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The epistemological shift from palace chronicles to scholarly Khmer historiography under French colonial rule

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 July 2020

Theara Thun
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Abstract

Identifying the role of colonial-sponsored institutions and written texts produced by local scholars, this article argues that, although Cambodian scholars’ intellectual orientation was not necessarily restricted to French scholarship, French colonial rule had played the key role in introducing modern historiography and creating the platforms for the epistemological transition in Cambodia which underwent different categories of knowledge adoption and various projects of translation of local individuals. Capturing the dynamic of the epistemological transition allows us to highlight a broader picture of the interplay between a long-existing body of knowledge and more contemporary scholarship under Western colonisation.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Southeast Asian Studies , Volume 51 , Issue 1-2 , June 2020 , pp. 132 - 153
Copyright
Copyright © The National University of Singapore, 2020

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Footnotes

The author would like to thank Bruce Lockhart for carefully commenting on the content and editing the language of the article since its early drafts until the published version. He is also grateful to Maurizio Peleggi, Maitrii Aung-Thwin, Anne Hansen, and Kathryn Sweet for helpful comments on its early drafts. His sincere gratitude also goes to the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of the National University Singapore, the Harvard-Yenching Institute, and the International Institute for Asian Studies for their generous fellowships. Special thanks goes to the anonymous reviewers and the editor of JSEAS for their valuable comments.

References

1 Important 19th century baṅsāvtār include the palace text of 1869 (École Française d'Extrême-Orient [EFEO] cat. no. P.Camb. 88); the Nupprat(ṇ) of 1878 (EFEO cat. no. P.Camb. 48); and the baṅsāvtār of 1883 (see Moura, Jean, Le royaume du Cambodge, II [Kingdom of Cambodia vol. II] [Paris: Leroux, 1883], pp. 3–183Google Scholar). For earlier scholarship on Khmer baṅsāvtār, see Michael Vickery, ‘Cambodia after Angkor: The chronicular evidence for the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries’ (Ph.D. diss., Yale University, 1977); translated and annotated chronicles can be found in Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge (De 1594 A 1677) [Royal chronicles of Cambodia, 1594–1677] (Paris: EFEO, 1981); Sok, Khin, Chroniques royales du Cambodge: De Baña Yat à la prise de Langvaek, Longvek, 1417–1595 [Royal chronicles of Cambodia: From Baña Yat to the taking of Longvek, 1417–1595] (Paris: EFEO, 1988)Google Scholar.

2 These 20th-century texts include the baṅsāvtār of 1904 (EFEO cat. no. P.Camb. 63) and the baṅsāvtār of 1928 and its edited version of 1934 (Toyo Bunko, Tokyo, cat. no. Reel 69). Most of the 1928 edition was published by Eng Sut in 1969: see Sut, Eng, Eksār mahāpuras Khmer [Documentation of Khmer heroes] (Phnom Penh, 1969)Google Scholar. See further Theara Thun, ‘Baṅsāvtār: The evolution of historiographical genres in colonial Cambodia’ (Ph.D. diss., National University of Singapore, 2017), pp. 67–83.

3 ‘Ther pavatti rapas’ Braḥgrū Thamcariyāvoṅs Et, cau adhikār Wat Damnak [Biography of Breḥgrū Thamcariyāvoṅs Et, abbot of Wat Damnak]’, Kampuchèa Sauriya 1, 1 (1926–27): 35–8.

4 Krasem, , ‘Pravatti braḥ buddhrūp bumb [History of Buddhist votive tablets]’, Kampuchèa Sauriya 2, 10 (1927): 689–96Google Scholar; 11 (1927): 719–27; 12 (1927): 773–81.

5 This Thai edition of Coedès' text was prefaced by Prince Damrong Rajanubhab (1862–1943), and no translator's name was mentioned. See Georges Coedès, ‘Tamnan phra phim’ [Story of Buddhist votive tablets] (Bangkok: Sophon-pipatthanakorn, 1926). I thank Thanapas Dej for helping me search for the original Thai text.

