Jujube and the truth behind the liberation of Siam

The entrance of the alley leading to my house used to be the deserted land, full of wild plants. Beside the entrance was a giant jujube tree, aged for decades. It was giving a shade for many people passing by or waiting for the bus, and was the habitat for many birds. Nowadays, that waste land is renovated to be some construction site. Of course, all wide plants are eliminated include that jujube tree. Now the birds have no home and the locals have to endure the sunlight while they’re waiting for the bus. The “development”, which destroys old ones to create new ones, is absolutely no “development” but “degeneration”.

It’s a big waste thing; including the historical fact that jujube is related to the liberation of old Thailand known as Siam. Now the Siam descendants easily destroy the symbol of liberation, which their ancestor created with their flesh and blood

Jujube or Ziziphus jujuba, also known as Chinese date due to the way Chinese people preserve it.

The ripe fruits are dried and seed detachment, giving the dark-reddish and wrinkle dried fruit the look resemble the dates. In Thailand, it is called “Put-shar”, which was derived from Sanskrit word “Patara”. This fruit is famous for using as blood tonic and diuresis.

Jujube took part in the liberation of Siam in the era of King Naresuan the Great of Ayutthaya Kingdom. In the book called “the statement of Kun Luang Ha Wat”, which is an annals told by one of Thai hostage in Bago, the former capital of Myanmar, informed that during the Elephant War, King Naresuan’s elephant is weaker than the elephant of Bago’s first prince (or Minyekyawswa) so he fled until he reached jujube tree. Using the tree to support his body, King Naresuan’s elephant fight back Bago’s elephant. King Naresuan, using this chance, killed the Bago’s first prince on his elephant’s neck and ending the Elephant War. This winning is the beginning of the liberation of Siam from the ruling by Bago.

The ElapHant War mural, Wat Suvandaram, Ayutthaya province
credit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/WatSuvandaramMural.jpg

From this sentence, jujube was announced to be the important tree in Ayutthaya province. Nowadays, around 800 of jujube tree, cultivated since a hundred years ago, are preserved in the place called Jujube Historical Garden in Ayutthaya province.

However, do you mind, especially all patriotism, if I tell you that those mentioned statement is merely a folktale, because this book is partially fiction! Not the pure “historical fact”.

The truth is the book called “the statement of Kun Luang Ha Wat” is a copy version of the book in the Royal library called “The annals translated from Mon language” by a man name K.S.R. Kularb. Because copying the book of Royal library is forbidden and illegal in that time. Mr. K.S.R Kularb, fearing the law punishment, modified the information from the original book so he can claim that his copy wasn’t from the Royal book. The problem is, the modified information is massively incorrect from the truth. Even King Rama V had a speech about this book as “ridiculously confusion”. In the end, the government had to publish another copy of “the statement of Kun Luang Ha Wat” and named it “the statement of Kun Luang Ha Wat (Government version)” to correct the false information from K.S.R. Kularb’s version.

The detail in the Elephant War between King Naresuan the Great and Bago’s first prince in other annals is different from K.S.R. Kularb’s version of the statement of Kun Luang Ha Wat. For example, in the book named “the statement of the old capital’s people”, which published by the Government, informed that King Naresuan’s elephant fled into forest full of jujube trees and support his body with termite hill located in that forest. After fighting back the elephant of Bago’s first prince. King Naresuan found a chance and killed the first prince on his elephant’s neck, ending the Elephant War. This winning is the beginning of the liberation of Siam from the ruling by Bago.

Now we know the truth behind the liberation of Siam. So the jujube is the key item in the liberation or just the side dish, we let you to decide what you want to believe.