WEAVING INTO CAMBODIA Trade and Identity Politics in the (post)-Colonial Cambodian Silk Weaving Industry John ter Horst Photograph on the cover: ‘Métier á tisser Cambodgien’. Léon Busy (1921). Aix en Provence, France: FR CAOM 30Fi 104/78. ISBN/EAN: 978-90-9023232-4 © 2008 by John ter Horst, the Netherlands All rights reserved. Save exceptions stated by the law, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system of any nature, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the author, application for which should be adressed to the author. ii VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT WEAVING INTO CAMBODIA Trade and Identity Politics in the (post)-Colonial Cambodian Silk Weaving Industry ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad Doctor aan de Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, op gezag van de rector magnificus prof.dr. L.M. Bouter, in het openbaar te verdedigen ten overstaan van de promotiecommissie van de faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen op vrijdag 10 oktober 2008 om 10.45 uur in de aula van de universiteit, De Boelelaan 1105 door Gerhardus Cornelis Hendrikus ter Horst geboren te Harderwijk iii promotor: prof.dr. H. Dahles-Schnetzinger copromotoren: prof.dr. O.J.H.M. Salemink dr. J.G.G.M. Kleinen iv Table of contents Tables, maps and graph……………………………………………………. ix Glossary of silk weaving terms …………………………………………… xi Preface……………………………………………………………………………xiii Introduction: An elder silk weaver at work………………………………17 Cambodian silk weaving: an example of Khmer modernization…………… 20 Traditional modernity……………………………………………………………….. 23 A marginal Chinese narrative……………………………………………………… 25 Towards the next chapters…………………………………………………………. 29 Chapter 1: How to Dress the Khmer?: A theoretical exploration.. 33 Introduction………………………………………………………………………….. 33 Chinese migration to Southeast Asia……………………………………………. 34 The rise of transnational trading and business networks………………….. 37 Identity politics……………………………………………………………………….. 41 Materialism……………………………………………………………………………. 44 The logic of subsistence……………………………………………………………. 48 A traditional modernity………………………………………………………………51 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….. 55 Chapter 2: A Plural Society Against Its Will……………………………. 57 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………… 57 The dominant discourse about Cambodia…………………………………….. 58 The arrival of foreign hegemonizers……………………………………………… 60 Postcolonial processes of ethnic homogenization…………………………….. 63 A painful reality………………………………………………………………………. 66 Flirting with the Chinese again…………………………………………………… 71 Silk weaving: a Cambodian blessing?…………………………………………….74 Chapter 3: Weaving Into Cambodia: Deconstruction of a myth…… 77 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………… 77 The origin myth of the sampot hol ……………………………………………… 80 Sericulture in ‘The Dark Age’ of Cambodia…………………………………….. 82 Sericulture in ‘The Age Of Commerce’…………………………………………… 85 The arrival of the Cantonese silk weavers……………………………………… 91 The arrival of French silk industrials……………………………………………. 98 Buddhists do not kill silk worms…………………………………………………. 100 Competing hegemonies……………………………………………………………… 103 v The 1930 economic depression…………………………………………………… 107 The 1940 Pacific war………………………………………………………………… 109 The revival of the sampot hol ……………………………………………………… 111 The sampot hol : a trauma symbol ………………………………………………. 115 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….. 118 Chapter 4: From Worm to Sampot: Silk producers and traders in Cambodia……………………………………………………………………125 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………… 125 The labor-process………………………………………………………………….... 126 Silk weaving regions in Cambodia……………………………………………….. 131 Silk weaving regions and their specialties……………………………………… 133 Kandal Province………………………………………………………………………. 135 Prey Veng/Kampong Cham………………………………………………………… 137 Phnom Srok…………………………………………………………………………....140 The Tan Chau spinnery…………………………………………………………….. 143 The wholesalers and ‘their’ middlemen…………………………………………. 148 The retailers…………………………………………………………………………… 151 The customers………………………………………………………………………… 159 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………..162 Chapter 5: Dragons United: Ethnicity and trade relationships……. 177 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………… 177 Case-study…..………………………………………………………………………… 178 A feminized business……………………………………………………………….. 182 A female conglomerate……………………………………………………………… 185 Another case-study………………………………………………………………….. 189 The image of the lazy Khmer………………………………………………………. 191 Ethnic saving clubs…………………………………………………………………..195 Patron-client relationships………………………………………………………….197 Mimicry Chinese……………………………………………………………………… 198 Processes of ethnicization………………………………………………………….. 200 The art of gift giving………………………………………………………………….. 