Cambodia’s Decline and the Fall of Angkor as Pictured in the Chinese Sources during the Yuan and Early-Middle Ming dyna… (2024)

https://doi.org/10.22363/2312-8127-2022-14-4-461-484 ·

Abstract

The fall of Angkor in the 15th century marked a turning point in the Cambodian history leading to the downfall of the Khmer civilization and the start of the so-called “post-Angkor period” which is also often referred to as the “Dark Age of Cambodia”. Local epigraphical sources almost completely disappear from the 13th up to the 16th centuries while the Royal Chronicles dealing with this timeframe were compiled much later, mostly in the 18th and 19th centuries. Therefore, primary sources of this era are very scarce. While it is commonly accepted among the modern researchers that the fall of Angkor was a continuous process and was not a result of a single Siamese attack or a natural calamity (moreover, various reasons for this gradual downfall have been outlined), the perception of this process by other political powers in the region, especially China, has been significantly understudied. In this work the author made an attempt to trace the transformation of depiction of Cambodia in the Chinese sources of the Yuan and early Ming dynasties (both official and private).

List of references

Vickery M. Funan Reviewed: Deconstructing the Ancients. Bulletin de l’Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient. 2003;(90-91):101-143.
https://doi.org/10.3406/befeo.2003.3609
Manguin P.-Y. Early Coastal States of Southeast Asia: Funan and Śrīvijaya, in John Guy (ed.). Lost Kingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Early Southeast Asia. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art; 2014.
Stark M.T. From Funan to Angkor: Collapse and Regeneration in Ancient Cambodia, in Glenn M. Schwartz and John J. Nochols (eds.). After Collapse: The Regeneration of Complex Societies. Tucson: The University of Arizona Press; 2006.
Pelliot P. Le Fou-nan. Bulletin de l’Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient. 1903(3);1:248-303.
https://doi.org/10.3406/befeo.1903.1216
Vickery M. What and Where was Chenla?, in F. Bizot (ed.). Recherches nouvelles sur le Cambodge. Paris: École française d’Extrême-Orient; 1994.
Zakharov A.O. Stanovleniye gosudarstvennosti v Yugo-Vostochnoy Azii: Funan i Chenla [Formation of Statehood in Southeast Asia: Funan and Chenla]. Moscow: IOS RAS; 2019. (In Russ.).
Aspell W. Southeast Asia in the Suishu: A Translation of Memoir 47 with Notes and Commentary. Asia Research Institute Working Paper Series. 2013;(208):1-33.
Goble G. Maritime Southeast Asia: The View from Tang-Song China. Nalanda-Sriwijaya Working Paper Series. 2014;(16):1-19.
Kolnin I.S. Perception of Mainland Southeast Asia in China during the Yuan - Ming Transition (Late XIII - Early XVI cc.) (Angkor, Ayutthaya and Champa as Examples). Moscow: NRU HSE; 2022. (Unpublished MA Thesis).
Trần Kỳ Phương and Bruce M. Lockhart (eds.). The Cham of Vietnam: History, Society and Art. Singapore: NUS Press; 2011.
https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1qv2rd
Arlo Griffiths, Andrew Hardy and Geoff Wade (eds). Champa: Territories and Networks of a Southeast Asian Kingdom. Paris: École française d’ Extrême-Orient; 2019.
Li Tana. The Changing Landscape of the Former Linyi in the Provinces of Quảng Trị and Thừa Thiên-Huế. Nalanda-Sriwijaya Working Paper Series. 2019;(30):1-16.
Buckley B.M. et al. Climate as a Contributing Factor in the Demise of Angkor, Cambodia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2010;107(5):6748-6752.
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0910827107
Carter A.K. et al. Temple Occupation and the Tempo of Collapse at Angkor Wat, Cambodia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2019;116(25):12226-12231.
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1821879116
Penny D. et al. Geoarchaeological Evidence from Angkor, Cambodia, Reveals a Gradual Decline rather than a Catastrophic 15th-Century Collapse. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2019;116(11):4871-4876.
