Tun Sun

Tun Sun (Chinese: 頓遜) or Tian-Sun or Tien-Sun (Chinese: 典遜; Thai: เทียนสน) or Tu-k'un/Tou-k'ouen/Ch'u-tu-k'un (都昆), later Lang-chia or Lang-ya-hsiu (郎伽/狼牙脩, หลังยะสิ่ว) was a group of five ancient Mon political entities, stretching from present-day lower central Thailand to the Kra Isthmus in southern Thailand and Tanintharyi Region of Myanmar. It existed from the 1st to 6th centuries CE, and was said to have stretched from the east to the west coast, controlling a vital branch of long-distance maritime trade between the India Ocean and the South China Sea. It was also one of the earliest Indianized-states in Southeast Asia.

Tun Sun/Tian-Sun/ Tu-Kun/Lang-ya-hsiu (頓遜/典遜/都昆/狼牙脩) (เทียนสน/หลังยะสิ่ว)
52 CE–c. 6th century CE
Territory of Tun Sun (1st-6th centuries CE) and the neighbors. Dark Green: Territory before gaining independence from Funan, proposed by Lawrence Palmer Briggs in 1950; Light Green: As Lang-chia, territory expanded after gaining independence, proposed by George Cœdès in 1924
Capital	Pong Tuk or Nakhon Pathom
Religion	Buddhism Brahmanism
Historical era	Proto-Dvaravati era
• Established	52 CE
• Subdued by Funan	Before 245 CE
• Dependency of Funan	Before 245 – Late 5th century
• Gained Independence and became Lang-chia	Late 5th century
• Sent the first embassy to the Chinese court	515 CE
• Disestablished	c. 6th century CE
Preceded by Succeeded by Mon city-states Dvaravati Pan Pan
Today part of	Thailand Myanmar

Map of the ancient port city of Khao Sam Kaeo, one of the earliest settlements in Tun Sun territory (est. 4th century BCE), showing the four hills that make up the settlement. Red lines denote earthen walls at the site.

Beads found at Khao Sam Kaeo, an archaeometallurgical crossroads for trans-Asiatic trade route.

Tun Sun remained independent until it was seized and became a vassal of Funan in the 3rd century CE, at least before 245 CE. Tun Sun disappeared from history about the beginning of the 6th century CE, when new principalities of Dvaravati emerged in central Thailand.

The Kingdom of Lang-chia or Lang-ya-hsiu was probably the succeeding state of Tun Sun since its first embassy, sent to China in 515 CE, claimed that the country was founded around 400 years earlier but gained independence at the end of the 5th century. Several scholars speculated that Lang-chia is situated in lower central Thailand, probably the same territory as Tun Sun. Lang-chia additionally sent embassies to China in 523 and 531. Cœdès proposed that Lang-ya-hsiu expanded its territory eastward to modern Chanthaburi province in eastern Thailand where it bordered with Chenla.

Southern Lang-chia later joined Pan Pan in the south, while its northern territory became Dvaravati and the colony of Lavo Kingdom after merging with Chin Lin following the decline of Funan in the mid-6th century. Previously, Lang-ya-hsiu was expected to be Langkasuka but according to the location provided in the Chinese text written in 636, it would be situated at the modern lower central Thailand.

Etymology

Since Tun Sun was partitioned among five monarchs, the etymology of the name given by the Chinese is highly relevant: the number "5" in the ancient Mon Nyah Kur language, spoken by thousands of ancient Mon Dvaravati Nyah Kur people, is pronounced Chuun, while Duinr means "kingdom, country". This has been interpreted to mean that Tun Sun was a confederation of five territories. It also incidentally corresponded with the legendary state of Suvarnabhumi, claimed by Thai scholars to exist from the late 2nd century BCE to 2nd century CE in modern central Thailand, which consists of five king cities in the upper Malaysian peninsula, including Suvarnabhumi (the present-day old town of Nakhon Pathom), Ratchaburi, Mueang Sing, Phetchaburi, and Tanintharyi, probably with another crown dependency, Lamphakappa Nakhon (ลัมภกัปปะนคร, present-day Lampang) in the north.

Location of Tun Sun

Even the exact location of Tun Sun remains unclear. Still, scholars suggest that it was likely on the upper Malaysian peninsula, possibly near Pong Tuk (พงตึก) in modern Kanchanaburi province or Phra Pathom area in the old town Nakhon Pathom in central Thailand, which was dominated by the Mon people in the respective period. The Chinese reported that Tun Sun is located more than 3,000 li from the southern frontier of Funan. Its territory covered 1,000 li in width stretching from the east to the west coast with the political center situated 50 li from the sea. Its border with the northern neighboring entity, Chin-lin, was ill-defined, but probably not far above the present-Mergui-Tanintharyi Region, while the south encountered the kingdom of Chü-li (Takola; speculated to be Pan Pan) near the Kra Isthmus.

Other scholars, a Singaporean Han Wai Toon and H.G.Q. Wales, on the other hand, suggests that Tun Sun might probably situated at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula near the village of Johor Lama in Johor, Malaysia, but the presupposition was rebutted by Paul Wheatley due to lacking evidence to support the ancient flourishment.

