Journal of the Siam Society; 44

Table of contents :
JSS_044_1a_Front
JSS_044_1b_Black_LoftySanctuaryOfKhaoPhraVihar
JSS_044_1c_Reviews
JSS_044_1d_Back
JSS_044_2a_Front
JSS_044_2b_Spinks_SiamAndPotteryTradeOfAsia
JSS_044_2c_Wales_OriginsOfSukhodayaArt
JSS_044_2d_PadmeswarGogoi_PoliticalExpansionOfMaoShans
JSS_044_2e_KachornSukhabanij_WasNamThomFirstKingOfSukhodaya
JSS_044_2f_Reviews
JSS_044_2g_Back

Citation preview

VOLUME XLIV Part 1

April 1956

THE

JOURNAL OF THE

SIAM SOCIETY ( JS S)

,/ BANGKOK

2499

With the Compliments of Jvfr. J.J. 13 oeles 1Jec 1996

--·---·--·----' .-

,

{ \

~ABLE

OF CONTENTS

VOLUME: XLIV PART 1

APRIL 1856

Page

John Black,

1

CJ1euiews

33 Ot~muodge,

G, Coerles, Inscl'i Jllion8 rht

Volume VI (Erik Seidenfaden)

Lawrence Palmer H1•iggR, Thr• Ann'rmt Khme·r !Cm]Yire (.I ..T. BrwlPS) H. G. Qnaritch Wales, 'l'h!! J1onntain of C1od, a 8t2trly

·i11

Er~rly

Uez.igion and Kingsh?:Jl ( Ohrwlcs Nolson Spinks) Prem Ohaya, The 8tm·y of !(hun Ohct·l) Khun Phan, Book 1 (D.)

Frrtnce-A.s·ie,

numt~t·o

sp{·cial, nnv,-M,c., 19Gf> (D.)

Cf{eceT!li cSiamese C]Jublicatirms

uy

tho '1' hi1·d Admin?:st?·rttiue Section

177.

'Phe Memento iss1tad

17R.

The lliemento issued by the F'm.wth Administ1·ative 8 ect£on

179.

;1 111emento of the P1·om:nce of J;oey

180.

A Summctry of the Activ·ities of the Ministry oj Agric2tltw;e

181.

Phra Sri VisndclhivOI.)S, the Rev., Five Thousand Yea1· of the Buddh1:st Em

182.

Khamvilai, Ch., 'Jihe Centenary of 8undorn Bhu

INTRODUCTION

The sancLmtl'Y which formK tlte snhjecl of. Lltis :tl'Lic1e has, after centuries of oblivion, commenced to attract world notice in the last half cenLnry or so. ArchcolngislR certainly, an1l I?rench colonialists, have known of it before others. Phra Vihar is !liKtingnished for its majestic ensemble and situation, towering, as it does, over the Cambodian plains from the highlanr1s of Siam. It is still difficult of access from the Siamese side, and is still more so from the Cambodian, where the steep promontory on whieh it is perched is practically inaccessible except through Siamese territory.

The approach to the sul>ject by the author is that of the explorer more than the archeologist. M1·. Black has of eonrse hail wide travelling experience which entitle!l him to his Fe 1lowsbip of the Royal Geographical Society of Gl'eat Britain. 'l'he attention he pays to what seems to be extraneous i11formation in the form of legend and tradition deserves commendation. Legend and tradition have helped in the past to solve problems of sd Y{Lsodha-

the capital eity, lmt fur a short period, nntil the Uith century. Legend has it that be bec:tme a leper and retired inCo seclusion. f:\nfficp it to say that. he meTits a plaee besitle the great kings of the Knmbnja period. rapura which t•emainell