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1821460116
Chen Xiansi et al. (eds.). Zhongguo guji zhong de Jianpuzhai shiliao. Zhengzhou: Henan renmin chubanshe; 1985. (In Chinese).
Lu Junling, Zhou Shaoquan(eds.). Zhongguo guji zhong youguan Jianpuzhai ziliao huibian. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju; 1986. (In Chinese).
Fan Chengda. Treatises of the Supervisor and Guardian of the Cinnamon Sea: The Natural World and Material Culture of Twelfth-Century China, transl. and intr. by J.M. Hargett. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2010.
Zhou Qu-fei. Za Khrebtami. Vmesto otvetov [Beyond the Passes. Instead of Answers], transl., intr., comm. and appendix by M.Yu. Ulyanov. Moscow: Vostochnaya literature; 2001. (In Russ.).
Fan Chengda. Guihai yuheng zhi jiaozhu, ed. and comm. by Yan Pei. Nanning: Guangxi renmin chubanshe; 1986. (In Chinese).
Almonte V. The Historical Value of the Work Lingwai Daida by Zhou Qufei. Canterano: Aracne; 2020.
Netolitzky A. Das Ling-wai-tai-ta von Chou Ch‘ü-fei: Eine Landeskunde Südchinas aus dem Jahrhundert. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner; 1977.
Zhou Qufei. Lingwai daida jiaozhu, ed. and comm. by Yang Wuquan. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju; 1999. (In Chinese).
Chen Jiarong et al. (eds.). Gudai Nanhai diming huishi. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju; 1986. (In Chinese).
Kolnin I.S. Some Thoughts on Zhao Rugua’s Biography and Zhufan zhi: Translation and Comparison of Relevant Fragments from Various Sources. Crossroads. 2018(17-18):45-68.
Hirth F. and Rockhill W.W. Chau Ju-kua: His Work on the Chinese and Arab Trade in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries, Entitled Chu-fan-chï. St. Petersburg: Printing Office of the Imperial Academy of Sciences; 1912.
Shao-yun Yang. A Chinese Gazetteer of Foreign Lands. A new translation of Part 1 of the Zhufan (1225). 2022. Available from: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/39bce63e4e0642 d3abce6c24db470760 [Accessed: 26.05.2022].
Zhu fan zhi («Opisanie inozemnyh stran») Zhao Rugua: vazhnejshij istoriko-geograficheskij istochnik kitajskogo srednevekov’ya [Zhu fan zhi (“Description of foreign countries”) by Zhao Rugua: the Most Important Historical-Geographical Sources of Medieval China], transl., comm. and appendix by M. Yu. Ulyanov. Moscow: Vostochnaya literature; 2019. (In Russ.).
Zhao Rugua. Zhufan zhi jiaoshi. ed. and annot. by Yang Bowen. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju; 1996. (In Chinese).
Zhao Rugua. Zhufan zhi zhubu. Ed. and comm. by Han Zhenhua. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press; 2000.
Ricklefs MC. Land and the Law in the Epigraphy of Tenth-Century Cambodia. The Journal of Asian Studies. 1967;26(3):411-420.
https://doi.org/10.2307/2051417
Wolters OW. Chen-Li-Fu: a State of the Gulf of Siam at the Beginning of the 13th Century. Journal of Siam Society. 1960;48(2):1-35.
Zhu Jianqiu et al. (eds.). Zhongwai jiaotong gu ditu ji. Shanghai: Zhongxi shuju; 2016. (In Chinese).
Schottenhammer A. Huihui Medicine and Medical Drugs in Yuan China, in Morris Rossabi (ed.). Eurasian Influences on Yuan China. Singapore: ISEAS Publishing; 2013.
Clarence-Smith W.G. Elephants in Mongol History: From Military Obstacles to Symbols of Buddhist Power, in Rotem Kowner et al. (eds). Animals and Human Society in Asia: Historical, Cultural and Ethical Perspectives. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan; 2019.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24363-0_8
Zhou Daguan. A Record of Cambodia. The Land and Its People, tr. with introduction and notes by P. Harris. Bangkok: Silkworm Books; 2007.
Zhou Daguan. Customs of Cambodia, tr. and annot. by Solang & Beling Uk. DatASIA Press; 2016.
Zhou Daguan. Zhenla fengtu ji jiaozhu, ed. and comm. by Xia Nai. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju; 1981. (In Chinese).
Nietupski P.K. Medieval Khmer Society: The Life and Times of Jayavarman VII (ca. 1120-1218). ASIANetwork Exchange. 2019;26(1):33-74.
