Journal of the Siam Society; 30

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THE KOH LAK TRADITION

by FltANC!S

H.

GlL8S.

PAI:t1' ONE.

1'he 1'nulit,:on rtn(l

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Few Int-J·ocluctm·y

Bemt~rk8.

Bol'ot'l) t'm:o1·cling- the Koh Ln,k 'l.'m,ditioa it may be helpful to the runrlm· to know the googmphieal poHition of Koh Ln.k. Koh Lak iR ollieitdly known !tH Praehnab Kirikrmtt~ (~J:"li'UH~'ll'W(). 'rhis place, thu enntro or thiH tradition, iH HitU!Lted on the Southern B.ttilway, :i I H kilouwtreH fi'Oill BtLngkuk, nntl iH on the westem side or a huttntifnl lu1y whieh iH pmetically lt1nd-loeked. 'l'he entrance to thi8 btty fl'om thu Uulf of Si11m i,~; tln·ongh a narrow pttsHage, near whieh Htu.wlH Koh Lt1k, tho pill11r iHlttnd, t"Lnd Koh Hai Lam, the lhi-ln,m' iHltttthonlder, and vvent down frow the hou:;e, 'l'hc story now relate~; the ont;ry or 11 Chiumm prince 1H1Uted Muak (1!\l.Jdn) on tho scenu. 'l'his prince had hmml of the extmordinary beu,uty of Yom Doey, the reputation of w hieh w11s sutlieient to cause him to become so enamoured of her, that he determined to roquest her hnml in mat'l'iage. 'l'hc prince, hu,ving b 11do farewell to his fttther, the Emperor of China, went with t1 fleet of a hundred su,iling vessels to Koh Lttk to ask for Yom Doey. On his t1rri val at Koh Lttk he npproached Yom Doey herself, but she refused to accept hiH rtdY!LuCeH. ~!'he prince was so grieved at this refusal that he decided to mtll on the spirit of hiH grandfather to help hirn. [The

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word used here iH Devnpn (I'YrJ~); the yonng man ]JCing n prince, his gm.ndfn.tlwr wonltop was Krabin. On the l::;t of l!'ebruary.-one week after they left Bangkok, the party CI'OSI:!ed the ummcl11l'Y into old Oamboditt. 'l'he party nLl'ely accomplished more than twenty miles a clt1y. Camp ut night was under spreading trees or nt some sah Fires were built on every side to ward otf wild animals nnd to provide a suwke screen agttinst mosquitos. Scsupan is the next landmark:. 'l'here t.he Guvernm· offered three elepbauts, three butfttlos and one bullock cart, beside making llUllleruus presents. Everywhere Government Officials were most courteous and kind . .Pttnomn-sok is the next place mentioned in the annals. '!'he Uovernor waH himself 11way assisting in the cremation of a nephew in Komt. However the Governor's wife saw to it that no courtesy was omitted nnd even invited the party to join hers as she was leaving the following day fur Siammp. Upon hearing that it was her intention to travel slowly the Americans decided they would better

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NO'l'E ON 'l'IIE VISI'l' '1'0 ANCHWH WA'l'

Het their own pace and so st11rted on ahead. On Ji'ebuaty 11th the pttrty reached Sitmmtp, having travelled 11 total distance of 24·5 miles. "Of this 30 miles mts on tlw Bangpakong river in boats, and the reiUainder-215 miles--Wt1s perfor111cd upon horses and elephants, in bullock carts, and on foot; the grettter part of the journey, however, waH accomplished on lwrHcbaek. 'l'he time conHnmed in making this trip W11s seventeen days".

