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2. Between myth and reality |
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Tonle Sap: Source of Lives |
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History, for most Cambodians, is legend. Such legends combine fact with fiction and reinforce the togetherness of the people. Below is the most famous one, about the origins of Cambodia… How was Cambodia born? In very ancient times, mythical serpents called Naga were the first inhabitants of the Khmer territory. Cambodia was then called Kok Thlok, or "the land with a tree," because only a holy mountain with a tree on top was visible above the water. The legend says that once upon a time a Hindu prince called Preah Tong was chased away by his father. The prince soon reached Kok Thlok island, where he fell in love with Soma, a female serpent from the "lunar" dynasty. Her father, the king of the Naga, approved the wedding. He drank the water surrounding the holy mountain and offered the couple the newly-born territory. So was founded the Kingdom of Cambodia. Woman prevails over man If you go to Kompong Cham, you'll see Phnom Srey (the female hill) and Phnom Pros (the male hill). These two hills embody the opposition between Woman and Man and are respectively associated with water and land, which are often mentioned in legends. In the Khmer culture, water (Woman) symbolizes fertility and has command over land (Man). Phnom Srey is symbolically bigger than Phnom Pros! How was Cambodia Indianized? The influence of the Indian culture on Cambodia is clear, but do you know how this happened? For thousands of years, Cambodia was isolated from the rest of the world. Then India and China discovered Southeast Asia when they began trading with each other by sea. The travellers and pilgrims soon found they had to stop for six months on land, waiting for the monsoon wind to change. There they traded precious metals, gems, spices and ivory, while the Indian culture peacefully expanded little by little. It's interesting to see how important a role nature played in the "indianization"of Cambodia. The process actually lasted hundreds of years and an exchange was always maintained between Indian ideas and local customs. Today, you can still recognize many elements borrowed from India in Khmer classical literature, architecture and even language! What was the kingdom of the mountain? Funan was one of the great powers in Southeast Asia until the middle of the 5th century. The name is a Chinese translation of the old Khmer word bnam, which means "mountain" and is written as phnom today, so Funan stands for "the kingdom of the mountain." The inland capital city was close to a port called Oc-Eo, the current Vietnamese town of Ha Tien. Like many of its neighbors, Funan was a major trading center with considerable naval power. The Funanese were seagoing people and very skilled at irrigation, so their power was definitely water-based. Later on, an Indian king brought Buddhism and Hinduism to the Khmers and "indianized" the society. Then from the 6th century, Funan disappeared from Chinese records… "Water"and "land" Chenla In the second half of the 6th century, Chinese sources began to speak of a Cambodian kingdom called Chenla. How ironic history can be: before gaining control over Funan, Chenla was its vassal! The legendary importance of the ocean and the mountain is also confirmed, as the kingdom was split into two parts, known as "water"and "land" Chenla. Water Chenla covered what is now the southern half of Cambodia and the Mekong delta, while Land Chenla was located to the north. The kingdom's capital, named Sambor Prek Kuk, was established near the present-day city of Kompong Thom. Compared to the Funan period, there was a move inland, yet still by the Mekong river. In the 8th century, Chenla broke up into several small kingdoms after a naval attack by its Javanese rival…Java where the founder of the most prestigious Khmer empire, Angkor, was meant to come from! [next] |
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