6 Coedès, Georges, ‘Tablettes votives bouddhiques du Siam [Buddhist votive tablets from Siam]’, BEFEO 20 (1925): 29–42Google Scholar.

7 For more discussion about the use of the term in Thai context, see Kasetsiri, Charnvit, ‘Thai historiography from ancient times to the modern period’, in Perceptions of the past in Southeast Asia, ed. Reid, Anthony and Marr, David (Singapore: Heinemann Educational, 1979), pp. 156–70Google Scholar.

8 Chandler, David, ‘Going through the motions: Ritual aspects of the reign of King Ang Duang of Cambodia (1848–1860)’, in Facing the Cambodian past: Selected essays 1971–1994, ed. Chandler, David (Chiang Mai: Silkworm, 1996), pp. 100–118Google Scholar.

9 The most complete early syntheses of Cambodian history by French scholars are Aymonier, Étienne, Le Cambodge: Tome I, II, III [Cambodia: vols. I-II-III] (Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1900–04)Google Scholar and Leclére, Adhémar, Histoire du Cambodge [History of Cambodia] (Paris: Geuthner, 1914)Google Scholar.

10 For studies of Khmer scholars performing this role with other types of knowledge, see Edwards, Penny, Cambodge: The cultivation of a nation (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2008)Google Scholar and Hansen, Anne, How to behave: Buddhism and modernity in colonial Cambodia (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2007)Google Scholar.

11 Hideo, Sasagawa, ‘Post/colonial discourses on the Cambodian court dance’, Southeast Asian Studies 42, 4 (2005): 430Google Scholar. For more about Thiounn, see http://aefek.free.fr/pageLibre00010ca2.html (last accessed 9 Sept. 2019).

12 Dy, Khing Hoc, L'enseignement primaire au Cambodge depuis le protectorat français jusqu'en 1975 [Primary education in Cambodia from the French protectorate until 1975] (Phnom Penh: Angkor, 2014), p. 96Google Scholar.

13 Thiounn, ‘Rīoeṅ gaṃnūr Rāmakerti knuṅthev Braḥ Uposath Ratanarām (Vatt Braḥ Kaev) [Murals of the Rāmakerti in the Silver Pagoda (Vatt Braḥ Kaev)]’, 1903. The manuscript is preserved by EFEO in Paris under cat. no. P.Camb. 142.

14 Ukñā Varvīeṅjăy Thiounn, ‘Seckṭī adhepāy aṃbī Jātaka niṅ paṭhaṃ saṃbhaudh [A description of the Jātaka and a book launch]’, Kampuchèa Sauriya 1, 1 (1926): 69–70.

15 Edwards, Cambodge, pp. 89, 191–2.

16 Thiounn, Samṭec Cauhvā, Danses cambodgiennes [Cambodian dance] (Hanoi: Imprimerie d'Extrême-Orient, 1930)Google Scholar. The Buddhist Institute in Phnom Penh reprinted the book under the same title in 1956.

17 Sasagawa, ‘Post/colonial discourses on the Cambodian court dance’, p. 430.

18 Thiounn, Danses cambodgiennes, p. 30.

19 Ibid., p. 27.

20 Ibid., pp. 27–9.

21 Sasagawa, ‘Post/colonial discourses on the Cambodian court dance’, p. 432. My own study of Thiounn's book leads me to agree with Sasagawa's conclusion.

22 For more discussion on Thiounn's involvement in producing these texts, see Thun, ‘Baṅsāvtār’, pp. 69–75.

23 Dy, Khing Hoc, Suttantprījā Ind niṅ snāṭai [Suttantprījā Ind and works] (Phnom Penh: Angkor, 2012), p. 15Google Scholar.

24 Suttantprījā Ind, ‘Nirās Nagarvatt’, Kampuchèa Sauriya, 6, 7-8-9 (1934): 1–81.

25 Aymonier, Le Cambodge: Tome III, p. 230.

26 Ind, ‘Nirās Nagarvatt’, pp. 50–51.

27 During the 1920s, Ind established himself as the most prominent Cambodian Buddhist scholar who translated and produced a number of Khmer texts dealing with Buddhist philosophy. See Hansen, How to behave, p. 1.

