A Record of Cambodia: the Land and Its People Free Ebook

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Only one person has given us a first-hand account of the civilization of Angkor. Very little is known about Zhou Daguan. He was born on or near the southeastern coast of China, and was probably a young man when he traveled to Cambodia by boat. After returning home he faded into obscurity, though he seems to have lived on for several decades. Earlier English versions depended on a French translation done over a century ago and lost much of the feeling of the original as a result. An introduction and extensive notes help explain the text and put it in the context of the times. Choice Outstanding Academic Title Chosen by the Choice editorial staff, these titles are awarded for their excellence in scholarship and presentation, the significance A Record of Cambodia: The Land and Its People their contribution to the field, and their value as important—often the first—treatment of their subject:. This translation is the first to present this material in English directly from the Chinese, and not via older French translations of the original. As such, the style is lively and engaging, and the text is surrounded by useful notes and commentary by translator Harris Univ. An introduction by David Chandler helps place the translation in context. Although of direct relevance to students seeking to know more about what Angkor was like long ago when kings, citizens, and slaves lived there, and when everyday life took place as normal around its buildings, the book also has much to offer readers generally interested in ancient worlds and civilizations. A nice selection of color photos supplements the text and helps orient readers to what this traveler, Zhou Daguan, may have seen in Maxim, University of California, Berkeley. Cart: 0 Log in or Create an account Menu. Home About Us Silkworm Books. Mekong Press. The Publisher. Contact Information. Review Copies. Manuscript submissions. Tax Invoice Request. Distribution in Thailand. International Distribution. Payment Methods. Shipping Methods. Discount Codes. Thailand Culture. Treasures from the Past Series. Environmental Studies. Islam Islam in Southeast A Record of Cambodia: The Land and Its People Series. NIAS Press. Year published : Pages : pp. Size : 14x21 cm. Share this item:. Pin It. Default Title - Cambodge: The Cultivation of a Nation, Cambodia — A Record of Cambodia: The Land and Its People – Silkworm Books

Zhou's account is of great historical significance because it is the only surviving first person written record of daily life in the Khmer Empire. The only other written information available is from the inscriptions on temple walls. It is not certain when it was completed, but it was written within 15 years of Zhou's return to China in However, the work that survives today is believed to be a truncated version, perhaps representing only around a third of the original size. The Ming version was described as "muddled and jumbled up, six or seven tenths A Record of Cambodia: The Land and Its People it missing, barely constituting a book at all". The Yuan dynasty original is no longer extant, and the surviving versions appear to be largely based on the truncated Ming version. Texts from the book were collected in various other anthologies. A major modern Chinese versions of the book is an annotated edition, which was compiled by Xia Nai from variants of the text found in 13 editions, completed in and published in The work A Record of Cambodia: The Land and Its People written in classical Chinese ; however, there are occasionally words and sentence structures that appear to have been influenced by Zhou's Wenzhou dialect. Pelliot's translation is highly regarded and it formed the basis of many later translations into other languages, for example the English translations by J. Harris worked in Cambodia for many years and included modern photographs and maps directly relating to Zhou's original account. The book gives descriptions of Yasodharapurathe capital city at the center of Angkorand everyday palace life and protocols. It also describes A Record of Cambodia: The Land and Its People customs and religious practices, the role of women and slaves, trade and city life, agriculturethe Chinese in Cambodia, and other aspects of society in Angkor. The descriptions in the book are generally considered to be accurate, but there are also mistakes, for example the local Hindu religious devotees were described erroneously by Zhou in Chinese terms as Confucians or Daoistsand the measurements of length and distance used are often less than exact. On the Royal Palace: [13]. All official buildings and homes of the aristocracy, including the Royal Palace, face the east. The tiles of the main dwelling are of lead. Other dwellings are covered with yellow-coloured pottery tiles. Carved or painted Buddhas decorate all the immense columns and lintels. The roofs are impressive too. Open corridors and long colonnades, arranged in harmonious patterns, stretch away on all sides. On Khmer Homes: [1]. The dwellings of the princes and principal officials have a completely different layout and dimensions from those of the people. All the outlying buildings are covered with thatch; only the family temple and the A Record of Cambodia: The Land and Its People apartment can be covered in tiles. The official rank of each person determines the size of the houses. On a royal procession of Indravarman III : [14]. When the king goes out, troops are at the head of [his] escort; then come flags, banners and music. Palace women, numbering from three to five hundred, wearing flowered cloth, with flowers in their hair, hold candles in their hands, and form a troupe. Even in broad daylight, the candles are lighted. Then come other palace women, bearing royal paraphernalia made of gold and silver Then come the palace