The art of southeast asia (philip rawson)

PHILIP RAWSON Philip Raw son was form erly D irector o f the Gulbenkian M useum o f Oriental A rt at the U niversity o f D urham , and has taught and lectured on oriental art m Britain and the U nited.

PHILIP RAWSON

Philip R aw son

w as fo rm erly D irector o f the Gulbenkian M useum

o f O riental A rt at the U n iv e rsity o f D u rham , and has taught and lectured on oriental art m B ritain and the U n ited States

H e is a F e llo w o f the R o y a l C o lle g e o f A rt, L on don , w h ere he has taught and lectured, and was lately D ean o f the School o f

A rt and D esign, G old sm iths’ C o lle ge, U n iv e rsity o f London.

H e is the author o f The Art o f T'antra, also in the W o rld

o f A rt H e has travelled w id e ly in the East.

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Philip Rawson

251 illustrations, 32 in colour

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I N D I A N

O C E A N

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?Kondor Islands

o f Siam and the Ja v a Sea, virtu ally o w e their v e ry existence to the creative influence o f Indian ideas A m o n g the tribal peoples

o f Southeast Asia these form ative ideas took root, and blos­somed N o conquest or invasion, no forced conversion im posed them T h e y w ere adopted because the people saw they w ere

go o d and that they could use them T he small colonies o f Indian traders, w h o settled at points o f vantage along the sea- routes into the islands and around the coast o f Indochina, m erely

im ported w ith them their code o f living, their conceptions o f law and kingship, their rich literature and h igh ly evolved philosophy o f life T h e y interm arried w ith prom inent local fam ilies; and dynasties evolved capable o f organizing extensive kingdom s w ithin w hich their populations could live ordered and fruitful lives

O f course the art these Indianized kingdom s produced ow es its extraord inary qualities to the genius o f the native peoples For although the m odes m ay be Indian the expression and the content are local W hat the Javanese and Balinese m ade springs from their o w n genius, ju st as A n g k o r did from the genius o f the K h m er T h e arts o f B u rm a and Thailand reflect the particular genius o f the Bu rm ese and the Thai T he Indian m odes provided themes and patterns fo r transform ation, opening up before local peoples avenues o f cultural and artistic developm ent O f course, there w ere regions w here Indian colonies seem to have met

7

little or no response, and their settlements petered out - in the

M alay Peninsula, for exam ple, in Sum atra, and perhaps in Saraw ak and N o rth B orn eo B u t archaeology m ay yet reveal

m ore about the history o f Indian colonization in the m ore rem ote parts o f the Southern Seas

As to the special value o f Southeast Asian art, the pictures in this b o ok should speak for themselves T h e best o f this art com bines a sensuous sweetness w ith a luxuriant m agnificence, blending jo y and delight w ith intense intellectual and im agin­ative strength T h e sweetness m ay occasionally veer tow ards the febrile, the strength tow ards crudity B u t alw ays the virtue

o f each art is its o w n , unlike any other; each can offer us an

im aginative experience w hich must extend our mental horizons

8

CHAPTER ONE

Indochina

A vast series o f w o rks o f art, ranging from m assive architectural com plexes to tiny bronzes, has been produced b y the peoples o f the tropical sub-continent o f Indochina This includes the

m odern countries o f C am bodia, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam

B u t m odern political boundaries are o f little significance in tracing the history o f the art o f Indochina It is usual for this purpose to divide the huge tract o f land into smaller regions,

w hich correspond w ith old kingdom s that sustained some sort

o f cultural and historical integrity O ld names such as T on kin ,

A n nam and C am bod ia w ill be used in this book, because they represent m ore adequately the facts o f history

T hree generations o f French scholars have made the art o f this area their special preserve - a fact w hich reflects traditional French political concerns A n y account o f the art can only

fo llo w in the footsteps o f such savants as Coedes, the Grosliers, Parm entier, Boisselier, D upont and m any others

Indochina (III l) is geographically a unit, centred on the

m ountainous heartland o f Y unnan w ith its dense forests From here a num ber o f enorm ous rivers flo w d o w n to the sea, spreading their alluvial plains and deltas around the curve o f the coastline T he old kingdom s w ere usually based upon the natural divisions o f this terrain suggested b y the basins and plains o f the m ajor rivers T he peoples o f the forest uplands have rem ained at a relatively prim itive stage o f m aterial civiliza­tion, leading a poor and self-contained life in isolated tribal groups adapted to their hostile environm ent and occasionally being jo in ed b y refugees from the plains T he peoples o f the fertile plains, h o w ever, have w o rked out the political aggression and social co-ordination that are associated w ith the building o f

em pires

9

T h e principal plains-region can be divided v e ry clearly into

tw o m ajor groups - those in w hich Chinese influence pre­dom inated, and those in w hich the people looked tow ards India for their cultural refinem ents T he division lies b y C ape Varella,

w here the inhospitable M o i highlands fall steeply dow n into the sea T o the north o f it lie the coastal plains o f A n nam , and beyond them the plains o f T o n k in in the lo w er reaches o f the B lack and

R e d rivers A lo n g these coasts C hina extended her cultural in­fluence T o the west o f the m ountain range that runs northw ards from the M o i highlands backing the coastal plains o f A nnam , lie the cradles o f Indianizing civilization T he m ost northerly cradle is the plain o f central Laos, around Vientiane on the m iddle course o f the huge M ek o n g river W estw ards across the divides,

in upper Siam on the M epin g river, lies C hieng M ai T o the south o f both and em bracing the deltas o f both rivers, lies the vast plain o f C am bod ia Its extent includes B a n g k o k on the

w est, central C am bod ia focused on A n gk o r, and the w hole o f

C och in C hina d o w n to the delta o f the M ek o n g river on the east

This region was once the bed o f the G u lf o f Siam B u t

m illennial deposits o f silt from the m onsoon torrents flooding

d o w n from the gorges o f Y un n an have raised it to the level o f

an im m ense fertile plain Still today the m ouths o f the M ek on g river cannot carry the colossal volum e ot silt-laden w ater

w hich flow s d o w n from the mountains in Ju ne So the flo w o f one o f its low est tributaries, the T on le Sap, is then reversed; the excess w ater flow s back up to fill the lakes near A n g k o r and inundate the central region w ith its fertilizing floods This country, including the adjacent reaches o f the M ek on g, w as the hom e o f the great K h m er em pire For it was far m ore favourable for civilization than either the w esterly Siamese end o f the

