SEAMEO-SPAFA Regional Centre for A r c h a e o l o g y and Fine Arts SPAFA Journal is published three times a year by the SEAMEO-SPAFA Regional Centre for Archaeology and Fine Arts. It is a forum for scholars, researchers and professionals on archaeology, performing arts, visual a r t s and cultural activities in Southeast Asia to share views, research findings and evaluations. The opinions expressed in this journal are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of SPAFA. SPAFA's objectives : • Promote awareness and appreciation of the cultural heritage of Southeast Asian countries through preservation of archaeological and historical artifacts, and traditional arts; • Help enrich cultural activities in the region; • Strengthen professional competence in the fields of archaeology and fine arts through sharing of resources and experiences on a regional basis; • Increase understanding among the countries of Southeast Asia through collaboration in archaeological and fine arts programmes. Editorial Board Production Services Mr. Pisit Charoenwongsa Prasanna Weerawardane Mr. Elmar B. Ingles Vassana Taburi Professor Khunying Maenmas Chavalit Wanpen Kongpoon Mr. Zulkifli Mohamad Wilasinee Thabuengkarn Publication Co-ordinator Photographic Services Ean Lee Nipon Sud-Ngam Cover Photographs by Dawn Rooney Printers Amarin Printing and Publishing Public Company limited 65/16 Moo 4 Chaiyapruk Road Talingchan Bangkok 10170 Thailand Tel. 8821010 (30 Unes) Fax. 4332742, 4341385 Note for Contributors Manuscripts could be submitted in electronic form (PC or Macintosh). Related photographs or illustrations and a brief biographical paragraph describing author's current affiliation and research interests should accompany the manuscript. Annual Subscription Rates: US $27 (Air Mail) US $24 (Surface Mail) US $19/Baht 465 (Within Thailand) Cost Per Issue: US $6/Baht 150 Contact: SPAFA Regional Centre SPAFA Building 81/1 Sri Ayutthaya Road, Samsen, Theves Bangkok 10300,Thailand Tel. (662) 2804022-29 Fax (662) 2804030 E-mail : [email protected] SPAFA Journal Volume 8 Number 1 (January-April 1998) CONTENTS In the footsteps of Henri Mouhot A French Explorer in 19th Century Thailand, Cambodia and Laos 5 Dawn Rooney Remembering Dr Ruang 17 Elmar Beltran Ingles SPAFA-ICOMOS as partners, to care for monuments and sites 21 Traditional Theatre in Transition Performances in the Park 25 Gui Wei Hsin NEWS: 29 • Discovery of other temple ruins in Angkor • Infant dinosaur fossils •Holland seize priceless smuggled artifacts •'Cultural Management' Conference SPAFA NEWS: 33 •Cultural Resource Management and Architectural Documentation •ASEAN-JapanMultinational Cultural Co-operation Conferences: Agenda 37 Art on Show 1998 40 Bookmark 49 'A splendid night; the moon shines with extraordinary brilliancy, silvering the surface of this lovely river, bordered by high mountains, looking like a grand and gloomy rampart. The chirp of the crickets alone breaks the stillness.' Henri Mouhot sitting at the foot of a - Henri Mouhot wrote in his tree and drawing; Laos; wild elephants diary on the 15th of July 1861 while (background); servants preparing food (foreground) (Drawn by A. Poccourt sitting at the base of a tree in from a sketch by H. Mouhot) dense jungle on the bank of the mighty Mekong, near the ancient Laotian capital of Luang Prabang.1 In the footsteps of Henri Mouhot A French explorer in 19th Century Author's note: In 1997, I was so Thailand, Cambodia and Laos moved when I visited the site where Henri Mouhot was buried Dawn Rooney that on returning to Bangkok, I re-read his diaries. I was or nearly three years, from 1858 until his death in Laos in 1861, intrigued by this extraordinary Henri Mouhot explored the inner regions of Thailand (known human being, and felt compelled as Siam at that time), Cambodia and Laos. His legacy is a to reflect upon the little-known F detailed and unfinished diary of his keen observations of the places, man. people, animals, insects and shells of the region. Some of his notes are the earliest surviving records of previously uncharted areas. Alexandre Henri Mouhot was born on 15 May 1826, in the French village of Montbéliard, near the Swiss border. His father served in the administration of Louis Philippe and the Republic and his mother was a respected teacher who died when Henri was twenty years old. They had one other child, a son, Charles. Both parents made sacrifices to provide for the education of their two sons. Henri was a Greek scholar and studied philology with the intention of SPAFA Journal Vol. 8 No. 1 5 teaching but he also developed landscapes, distinguished people of Wurttemberg, Countess of interests in the natural sciences and places of architectural inter- Montbéliard and