1. CAMBODIAN
CULTURE
● The area known as Cambodia has been occupied since 70,000 BP.
● Funan Empire from 50-550 AD.
● Chenla Empire from 500-802AD.
● In 802 CE the Khmer Empire was established.
● In 1432 Angkor was sacked by the Ayutthaya Kingdom and then abandoned,
leading to what is now known as the Cambodian Dark Age.
● In 1863 Cambodia was handed over to France by King Norodom and remained a
French colony until 1953.
● In 1970 a coup was lead against King Sihanouk and the Khmer Republic was
established.
● In 1975 the Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot reached Phnom Penh and took power.
● In 1978 the Vietnamese invaded.
● Peace efforts began in 1989.
● In 1993 the deposed king Sihanouk was restored and it became the Kingdom of
Cambodia once again.
2. ART AND RELIGION
● Hinduism was first introduced during the Funan Kingdom. It continued to be the
main religion of Cambodia until the 12th century AD. During this time the Wats
were built in the Hindu tradition by the Angkor Empire.
● In the 12th century Theravada Buddhism was adopted as the state religion and
Angkor Wat the largest Hindu temple in the world was converted to a Buddhist
temple. Today 97% of the country practices Theravada Buddhism.
● During the Khmer Empire before the abandonment of the wats, most art such as
stone carving and mural painting was produced either for the Wats or for the Royal
Family. In pre-colonial Cambodia art was mostly unskilled for personal use. Any
work done by skilled artisans was typically for the royal family
● During the Khmer Rouge, most of the local artforms nearly became completely
extinct as skilled artisans were executed. Efforts to restore Angkor in recent years
has created a resurgence of skilled stone carvers.
● Few Wat murals remain today due to past wars in the area. New ones are being
created today, but the older surviving ones are more detailed and refined are are
being recorded by Archaeologists for posterity.
● During Cambodia's colonial period, artisans produced celebrated silverwork, While
in the past silver was used for weaponry. Coins and ceremonial objects, today,
silverwork is popular for boxes, jewellery, and souvenir items often adorned with
Angkor-inspired motifs.
3. DANCE
● As with art, the Royal ballet of Cambodia was in the past performed
only for the King and ceremonially. The King and dancers were both
seen as bridges between the heaven and earth and dancers performing
in the temples delivered the will of the gods through them.
● The Royal ballet was used as a prayer for rain and fertility. It uses
serpentine movements that are meant to represent the flow of water
thus inspiring the flow of water to earth from the heavens.
● Hands are a very important aspect of the Royal Ballet. The various
gestures represent the cycle of life and can be used to communicate a
whole language.
● The gestures and traditional dress of the dancers have changed very
little through the centuries, even now while still maintaining modesty,
the costumes are made to invoke times past where they danced bare
breasted.
4. DRESS● Krama = A traditional checkered scarf worn universally by Cambodians. Used
to keep away the sun, help balance objects on the head or is used
occasionally as a sarong.
● Sampot = The national garment of Cambodia, the Sampot is a rectangular
cloth wrapped around lower body, typically 6 feet in length.
● Chang Kben (Sampot) = Variation worn pulled between the legs and fastened
at the waist with a belt. The cloth used for the Chang Kben is 9 feet in length.
In the past this style of Sampot was reserved for middle and upper classes.
● Like the Krama, the Sampot in all of it’s variations are worn by males and
females alike
● Av Pak = High collar cotton blouse embroidered with silk thread. Typically
paired with the Sampot.
● Cambodia has a long history of textile weaving. They use natural dyes and
have even developed a style of weaving unique to the country called “uneven
twill” which produces two colour fabrics. During the Khmer Empire textiles
both Cambodian and Chinese were used as currency and for trade.
● The peoples of Cambodia wore no clothes at all up until the Funan
Kingdom. The Sampot first appeared when Chinese diplomats
ordered the Cambodian king to request his people cover themselves up. After
that, well into the Khmer empire, males and females alike only clothed
themselves below the waist with variations of the Sampot. This is the reason
why most of the traditional garments are meant to be worn on the lower body
and there is no mention of tops besides the modern Av Pak.
5. FOOD AND
SUBSISTENCE
● The primary subsistence strategy of Cambodia is traditional wet rice agriculture.
Traditional Agriculture relies upon the use of draft animals such as oxen and water
buffalo as well as human labour with no herbicide, pesticide or
chemical fertilizer.
● Agriculture also drives the majority of Cambodia economy. Aside from rice, other
important commercial crops include sugarcane,cotton,tobacco and rubber.
● Historically wet rice agriculture and reliance on fish were brought upon by the
geography and seasonality of Cambodia. The monsoons that came like
clockwork every year flooded the vast low land areas making it ideal for the planting of
wet crops. The Khmer, like various other civilizations of the time also had fairly
sophisticated irrigation systems with which to better control the flooding and aid crops.
The Tonlé Sap lake, which is seasonally inundated, provided the most relied upon source
of fish and is the reasoning for the position of Angkor Wat as well as the capital city
Phnom Penh.
● As two of the main sources of food, rice and fish make up a great deal of traditional
Cambodian dishes, even desserts. Traditionally, Cambodians eat their meals with at least
three or four dishes. Herbs, sauces, edible flowers and pickled vegetables are all
staples.Frequent contact with the Thai and Chinese has given Cambodian
cuisine many similar qualities and with the French colonization came
the baguette known in Cambodia as nom pang.
● A noted aspect of Cambodia in recent years is the Skun, or insect market. In the past
insects were only eaten by the poorest citizens who could not afford meat. However,
during the frequent wars it became a much more common source of protein that still
6. Works Cited
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“Cambodia: Why Do Cambodians like Eating Insects?” Discovery Indochina Tour Vietnam Cambodia Laos and Myanmar, discoveryindochina.com/blog/why-do-cambodians-like-eating-insects/.
“Cambodian Art.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Mar. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian_art.
“Cambodian Silver.” ALTFIELD, www.altfield.com.hk/web/page.php?g=/galareas/cateinfo/5/15/.
Cambodia : Society & Culture. World Trade Press, 2010. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.capilanou.ca/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat02755a&AN=cul.b1079354&site=eds-live&scope=site.
“Cambodian Traditional Dress & Costume.” Vietnam Vacation, 11 Oct. 2018, www.vietvisiontravel.com/post/cambodian-traditional-dress-costume/.
“Early History of Cambodia.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 23 Feb. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_history_of_Cambodia.
Marissa. “A Brief History of Cambodia's Hindu Heritage.” Culture Trip, 9 Mar. 2017, theculturetrip.com/asia/cambodia/articles/a-brief-history-of-cambodias-hindu-heritage/.
TED. “The Magic of Khmer Classical Dance | Prumsodun Ok.” YouTube, YouTube, 24 Oct. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEIYHTlbeLA&t=15s.
TourismCambodia.com. “Cambodian History.” About Cambodia | Tourism Cambodia, www.tourismcambodia.com/about-cambodia/cambodian-history.htm.
truefaith7. “Stone Carvings of Cambodia.” Owlcation, Owlcation, 7 Mar. 2018, owlcation.com/humanities/khmer-stone-carvings.