C am bo d ian plain on the M enam river or the dense swam ps o f the M ek o n g delta to the southeast T he M en am river is not nearly as bountiful, and its m ouths are rem ote from the natural sea trade-routes, w hich depend larg ely upon the m onsoons and ocean currents

T h e M alayan peninsula has little significance in the history o f art C ertain ly it must long ago have played its part in the trans­

m ission o f culture from the m ainland to Indonesia A n d there

w ere p ro b ab ly Indianized settlements near the neck o f the peninsula w hich assisted in the transmission eastwards o f Indian culture B u t the environm ent was inhospitable to the form ation

o f a true civilization in antiquity

O v e r the w h o le sub-continent o f Indochina the com m unica­tion-routes for adm inistration, conquest and cultural diffusion

fo llo w either the rivers or the coast, for Indochina is effectively isolated from direct overland contact w ith the m ain cultural centres o f India or C hina b y the high, deeply broken and densely forested m assif o f Y unnan-Szechw an Thus, although the pattern o f ethnic diffusion m ay have been from Y un n an dow n the river basins to the coast, the transmission o f sophisticated culture, derived from India or China, has fo llo w ed the reverse direction Sea-borne cultural im ports have been passed upw ards along the river valleys, to peter out as the environm ent becam e progressively m ore hostile T h e civilized population lived a riverine existence, and, strange as it m ay sound, there w ere no

m ajor trade-routes linking the u p-river regions to one another : northern Siam to Laos, Laos to T o n kin or A nnam O n ly one route linked northern Siam w ith southern B u rm a For this reason the river civilizations o f Indochina flourished indepen­dently, never really fusing into a single em pire C ultural links have been p rovid ed b y the sailing ships w hich rode the tw o

m onsoons - the south-west m onsoon from Ju n e to Septem ber, the north-east from N o v em b er to A pril

T h e prehistoric phases o f Southeast Asian cultural evolution are not w ell understood, and none o f them is m arked b y sub­stantial w o rk s o f art Palaeolithic tools w hich can be related to sim ilar types in India have been found at m any sites, p ro b ab ly

m ade b y people resem bling survivin g groups o f prim itive peoples, such as the Australian aborigines, the Senoi o f M alaya and the V edda o f C eylo n T he end o f the glacial period, about

120 0 0 b c, p ro b ab ly coincides w ith the arrival o f a later type

o f man, and the final subm erging o f the land-bridges between

M alaya, the Indonesian islands and Australia T he gradual

im p rovem en t o f tool-types is associated w ith the arrival o f successive population-groups from southern China, w ho

m igrated o n w ard b y sea through Southeast Asia into the islands People o f M elanesian type w ere fo llo w ed b y tw o types ot Indonesians T h e first o f these types survives am ong the

D ayaks o f B o rn eo and some o f the tribal peoples on the high­lands o f Indochina T he second type o f Indonesians, w hich pro b ab ly cam e in b y sea, has a strong M o n g o l inheritance and is related b y tool ty p o lo g y to the Japanese Its present-day representatives are the C ham , M alays and Javanese T he T hai and Vietnam ese are similar, perhaps even m ore m arkedly

M o n g o l T h e M o n -K h m er people, w h o have representatives even in India, m ay constitute a fusion o f M o n g o l and Melanesian elements

T he cultural phases through w hich these peoples passed cul­

m inated in a neolithic culture, m arked b y v e ry fine polished stone tools: adzes and trapezoid axes, as w ell as basket-pottery

B ro n ze was im ported perhaps about 800 b c into the neolithic context, and already b y about 500 b c Indochina showed the cultural division into Sinizing and Indianizing cultures, based on geographical division, w hich was to m ark its later history T he

D on g-son culture o f T on kin and Annam took its inspiration from C hina, w h ile to the west o f the m ountain spine lie m any sites containing m egalithic m onum ents, urns, dolmens and

m enhirs, fo rm in g part o f a w h o le m egalithic com plex running from southern A rabia, through southern India, southern

A n nam , into m odern Siam and Laos T he urns, carved from

w hite sandstone, are often decorated w ith designs and animal figures T h e y w ere to m b s; w hen excavated they often contain ashes and are surrounded b y pots These m egaliths m ay perhaps

bc associated w ith num erous unexplored earthw orks, and it has been suggested that both m ay be related to the early M on people Final dating o f the m egalithic culture is not possible, but it is probable that it persisted into the Christian era

12

2 L a m p -h o ld e r fro m Lach

T r u o n g , D o n g -s o n cu lture.

L ig h t c o lo u re d b ro n ze , h eigh t

33 cm In its o w n g e n u in e style,

th o u g h it has som e affinities

w ith the b ro n ze fig u re

sculptu res o f C h o u C h in a

T h e D on g-son culture produced the first true Indochinese

w o rks o f art w hich w e kn o w T h e y are m ainly items o f bronze tom b-furn iture or religious objects D on g-son is the ch ief site

in the T o n k in plain, from w hich the w hole culture takes its name B u t m any sites, ranging in date from about 500 b c to the second century b c , stretch dow n the coast o f A n nam , and perhaps into Indonesia In T on kin it seems probable that Chinese influence, political as w ell as artistic, becam e progres­sively stronger, until the Chinese Han dynasty conquered

T o n k in in 1 1 1 b c , m aking it in effect a Chinese province p ro ­ducing a provincial version o f Chinese art U n til then the