https://doi.org/10.16995/ane.280
O’Connor R.A. Agricultural Change and Ethnic Succession in Southeast Asian States: A Case for Regional Anthropology. The Journal of Asian Studies. 1995;5(44):968-996.
https://doi.org/10.2307/2059956
Lieberman V. and Buckley B. The Impact of Climate on Southeast Asia, circa 950-1820: New Findings. Modern Asian Studies. 2012;46(5):1049-1096.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X12000091
Rockhill W.W. Notes on the Relations and Trade of China with the Eastern Archipelago and the Coasts of the Indian Ocean during the Fourteenth Century. T’oung Pao. 1915(16):61-159.
https://doi.org/10.1163/156853215X00031
Wang Dayuan. Daoyi zhilüe jiaoshi, ed. and annot. by Su Jiqing. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju;1981. (In Chinese).
Wolters O.W. The Khmer King at Basan (1371-3) and the Restoration of the Cambodian Chronology During the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries. Asia Major. 1966;12(1):44-89.
Vickery M. Cambodia and Its Neighbors in the 15th Century. ARI Working Paper. 2004;(27):1-71.
Briggs L.P. Siamese Attacks on Angkor Before 1430. The Far Eastern Quarterly. 1948(8);1:3-33.
https://doi.org/10.2307/2049480
Polkinghorne M., Pottier C. and Fischer C. Evidence for the 15th Century Ayutthayan Occupation of Angkor, in The Renaissance Princess Lectures - In Honour of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn on Her Fifth Cycle Anniversary. Bangkok: The Siam Society, 2018.
Wade G. Angkor in the 14th-15th Centuries as Reflected in the Ming Reign Annals (not published).
Wade G. Southeast Asia in the Ming Shi-lu. An Open Access Resource. Available from: https://epress.nus.edu.sg/msl/ [Accessed: 25.07.2022].
Wade G. The Ming-shi Account of Champa. Asia Research Institute Working Paper Series. 2003(3):1-21.
Fei Hsin. Hsing-ch’a Sheng-lan “The Overall Survey of the Star Raft”, tr. by J.V.G. Mills; ed. by R. Ptak. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag; 1996.
Fei Xin. Xingcha shenglan jiaozhu, ed. and comm. by Feng Chengjun. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju; 1954. (In Chinese).
Mayers W.F. Chinese Explorations of the Indian Ocean during the Fifteenth Century. China Review. 1875;4(2):61-67.
Klaus S. Huang Xingzeng: Verzeichnis der Akteneinträge zu Audienzen und Tributen vom Westlichen Meer (Xiyang chaogong dianlu), annotierte Übersetzung. Inaugural-Dissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades des Fachbereichs Geschichts- und Kulturwissenschaften. Berlin: Freie Universität Berlin; 2005.
Huang Xingzeng. Xiyang chaogong dianlu jiaozhu. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju; 2000. (In Chinese).
Papelitzky E. Writing World History in Late Ming China and the Perception of Maritime Asia. Wiesbaden: Harrasowitz Verlag, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1453km1
He Yuming. The Book and the Barbarian in Ming China and Beyond: The Luo chong lu, or “Record of Naked Creatures”. Asia Major. 2011;24(1):43-85.
He Yuming. Home and the World: Editing the “Glorious Ming” in Woodblock-Printed Books of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. Cambridge, Mass.; London: Harvard University Asia Center, 2013.
https://doi.org/10.1163/9781684170661
Zhou Zhizhong. Yiyu zhi, ed. and comm. by Lu Junling. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju; 2006. (In Chinese).
Yi yu tu zhi (FC.246.5). Available from: https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MSFC-00246-00005/1 [Accessed: 25.07.2022].
Grimm T. Thailand in the Light of Official Chinese Historiography: A Chapter in the History of the Ming Dynasty. The Journal of the Siam Society. 1961;49(1):1-20.
Kelley L.C. Rescuing History from Srivijaya: The Fall of Angkor in the Ming Shilu (Part 1). China and Asia. 2022(4):38-91.
https://doi.org/10.1163/2589465X-04010003

About this publication

Number of citations	0
Number of works in the list of references	62
Journal indexed in Scopus	No
Journal indexed in Web of Science	No