History
Luang Prabang is the ancient capital of Lane Xang and is one of the oldest cities in Laos, founded around 1200 years ago. It became the first capital of Laos in the 14th century when King Fa Ngum returned from Cambodia where he and his father were exiled by the previous king, Fa Ngum's grandfather. Fa Ngum had the support of the Khmer kingdom centered at Siem Reap and brought with him thousands of soldiers to assist in establishing his own kingdom. Luang Prabang was previously known as Muang Sawa, but the settlement's name was changed after Cambodia bestowed a precious gold image of the Buddha, the Phra Bang, as a gift. The Phra Bang is today the symbol of the city the Buddha image is on display at the museum. Popular rumor has it that the real Pra Bang image was sent off to the Soviet Union in the 1970s to settle a debt.
Read more about this topic: Luang Prabang Province
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“What has history to do with me? Mine is the first and only world! I want to report how I find the world. What others have told me about the world is a very small and incidental part of my experience. I have to judge the world, to measure things.”
—Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)
“A man will not need to study history to find out what is best for his own culture.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“It may be well to remember that the highest level of moral aspiration recorded in history was reached by a few ancient Jews—Micah, Isaiah, and the rest—who took no count whatever of what might not happen to them after death. It is not obvious to me why the same point should not by and by be reached by the Gentiles.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)