D on g-son people had been producing a w ealth o f idiosyncratic art, including utensils, weapons, bow ls, pots, ornam ents o f bone and shell, and especially m agnificent large bronzes

D ag g er hilts w ere in the form o f hum an figures A bronze lamp

w as discovered (III 2), com posed o f a kneeling man holding a

b o w l; from him three other bow ls branched out, tw o in the form o f stylized birds, w hile tiny hum an figures play at his knees

13

and hips and sit on the branch-supports O n large bronze plaques and vessels, no less than on smaller items, the characteristic

D on g-son ornam ent appears: it is com posed o f spirals, G reek key-patterns, or concentric squares made o f and m ingled w ith parallel striations and row s o f dots in relief These, it seems,

w ere produced b y the standard Chinese bronze-founder’s tech­nique o f incising the patterns on the negative m ould into w hich the bronze was to be poured Indeed, m uch o f the ornam ent suggests a sim plified and broadened version o f Chinese ornam ent

o f the period o f the W arrin g States

T he m ost interesting and im portant o f these D on g-son bronzes are several huge drums w hich seem sometimes to have

been buried w ith the dead T he fam ous ‘M o o n o f B a li’ (Ills

5, 6) is pro b ab ly another o f these T h e y are broad, waisted

cylinders w ith a flat disc head O n the centre o f the head there is usually a radiating pattern in relief, no doubt referring to the

sun (III 4) O n the rim there m ay be plastic figures o f frogs, and

other designs o ccup y the outer section o f the disc T h e drums

w ere p ro b ab ly used as the m agical im plem ents o f the rain­

m aker, an im portant official in that region o f long, burning

3 T h u n d e r-d r u m o f the D o n g -s o n p e o p le fro m N g o c L u , T o n k in B ro n z e ,

h e ig h t 63 cm , d iam ete r o f face 79 cm S u ch d ru m s can p ro d u ce a trem en d o u s

v o lu m e o f soun d

4 T h e face o f the d ru m fro m N g o c L u bears an em b le m o f the sun

su rro u n d e d b y sy m b o ls o f the creatures w h ic h depend u p o n it fo r th eir life

drought T h e beating o f the drums w o u ld invoke the m onsoon

th u n d er; Irogs are the creatures w hose jo y in w ater makes them sym bols o f rain B u t the iconography goes further O n some

o f the drum s are relief designs o f dancers; on at least one is a design o f a boat carrying human figures T he dancers and the b oat’s passengers seem to be w earing head-dresses com ­posed o f large, carefully trim m ed feathers, and some carry an

axe-likc w eapon characterized b y a deep V -cleft in its top edge

It is interesting that some o f the N aga peoples in the hills o f Assam , w hich form the westernm ost extension o f the Y u n n an massif, still today w ear cerem onial head-dresses o f trim m ed toucan feathers ; and until recently the K o n yak N agas used an obsolete cerem onial ‘ d a o ’ (a kind o f com bination o f axe and

sword) called the milemnok, w hich also had a deep V in its top

edge Perhaps the D on g-son dancers represent the usual partici­pants in the rain-m aking cerem ony w hich introduced and en­couraged the m onsoon T he b oat’s passengers m ay represent

v oyagers to the K in gd o m o f the D ead - a com m on m yth in the eastern islands C ertain ly the D on g-son people, like m any South Sea islanders, must have made and used large sea-going canoes similar to those used in M elanesia today

A fter the Chinese conquest o f T on kin , Chinese art gradually obliterated all the idiosyncratic D on g-son elements T om b s o f Chinese type began to appear, w ith provincial versions o f Chinese designs o f the H an, T ‘ang and Sung dynasties Chinese adm inistration pushed on dow n the coast, w here for a tim e it

w as held at bay by the H induized C ham kin gdom in southern

A n nam M ahàyâna Buddhism from C hina was established in

T o n k in in the third and fourth centuries a d, Z en Buddhism in the late sixth century T o n kin became the m ain point o f depar­ture for Chinese pilgrim s bound b y sea for the great h o ly sites

o f B u ddhism in India It was, in fact, in T on kin that the Chinese learned the techniques o f sea-going trade For a tim e further Chinese colonization rem ained in abeyance, held o ff b y the strength o f the K h m er civilization B u t b y the sixteenth century the Sinized Buddhist Vietnam ese had virtu ally obliterated all vestiges o f the classical Indianized civilizations o f C am bodia, Laos and Siam A ctive coastwise settlement b y Chinese colonists

in pursuit o f trade was under w ay A n d b y the twentieth century people w h o w ere Chinese b y race, language and culture had infiltrated into all the countries o f Southeast Asia

T he Chinese them selves w o u ld never have supposed that the Sinized regions o f T on kin and A nnam could have made any

artistic contribution to the central tradition o f classical Chinese culture T h e y w ere m erely sem i-barbarous provinces T h eir art could never have been looked on as anything but a provincial, inadequate version o f Chinese art A fter the extinction o f the Indianized kingdom s, h o w ever, Chinese elements blended w ith older Southeast Asian styles to produce fine and idiosyncratic art-styles, as w ill be seen And the products o f the potteries o f Savan khalok (Saw ankhalok) in upper Siam , made in im itation o f Chinese Sung and M in g wares, are o f very high aesthetic m erit.From the artistic point o f v ie w the Indianized parts o f South­east Asia are alw ays regarded as the most significant T heir stone tem ples have survived even the ravages o f tropical vege­tation Indian colonization and cultural conversion o f the land

to the w est o f the A nnam mountains began during the early centuries o f the Christian era B u rm a was effectively Ind ian ized ; trading stations w ere set up farther and farther afield along the shores o f Asia A n d as usual Buddhism , the m erchants’ religion, cam e in the w ak e o f trade It is often not realized h o w active the Indians w ere as traders T he policies o f m any o f the ch ief dynasties o f Indian history, their conquests and drastic shifts o f ground, w ere dom inated b y the exigencies o f trade As m iddle­men and entrepreneurs between the Far East and the R o m a n