Hi.i.jendravannan II who eamc to powPr in 9~·1 took Phra Vihar out of the. light ul'ick constt•nction pet•ioll to the mixed material, using laterite. 'l'his nsherl:l in the early transition period, the beginnin!-{ of the move towards the classic style. 'l'he time was one as if groping after new forms. Five kings l'll!i~d lwtween Yasov:n·man I and Hajendmvat'man II. It. was a time of dynastic struggles but the latter's reign was peacefnl anr1 prosperons. 'l'hQ extent of his kingdom bordered on the north Lhe mountains of Yunnan, on the west, the range east of the Salwel•n forming the hack bone of the Malay Peninsula to the Bny of Bandon, and on the· snnth the Chinn Sea and Gulf of Siam. Jayavarmnn V's reign fru111 9ti8 to 1001 saw tile iutrodnclion of sandstone, of which there is a plentiful supply iu the vicinity, in the constt·nction at the mountain sanctnaJ•y, An outstanding feature of Khmer history is the prominent par~t played by families devoted to religions matter~. Matl'ilineal snccession is recogr)ised and the conlinnity of these· ministers, regardless of the ruling king, played a very important l)art. in preserving a high standard in al·Chiteetnre and orJ\ab:itmtal scrl.IJ5t ut·e. · Suryavarma!1 I, the conquering alien and Buddhist, came to power abnntl005 and reigned nntill050. He was pet·haps the greaiest

or uH the··ancient Otttnhoditil1

Kitlgs.

His strength lay \n balanced

22

john Black

judgment and religions tolerancP.

He conquered Lonvo and it

held for two centuries, until its conquest by the Thai.

\\'US

He began

tho KhmL"t'isalinn of the Ohaophya, Meklong and Se Mun Ya!Jeys. Above all, his work endured. This ruler made the greatest. contri. bution to our mountain ensemble. He bnilt the "palaces'' at the north end of Onurt III, where many inscriptions were .l'onnfl, and constrneted the l'Hmpant Naga bitlustracle of the Northern approach. Then followed a transitory period when i:leveral kings Hilted acros:> the stage of Khmer history, contributing little to our snb.iect, It was Suryavarman II who reigned during the first hal.l' of

the 12tlt centurj and particularly this king's great 7

{/'lt?'tt

and minis-

ter, Divalmrapandita, who put the final tonches on the monastery after which it seCJms to have been abandoned and neglected. 'l'his 1·oign saw tho Style of Angkor Wat emerge. Silryavarrnnn Il was a great builder as well as a war1•ior an!l religious reformor.

It was

em·ly in his t'eign that the greatest and best preserved monument of Khmer history, Angkor Wat, was started.

It is to an inscription

found at Phrn Vihar that we are alJle to trace somethiug of th'e echoes of the construction of the crowniug glory of Khmer architecture after five hmH.It•ed years of steady and continuous development. It may be asked how such information is available to ns-the answer is simple! lt was the custom to recor'l by inscription l'eigns and feats of t.he Kings of Kambuja, as well as the building of temples and gifts offererl to gods.

'l'hey were composc•cl by learned

It was not; so simple, however, to translate their Sanscrit and Khmer texts; for this, a great debt is due to Professor Ooerles, a past president of this Society anrl an outstanding savant of Indo. Chines'" history, fn·chae-ology, philology and literat.ure. men deeply versed in the sacred books of India.

The Outlook From The Cliff Edge At Khao Phra Vihar, 600 Metres Above Sea Level . Looking eastward from this summit of vtmlage, the observer is impressed first. by the forest covered ridges of: the Daugrek Chain anu then l.Jy the incised valleys which •sepamte these spms AS far

THE LOFTY SANCTUARY OF KHAO PHRA VIHAR

23

as the eye can .see, a series of ridges clam in ate the seenE:1 to the finger or pap promontory, the well-known topographic feature of the Dangrek, which projects beyond all others into the Cambodian Lowlands. The ridges or promontories reach their highest point, withont exception, at the southem extremity or' mountain wall' in Khmer terminology. Pllt'a Vihar, while

Some are lower than the cliff edge at Khao others are undoubtedly higher. 'l'he striking

thing, however, is that these promontories are the cnlminalion of a gentle slope from the Se Mun Valley in the north, maximum at the southern tip of the projection. the appearance of a giflnt saw with uneven teeth.

rising to thd1· The terrain bas In some places

the space between the teeth takes the form of a valley, higher than the plain, but through which tracks have been marle to provide for the coming and going of people and their animals in this marginal area.

A number of promontories

facing

south are outstanding

because of the precipitous nature of the cliff-face on which bare rock outcrops are unable io support. vegetation.

