Customs of Cambodia: Angkor in 1296

Between 1296 and 1297, the Chinese diplomat Chou Ta-Kuan (also spelt Zhou Daguan) travelled to Angkor, the capital of the Khmer Empire as part of an embassy. During his visit, he witnessed many of the scenes of daily life of the empire at the height of its power. He then recorded his sights and opinions on his return to China and a version of his account is still available, although difficult to find. In this article, I will introduce just a few of the sights and sounds tat he observed.

The City

These days, we can see the majestic remains of the Angkor Wat complex and marvel at them. Chou Ta-Kuan was privileged enough to see the city in full bloom:

"The wall of the city is some five miles in circumference. It has five gates, each with double portals. Two gates pierce the eastern side; the other sides have one gate only. Outside the wall stretches a great moat, across which access to the city is given by massive causeways. Flanking the causeways on each side are fifty-four divinities resembling war-lords in stone, huge and terrifying."

Golden Buddha statues and other auspicious items are positioned throughout the city, as evidence of both wealth and piety. The combined influences of Buddhism and Hinduism are clearly seen.

The king lives in a golden tower, occupied by a genie as well as his wives, concubines and other essential personnel. Each person lives in a house with decoration and size suitable to his or her status. This tradition (known as sumptuary laws) also extended to what people were permitted to wear:

"Every man or woman, from the sovereign down, knots the hair and leaves the shoulders bare. Round the waist they wear a small strip of cloth, over which a larger piece is drawn when they leave their houses. Many rules, based on rank, govern the choice of materials."

The main differences in rank are shown in the wearing of jewelry and personal decoration. Unfortunately for Chou Ta-Kuan, he found the people unattractive for they differed from the Chinese and, like all good Chinese, considered anything different to be inferior:

"The customs common to all the southern barbarians are found throughout Cambodia, whose inhabitants are coarse people, ugly and deeply sunburned."

Just like other Chinese visitors to Southeast Asia, Chou Ta-Kuan was equally fascinated and appalled at what he considered to be the sexual license of the people - why, even the slaves were permitted to have sexual relationships with each other!

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