M editerranean w o rld , Indians built up im m ense fortunes A n d although it is true that Buddhism was the prim e religion o f the

m erchants, establishing its monasteries along all the trade- routes o f the ancient w o rld , H indu form s o f religion w ere also established beyond the seas A kind o f Brahm inism , w ithout India’s strict rules o f caste and society, flourished in some o f the Indian colonies, and H indu deities supply the icon ography for a good deal o f Southeast Asian art M ost im portant o f all, the

h igh ly developed Sanskrit language and literature, together

w ith the Indian alphabets, w ere made available to the local people T h e y w ere thus able to w rite their o w n language, and to gain access to a w o rld o f ideas w hich must have seemed to them

m iraculous A n d the ro yal cults o f C am bod ia w ere inspired b y

a strong current o f Indian literary in sp iratio n ; w hile in Ja v a

and B ali the old Indian epics, the Ramayana especially, have long

been an inexhaustible reservoir o f themes for dance, dram a and poetry

T h e Indian colonization o f Southeast Asia was actually never

a conquest: there w ere indeed no kingdom s to conquer am ong the tribal peoples T h e kingdom s that g rew up later grew in response to Indian id eas; and it seems that no mass em igration

of Indians to Southeast Asia ever took place before the European period T h e nuclei o f Indianization w ere m ere trading colonies,

w here an Indian w a y o f life was practised and Indian form s o f religion w ere observed T h ey w ere seen b y the indigenous population to be good, so they w ere adopted Interm arriage and cultural assimilation took place M ost interesting o f all, there apparently existed a fairly advanced native artistic tradition in

C am bo d ia and C och in China, probably in perishable materials For w hen the earliest versions in stone o fln d ian prototypes w ere

m ade there, they w ere far from being m ere copies, or even transcriptions T he sculptures o f Indian icons produced in

C am bo d ia during the sixth to the eighth centuries a d are

m asterpieces, m onum ental, subtle, high ly sophisticated, m ature

in style and unrivalled for sheer beauty an yw here in India It

is obvious that their style is not purely Indian ; there are elements

in it w hich w ere never created b y Indian sculptors in India, and

w hich must only be called local It is not possible to say whence

this style sprang It must have developed in the region (III 7)

A ttem pts to identify it exactly w ith a specific local Indian style have failed, though certain characteristics suggest links w ith

w estern rather than eastern India It cannot have been im ported,

fu lly fledged, and there m ay yet be further discoveries about its evolution to be made

T he earliest o f the great kingdom s brought into existence in response to Indian ideas is usually called b y the nam e under

w hich it was recorded b y Chinese historians - Fou N an Its centre was the area o f C ochin C hina to the south-west o f the

M ek o n g delta ; it pro b ab ly extended its sw ay over long stretches

o f the coast o f the G u lf o f Siam , even as far as southern B u rm a,

7 L o k e sh v a ra fr o m A k Y u m S e v e n th -c e n tu ry b ro n ze, h e ig h t 35 cm T h is superb

sm all b ro n ze sh o w s the R o y a l B o d h isa ttv a T h e m o d e llin g is sensuous, stro n g but

subtle Su ch u n ity o f surface is a ch iev ed o n ly b y the greatest sculptors

and into Indonesia as w ell Its population and culture represented

a com bination o f D on g-son and Indonesian types w ith the

M o n -K h m e r civilization o f the C am bodian plain C ertain ly the culture and art o f Fou N an w ere regarded b y the K hm ers as an early phase o f their o w n evolution, and artistic traditions w ere undoubtedly continuous

Fou N a n ’ s geographical situation was ideal for the foundation

o f a trade-based kin gdom It lay on the natural focus o f land- and sea-routes linking eastern India, southern China, and the

W estern w o rld beyond It was a kind ot h alf-w ay house lor the

re victualling o f ships and was at the centre o f a region supplying

m any articles, especially forest and m ineral products, eagerly sought b y the Indian traders for their W estern clients In early times its population was pro b ably the largest on the coast o f the G u lf o f Siam , and its land the best cultivated M an y small items have been found w hich give a key to the character o f the trade and the k in g d o m ’s m ercantile position A m o n g them are Indian jew els o f gold, amulets o f tin, and gem s carved w ith small scenes o f Indian inspiration R o m a n objects include a gold m edal o f Antoninus Pius, a coin o f M arcus Aurelius, and gem s From C hina had com e a Han bronze m irror and W ei Buddhist im ages T here are even a few Ptolem aic Egyptian and Sassanian Persian objects

T h e first historical reference to the kin gdom ot Fou N an occurs in an account w ritten b y m em bers o f a Chinese em bassy

in the m id-third century a d This records the local legend o f its foundation - a similar legend to the one recorded o f the founda­tion o f the kingdom s o f C ham pa and A n gk o r, and com m on enough in India too A Brahm in, inspired b y a dream , landed in Fou N an, and m arried the daughter o f a local serpent-deity

T he B rah m in becam e the first king T h e serpent-deity, or

N a ga, is a fam iliar Indian representative o f local native royalty

T his N a g a h im self then drank the floodw aters and enabled the people to cultivate the fields

T h e historical facts behind the legend are not hard to decipher

A rch aeo lo gy has revealed traces o f an elaborate system o f

ancient canals, designed w ith extrem e subtlety so as at the same tim e to control the M ek o n g floods, to irrigate a huge area o f rice paddies and to prevent the incursion o f the sea w hen the riv e r’s flo w was slack Such elaborate w aterw orks w ere an Indian forte, upon w hich the w ealth o f Indian kingdom s and

em pires had long been founded T he cities w ere laid out on the canals, and boats could actually sail into them T he cities too

w ere Indian in conception, w ith moated fortifications like

m an y great Indian cities k n o w n to archaeology T h eir houses and warehouses w ere built on piles, and contem porary Chinese accounts refer to the splendour oi the buildings, m ade o f w o o d , carved, painted and gilt B u t nothing o f this splendour has survived the tropical climate save a few fragm en tary piles