Mr. Vincent writes, "The Oovemor of Simnmp having provided us with three eleplmnti:l, on the 13th inst., we HtiLrted for the ruins of Angkor, three and a half miles distant, to the north. We took bnt little bttggage with us, Leing mther imrmtient now that vve were uearing the main ohject of the expedition-the ultima 'l'lmle of om· desires and hopes-and so we passed f Angkor Wu,t waR unknown for tt long time, it heing surmised that it took place either dnring the reign of King Suriyavarman II., posthumously named Pammavislmnlolm, or his successor Dharanindravarnmn II. Thanks, however, to the discovery in 1918 by the writer of these lines of an inscription on the rloor of the inner and southern gopura in the Phimai temple, dated 1108 A. D., set up by tt certain Virendradhipativarrnan, one of Suriyavarman's generals, whose portrait is found in 11royal proceAsion depicted on one of the bas-reliefs in the galleries of Angkm· Wat, it Cltn now be said wHh certainty that the construction of the temple was 11pproaching completion, if not completed, by the middle of the 12th centmy. * 'rhe construction must of necessity have laAted fm· many decades. The age of the temple is thus about 800 years. AA ~tated above, Dr. McFarland's description of Angkor Wat, though rather brief, is very precise and as far as it goes only calls for some few remarks. On page 38 the Doctor says that the depressions, surrounding the cross-shaped gallery between the outer and middle gallery, on their western side, are supposed to be bathR. This supposition has since been disproved as the depressions in question cannot and never could hold water. On page 41 the Doctor says thl1t the figures and fe11tures of the women (devatas) carved on the pillars and walls of the galleries "resemble more the Cochin Chinese than any other race now found in the East". By Cochinchinese we nowadays understand Annamites, or the mixture of Annamites and Khmer living within the confines of that part of *Vide Major E. Seidenfaden "An excursion to Phimai" J. S.S. on page 52 vol. XVII, Part 1, 1923, ·

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Indochina. 'l'he Doctor may not, however, htwo been. thinking of the Ammmites, as the clevt1tas do cerbtiuly not resemble that people. In thi~:~ counection it mn,y be o.f intt~I'est Lo quote l\1ouhot who, in his postlm111ous work "Travels in the Centml parts of Indo-China, Siam, Cn.ru Lodia and Lu,os," Vol. II, p. 24, ~n,ys: "When looking nt the figmes in the b:1s-reliefR u,t Ongcor, I could not nvoid remnrking the strong resemblance of the faces to those of the snvngc~" ( i. e. the Khii. ot· lHoi ). The~c remarkfl, coupled with my own observations, seem to be confirmed by Ivi. Marchal, Chief of the Archaeological Seryice of Ecole Fran91tise d'Extreme Orient, in hiR l'ecenUy publiAhcd study "Des influences etrttngereA dam; l'art et la civiliAation Khmers" (Saigon 1936 ). As the opinion~ voiced by thi~ experienced ttrchneologi~t hEtve a direct bearing on the form~ of the art exhibited in the galleries of Ang;kor Wnt and in other Khmer temples, beside~ being of general interest to the student~ of the civili~ation of the Far E:1Ht, I shall venture to quote M. Marchnl at some length. M. lYhrclml says that the Khmer civili:-mtion is constituted of two element~, n M on, which brought to it the Hindu culture with its literature and religions, and a Malay or Indonesian, which transmitted to it the rmnnin~ of tt very ancient civiliAntion, the HO-Ct1lled Oceaninn, whoRe cmdle iR unknown, bnt t.lw traceR of which are found fmrn Central AuH~rictt via the Pncific, Imml incle and India to Maclagascu.r. 'l'oo long HtndentR of art hnve classified the art of the Kinner as a ~irnple bmnch of the Indian ttrt. However true that may be of tho beginningR, the Khmer n.rt little by little t.mnsformed all the Indian elements WJ in the XTith century A. D. it represented an nrt .totally different hom the origins. Before continuing to qnote M. Marchal I ~hould like to point out t.hat. one of the most important elements, phyRically speaking, in the compo~ition of the Khmer people, iR the clark negroid strain due to mixture of tl1e Mon-Indone~ian with the former Melane~ian population. 'l'his Melanesi:1n imprint is clE'arly shown in the features of the Hta.tueH of the so-call eel classic (Angkor) school of art with their bulging foreheads, broad noses and thick lips as well as their short chins, features which are very common to meet among the present. thy rural population of Cambodiu, as well as among the primitive Chong, Samrae and Kui. The same observations hold good for the also so-called Dvaravati art, where the oldest im11ges of the Buddha are finely featured almost pure Gupta art, but little by little they