28 Thiounn, , ‘Seckṭī adhepāy aṃbī Dasjātaka niṅ paṭhaṃ saṃbhodh [A description of the ten teachings in the Tripitaka and a book launch]’, Kampuchèa Sauriya 1, 1 (1926–27): 69–91Google Scholar.

29 For a detailed discussion about Karpelès, see Edwards, Cambodge, pp. 186–97; Dy, Khing Hoc, ‘Suzanne Karpelès and the Buddhist Institute’, Journal of Siksācakr 8–9 (2006–07): 55–9Google Scholar.

30 Sasagawa, ‘Post/colonial discourses on the Cambodian court dance’, p. 432.

31 Besides actively participating in numerous translations of French texts into Khmer, Choum Mau was a key member of a commission created to work on the establishment of the first-ever Cambodian dictionary. The first volume was published in 1938 and volume 2 in 1943. See Khing, ‘Suzanne Karpelès and the Buddhist Institute’, p. 56.

32 Finot, Louis, L'origine d'Angkor [The origin of Angkor] (Phnom Penh: Imprimerie Nouvelle Albert Portail, 1927)Google Scholar.

33 ‘Ṭoem kaṃnoet prāsād Angkor [The origin of Angkor]’, Kampuchèa Sauriya 2, 3 (1927): 253–60Google Scholar; 4 (1927): 395–402; 6 (1927): 482–500.

34 A good overview of new perspectives on the Bayon is found in Clark, Joyce, ed., Bayon: New perspectives (Bangkok: River Books, 2007)Google Scholar.

35 Goloubew, Victor, ‘Introduction à la connaissance d'Angkor [Introduction to knowledge about Angkor]’, Bulletin de l'Association française des Amis de l'Orient 4 (Paris: Musée Guimet, 1922), pp. 33–69Google Scholar.

36 ‘Aṃbī ṭoemhetu naikār ṭael bānsgāl prāsād Angkor [Introduction to knowledge about Angkor]’, Kampuchèa Sauriya 2, 11 (1927): 728–49; 12 (1927): 782–99.

37 Henri Mouhot was a French naturalist and explorer who visited the Angkor area in January 1860. His travelogue alerted the West to the ruins of Angkor. See Mouhot, Henri, Voyage dans les royaumes de Siam, de Cambodge, de Laos et autres parties centrales de l'Indo-chine [Travel to the kingdoms of Siam, Cambodia, Laos and other central parts of Indochina] (Paris: Hachette, 1868)Google Scholar.

38 The whole territory around Angkor had fallen under Siam's control by the end of the eighteenth century. In the early 1900s Bangkok returned the territory to Cambodia — more precisely to French Indochina — in exchange for the return of Siamese territory still occupied by France following the 1893 Paknam Incident and the abolition of extraterritoriality for French Asian subjects in the country.

39 ‘Aṃbī prāsād purāṇ nūv sruk Khmer [Ancient temples in Cambodia]’, Kampuchèa Sauriya 6, 4-5-6 (1934): 5–45.

40 Ibid., pp. 7–8. Although Cœdès did not elaborate this point, he was probably responding to claims by other French scholars that those temples could not have been built by the Khmers.

41 Ibid., pp. 7–15.

42 Ibid., p. 33.

43 Those earlier French scholars include Aymonier, whose book published in the early 1920s mistakenly depicts the royal city of Angkor Thom being built during Yasovarman's reign between the 980s and the 910s. See Aymonier, Étienne, Histoire de l'Ancien Cambodge [History of ancient Cambodia] (Strasbourg: Nouveau Journal de Strasbourg, 1920), pp. 83–106Google Scholar.

44 In 1944, the Royal Library announced the passing of Choum Mau, at the age of 44. See ‘Bidhī pūjāsab Ukña Choum Mau [Funeral of Ukña Choum Mau]’, Kampuchèa Sauriya 16, 9 (1944): 459–63.