T here are a few traces o f buildings made o f m ore perm anent

m aterials, but these again suggest Indian prototypes, and w ere pro b ab ly religious sanctuaries T he ch ief site w here w o rk has been done is O c-eo, but N u i Sam has also yielded some interesting remains M ost o f these m ore perm anent objects

w ere m ade, m ost likely, in the later stages o f Fou N a n ’s existence

T he ch ro n o lo gy o f the kingdom is docum ented b y inscrip­tions in Sanskrit A b o u t a d 357 an Indian claim ing descent from a Scythian line ruled as king H e m ay have been respon­sible lo r establishing the w orship o f Surya, the Indian Sun- god, w h o appears in m any sculptures A second Indian, a

B rah m in , succeeded him T hen other kings w ith Indian names, one the son o f a B rah m in w ho him self em igrated from India, appear in the inscriptions O ne, K aundinya Jayav arm an (478- 514) cultivated Buddhism , and sent a Buddhist mission com ­plete w ith Fou N anese im ages to the Chinese em peror T h e last

o l the great Fou N an kings was R u d ravarm an (514 -a fte r 539)

w h o was devoted to the H indu god V ish n u ; and it w as under him that the first o f the Vaishnava sculptures w ere made

It should, perhaps, be m entioned that there w ere in the same period num erous other Indianized settlements around the G u lf

o f Siam Ju st as the W estern M on in B u rm a w ere adopting form s

o f Indian culture, so the M on peoples o f the M enam plain w ere adopting the small culture Perhaps the most im portant sites

w here small w o rks o f art have been found are Phra Patom ,

K o rat and Pon g T uk

T he second kin gd o m w hich played the m ajor role in the for­

m ation o f both the K h m er em pire and the K h m er art-style was that called C hen La Its population w ere M o n -K h m er, and they had earlier lived on the upper-m iddle reaches o f the

M ek o n g river in w hat is n o w Laos Later they prob ab ly lived

on the Se M u n tributary T h e y w ere highlanders, tough and aggressive, w hose nam e w as Sanskritized as ‘K am b u ja’ , after

w hich C am bo d ia is named

O nce m ore it was Indianization w hich enabled them to form them selves into a kin gd om , pro b ab ly during the sixth century

a d T h e process o f its evolution is not clear, but certainly a

m ajor part must have been played b y the exam ple o f Fou Nan Indeed the king w h o finally united the kin gd om o f C hen La

w as the grandson o f the last great king o f Fou N an, R u d ra v a r-

m an, w h o m arried a princess o f C hen La Thereafter he and his successors, w h o w ere devotees o f Shiva, ruled the plain o f

C och in C hina b y the right o f the old dynasty o f Fou N an

W ith this union o f the kin gdom o f C hen La and Fou N an, the centre o f political p o w er m oved northw ards aw ay from southern C och in C hina - w hich seems to have suffered an agricultural reverse, possibly due to disastrous floods - farther

up the M e k o n g into the eastern end o f the C am bodian plain

T h e capital o f the united kin gd om , w hich lasted into the eighth century, was first at Sam bor and then, from the reign o f Ishanavarm an (6 16 -3 5), at Sam bor Prei K u k In this region the art-styles o f Fou N an w ere continued and developed through the centuries T his was the greatest phase o fp re -A n g k o r K h m er art, and though far m ore survives from the C hen La than from the Fou N an period, w e can treat the evolution under these tw o

k in gdom s together as a stylistic unity It w as the foundation o f classic K h m e r art, just as archaic G reek sculpture w as the foundation o f later classical G reek art

22

This art was essentially religious A t the same tim e it was an expression o f the Indian cultural conceptions upon w hich the state itself was founded T he kings exercised their p o w er o f govern m en t b y virtue o f divine authority, and that divin ity

w as conceived in Indian guise Thus the deities in their temples

w ere em blem s o f the highest spiritual and tem poral realities com bined W hile the icons w ere not the foci o f a purely personal religion, they alw ays em bo d y the most com prehensive and

m ajestic im age o f transcendent kingship T he ordin ary man had

no direct access to the go d in his sh rin e; this was reserved for the Brahm ins and ro yalty alone

T h e oldest su rvivin g traces o f Fou N an temples show that India supplied their patterns M ost o f these probably belong to the fifth century A t O c-eo there survive the lo w er stages o f

tw o m ajor shrines T he larger, w hich is built on an east-w est axis, consists o n ly o f a vast brick foundation It is designated

‘building A ’ B u t m ore interesting is that designated ‘K ’ It is laid out on a n orth-south axis and has three tiers T h e low est

is a brick foundation O n this was a rectangular cham ber o f huge granite slabs m ated b y m ortise and tenon - a considerable technical feat T he cham ber was crow ned pro b ab ly b y a corbelled ro of-vau lt w hose tw o granite pedim ents have sur­

v ived N ear b y was a brick building w ith room s and a verandah This w h o le com plex suggests an Indian tem ple o f the same period For the m assive volum e o f the stone o f the shrine recalls the Indian idea o f m aking the interior cell - the h o ly o f holies - in the im age o f a cave h ollow ed into the b o d y o f the sacred cosm ic

m ountain, M eru P ro b ab ly a w ooden or brick-and-stucco spire com pleted the r o o f o f the shrine, consum m ating the m ountain-

im age N o n e o f the surface ornam ent o f the O c-eo temples has s u rv iv e d ; but at N u i Sam w ere tound a pair o f terracotta

ornam ents, in the fo rm o f the chaitya w in d o w fram in g a head

T his is a typical Indian architectural m otif

It is assumed that during the sixth century similar temples, pro b ab ly o f stone, w ere also made Som e o f the stone sculptures seem to have required a setting resem bling an Indian cave-

23

8 L in te l fr o m S a m b o r P re i K u k E a r ly seventh ce n tu ry , sandstone Su ch lintels arc the c h ie f g lo r y o f e a rly F o u N a n - C h e n L a arch itectu re

tem ple It has been suggested that these w ere ‘grotto-shrines’