203 Strategic marriage……………………………………………………………………. 206 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….. 210 Chapter 6: 100% Khmer, Sir!: Ethnicity and consumer behavior….215 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………… 215 Case-study…………………………………………………………………………….. 216 A multi-layered identity…………………………………………………………….. 219 The Chinese ban on landownership……………………………………………… 221 A Pure Khmer ………………………………………………………………………… 223 Afraid being labeled ‘351’…………………………………………………………… 224 Khmer men do not peddle………………………………………………………….. 227 Can Buddhists become rich?……………………………………………………… 229 vi The myth of a harmonious diaspora ……………………………………………. 231 100% Khmer, Sir!…………………………………………………………………….. 232 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………... 236 Conclusion.……………………………………………………………………. 239 Appendices.……………………………………………………………………. 251 Appendix A : A mobile research approach……………………………………… 253 Appendix B : The CAS silk census………………………………………………. 257 Appendix C: The interviews…….…………………………………………………. 259 Appendix D: An historical approach……………………………………………. 267 References……………………………………………………………………… 271 Samenvatting………………………………………………………………….. 291 vii viii Tables, maps and graph Tables Table 1: Chinese junks from Southeast Asian ports to Japan (1651-1724)……… 89 Table 2: Cantonese in Cambodia by place of origin……………………………………. 96 Table 3: French sericulture investments in Indochina (in piasters)……………….. 104 Table 4: Cocoon and silk yarn production in Cambodia, 1921-1930 (in kg)…….. 109 Table 5: Trade balance Indochinese silk eggs (in100kg)……………………………… 109 Table 6: Time schedule of the weaving process…………………………………………. 129 Table 7: Demographic figures of the silk weavers per region………………………… 140 Table 8: Retailers, stock and customers per market…………………………………. 159 Maps Map 1: Migration patterns Cantonese silk entrepreneurs to Cambodia …………. 97 Map 2: Silk weaving regions Cambodia………………………………………………….. 147 Graph Command pyramid structure of the Cambodian production and silk trade…………………………………………………………………………………… 165 ix x Glossary of silk weaving terms Alkali: a chemical silk weavers use to soften the silk yarn Charobab: An ikat woven sampot with silver and golden metal threads. Cocoon: a pupal casing made by moths, caterpillars and other insect larvae. Dye stuff: natural or chemical materials silk weavers use to colour the silk yarn. Ikat weaving: a silk weaving technique in which the weaver creates various patterns and colours before the weaving process. Kaben: a measure term silk weavers use to indicate the length of the silk cloth. In Khmer lexicon one kaben is about four metres. Kiet: Red, purple or indigo coloured silk head clothes worn by Cham/Malay women Koli: an weight indicator silk weavers use. One koli of silk yarn means two kilogram silk yarn. Krama: a garment with many uses, including as a scarf, bandanna, to carry children and to cover the face. Loom: a machine or device for weaving thread or yarn into textiles. Phamung – a plain woven skirt from Thailand. In Thai language Pha means ‘fabric’ and Mung means ‘purple’. Pidan: a type of silk cloth used in Cambodian weddings, funerals or Buddhist ceremonies as a tapestry. Sampot hol: an ikat woven skirt with a variety of designs such as birds, flowers, Buddha temples, or boats. Sarong: An ikat woven skirt made of silk yarn dyed in different colours. Sericulture: the rearing of silk worms for the production of raw silk. Warping: preparing the warp by rolling all the warp-yarns on to a beam, under the same tension, strictly parallel to each other and in a certain order. Yarn: a long continuous length of interlocked fibers suitable for use in the production of textiles. xi Preface This dissertation has its origins in a 2000 master thesis called ‘Verweven handel – een studie naar de organisatie van zijdeweven in Cambodja’ (Zwart 2000). Conducting fieldwork in Cambodia, Zwart found that the Cambodian silk industry was dominated by indigenous Khmers, the dominant ethnic group in this country. Zwart also discovered that the cloth the Khmer weavers produced, were further distributed to Khmer Diaspora communities in the United States, France and Australia. Prof. Dr. Heidi Dahles was fascinated by the existence of an indigenous Khmer-dominated silk industry departing from Cambodia and crossing borders to Khmer diaspora communities all over the world ( ibid .). Her interest in the Cambodian silk weaving industry was kindled by the expectation to find an economic sector based on Khmer ethnic linkages. Such an economic sector would contest the the idea that industries and business networks in Southeast Asia are often dominated by ethnic Chinese traders and merchants and not by indigenous Southeast Asians. Related to this idea is another dominant narrative stating that many Southeast Asian ethnic groups, including the Khmers,