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deteriomte Q.nd take on the features ol: the loon! popnlation, i. P. they become 11lrnost negroid with curly hn.ir, ln·tmd llOiit:H, bulging fon:heads and thick lips (see fm: instance tho Htmw iumguR of tlw Buddha exhibited in the outside inches in the g•ttllory or Wtlt Huncltttlll!llHllJit). lV[r. Ie May and I have observed. and studied this t.mnsfurnmtion for years, and our opinion is now confirmed l1y Ilf. Pierre Dupont in hili recent pnblic:ttion "Art Siamois" (which forms a p:trt of "!\fusee Guimet-Catalogue "). 'rhe original Man were prolmhly l'ttir skinned people, and so n,re many of them to-day, but the 111ixture ·witlt the Melanesi11n population created a dark somewhat negroid type beside the original fair one. With regard to the Oceanian civilisation it Rooms tiHLt BnHtian had also some vague ideas of the existence of such a one. In his above quoted book, vol. II, p. 107, he says that tl1e Buddhiflt apoiitleH, who extended their mission act.ivities right ov!:lr to Cllldws, are met with in the myths and the art of the Polynesians aml in Mexico, where they are d!:lpicted as umbrella-carrying, legendary perfl(mageR, finally to disappear somewhere in South America. M. Marchal further says that it seems that there were two ancient currents of civiliHation which profoundly left their mark both in Asia and Oceania, extending even as fa1· aA Centt'al America aml Madagascar. One current brought the civilisations of Egypt, Sumer and Akkad via India to the Far East where it met the Oceanian civiliRI1tion. The impact of this meeting canRecl the formation of new elements of cultme in China, Indochina aml Java. It iA thnH not only in India that we have to Rearch for affinities with the K.hrner art but also in China, Polynesia and in tho Maya art of Central America. M. Ma,rchal thereafter drawR the attention to several details, which are not of Indian origin, such as the shape of the temple (or palace) roofs in China, Annam, Cambodia and Siam, with their turned up corners and their wooden rafters carved in the likeness of snakes. Though no such wooden buildings have been left us from the golden era of Cambodia, lVI. Marchal does not doubt that such ones did exist during that time. As M. Parmentier s~tyR, "these roof constructions represent something autochthonous for the whole of the East., i.e. from Indochina to Oceania (including t,he lYioi or Kha region, Sumatra, Celebes, etc.) while" it l)redominat-

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eel in ,Java in the cmvcd roofs of the civiliHatm·:-; of· Borobudnr." Exn,mples of this Jn,vanese roof style may be Heen in tb.iH eountL·y in the "salas" .in front of Wat Bonchaumbopit, Bttngkok, a,nd those flanking the gl'eat N aga stt1i rc:tse on the northern frtce of th c giant stuptt Phm PtLtomehedi, N1tkhon Pntom. AR regards p:1rticubrly the tiered roofs and the Hnake motif as decoration on the 'l'ha,i ttnd Khnwr temples, Carl Bock, author of "TernpleR ttnd Elephants," a::; well 11s I n1yself', pointed out the striking rcsemblauce to the ancicmt Nordie wooden "Stave churches," which date back to the 12th century A. D. (though this r-;tylo .iR undoubtedly much older, having been nscd in the old Scandinavian feasting hallR long before the 12th century) and of which a few ones aro Rtill in exist(:IJlce in Norway a,ncl Sweden. 'l'hongh I do not dme to propound any new theory rtbont the relntionR between the temple roofR or Indochina ttncl those of ancient Scandinavia, still it doeR uot Reem umeasonable in view of PeofeRRor Oswn!d Siren's finds of stone reliefR in China, of which almost OXltet counterparts have been found on the islan that "All these ttncient grl1in~:~, whether taken from underground pitH, storehouses, tombs o1· vessels within the latter, are l!lore Ol" le~:~s carbonized.

Nnked gra,ins generally exhibit comrJ!eto carboni-

zation, becoming clmnged into charcoal; their n,ppem·ance suggests the action of fire, and they are often erroneously described as ohaned or burnt. 'l'lte cluwge from the normal to carbonized grain is, however, tt 1mtural process whjJlt takes pla(~~ at ordimtry tempemturcs. The cnrbohyclmtes, cellulose und ,;tarch, o.f which the

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SEIDENFADI~N

eererLI grainn ttre largely composed, consist of cnrllon uuit,ud with tho elmnonts of W

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VAN VLIET'S HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF SIAM.

IN 'l'HE

)

17TH

CENTUHY

Pl'inted for H. R. H. Prince Damrong Rajanublutb, nud Translated in 1904 by W. H. l\Jundie, nr. A. HISTORICAL ACCOUNT.

Of the illness ~tnd dea.th of Pm-TntM'- Va-1'sict-'l'h·iant-8iwngh Plwevglc (Phrn Inthm Rcwhu, Hurmg Gl~rdt.g·.Ph'l!.·o(:k); tlw. great nntl jttst King of the vVhite JiJlephc('ld, wul of the ?"evol7~t·ions which too!Z~\ 1dcwr~ im. t!w Ki,ngdmwof--.S:i!LJ!.I:_~()'!:_.U'n to the t~mn ing to the throne of \. Pru. Onuly (Phnt Ong Lai), who reigns tlw?'e to-clny and who tnlces -. the style wncl title of Pra-'l'iu:ow, Pnf. Su.thovgh (Phnt Chew Prasat Thong), PmticwtiJ T&tngh, P1•a-Tiwuw lsi 1m,gh Ihon-Dcngh P1•o. Thiu.ngh Ohoboct, llutt is to 15ft!) tlu~ King of the Golden 1'h?'O'IW as nlso of the red ancl wkite Blllp/unt.t ·with the twisted tuiil. Writ.ten iu the yet1l' 1647 by IEREMIE VAN VLlE'l'

