The Thammasat University Library has acquired a new book about an important means of protection from rain that has historical, sociological, literary, and cultural significance. Brolliology: a History of the Umbrella in Life and Literature is by Marion Rankine, a London-based writer and bookseller. Umbrellas are folding canopies supported by wooden or metal ribs, usually mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic poles. Yet these objects have a distinguished tradition.

Umbrellas protect us from the rain, while parasols protect us from the sun. The noun umbrella entered the English language in the 1600s, originally derived from a Latin term meaning shade. The noun parasol also became popular in the 1600s in the English language, originating from an Italian term meaning to protect against the sun. Umbrellas may be used on rainy or sunny days, but parasols are not always made of waterproof materials.

As all Thais know, the umbrella has an important history in the Kingdom. The TU Libraries own different editions of a travel account by Simon de la Loubère (1642–1729), a French diplomat, mathematician and poet. Ambassador de la Loubère travelled to Siam in 1687 with five warships, arriving in Bangkok in October. He was greeted by Ok-khun Chamnan Chaichong, a Siamese diplomat who would visit France and Rome on an embassy in 1688, after Kosa Pan. Ambassador de la Loubère’s New Historical Relation of the Kingdom of Siam reported that in the Kingdom, only some subjects were authorized to use umbrellas. An umbrella with two or three umbrellas attached to the same stick was assigned to the King. Nobles carried a single umbrella with painted cloth on it. Monks had umbrellas made of palm leaf, with the stems forming a handle.

All Thais are familiar with the Royal Nine-Tiered Umbrella or Nopphapadon Mahasawettachat, officially known as the Nine-Tiered Great White Umbrella of State. This object of great historical and symbolic significance is a sacred, ancient Royal regalia. A Royal umbrella or chatra has five tiers for a Crown Prince  or Viceroy, seven for an as-yet unconsecrated King, and nine for a full Sovereign. After coronation rites are completed, Kings sit upon a throne under the nine-tiered umbrella.

Ancient traditions

These highly formal traditions join a history that dates back about two thousand years to ancient China, when the collapsible umbrella was first written about. Even earlier, the Rites of Zhou, a work on bureaucracy and organizational theory known as Liu Xin, one of three ancient ritual texts listed among the classics of Confucianism, mentions umbrellas as additions to Imperial cars. The Chinese symbol for umbrella is easy to remember because it looks like an umbrella:  傘 (sǎn). If an ancient Chinese Emperor went out hunting, he was accompanied by as many as 24 umbrellas, carried to protect him from the rain.

Umbrellas are also carried over the heads of Royal personnages in the ancient Middle East, notably in sculptures in Nineveh, an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located on the outskirts of Mosul in modern-day northern Iraq. A King in his chariot is shown with an attendant holding a parasol over his head. No other people in the surviving images carry umbrellas and none have umbrellas carried over them.

In Persepolis, ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (c. 550–330 BC), northeast of the city of Shiraz in Fars Province, Iran, parasols may be seen in carved sculptures. In some of these, a King appears with a servant who holds an  umbrella over his head. In other imagery, a King is on horseback, watching a deer hunt, while an umbrella is carried over his head by an attendant. In ancient Egypt, umbrellas and parasols are shown held over the figures of Kings and gods.

Popularization

By the time of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, fashionable ladies were carrying parasols to protect them from the sun. In ancient India, a legend from the Mahabharata underlined the importance of umbrellas in folklore, almost 2500 years ago. Renuka, the wife of a skilled archer, who used a bow and arrows, had the responsibility of running after the arrows her husband uses to try to kill animals. Once it took her an entire day to find an arrow. She explained that the sun was too hot, and this prevented her from finding it earlier. Her husband was angry at the sun and shot an arrow in its direction. As a result, the sun offered its apologies and presented Renuka with an umbrella. The TU Library owns several different translations of the Mahabharata.

Umbrellas in Thailand today

Many Thais may be familiar with the Bo Sang Umbrella and Sankampang Handicrafts Festival. As reported in January in The Nation, the annual Bo Sang Umbrella and Sankampang Handicrafts Festival celebrates the community that creates Thailand’s most famous umbrellas handmade from saa – or mulberry bark – paper. The festival is usually held each January. Now, Bo Sang umbrellas are made of saa paper, silk, and cotton.

The story is that years ago, a monk named Phra Intha travelled to Burma, where he saw umbrellas made from saa paper, useful against the sun and rain. He brought back the manufacturing techniques to Bo Sang village, near Chiang Mai. Some local style was added to make the Thai umbrellas somewhat different in design and color from the Burmese originals. By 1941, the inhabitants of Bo Sang village had formed a  handicraft cooperative, which still coordinates the annual festival. In 2019, the festival will be held from 18 to 20 January at the Bo Sang Umbrella Village, located at the intersection of Route 1006 and Route 1014, San Kamphaeng, Chiang Mai. Among events are a competition for the most attractive umbrella, and the Bo Sang Beauty Pageant Bike Parade in which ladies from Bo Sang ride bicycles while carrying umbrellas.

According to the website of the Sunisa Umbrella Factory, its workshop is located near Bo Sang Umbrella Village:

Our umbrellas and hand fans are handmade with environmentally sustainable and biodegradable materials. We exclusively use local, quickly renewable bamboo. We make our products in socially responsible and economically fair working conditions. We follow the principles of fair trade. Our umbrellas offer you and your customers trendy and affordable protection from the sun and the rain.

They manufacture traditional oiled umbrellas made with a strong bamboo frame; umbrellas made of mulberry paper and bamboo frames; pressed flowers wedding umbrellas made of pressed flower petals and natural greenery; canvas umbrellas; artificial silk umbrellas; market umbrellas; and other customized items.

Safety precautions

Last year, transportation officials reminded Thai motorbike riders that umbrellas may represent a danger, if not properly secured on motorcycles. Some umbrella structures installed by motorcyclists to protect them from the wind and rain are unstable and might fall off at high speeds. Other umbrellas might cause the riders to lose their balance or block visibility.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)