This view outstrips in

grandeur all others from the lofty :-mmmit of Kbao Phra Vihar. Again, fl'om the same vantage point looking i:louth ovl'J' the great plain of Cambodia, there is a 500 metre drop here which i,; almost breath-laking. 'l'he day was beautifully clear and the visual distance was fully 100 kilometres. Such days without ha;:e are rare but just. at tho 0nd of the rainy season is the time of the year to visit the mountain sanctuary.

'l'he carpet of forest green spread

over the slightly undulating plain represents a vast area of vegetation at its best after the monsoon

drenching.

villages may be seen in the middle vivid green rice patches.

OI'

In t.be near distance

sheltering at the edge of

It is a view possibly nmivalled in its

scope for sheer uuobslrncted vision.

Hoads nnd rivers cannot be

seen bnt away on the sonthern boriwn Phnom Kulen is quite clear aud again to the south-west is a more broken range beyond which is Angkor and the Tonie Sap. Looking west, the topographical pattern is similar to the east, but the view is obstructed by a high promontot·y close to Khan Phra Vihar summit. 'l'he featUl'es are a series of promontories stret-

] region, the middle Mekong, and this may have been .a powerful

influence

on Yitsovarman l in laying the

foundation of this Sivaite temple on snch a rare site. Nev'ertheless,·

THE LOFTY SANCTUARY OF KHAO PI-IRA VIl-lAR

2tJ

there seemH no doubt from its setting, the direction in which it is orientated, and its remoteness from what must have been the struggling and toiling life on the plain, that Phra Vihar was a mountain retreat, a sanctuary for meditation where quietness pre" vailed.

Herein lies the romantic in onr temple at the summit. For two hundred and fifty years the kings and priestly

hierarchy of this Indo-Khmer civilization, one of the greatest empires that Asia has ever known, found it necessary from time to time to retreat to the quietnes!:l of Khao Phra Vihar. Above all, it was for this reason that such a remarkable site was chosen. Much harought up with information concerning the Ol'ganisation ancl lt list of the personnel of t.he 2nd Army Oorptl with its nuclenwl an(l nt.lwr monochromes of China and t.he snl1duecl shades and designs of Sawanlmlnk were fully in keeping witlt .Japan•·se aesthetic stnndarcls. Moreover, in .Japan as elsewher11 in the East, tea h:w been trndit.itnlally assooiatHd with cnramie8, anll the nse of LnZlill waJ·c•s fell' thiK pnrpose repl'PSPntetl w:ithe1· an innovation 11or anything mmAnal. \V ere

We have anothet• t~ven mot·e si;.Jnifiennt. eontempot•ary recm•tl

of Japanese tt'fHlP in t,llfl so-calleLl Ln:n until modern

tim teuce of friendly rcdati1mS bt.:tween the Lwo eunntries. Moreover, the destruction of Pagan was a blessing tu the Mao ldngdom, enabling it to extenu it:>

1m!Januell

inllueuee into Burma.

JTrum long before Kublai Kl1au's invasion of 'l'a-li the 'l'hai tribes bad been rnigra ling to the sont.h, following t.he courses of the great rivers like the 1\Iekong and the Menam Chao Phya, forming t:lettlements in ·what iH now Siam but what was then part of t.he Klnnet· empire. Cert.ain Thai states came into existence in Siam . We are,in peace up to this time, so we m.ust always be on friendly terms." ·This possibly refers to the :western pqundary of Mao-Lung beyond which the independe~t bro~her princes were ruling with whom peace and amity were maintained. 'J'he old King Chao 'l'aiplung offered his daughtf;lr Nang-mong-blok~ kham-sl).eng h~ marriage to Chao Cbangnen, It appears from the ~bove acconnt that at that time Mong-1\[ao was a feudatory sta~~ within the kingdom of Mao.Lnng which extet~decl up to t,l1e Namkeo on the west, Mao-Lung was simply M(;ng Mao J.,nng, the. great country of the Mao Shans. According to the Hsen Wi Chronicle, in those clays Chao 'l'aiplung ( Sao Tai Pong of the Hsen Wi Chronicle) governed the whole of the Shan States except Mcing Mit,Mong Yang (Mohnyin. ), Kare Wong Hso, M(ing Kung Kwai Lam; Mong Kawng (.Moganng ), and Mi1n Maw ( Bhnrno ), which were independent of him and were governed by Sao Hkun Kom of Sung Ko. · In this connection we cannot rely on the dates as given by the translator of the Chronicle. Chao Taiplung's capital was the golden city of Haen Se. Parneoplung suffel'ecl from hysteria an.cl after ruling for seven years oommittecl suicide ·by outting his throat witlt a luHt!d 011 the history of the :neighbouring eount.rieH of · lhiH period.