and dedicated to Antoine vu.n Diemen, Governor-Geueru.l of the State of the United Provinces or the N etherhnds in the East Indies. For the elucidation of what I lmve to say on the subject of the , revolutions that took place some time Aince in the Kingdom of Sinm, · it would be pertinent, before commencing this account, to giv/nn

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exact cte:;c~iptiou 0 f/ tile position of this Kingdmn, of tho mttivus in this nation, of thy'-11· religion, nncl of iilw ~-:l;n.tu of thuir ]HJiitiertl g.oYorn~ nwrlt. But irvdl:munch 1LS tlmt luLs lH:lllll clone l>y fH~vuml pun.;ons oi: 1uerit, and _f-s a,t Bnt:wio in. 1HilH I n~~sulf llta. more reason for hope than for fear in regard to his illness. The opposition of some of the Mandarins to the express wish of the King, gave umbrage to his Mu,jesty, and all the more as he had been warned that Oyn Galnlwm, General of the elephants and of the infantry of the Kingdom, had taken the side of the Prince, his brother. Accordingly in order to remove all obstacles which might pl'event his son succeeding, he desired by means of OycL Siwor1·a~wngh to secure Oya Senttph·inwa (Okya Senapldrnuk) the General of the Japanese, who are maintained by the Kings of Siam to the number of about six hundred; and this was done, Senaphimoc promising to the other and swearing solemnly that he wonld help to put the King's

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HOn on the. throne. In m·~:>essed many fine qun.liLiGs, so that there iR no doubt if he had come to the throne he would not luwe been loss esteemed than was the late king his brother. 'fhere was hardly ltnyone who did not regret this Prince, but no oue dared to give ltny sign of his grief. For as soon a.'J there was reeogui%ed in anyone, whatever rank he held, an attachment to or affection for tho deceu.sed, that lilan was put to death and his goods w'ere confiscated. Mandarins and soldiers alike were reduced to slavery and wore treated so badly that in n. very short time 11ll the friends n.nd all the party of the Pdnce had disappeared.

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[VOL. XXX

Olowngh )1ancough, former General of the lon, Prince Cltetlm, bhe Hcir-App:u·ent, hns not noted in :tecol'lbncc with the comnmJuls of his f>tther, which enjoineL1 him to he fnithful to Us, for he lm;; a~cended the throne of his owl! will without Our authorit,y. [n thus doing he hrts trertted Us with diflchdn, lms not pre;;entecl the cnstonmry tribute n.ucl tloes not obey the order~'! of Ayudbya. Our Council of Minister~, :.tfter consultation, sent tt specinlmis:;ion to :tclrnonish Ute young Prince :.wcl rcqnire him to retunr t,o his allegi:mee, hut he refused to listen to Om adviee am1 l'OHe in rebellion a.gn,inst u~. 'rhis b the cause why We wet·e obliged to hold in rtbey:.mce the de~ patch of 11 letter to Your Highness. Now Ayndhyn is ol'g:.tnising:.tn army which will pmceed by land rwcl wn.tel' to crush this rebellion in C!tmbocli:t. J:tp:wese 1mtioua.ls are in 1;he lmbi1; of visiting Cmnbodh, :tnd flhonld it lmppen dnring the fighting hetween f)imn 1tnd C1tmhoclia tlmt :.tny J:.Lpane:-;e :-;iding with Umnhocli:t he killed, this nmy lend to :tn estmngement between ns. For this re:lfiOn, We rtsk Y onr Highness to p1·ohibit Japanese going to C:unboclin., because we are united l1y o:nch stmng bonch; of friendship like unto the bones and flesh of the hmn:m body, which n,re so knitted together aK to be iusep1tmhle. 'rhe interest::; of our two conntrie:,; are icleutical, nncl we are joined together in om joys n,nd snrl'OWI:l. Please do not :tllow !tnything to !tl'ise, which might intol'l'npt or t1i~­ tnrl1 our present relation::;hip, and it, is Om sincel'e hope tlmt we m:ty communicate one with the ot,ber every yen.r without intet·mption. Should Your

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FRANCIS

H.

