Re: Chey Chetha II

Hmm, Chey Chetha II... Wasn't that the Cambodian king who fell in love
with that Vietnamese gal many centuries ago?

If anyone here wanted to do some serious research about what is in the
Cambodian archives, a recent Phnom Penh Post article has details about
these archives. Note in particular the books that this Cambodian name
Mak Phoeun has recently written in the French language. It might be
interesting to read his books.
===========================
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/

Piecing fragments of history together

There are 35 complete and fragmentary documents in Khmer that make up
the Cambodian chronicles, found by the French in various wats, the
royal palace, and in the possession of elite families, none of which
date earlier than 1796.

They incorporate earlier oral histories and texts that have since been
lost to the climate and upheaval of civil wars. Together these 35
documents make up eight different versions of Cambodian history.

The manuscripts known as KK (1869), SP (1878), VJ (1934), No. 1049
(1835), and No. 1613 (1855) are in the Buddhist Institute library in
Phnom Penh; given their extreme delicacy people are not allowed to
access them as a general rule. B39/5 (1818) and P3 (a copy of KK) are
in Paris. The Chronicle offered to Rama I by Ang Eng in 1796 is in
Bangkok.

The 35 pieces have been translated and commentated upon in French by a
number of scholars, and formed the basis for the first histories of
Cambodia written by Europeans (eg Jean Moura 1883, Etienne Aymonier
1900-1903). Michael Vickery wrote his doctoral thesis on disparities
and similarities between the different versions.

Two Khmer scholars working in France have recently translated the most
comprehensive account of the chronicles into French, also offering
commentaries upon dates and events, and supplying in appendices the
different or missing accounts.

These are Khin Sok. 1988. Chroniques royales du Cambodge: De Bon- Y't
à la prise de Lanvaek (1417-1595). Paris: École Française
d'Extreme-Orient.

Khin Sok. 1991. Le Cambodge entre le Siam et le Vietnam (de 1775 à
1860). Paris: École Française d'Extreme-Orient.

Mak Phoeun. 1981. Chroniques royales du Cambodige: De 1594 à 1677.
Paris: École Française d'Extreme-Orient.

Mak Phoeun. 1984. Chroniques royales du Cambodge: Des origines
légendaires jusqu'à Paramar'j' 1er. Paris: École Française
d'Extreme- Orient.

Mak Phoeun. 1995. Histoire du Cambodge: de la fin du XVIe siècle au
début duy XVIIe. Paris: École Française d'Extreme-Orient.

I have drawn largely upon the French translations in Mak Phoeun and
Khin Sok, supplemented with a copy of parts of the VJ chronicle, and
the Middle Period Khmer inscriptions published in BEFEO and JSS,
Portuguese and Spanish accounts, and material found in the Khmer cbpab,
or didactic codes.

About the author

* Dr Trudy Jacobsen is lecturer in history at the School of History,
Philosophy, Religion and Classics of the Unversity of Queensland,
Brisbane, Australia. She has taught courses on Contemporary Southeast
Asia; Genocide and Persecution, Revenge and Reconciliation; and Ghosts
from the Past - Problems of Revenge and Reconciliation in History.

Phnom Penh Post, Issue 14/25, December 16 - 29, 2005
© Michael Hayes, 2005. All rights revert to authors and artists on
publication.
For permission to publish any part of this publication, contact Michael
Hayes, Editor-in-Chief
http://www.PhnomPenhPost.com - Any comments on the website to Webmaster

.

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