B u t nothing o f them survives It is certain that m ajor w o rks in stone m ust have been both rare and expensive, for Fou N an itself was delta terrain, w ithout any rock available for building O n ly

w hen access to the m ountains o f C hen La had made stone readily available did it becom e a m ore com m on building and sculptural m aterial

It is certain that a great deal o f architecture, sacred as w ell as profane, must have been executed in w o o d T h e earliest stone and brick architecture o f the C hen La period actually imitates the form s o f w o od en architecture This is a com m on pheno­

m enon, w ell k n o w n in India T h e prototype o f the C am bodian tem ple is a w ood en pavilion, standing on four squared -off posts

at the corners, w ith w o od en architraves, d o o rja m b s and lintels Its r o o f is m ade o f squared tim ber o f regularly dim inishing length piled into a h o llo w pyram id Som e C hen La sandstone buildings even used long pieces o f stone as i f they w ere w ooden

m em bers, capable o f brid ging gaps and bearing w eigh t like

w o o d - although it w as not conducive to satisfactory construc­tion O rnam ent w as added, either stucco on brick buildings or carved on those o f sto n e; the latter was m anifestly derived from carved w o o d relief T he roofs w ere corbelled o f dim inishing stone courses T he m ethod used o f extending the sanctuary

to w er upw ard, g iv in g it the height needed to sym bolize the cosm ic m ountain, was again characteristic o f w ooden archi-24

9 L in te l fr o m P re i K m e n g Late seventh ce n tu ry, sandstone T h e strings

o t h a n g in g je w e ls m a rk the d o o r b e lo w as one o f the g a te w a y s to h eaven

tecture A series o f gradually dim inishing versions o f the sanc­tuary itself w ere set one above the other, each standing on the architraves o f the one beneath T he w h o le later history o f

K h m er architecture was conditioned b y this early pattern It is sometim es said that the idea o f repeating the basic structure in a series o f tiers was suggested by the Pallava architecture o f south­eastern India A s a structural concept only this m ay be true

V isu ally the tw o styles have little in com m on

T he best groups o f buildings surviving from early C hen La are at Sam bor Prei K u k T w o groups lay at the centre o f the city, containing buildings from various periods T h e m ain structures are typical square or octagonal brick tow er-shrines, set on high brick terraces, w ith certain ornam ented parts made

o f sandstone T h e tem ple in the southern group once contained

a gold lin gam (phallic em blem , sacred to Shiva) and has sculp­tured scenes set in cartouches or ornam ent A lign ed w ith it is the to w er w hich contained the N andi (bull) shrine, the sand­stone canopy o f w hich is carved w ith m agnificent relie f ornam ent Som e o f the other buildings have chaitya w in d o w s fram in g heads or figures to ornam ent their towers T h e pillars and pilasters are round or cham fered, carved w ith rings and circlets o f relie f ornam ent, and having cushion-capitals o f deeply b o w ed outline - like m any Indian prototypes B u t the

ch ief g lo ry o f these buildings is their splendid lintel stones,

carved w ith elaborate relief ornam ent (III 8) A t each end,

25

above the dies on w hich they rest, are fantastic beasts, whose tails are elaborate foliate curlicues, bearing rid ers; from the open

m outh o f each beast springs a fictive arch T h e lintel’s four lobes

o f ornam ent are textured w ith elaborate foliage, and punctuated

b y three flo w e ry cartouches containing figures riding an im als; and from the fictive arch hang fabulous looped strings o fje w e ls punctuated b y tassels This indicates the fundam ental m otifs - Indian in origin - o f all the later C hen La and K h m er ornam ental carvin g w hich plays such an im portant part in the architecture

T he beasts, called makaras, vom it forth the ornam ent A n d the

ornam ent itself is based upon elaborations o f the hanging je w e l string and the extravagan tly efflorescing garland o f foliage, all contained w ithin even, orderly rhythm s T he foliage in the early lintel frames shows, especially in the local style o f Prei

K m en g (III 9), the first intim ations o f the upw ard-poin tin g

flam boyant shapes w hich became so characteristic o f full

K h m er art, sprouting everyw h ere from eaves and hood-

m ouldings

T h e significance o f all this ornam ent can be traced to Indian prototypes T h e je w e l strings refer back to the old Indian custom o f donors literally hanging their wealth - their jew els - upon sacred trees or the railings o f shrines T h e foliage is derived both from the vases and garlands o f flow ers offered in a sim ilar fashion, and from the im agery o f the shrine as a celestial

w ish-grantin g tree through whose fabric courses the sap o f

divine life T h e makara is the em blem o f time, w hich vom its all

forth, and sw allow s it again A nd since the tem ple is the earthly,

m an-m ade counterpart o f the heavens in w hich the gods dw ell, the figures populating the reliefs represent lesser celestials: the courtesans, musicians and courtiers o f the gods

T h e C hen La style appears at several sites, and fo llo w s several phases during the seventh and eighth centuries, declining by degrees into a lesser exuberance T he phases are nam ed after the m ajor architectural sites w here they occur - Sam bor, Prei

K m en g , Prasat Andet, K o m p o n g Preah A t H an C hei there is a small brick to w er faced w ith sandstone, p ro b ab ly the last o f the

p re-A n g k o r phase It is small, its ornam ent has shrunk to pure foliage and its pillars have diminished capitals, though under the architraves are some figurative pieces o f iconography This

w h o le som ew hat unenterprising style o f architecture depends

on its fine relie f sculpture A nd indeed sculpture was the m ajor art during the w h o le Fou N an -C h en La epoch A m o n g the few great stone icons w hich have survived are some o f the w o rld ’s outstanding masterpieces, w hile the smaller bronzes reflect the same sophisticated and profound style