[VOL. XX:Ji.:.

GILES

Highness S sent by the King of Siam or the Shogun as in previous yel1l'S, 'J'his may be clue to the letters having been lost or mislaid in the Department of Archives in Japttn. There were four official letters, two from Siam and two from Japan. There was t1lso tt fifth letter but this seems to be of a private nature, and was ttdclressocl by one Mn,kino Nobunari to Ok:ya Phra Khlang, the F01·eign Minister, in September 1625 (Chttlu, the yetw of tho Ox which synchronises with the year 987 of the Little Era). 'rhis letter says that tho writer is taking advantage of the departme of a ship to convey to Okya .Phra Khlang his pleasure at knowing that he is in good health, and asks the Minister to use his influence with the King to advt1nce the interest of the writer. 'l'he captain of the ship is a friend of the writer, who trusts that the :Minister will do all he can to help his friend to dispose of the cargo quickly, t1nd to the best advantage of both countries. The writer then goes on to say that if the Minister expresses a wish for anything, he will be glad to sei.1cl it, and takes advantage of the present opportunity to send the MiniRter tt suit of armour. 'l'ho first of the official letters is one from Okya Phra Khlang, the :E'oreign Minister, to Sakai Tadayo, and this letter is elated the

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ANALYSIS OF VAN VLIE'r'H ACCOUNT OF STAl\I

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fifteenth cby' of the waning of the fomth month in the ;ear of the Tiger, 987 of the Little Em (dna March 1626). Okya Phm Khlang says: lt; has been brought to my notiee thrd; the alhninistmtion of yonr country is firm like unto the Rtnno wrclls of the eity, rtnd the1·efm·e the people enjoy happiness nml prosperity. Jt is f1 mattm· of plen.Hure to my Hoyal Master tlmt, the renown of your governmeut should lmve spread throughout nil lttnds. I mn commanded by His Mnjcsty the King to say that though the1·e tL!'H mr1ny conutl'ics in this worlll under the s:une sky inhabited by clifl'm·eut mces rend sepn.1·ated hy wa.ter, still if we give pmfonrHl consideration to the ma.ttm·, it will be seen that Sirived the fom rolls of flowered eloth, a.ml the four rolls of white netting. It iH tt rnntter of gmtificrttion to me to le:trn tlmt yon lmve received my previous letter. As regttrds t.he Si:unese traders in Jn.p:tn I a.m u.l'l'ltuging tha.t they shall retnrn without hindmnce. The truth i;; I hall already onoB tried to send them b:tek, but they could not leave, hecnnse they had not sold the whole of the c:trgo. I will see that they go now. I lean1 thnt yom· country is engngecl in suppressing 1t t·evolt on the frontier. As the rebels rtre not strong, it is probable thrtt they will be nn:tble to resist :1 superio1• force. I, thm·efore, feel sme tllfl,t yon will be nble to crush the rebels before long. As regm·ds the hor;:;es yon ask for, I will procure and send them. However, your envoys luwe 1Llre1tdy bot'ght some. Besides the horses the envoys are taking, I desire to present to the King rt horse of good breed. Kindly inform His M~tjesty. In the mnttm· of our countries being fn.itbful one to the other, flml of commeroinl inter·com·Re, if these two conditions crtn be developed and in-

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A:-.1,\LYSIS Oli' VAN VLm'l''s ACOOUN'J' Oli' S!Al\l

t'l't·a~t!tl to t.lt.~ir Fullt!Hf. nxi.t1uf;, it will l1o

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nxeollont thing,~t.hnnt which

I lined not; say llliWlt liS yon yont'."elf llliiSt be 11\Vlll'O of its ao.~imhility. (:l) A ldtw•' w:ts sun(; hy tho Ohinf llli?1iiHte·1· of State ·in Himn to

Doi 'l'ui:!hiln letltw No.8,

'tlll'lli:tsutl to set!Man civilisation and.the M on continued to profess their national reliO'ion the I-Iinayana form of Buddhism. 0 ' The Thai immigrants, who entered the JY[enn.m plain tl'rom t.lw north-east), came on slowly and by degrees nJ>~orbed the n"'lHn·igillid population, ohiefly Man, thereby being strongly inihwneell hy tlwir high culture. It is well known that the Mon possessed a hrillinnt civ iliKn. t.ion (probably prior to that of the Khmer). rrhe Man of Lowor Rnt'JIIIL, with their capital at Hamsavati, lost their inclepmulunee for the ti nd, time in 1057 A. D. when the Burmese king Annrud