Read the passage and answer the question that follow.
In Northern Laos, on the Xiangkhoang
Plateau, one can behold the Plain of Jars,
which appears to be a prehistoric cemetery.
In 1930, archaeologist Madeleine Colani
published her conclusion that the jars were
coffins, based on her discovery of human
remains in some of them, plus personal
artifacts that might be buried with a body.
Interestingly, some of the jars are massive,
suggesting that the occupant was either
important or was wealthy. Many clusters of
jars are found, implying that those jars are
associated with a specific tribe or perhaps
a large family. A few jars have stone lids
on them. Probably all of the jars once had
lids to protect the body and his or her things
from weather, thieves, and to slow decay.
Laos was used by the North Vietnamese
Army (NVA) as a bypass route (outside
of the Ho Chi Minh Trail) into South
Vietnam during the Vietnam War. The NVA
also supported the Pathet Lao communist
insurgency in the area of the Plain of Jars.
There, they were subjected to repeated
bombing by the U.S. Air Force, and many
unexploded anti-personnel bombs remain in
the area today, always a threat to the local
population and to tourists.
Think for a moment how and why burials
are conducted in the Western world. It is an
admixture of survivors honouring someone,
the ritual of saying goodbye to him or her,
with the functional need of removing the
body. Likely, those things also applied to
the persons placed in the jars. In both the
prehistoric and in the modern burials, some
of those who were honoured created a sham.
Those jars hold the remains of someone who
had the means (wealth, power, influence)
to honour themselves. The other jars may
have held the remains of someone who had
character.
The heart is symbolic of our character, our
soul. Each person’s life, what was done
selflessly during that human life, reflects
who that person was as a member of
humankind. The people who were buried in
jars were people of character and true value.
Character must be built. It does not come
naturally to us.