In 'l'h imwt•ipt.iintique. awl M1e Amel'icau Orienhd Society, the name of Nam '!'hnu.t appears 110\'tn' to httve he en rm·ntionell again. On L' ::;cholars a 1u1 historians have also followed Western 8cholars and hist;orians by keeping umte. Yet :Nam 'l'hom wa.s undonht,edly a real historical per::;on, rnling over Snkhodaya. ::lome t hil-ty to fort.y ynn t•s l1efore the Eomuling of tho P'm Ruaug tlyllaHty.

In 1924, when Pro:f'essnJ• CoedeR pnbl ished hi:> ltl8cri:ptirm de S ltkhoda.yn, Premiln·e part,ie, we ha \'e at ou 1' ([ isposal onr 'L''ai version of the inscription, aud al:>o his French tntnslat,iun, l'q:mrt. from the small OtT OJ' he 11wd e in tlu~ case of u~:~ing· "grand~wu" for the con·eet worrl '' Hl'phew '', we still have his illmWnHe work 11pon which tn lm:'-1E' tht•. reconst.1·uc:t.irllt of our l't·p- P'r·n H.nang Snkhodnyn.

From the Frt~neb trltnslatioll of this Wat Sri .Jhum illscript.ion (called in tho li'1·ench rntrt the "Yat l\[ahadhatu '' inscription) we learn thnt Nam 'fhom was his T'ai name, wit.h the title of P'oh K'nn. ur big chief, :111 nf popnlation growth to maintain m1 iuereasing Pxportahle snrplns.

In allllost

L'll thP

with t, hvsn devdopnlPnls and. conl:u•gt~

t'Xlc•nsion ol' traiiSJlOI'latimJ

l'aeilities, the gt·nwlh of foreign tr:ule, banking and insmance, anfits al1(1 if:ied fal'ming,

adequnle il'l·igatiun programs, and otbL'l' impr·ov••uwnts cumfortahly maintain a popnlatiu11 of 100 rui Ilion l!lay seem a ratllPr frightening look into the futur1~, the fad remains. as Pt·ofessPI' deYoung emplHt-

sizes, that as 'l'hniland's population CDntinues to grow, so

Ctln

her rice

pt·oduction, and it. is his considered vie\V that, "for the next half century at least, thL·re i:; no 1lnnger that Thailand will snfl'er ft·om pnpnl;1tion pressure; rather, tilt· rever·so will he true, for the standard of living of the peasant shnul1l l'ise as his nnrnhers increase.'' So far, in the unt.lwr'~ opinion, tbe changes inhereut in nu Pxpanding economy have not yet. funda;nentally alt.erecl the basic life of the village cnmmnni.ties.

Conseqnent.]y, it i::; significant to

note the author's fi na] cone! nsion that "'l'hai peas:m t society shows none of the signs oJ' disintegration llntt. are so nftL·n evident \Vhon

a peasant gronp is brought rapidly into contact \Vit·h llHHlemization and 'vVesterui~nt.ion,"

Wt' can 8ee such Llisintegl'lltiun, often wHh

disastrous cnnseqncnce::;, in some other Asiuu countrieH.

It. wunld

appear, therefore, that in their Mganization, trn,Jilions, and easy and ad aptahlc way of life, the Thai village com m u nitiPs possess an

unusual resilieney which may, it is hoped, c•nable thnm to presrrve tht~ir integrity and community values in the face of a changing wodcl.

