harm them. Thus, ceremonies and offerings of food towards these spirits are crucial. How then is the role of Tai women heightened?
Women frequently were believed to have a special power to mediate between human beings and the spirit world, and they were called upon to heal the sick or change unfavourable weather.
– David Wyatt, Thailand: A Short History, p.3
It will be valuable to observe the roles of women today among the Tai Yuan communities. Do Tai women still hold a heightened status in work? Or have things shifted to the other extreme where work and sustenance for the family is solely the role of women?
How about in terms of religious ceremonies? Are we still seeing more Tai women active in adhering to religious ceremonies, seeking for Truth. If that is still the case, how does that impact the way missions is done to these communities?
A Million Rice Fields ล้านนา 