Roland Braddell proposed that Tun Sun was rather less than one-quarter of the distance from Chü-li, which Braddell believed to be Kou-chih of Kole polis in present-day near Kuantan of Malaysia to Funan according to the text given in Lo yang chia lan chi about the Bodhibhadra's voyage states that Tun Sun was some thirty days' sail from Funan and eleven days northwards from Kou-chih. This corresponded with a Thai scholar Ruangyot Jantrakiri (เรืองยศ จันทรคีรี) who said Tun Sun was founded in 52 CE and was situated in the present-day Na Tham sub-district (ตำบลหน้าถ้ำ), Yala province, in deep south Thailand. However, several historians confirmed that the area mentioned by Jantrakiri was probably Chi Tu.

Lang-ya-hsiu location misinterpretation

The earliest and most detailed description of the kingdom comes from the Chinese Liang dynasty (502–557) record Liáng Shū, which refers to the kingdom of "Lang-ya-xiu" (Chinese: 狼牙脩, Middle Chinese: lɑŋ ŋˠa sɨu). The record mentions that the kingdom was founded over 400 years earlier, which made its founding likely sometime in the late 1st or early 2nd century. According to Liangshu, "Lang-ya-xiu" was 30 day journey from east to west, and 20 from north to south, 24,000 li in the distance from Guangzhou. This caused Paul Wheatley to speculated that Lang-ya-xiu was Langkasuka (Chinese: 凌牙斯加/龍牙犀角; Ling-ya-si-jia/Long-ya-xi-jiao), which was located in modern-day deep south Thailand, and his assumption has been continued by many scholars to the present day. However, according to the location of Lang-ya-xiu given by a Buddhist monk, Yijing, during his journey return from India to China in the late 7th century, Yijing particularized the location of the polities in modern mainland Southeast Asia from the west-east direction and Lang-ya-hsiu was said to be in the east of Sri Ksetra and the west of Dvaravati, Chenla and Champa. Therefore, modern Thai scholars suggest that Lang-ya-xiu was probably situated at the present-day lower central Thailand, west of the ancient Dvaravati, corresponded with George Cœdès who proposed that Lang-ya-hsiu once expanded its territory eastward to modern Chanthaburi province in eastern Thailand where it bordered with Chenla.

However, due to the overlap in territory claimed in the aforementioned Chiese text written by Yijing and the area that was expected to be a Funan's dependency, Tun Sun, together with the story given by Lang-ya-hsiu's embassy to the Chinese court regarding the state establishment and gaining independence as well as the disappearance of Tun Sun from the historical record at the beginning of the 6th century, Lang-ya-hsiu was speculated to be the successor state of Tun Sun and later evolved to or merged with Dvaravati.

Politics and society

Tun Sun period: 52 CE – 6th century CE

The political structure of Tun Sun is difficult to ascertain. It hosted a colony of South Asians including over 1,000 Brahmans. It was mentioned in the 3rd century CE in the Nan-chou I-wu Chinh, a Chinese in which it is noted that the people of Tun Sun practiced intermarriage with Brahmans from India who were, reportedly, very pious. Five hundred families of hu (胡), who were believed to be Mongol and Tartar tribes from Central Asia as well as two (hundred?) fo-t'u were also present in the country.

In contrast to Funan, the people of Tun Sun disposed of the dead by allowing birds to consume the flesh. The bone was then burned and placed in an urn, and thrown into the sea. Cremation was another common method of disposal. Tun Sun also produces perfume and body powder from more than ten kinds of flowers, which can be grown domestically throughout the year.

Although the city was most active in the 3rd century CE, Tun Sun is mentioned in the Chinese text the Liáng Shū written in the 6th century describing Tun Sun as a “stepping-stone in the ocean,” and “the market where East and West meet” –suggesting it was situated on one of the most important trade routes across the peninsula and attracting merchants from both India and China. It was visited daily by more than 10,000 merchants, with trade relationships stretching from the Gulf of Tonkin to India and Partia. The Liáng Shū relates a story of an Indian named Kaundinya visiting Tun Sun and receiving a divine message that he was to rule Funan and went on to do so. The story is the famous myth of the later Khmer Empire.

Tun Sun was partitioned among five monarchs, implying that some higher form of political organization than that of a simple tribal society. The kings of Tun Sun are called K'un Lun.

Archaeological sites

• Khao Sam Kaeo (4th century BCE – 5th century CE)
• Kha Mao Yee, Kawthaung District, Myanmar
• Khu Bua (6th – 16th centuries CE)
• Ban Don Ta Phet (est. 6th century BCE)
• Mueang Kamphaeng Saen (7th – 11th centuries CE)
• Thung Setthi Stupa (8th – 10th centuries CE)
• Pong Tuk (est. 1st century CE)
• Old town Nakhon Pathom (est. 1st century CE)
  • Phra Pathommachedi
  • Phra Prathon Chedi
• Old town Ratchaburi (est. 4 century BCE)

Citations

External links

• "The Golden Land: Suvarnabhumi" (PDF). Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 May 2024. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
• Peeravit Koada; Sanhanat Deesamutara (2024). "Examining trade routes through the Thai–Malay Peninsula: A simulation analysis". The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology. doi:10.1080/15564894.2024.2335624.