TERRACOTTA PLATE IN BUDDHA Eastern Asia, 1st millennium AD Thai civilization. Triangular terracotta plaque with a relief depiction of Buddha seated under the bodhi tree. The Thais are part of the Tai peoples who migrated from southwest China and settled in the northern part of Southeast Asia. The first mention concerning the tai kadai peoples is found in some Chinese annotations that date back to the 6th century AD, where they are described as farmers in southern China. The Tai left the places of origin of today's Chinese provinces of Yunnan and Guangxi starting from the second half of the first millennium, driven by the expansion of the Han Chinese ethnic group and the need to find better arable land than those on which they lived. They were masters of advanced cultivation techniques based on the construction of irrigation canals, and the valleys of the Indochinese rivers guaranteed an ideal terrain for agriculture. Western ASIATIC CERAMIC BUDDHA PLAQUE 1st millennium AD Thai Culture. A terracotta triangular shaped figural plaque depicting Buddha sitting beneath the bodhi tree. Height 3.4 cm