N o sculpture was discovered at O c-eo, though w e do k n o w that sculpture was m ade at that period in Fou N an because Buddhist statues w ere sent to C h in a ; and Chinese sources refer

to the inhabitants o f Fou N an casting bronze statues o f their gods In the year 503, for exam ple, K in g K au n d in y aja yav arm an sent a coral B uddha to the em peror o f China, and w e hear o f a queen o f Fou N an erecting a bronze im age ‘encrusted w ith g o ld ’

W e can be sure that such w orks w ere part o f a flourishing tradition o f art N o doubt there w as m uch carving in w o o d , and

p ro b ab ly painting too, though w e k n o w nothing o f it W here such a distinguished style o f linear relief is found there must have been pictorial art as well

T h e first su rvivin g statues com e from the hill Phnom D a, the

‘acropolis’ o f the then capital o f Fou N an, A n g k o r B o rei (Ills

10, 16) T h e y belong to the early sixth century, a period w hen

the state o f Fou N an was com ing under pressure from C hen La

T h e king to w hose reign they belong was R u d ravarm an , whose patron deity was Vishnu T he statues are Vaishnava Som e represent Vishnu him self in a characteristic form w earing a tall

m itre, w ith his four or eight arms supported on a fram e left in

the stone o f the block (III 11) Like the great m ajo rity o f Fou

N a n -C h en La im ages they are carefully w o rked from the back

as w ell as the front T h e faces are m arkedly Indochinese O n at

least one o f them (III 12) there is a striking depiction o fin d ivid u al

muscles b u lging on the shoulders, breast and arms, quite unlike the usual sm ooth rotundity o f the lim bs o f m ost sculpture o f the Indianizing tradition T o account for this, it is possible that

27

io , i i , 1 2 (left) H a rih a ra o f P h n o m D a Late sixth c e n tu ry, sandstone,

h e ig h t 17 5 cm A h a lf-a n d -h a lf ico n - d iv id e d d o w n the centre - o f the

d e ity w h o co m b in e d the q ualities o f b o th S h iv a and V ish n u (centre) V ish n u

w ith e ig h t arm s o f P h n o m D a L ate sixth ce n tu ry, sandstone, h eigh t

270 cm T h e d e ity w h o p erson ifies the su b lim e G r o u n d o f all B e in g

(right) V ish n u o f T u o l C h u k S ix th c e n tu ry, sandstone, h e ig h t 95 cm

R o m an o -H ellen ic influence, already established during the second to fourth centuries a d in the north-w est o f the Indian sub-continent had penetrated to this rem ote region A striking Vaishnava im age from the same period is that o f Krishna per­

fo rm in g one o f his ch ief m iracles, holding aloft in one hand the

m ountain G ovardhana (III 13) H ere the im age was most likely

a ‘ grotto ico n ’ , meant to be placed in the n arro w stone cell o f a tem ple T h e figure, its braced arm , and the m ountain, though all

standing out distinctly, are com pletely engaged w ith the back­ground So the sculpture is virtu ally a relief, but a relief o f such great depth that the ground plays no role in the im age.

This effect is characteristic and illum inating M ost Indian sculpture is in the form o f m assively protuberant relief, and in this the Krishna fo llo w s Indian tradition T h e fact that so m any

o f the earlier and the later Fou N an -C h en La sculptures are

carefully cut from both sides and back (III 14) m ight mislead a

1 3 , 14 , 15 (left) K rish n a G o v a rd h a n a d h a ra o f V a t K o h S ix th ce n tu ry, sandstone, h e ig h t 16 0 cm (centre) B a la ra m a o f P h n o m D a L ate sixth

c e n tu ry , sandstone, h e ig h t 17 6 cm K ris h n a ’ s b ro th e r, esp ecia lly re v e re n ce d

b y w a rrio rs , (right) V ish n u o f T u o l D a i B u o n Se v e n th c e n tu ry, sandstone,

h e ig h t 18 3 cm T h e sensuous ch arm w as d esign ed to w in the h eart o f the

w o rs h ip p e r

spectator into im agining that they w ere carved as true full- round sculpture This is not so Even free-standing they are still reliefs, the figures conceived on a rhom boid section, organized so as to present a clear frontal plane, w ith em phatically receding but distinctly visible side surfaces T h e bodies show

m arked ridge-lines d ivid ing the side surfaces from the frontal surface; and all the surfaces are cut as subtly undulating con­

tinuities (III 1 5) T h e deep side surfaces give them a v iv id plastic

presence ; the surface continuity gives them their sensuous vitality These qualities, h o w ever m uch they m ay be overlaid by decorative schematicism in later times, are w hat give all o f

C am bod ian art its special virtue

Later the Fou N an -C h en La sculptures becom e m ore num erous O utstanding am ong them is a male deity w ith a horse’s head pro b ab ly o f the sixth century, found at K u k T rap

( 111 17) T h e figure has a slightly déhanché posture, and at the

side o f one hip there is a big b o w o f drapery, w hich is obvio u sly

d erived from a similar m o tif com m on on the sculptures o f

M athura, in w estern India, during the second and third cen­turies a d A n oth er v e ry Indian-like figure is the torso o f a

fem ale deity, in a m arked ly déhanché posture, found at Sam bor Prei K u k ( 111 18) T h e breasts are round, w ith m arked cup-like

top surfaces, far m ore characteristic o f India than the sloping breasts o f other early C am bod ian fem ale sculptures T h e best ol

these is perhaps the splendid Lakshm ï from K o h K rien g ( 111 19),

p ro b ab ly m ade in the early part o f the seventh century The

m ajestic goddess standing in a sym m etrical, frontal posture

m akes no attem pt to seduce the m ind w ith sm iling face or a

‘h ip p y ’ pose N evertheless, the surface o f the stone is carved

w ith an intense sensual affection, for the gods and goddesses o f

H induism are m eant to be physically adored T h e still later

Lakshm ï (III 23 ), w ith its m ore decorative sinuous linear surfaces,

lacks the liv e ly m onum entality o f the K o h K rien g goddess

T h e o n ly m asculine im age w hich can rival this Lakshin! in its

m on um entality is the great H arihara - a com pound icon o f Shiva and Vishnu com bined h alf-an d-h alf - o f Prasat Andet,