great-niece of and foreign travel at an early age. est. At the outbreak of the the King of Prussia. Although When he was eighteen, he Crimean War in 1854, Mouhot the countess lived abroad, she went to St. Petersburg where he left Russia and returned to his remained loyal to her birthplace taught French and Greek at the home in Montbéliard. and returned to it often. This military academy, and later re- A historical link between historical link was the catalyst ceived a professor's diploma. Russia and Montbéliard may for many natives of Montbéliard Mouhot, who had a facility for explain why Mouhot decided to to go to Russia as private tutors languages, quickly learned Rus- go to Russia. The principality of or soldiers in the mid-19th cen- sian and Polish. In his leisure, Montbéliard was one of the sov- tury. he studied and mastered a new ereign states of the Germanic After a short stay with their photographic process invented Empire in the mid-18th century. father in Montbéliard, Henri and by Louis-Jacques-Mandé In 1776, the future Czar Paul I of his brother, Charles, travelled Daguerre. He took pictures of Russia married Sophia-Dorothea through Germany, Belgium and Portrait of Henri Mouhot, c. 1860 A page from Mouhot's diaries with details of his observations (Drawn by M. H. Rousseau, from a Photograph) on the temple of Angkor Wat. 6 SPAFA Journal Vol. 8 No. 1 northern Italy, introducing the orient. Historians have put forth French Catholic missionaries Daguerre photographic process several factors. He may have serving at interior posts. They through their works of art. The been fulfilling a long cherished offered him food, shelter and so- two brothers moved to England dream to travel to Asia; or his lace, during which time he wrote in 1856 where they both mar- concentration on natural history poignantly of his respites with ried descendants of Mungo when he moved to Jersey may these missionaries: '... have you Park, the famous Scottish ex- have stimu- suffered? If plorer of Africa. Henri married lated his inter- you have, you Annette, who was probably the est in ac- will appreciate granddaughter of Mungo Park. quiring unique the feelings The two families settled on the specimens with which the island of Jersey in the English from the east; solitary wan- Channel where Henri refined his or, perhaps, a derer wel- study of the natural sciences, book, The comes the di- specialising in ornithology and Kingdom and vine cross, the conchology, and renewed his People of Siam: heart-stirring interest in foreign travel. with a narra- emblem of his Mouhot, an educated and tive of a mis- religion. It is cultured gentleman of the mid- sion to that to him a friend, 19th century, seemed an unlikely country in a consoler, a person to want to explore the 1855 by Sir father, a John Bowring, remote interior regions of South- A map to illustrate the Route and brother; at East Asia. Some two years after published in Notes of M. Henri Mouhot. 1859-61 sight of it the 1857, may (Published for the Journal of the moving to Jersey, however, Royal Geographical Society by J. soul expands, Mouhot set out alone for the have inspired Murray, London 1862). and the more east. He sought financial sup- Mouhot's jour- you have suf- port for his travels from both ney. Another possibility is that fered the better you will love it. France and England but was he was influenced by the increas- You kneel down, you pray, you unsuccessful. The prestigious ing French presence in South- forget your grief, and you feel Royal Geographical Society in East Asia in the mid-1850s and that God is with you. This is London, though, did give him the extended territorial rights of what I did.'2 its backing which undoubtedly the French to Cochin-China His beloved dog also afforded boosted his confidence and spir- (south Vietnam) and Cambodia. him comfort and companionship. its as he sailed east to a region On 27 April 1858 Henri 'My little 'Tine-Tine" says noth- so vaguely known at the time Mouhot and his King Charles ing, but creeps under my coun- that it was described on some dog, Tine-Tine, sailed from Lon- terpane and sleeps at his ease.. .I European maps of the period as don for Bangkok, a journey that much fear that my poor dog will 'Beyond India'. took four months. Soon after come to an untimely end, and be arriving he met Bishop Pallegoix It is unknown what influ- trampled under foot by some who put him in touch with other enced Mouhot to travel to the elephant, or devoured at a SPAFA Journal Vol. 8 No. 1 7 mouthful by a tiger'.3 Tine-Tine in Chantaboun, a Chinese pep- fect, but who has not in this ironically outlived his master. per planter offered food and lodg- world? He now and then takes When the French Mekong ex- ing to Mouhot.