Read Online When the War Was Over by Elizabeth Becker - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Elizabeth Becker
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as a microcosm of the universe. The temple of Angkor represented the mythical Mount Meru, the center of the universe and home of the gods. According to a Sanskrit poem it was âa city enclosed in immense walls like the mountains that girdle the great world. There, contemplating gold and silver terraces, the inhabitants have no need to wish they could see the peaks of Meru.â
Cambodian temples were built to vast specifications to render faithfully the sense of majesty while remaining within human dimensions. The result was monuments âincomparable for number, size and perfection.â Angkor Wat itself is the largest religious building in the world. While the irrigation network proved the practical innovations of the Khmers, the temples displayed their aesthetic genius. The buildings are architectural masterpieces and the statuary extraordinaryâlong rows of gods and giants, carvings of entwined dragons, details of three-headed elephants, and the superb apsara angels.
But the source of wealthâthe irrigation systemâand the source of inspirationâthe all-powerful god-kingâproved to be the sources of the kingdomâs
downfall. Successive kings required greater and more numerous buildings to honor their divinity, draining the energy and wealth of the country. The irrigation system that seemed so beneficial was based at the upstream limit of the flooding and began to wear out the soil. More important, the canals were vulnerable to attack.
Angkorâs decline was hastened by geography. Since the empire was centered on the countryâs northwest plains, Angkor was largely cut off from the new, thriving trade with China. And to the west and east new states were coming of age, states that would eventually compete over the right to annex the entire Khmer kingdom. During the next 600 years Siam (Thailand) and later Vietnam (with its court at Hue) regularly defeated Khmer armies and annexed Khmer territory.
The country was a victim of the royal family as well as geopolitics. Feuds over the throne grew in direct proportion to the diminishing size of the empire. Princes (and an occasional princess) would plead for military aid from Siam or Vietnam to oust a rival claimant. In return, the petitioning prince or princess routinely gave up rights over Cambodian territory.
The capital was moved from Angkor to Oudong in central Cambodia and finally, in the nineteenth century, to Phnom Penh. By then Angkor was a distant memory, the buildings largely deserted to the jungle. Cambodians preferred to avoid the temple ruins in fear of the demonic spirits they housed. By then Cambodia had become a Buddhist nation, its monks disdainful of the old Hindu gods of Angkor. Some of the old Angkor temples were used as Buddhist pagodas. But the actual history was lost. What survived was the possibility to reinvent Angkorâs traditions, however distorted, the traditions that could be used to legitimize twentieth-century versions of the deva-raj, the water kingdom, and the strong belief in Cambodiaâs cultural superiority.
Cambodiaâs modern history begins during the reign of King Norodom, grandfather of Norodom Sihanouk. When Norodom was chosen king in 1860, Cambodia was a thin shadow of the empire it had been under the Angkor kings. Neighboring Vietnam had won control over the lower Mekong Delta area of Cambodia (present-day southern Vietnam) and had recently attempted to colonize Cambodia itself. A popular revolt by the Cambodians and maneuvers by Siam forced the Vietnamese out. Siam and Vietnam claimed suzerainty over Cambodia, and King Norodom was hard-pressed to satisfy both of his neighbors without losing his country.
Into this breach stepped the French, trying to win the race among the European nations to lay claim to the riches of the Orient. The French believed the Mekong River would be the southern road to China and its wealth. By colonizing the countries of the Mekong they could push on to
Cambodian temples were built to vast specifications to render faithfully the sense of majesty while remaining within human dimensions. The result was monuments âincomparable for number, size and perfection.â Angkor Wat itself is the largest religious building in the world. While the irrigation network proved the practical innovations of the Khmers, the temples displayed their aesthetic genius. The buildings are architectural masterpieces and the statuary extraordinaryâlong rows of gods and giants, carvings of entwined dragons, details of three-headed elephants, and the superb apsara angels.
But the source of wealthâthe irrigation systemâand the source of inspirationâthe all-powerful god-kingâproved to be the sources of the kingdomâs
downfall. Successive kings required greater and more numerous buildings to honor their divinity, draining the energy and wealth of the country. The irrigation system that seemed so beneficial was based at the upstream limit of the flooding and began to wear out the soil. More important, the canals were vulnerable to attack.
Angkorâs decline was hastened by geography. Since the empire was centered on the countryâs northwest plains, Angkor was largely cut off from the new, thriving trade with China. And to the west and east new states were coming of age, states that would eventually compete over the right to annex the entire Khmer kingdom. During the next 600 years Siam (Thailand) and later Vietnam (with its court at Hue) regularly defeated Khmer armies and annexed Khmer territory.
The country was a victim of the royal family as well as geopolitics. Feuds over the throne grew in direct proportion to the diminishing size of the empire. Princes (and an occasional princess) would plead for military aid from Siam or Vietnam to oust a rival claimant. In return, the petitioning prince or princess routinely gave up rights over Cambodian territory.
The capital was moved from Angkor to Oudong in central Cambodia and finally, in the nineteenth century, to Phnom Penh. By then Angkor was a distant memory, the buildings largely deserted to the jungle. Cambodians preferred to avoid the temple ruins in fear of the demonic spirits they housed. By then Cambodia had become a Buddhist nation, its monks disdainful of the old Hindu gods of Angkor. Some of the old Angkor temples were used as Buddhist pagodas. But the actual history was lost. What survived was the possibility to reinvent Angkorâs traditions, however distorted, the traditions that could be used to legitimize twentieth-century versions of the deva-raj, the water kingdom, and the strong belief in Cambodiaâs cultural superiority.
Cambodiaâs modern history begins during the reign of King Norodom, grandfather of Norodom Sihanouk. When Norodom was chosen king in 1860, Cambodia was a thin shadow of the empire it had been under the Angkor kings. Neighboring Vietnam had won control over the lower Mekong Delta area of Cambodia (present-day southern Vietnam) and had recently attempted to colonize Cambodia itself. A popular revolt by the Cambodians and maneuvers by Siam forced the Vietnamese out. Siam and Vietnam claimed suzerainty over Cambodia, and King Norodom was hard-pressed to satisfy both of his neighbors without losing his country.
Into this breach stepped the French, trying to win the race among the European nations to lay claim to the riches of the Orient. The French believed the Mekong River would be the southern road to China and its wealth. By colonizing the countries of the Mekong they could push on to
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