30

1 6 H a rih a ra o f P h n o m D a (d etail) In this im a g e o f the d e ity w h o co m b in es the qualities o f S h iv a and V ish n u the tw o h alves o f the face are su b tly

d ifferen tiated T h e stern h a lf is S h iv a , on the p ro p e r rig h t, w ith the tan gled lock s T h e ge n tle , su b lim e h a lf V ish n u , w e a rin g a m itre, is on the p ro p e r

left (See also III 1 o)

dating to about 700 (III 20) It form s the ch ief item o f a stylistic

group centred on Prasat Andet Characteristics o f the male

im ages are incised moustaches — recalling the art o f north­western India - and a forehead-peak on the m itre This par­ticular im age has the same squarcd-off section w ith deep side recessions, and the same sensuous surface, though the general expression is far m ore severe T h e ankles are b ro k e n ; but the feet are still present and, apart from the forearm s and hands, the sculpture is com plete D etail such as the b rie f loin-cloth held

b y a chain is executed in the shallowest o f relief So is the coiled hair on S h iv a’s side o f the m itre Jew els are carved in the same

w a y on other stylistically similar sculptures B u t m ost o f the

b o d y is turned into clear and em phatic volum es, not b u lk y - slender, in fact - but fu lly plastic

T here are m any m ore o f these grandiose images, m ale and fem ale, some alm ost com plete, some fragm entary or dam aged

(Ills 2 1 , 22) T h e y v ary in quality, and style evolves gradually

tow ards the recognizable K h m er style o f the ninth century

G rad u ally the volum es o f the body, so clearly defined in the style closer to Fou N an, weaken, and submit to a som ew hat decorative, sinuous silhouette that encloses the figure Earlier the eyes, the everted M elanesian lips and the strong pectorals

w ere defined in terms o f clear planes Later the b o d y becom es predom in antly a softly undulant surface on w hich features are

carried out alm ost as linear signs (III 23) H um ps and h ollow s

are both shallow T h e folds o f drapery becom e decorative patterns B u t in spite o f these changes, the original plastic inspiration remains, ready to blossom w hen opportun ity offers

A stro n g and e legan t c o m ­

b ined S h iv a and V ish n u

im a g e

22 H e a d o f L a k sh m ï o f u n ­

k n o w n p ro v e n a n c e S ix th to eighth c e n tu ry, sandstone,

h e ig h t 14 cm T h e e verted

M elan esian lips and the e y e ­

b ro w s are em p h asized b y incised lines in this late p re - 3 3

K h m e r head

23 Lakshm T E ig h th to

n in th c e n tu ry, sandstone, h e ig h t

14 $ cm In the fig u re

o f this god d ess the

w h o le su rface has been

c a rv e d as a sinuous

u n ity T h e fo rm s o f the d ra p e ry h a v e been

s u b o rd in ate d to the

o v e r a ll u n d u latio n

S e x u a l ch arm and

s u p e rh u m an p o w e r are reflected in the face.

Su ch im ag es rep resen ted the essential ro y a lt y o f the e a rth ly queen

24 (opposite page)

B u d d h a o f T u o l P rah

T h e a t S e v e n th to

e ig h th c e n tu ry, sandstone, h e ig h t

ap p earan ce o f the ascetic w h o w as the

B u d d h a , b u t s y m b o liz e the v ig o u r o f his

sp iritu al natu re

34

35

A ll the sculptures m entioned so far have been H indu, but a num ber o f Buddhist figures w ere carved in the same style O nce

m ore the earliest belong to the sixth century (III 25) The standing im ages o f the Bu dd ha have the same slightly déhanché posture as the horse-headed deity (III 28) T he seated ones have

a sm oothly em phatic plasticity B u t whereas it is legitim ate to feel a sensuous adoration for a personal deity, it cannot be correct to feel the same tow ards a teacher w h o preached the ultim ate in non-attachm ent N o n e o f the Buddhist im ages therefore attained the same sensuous suggestiveness as those o f

H indu deities T h e Buddhist style recalls at once som ething o f the sm ooth classicism o f fifth- to sixth-century Sarnath, and

som ething o f the m onum entality o f contem porary A janta (Ills

25, 26) T here is one Buddha head, supposed to be the earliest,

from R a n lo k w hich is often said to recall the style o f the third- century Buddhas o f A m aravatl, on India’ s south-east coast It

is this resem blance w hich authorizes the assum ption o f its early date T here is indeed resemblance ; but there are also m arked differences For this R a n lo k head is a distinctively C am bodian

w o rk , w ith the m arks o f the sophisticated C am bodian style

A num ber o f inscriptions and tem ple foundations are ascribed

to K in g B h avavarm an II w h o ruled fro m before 639 to after

656 It seems that, although the k in g ’s patron deity was pro­

b ab ly Shiva, the religion o f M ahâyâna Buddhism suddenly spread in the kin gd om A num ber o f M ahàyâna im ages w ere

m ade in a distinctive style, w hich was centred on Prei K m en g, and w as p ro b ab ly con tem porary w ith that o f Sam bor, con­tinuing during the Prasat A ndet and K o m p o n g Preah epoch T he

m ost characteristic im ages o f this M ahâyâna group are the

Bodhisattvas (III 27), and im ages o f one type o f Bodhisattva in

particular, k n o w n as Lokeshvara, ‘L ord o f the W o rld s’ It is

m ore than lik ely that such im ages represented a Buddhist fo rm o f

ro yal pattern W here a H indu king w o u ld derive his royal authority from a H indu deity, a king w h o was a Buddhist

w o u ld find it difficult to derive similar authority from the

Bu dd ha him self, w h o w as a hum ble mendicant M ahâyâna

o f soft v o lu m e an d rid g e w as

n e v e r recaptu red in later styles

38