Charles Nelson Spinks Miguel Cov arrnhirtH, 'l' he Eagle, the J agun1·, ctnd the 8e1•pent. I nd£a-11

Ncwth Amrw·ica.: AltMlca, Canada (/.nd tlw Alfred A. Knlipf, New York, 195'1. 29!L pages,

A·1·t of the Am.erir:as.

United 8/.ntes. i]]nstrated. Miguel

Covarrubias needs no intJ•oduction to stmle11ts of

S11nt.lu•ast. Asi:J. hecause of his ma.gnifif'.r•nl Island of l:Jali ( 1\):38 ).

Ib1

Rli:VIEWS

This gifted Mexican artist fltld anthropologist has, since publishiug;

Mexico 8tHlth in 1946, dovoLed his efforts to the ethnic and cultural buckg't'otmcl of tlw pre-Columbian Americas. 'rhe volnme is not only a monument to Covarrubias' scholarship ancl humanistic approach to the

snbjc~ct

nf splentlid

hut it is also a

!Hlok~makin:J.

tl'ibutl~

to the publisher as an example

'I'ho work is lavishly supplied wit.h cl!·aw-

ings, nmps, snmpluOtl8 color platl's, and photogmphs. Headers of the Jutu•twl will llnc1 Chapter I, Origins of the

Amet'ill.ll1 In.lians, lluvering

pa~ field.

While a

tmrtisan to neither oi' t11ese contiicting schools oi' thonght, Covarrubias, howev(Jl·, presents some we\ghty e'!idence t.o support cultmally if uot. etlmieally a Pacific and Eastern Asian origin.

In t1oing so he

has. of cuurse, leane1l heavily upon the wo!'l{s of snob n0tetl seholars as Rivet, Gladwin and Heiue-l1Plclem. He pr·esents a most sl:aptling list nf art mot.i [sand cultural cnnc·ept!:l which arc common to Eastern Asia (including mneh of

tht~

Pacifie) nncl the Americas,

'l'be list

inclncles sneh things as the hilatot•al splitting nf animals in art designs; the ruo~e of totemic posts; the placi11g of eyes

H!Hl

faces on

t.hl\ jo1nts nnd ha;ncls in pidlll'l'l:l of the hnmun figut·c'; tlte widespread .Malt.al't"f J.not.if; bird, feline, and S!:!rpt~nt cults; the carving of jade

and the lore at.tached to this stone;

funerary monnds of earth;

masks tot• th8 cl ead; tnrquoise and feather

m6S!~ics;

the nse of lacqnet•;

st.t'iking simi.lat•ities in pottery fechniqnes and styles; and the making

oE bark cloth (tapa).

Orio of the most. t•emarkable of all these

similarities is the nse o£ the sn-ealled '' hocker" motif, namely, a figure with arms and legs outstretched in frog fashion-a circum-

Pltcifie al't element which has l1een typicftl of early China, Malaysia, Melanesia and PolyneHia. AmericliS.

Its use was, of conrse, widespread in the

IUW ll•; W S

l.'i2

Uovat·t·uliia 01 It as done

llJUelwlar a1Hl writer. The first ·l9 pages of Lhe book are of particular interest, fot· in this seeliou the authoJ' outlines the ethni. Butltl!tists" is perhaps the most interesting in the hook; it is also one of the most nsefnl. fur it brings together from a great many

miscellanemJs al1ll often inaccessible sources the complicated and at times bewildering stnt·y of internal developments over the past decade u I' so in Cam linclia, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, inclucl ing the uetiviLie~ of siwll new pnlilicnl groups as the Viet Minh, the Cambodian dissidents, and t.hc Patltet Lao, the problems raised by genups of people from one of tht>se conut.des residing within t.he bnnndaries of another, such as the Vietnamese in Northeast 'rhai land, the IH'e8ent-day pu::;it.ion of (;he val'ions Thai pouplc•s in 'l'ongkiug, au . l final!~' Lhe appeal'ancc ol' the so-crdlerl "'l'hai Autonomons Arl'!l '' in southern Yilnnau. While this uhHpter seems to stray sornuwllat frum what we might generally rogarrl as minority problems, tho anthot'8 huve perfor•rned a real se1·viee by pt·eparing it i11 Ruch detail without snerificing elarity. Fin