women carrying lances and shields, A Record of Cambodia: The Land and Its People the king's private guards. Carts drawn by goats and horses, all in gold, come next. Ministers and princes are mounted on elephantsand in front of them one can see, from afar, their innumerable red umbrellas. After them come the wives and concubines of the king, in palanquins, carriages, on horseback and on elephants. They have more than one hundred parasolsflecked with gold. Behind them comes the sovereign, standing on an elephant, holding his sacred sword in his hand. The elephant's tusks are encased in gold. On the king's wardrobe: [1]. Only the ruler can dress in cloth with an all-over floral design…Around his neck he wears about three pounds of big pearls. At his wrists, ankles and fingers he has gold bracelets and rings all set with cat's eyes …When he goes out, he holds a golden sword [of state] in his hand. On the women of Angkor: [1] [15]. The local people who know how to trade are all women. So when a Chinese goes to this country, the first thing he must do is take in a woman, partly with a view to profiting from her trading abilities. The women age very quickly, no doubt because they marry and give birth when too young. When they are twenty or thirty years old, they look like Chinese women who are forty or fifty. Zhou's account is very useful for determining that the 1st month of the Khmer calendar was "kia-to", called Karttika. None of the Khmer inscriptions uses month numbering, but of the three systems used later in Thailand, Karttika was called month 1 in parts of Lanna and was also sometimes so numbered in Laos. The astronomical new year, on the other hand, began in what would have A Record of Cambodia: The Land and Its People numbered month 6 Caitra. This equation is confirmed when Zhou Daguan says he does not understand why they intercalate only in their month 9. On the scale being used here the 9th month is Ashadha, the only intercalary month in Thailand and Laos. Ashadha is better known as 'month 8' since that is its Southern Bangkok equivalence. The inscription record between AD and AD is very patchy, but such records as survive from the first part of this interval appear to favour the older system of reckoning, suggesting that Zhou Daguan's informants were at the time of his visit in the minority. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. A Record of Cambodia. Translated by A Record of Cambodia: The Land and Its People Harris. University of Washington Press. Indiana University Press. Zhonghua Book Company. Bijdragen tot de Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde. Angkor: Eighth Wonder of the World. Cognoscenti Books. The Customs of Cambodia in Chinese. Categories : Chinese classic texts Travel books Books about Cambodia 13th-century books Yuan dynasty literature Chinese non-fiction books. Hidden categories: CS1 Chinese-language sources zh Articles containing traditional Chinese-language text All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from November Namespaces Article Talk. Views Read Edit View history. 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Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Only one person has given us a first-hand account of the civilization of Angkor. To this day Zhou's description of the royal palace, sacred buildings, women, traders, slaves, hill people, animals, landscapes, and everyday Only one person has given us a first-hand account of the civilization of Angkor. To this day Zhou's description of the royal palace, sacred buildings, women, traders, slaves, hill people, animals, landscapes, and everyday life remains a unique portrait of thirteenth-century Angkor at a time when its splendors were still intact. Very little is known about Zhou Daguan. He was born on or near the southeastern coast of China, and was probably a young man when he traveled to Cambodia by boat. After returning home he faded into obscurity, though he seems to have lived on for several decades. Much of the text of Zhou's book has been lost over the centuries, but what remains gives us a lively sense of Zhou A Record of Cambodia: The Land and Its People man as well as of Angkor. In this edition, Peter Harris translates Zhou Daguan's work directly from Chinese to English to be published for the first time. Earlier English versions depended on a French translation done over a century ago, and lost much of the feeling of the original as a result. This entirely new rendering, which draws on a range of available versions of the Zhou text, brings Zhou's many observations vividly and accurately back to life. An introduction and extensive notes help explain the text and put it in the context of the times. Get A Copy. Paperbackpages. Published October 18th by Silkworm Books first published January 1st More Details Original Title. Other Editions 9. Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about A Record of Cambodiaplease sign up. Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Community Reviews. Showing Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Sep 27, Hermes rated it really liked it. Occidentalism made in China Chinese sailors do well by the fact that in this country you can go without clothes, food is easy to come by, women are easy to get, housing is easy to deal with, it is easy to make do with a few utensils, and it is easy to do trade. They often run away here. Likely Zhou visited the Khmer kingdom as a member of a team that trav Occidentalism made in China Chinese sailors do A Record of Cambodia: The Land and Its People by the fact that in this country you can go without clothes, food is easy to come by, women are easy to get, housing is easy to deal with, it is easy to make do with a few utensils, and it is easy to do trade. Zhou's report is the only contemporary source about life in the Khmer capital what is now called Angkor Thom, but then called