45 Coedès, Georges, Kaṃbūl sṭec kruṅ Kampuchea: Jayavarman VII [A great king of Cambodia: Jayavarman VII], trans. Choum-Mau (Phnom Penh: Bibliothéque Royale, 1935)Google Scholar.

46 ‘Aṃbī vidhī kǎsāṅ prāsād Angkor Wat [The building of the Angkor Wat]’, Kampuchèa Sauriya 8, 5 (1936): 75–98.

47 Coedès, Kaṃbūl sṭec kruṅ Kampuchea, pp. 50–56.

48 ‘Aṃbī vidhī kǎsāṅ prāsād Angkor Wat’, Kampuchèa Sauriya 8, 5 (1936): 77.

49 Ibid., pp. 75–6.

50 ‘Dharmdesnā rapas‘ lok Kuṃmaṅdaṅ Robert aṃbī Buddhsāsnā nau srok Dīpe [Lecture of Commander Robert on Tibetan Buddhism]’, Kampuchèa Sauriya 1, 1 (1926–27): 63.

51 ‘Rīoeṅ Mahābhārata: [Story of the Mahabharata]’, Kampuchèa Sauriya 2, 3 (1927): 285–6.

52 ‘Paṭhkathā braḥ Damrong Rajanubhab [Lecture of Prince Damrong Rajanubhab]’, Kampuchèa Sauriya 3, 4 (1930): 95–101; 5 (1930): 125–36); 6 (1930): 155–63.

53 Krasem, ‘Sāsnā pavatti [History of religions]’, Kampuchèa Sauriya 6, 1-2-3-4-5-6 (1933): 161.

54 ‘Suvaṇṇbhūmi’ or ‘Suvarnbhumi’, which literally means golden land, is a famous term with Saṅskrit and Pāli origins and usually referred to the territory located either in Southeast Asia or in Southern India. The term has been the subject of debate among scholars and nationalist figures who attempt to claim their own country as the real ‘Suvarnabhumi’. Krasem claimed that ‘Suvaṇṇbhūmi’ referred to the entire Southeast Asian mainland, including Burma, Mon, Lan Na, Laos, Siam, Cambodia, and Vietnam. See Krasem, ‘Sāsnā pavatti’, Kampuchèa Sauriya 6, 7 (1934): 114.

55 Krasem, ‘Sāsnā pavatti’, Kampuchèa Sauriya 7, 1-2-3a (1935): 11.

56 Ibid., p. 13. It is possible that he meant to clearly distinguish between the native Khmer and the more recent Chinese and Vietnamese immigrants, although he does not make this explicit.

57 Ibid.

58 See Nupprat(ṇ), p. 6.

59 Charnvit, ‘Thai historiography from ancient times to the modern period’, p. 167.

60 Krasem, ‘Sāsnā pavatti’, Kampuchèa Sauriya, 7, 1-2-3a (1935): 14–16.

61 Ibid.: 9–22. Aymonier also shared this view. See Aymonier, Étienne, Un aperçu de l'histoire du Cambodge [An overview of the history of Cambodia] (Paris: A. Challamel, 1918), pp. 19–20Google Scholar.

62 Krasem, ‘Sāsnā pavatti’, Kampuchèa Sauriya 7, 1-2-3 (1935): 94–5.

63 Krasem, ‘Sāsnā pavatti’, Kampuchèa Sauriya, 7, 1-2-3 (1935): 10.

64 Krasem, ‘Sāsnā pavatti’, Kampuchèa Sauriya, 7, 4-5-6 (1935): 25–6.

65 Krasem, ‘Sāsnā pavatti’, Kampuchèa Sauriya, 7, 7-8-9 (1935): 121.

66 Ibid., pp. 121–7.

67 Krasem, ‘Sāsnā pavatti’, Kampuchèa Sauriya 7, 4-5-6 (1935): 121–6.

68 Ibid., pp. 185–7.

69 Ibid., pp. 192–4.

70 Charnvit, ‘Thai historiography from ancient times to the modern period’, p. 165.

71 For a detailed discussion on the establishment of ‘national culture’ and ‘national religion’ during this period, see Edwards, Cambodge, pp. 166–209.