Tourist Information Laos, Asia
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Lao People's Democratic Republic or Laos, is a country in southeast Asia, bordered by Myanmar and China to the north, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, and Thailand to the west. Laos can trace its history to the Kingdom of Lan Xang or Land of a Million Elephants, which existed from the fourteenth to the eighteenth century.
Laos was founded in the fourteenth century by Fa Ngum, himself descended from a long line of Lao kings, tracking back to Khoun Boulom. Lan-Xang prospered until the eighteenth century, when the kingdom was divided into three principalities, which eventually came under Siamese suzerainty. In the 19th century, According to Chinese tradition, Lao Tzu lived in the 6th century BC. Historians variously contend that Lao Tzu is a synthesis of multiple historical figures, that he is a mythical figure, or that he actually lived in the 4th century BC, concurrent with the Hundred Schools of Thought and Warring States Period. A central figure in Chinese culture, both nobility and common people claim Lao Tzu in their lineage, widely considered the intellectual and spiritual successor of Lao Tzu, had a notable impact on Chinese literature, culture and spirituality. |