Yasodharapura that we have. Zhou must have spent about a year in and around the capital of a country that was already in a phase of slow decay. Originally, the report must have been about three times as long as the version that remains today. It also seems to A Record of Cambodia: The Land and Its People in disarray: its 40 sections are of differing length and are not really logically connected. Although you cannot compare it to a modern day CIA country report, the tone of the document is mostly factual with short sentences, rather than evocative. A Record of Cambodia: The Land and Its People we may expect it contains an overview of export and import products as well as animals and plants. The military information is very limited, it notes however that the Khmer king's army seems to have little or no strategy or preparation for war. The king is the paramount leader and presides over a system of servitude where he oversees the construction of temples, monuments and lakes, as well as the disbursement of land and resources. The legal system must have been quite libertarian. Many conflicts were left to the two parties involved, and no criminal inquiry took place when a dead body was found. Corporal punishments did not occur, but in certain cases noses or toes were amputated. He also has a keen eye for the life of Khmer citizenry. Khmer citizens live in a stratified society where many families have about slaves, who live below the house. Houses have no tables, chairs, jars, or buckets. Zhou also states that the Khmer used no saws, but chiselled planks with axes. The people are very clean, and wash themselves very often. Unlike the Chinese however, they do not use loo paper. As the excellent introduction helps explain, Zhou as a A Record of Cambodia: The Land and Its People of Chinese culture must have found Khmer culture inferior to that of the Middle Kingdom. And not unlike the Victorians, he shows a keen interest in Khmer sexual culture. He tells how Chinese men like to go and view Khmer women bathing in rivers, and how Khmer women seem to have their virginity taken by Buddhist monks or important Hindus pandits? Whether in such a case these males just use their hand he cannot clarify. Many of the practices Zhou describes A Record of Cambodia: The Land and Its People still be found around Southeast Asia today or could be found there until relatively recently. Bare breasted women could still be seen in Bali until a few decades ago. Women use medicine to make their private parts smaller after child birth, which is a practice still found in Javanese jamu. Elite women are confident and mobile they ride chariots and elephants A Record of Cambodia: The Land and Its People, and women do all the trading in markets, as is still quite the practice in Southeast Asia today. People bow to the ground when the king passes. Zhou also describes how king Indravarman III surrounded himself with Theravada Buddhist monks, hindu pandits,and Shivaite priests, as the Thai king still does. The king did not only wear a crown suggestive of tantric power vajradharahe also spent the night with a nine-headed snake spirit A Record of Cambodia: The Land and Its People is lord of the earth and the country. Each night the spirit turned into a woman and slept with the king. Unfortunately, Zhou also inspired the Khmer Rouge. At least here there seems to be a similarity to Maoist China. On the brighter side, now in more Chinese than ever visit the ruins of Yasodharapura and the surrounding temples. Every day dozens of tour groups march through Tah Prohm, where tour group leaders scream in their megaphones that this is were Angelina Jolie stood in the first Tomb Raider movie. The lure of the Khmer empire is alive and well in China. View 2 comments. Mar 12, Betty Ho rated it it was amazing Shelves: south-east- asiatravelhistory. This short record by Zhong Daguan - a 13th century Chinese traveller - helps us to put the ruins of Angkor into context. A must- read for those who are heading to Cambodia. View 1 comment. Jan 27, Bernie Gourley rated it really liked it. One can get a feel for A Record of Cambodia: The Land and Its People vast and impressive Angkor was by way of the restorations, its artwork, and even the lay of its rubble fields. Zhou spent almost a year at Angkor during His report was translated into French during the 19th century, and all the English translations in existence had been based on the French not the original Chinese i. This edition, however, was translated directly from Classical Chinese by Peter Harris. The other pages include front matter, graphics, appendices, and notes. However, this should not be taken as criticism. Each chapter is themed by some element of Khmeri life during the era. They include coverage of how people dressed, the nature of slavery at Angkor, what the buildings looked like in their glory days, sexual practices, agriculture, trade, local flora and fauna, and eating practices. I learned a number of intriguing facts such as that fireworks displays were a regular event, runaway slaves had their faces tattooed blue, and the only ones not all allowed in Angkor Thom were those who were missing a toe s removal of digits was a punishment back in the day. Zhou has a great curiosity with the sexuality of the Khmeris, which was a great deal more liberal than that of China. Zhou does report on matters where the Khmeris looked down on Chinese practices as uncivilized e. On some cultural differences, Zhou comes across as mocking the Khmeri ways e. Jun 23, Nadiya rated it it was amazing Shelves: cambodiahistorytravel. A rather unique book based on the records of a Chinese merchant from his trip to Angkor Empire in the 13th century. At times it was difficult to follow the descriptions and visualize the details. But overall it was an absolutely fantastic and fascinating experience. 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