Chhim Krasem

Last updated
Chhim Krasem
Born
ទេពពិទូរ ឈឹម ក្រសេម
Other namesMaha Pithu Krasem
Occupation Historian
Organization(s) National Library of Cambodia
Buddhist Institute

Chhim Krasem or Krassem was a member of the Khmer intelligentsia during the first half of the 20th century during the period of transition from the French protectorate to the independent Kingdom of Cambodia.

Contents

Biography

Chhim Krasem was born in Cambodia at an uncertain date around the 1870s. He received a Buddhist education during which he learned both Thai and the Pali language.

Krasem worked toward the foundation of two Cambodian cultural preservation institutions, the National Library of Cambodia established in 1925, and the Buddhist Institute established in 1930. He fulfilled specific missions for the collection, reproduction, and preservation of religious documents.

In 1929, Krasem translated into Khmer the manual of buddhist iconography written in Siamese by Thai Prince Damrong Rajanubhab. [1] Apart from the translation of the Thai text, Krasem re-translated the Hitopadesha or the compilation of the Indian fables from the French translation.

Advised by George Cœdès, director of the French School of the Far East, Krasem, on behalf of the Buddhist Institute, published the Angkorian inscriptions listed and translated by Aymonier in Khmer language, including the Grande Inscription d'Angkor, [2] and was praised for the excellence of his scholarship. [3]

As part of his research work at the Buddhist Institute, he also wrote, translated and edited a number of research articles published in the journal Kambujasuriyā (founded in 1926). In the early 1930s, the latter periodical serialized a lengthy historical treatise on Buddhism, Sāsanā Pravatti [History of the Religion], written by Khmer monk and intellectual Mahā Bidūr Krasem, who explained that his aim in writing the history was to show ancient India as a “meeting place of various religious ideologies as well as to explicate the “history of Kampuchea very clearly.”

In 1936, he published a glossary of the ancient Khmer language to accompany a new edition of the classic Reamker. [4]

In 1939, Krasem translated original documents in Pali and compiled a book on the tree of illumination, also known as the Bodhi tree. [5]

In 1947, he became a member of the Cultural Committee of Cambodia, which contributed to the modernization of the Khmer language and the production of the new Khmer dictionary of Chuon Nath.

Chhim Krasem was Managing Director of the Pali School from 1950-1951. [6]

Chhim Krasem passed away at an uncertain date in the 1950s.

Influence on Cambodian historiography: between tradition and renewal

Anti-modern modern

Krasem is considered an “anti-modern modern”, a transitional figure between the world of traditional scholars and European knowledge, like others Khmer intellectuals of this period as Au Chiieng who sought to be imbued, up to a certain point, by French modernity in order better to safeguard the Cambodian palace culture. [7] His research, which learned from modern forms of survey and academic synthesis, safeguarded traditions which were being lost, such as elephant hunting in Cambodia. [8]

Historical quest of the Indian origins of Khmer buddhism

In a movement similar to the critical quest for the historical Jesus in the West, Krasem proceeded to a historical quest for the Indian origins of Khmer buddhism. Krasem asserted that it was essential for Cambodians to "perceive the direct line of transmission between ancient Buddhists and contemporary Khmer Buddhism in order to understand their own history". Kambujasuriyā articles from this period featured photos or translations into Khmer about visits to Buddhist sites in India as well as Indological essays such as Georges Bonneau's “The Manner in Which the Buddha was Worshiped in India.” [9]

Acknowledging the influence of Siam on Khmer culture

Krasem's contributions on the history of Khmer dance in the Kambujasuriyā reveals an idea of Khmer tradition different from that exposed by Thiounn who had been more influenced by French discourse in 1930 which tended to exalt Angkor. According to Japanese khmerlogist Sasagawa, "it must have been obvious for those who understood the Thai language that the Cambodian dance had a relationship not with Angkor but with Siam, and that was the reason why Krasem found some significance in translating the Thai text and contributing it to the Kambujasuriyā". [10]

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Funan</span> Ancient kingdom located in Indochina, centered on the Mekong Delta

Funan was the name given by Chinese cartographers, geographers and writers to an ancient Indianized state—or, rather a loose network of states (Mandala)—located in mainland Southeast Asia centered on the Mekong Delta that existed from the first to sixth century CE. The name is found in Chinese historical texts describing the kingdom, and the most extensive descriptions are largely based on the report of two Chinese diplomats, Kang Tai and Zhu Ying, representing the Eastern Wu dynasty who sojourned in Funan in the mid-3rd century CE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chenla</span> Ancient kingdom located in Indochina

Chenla or Zhenla is the Chinese designation for the successor polity of the kingdom of Funan preceding the Khmer Empire that existed from around the late sixth to the early ninth century in Indochina. The name was still used in the 13th century by the Chinese envoy Zhou Daguan, author of The Customs of Cambodia. It appears on the Mao Kun map. However, modern historiography applies the name exclusively to the period from the late 6th to the early ninth century. This period of Cambodian history is known by historians as the Pre-Angkor period. It is doubted whether Chenla ever existed as a unitary kingdom, or if this is a misconception by Chinese chroniclers. Most modern historians assert that "Chenla" was in fact just a series of loose and temporary confederations of principalities in the pre-Angkor period.

Sanghapāla was a famous Khmer monk who traveled to Southern and Northern Dynasties China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maurice Glaize</span>

Maurice Glaize was a French architect and archeologist, Conservator of Angkor from 1937 to 1945.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Cœdès</span> French historian

George Cœdès was a French scholar of southeast Asian archaeology and history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phnom Kulen National Park</span>

The Phnom Kulen National Park is a national park in Cambodia, located in the Phnom Kulen mountain massif in Siem Reap Province. It was established in 1993 and covers 373.76 km2 (144.31 sq mi). Its official name is Jayavarman-Norodom Phnom Kulen National Park.

A Dharmasala or a house of fire, or house with fire, is the name given to a place where people, especially pilgrims, can rest on a journey. It is a type of building found in Angkorian complexes constructed during the reign of late 12th-century monarch Jayavarman VII and still found in Preah Khan, Ta Prohm and Banteay Chhmar.

Īśānavarman or Yīshēnàxiāndài was a king of the kingdom of Chenla in 7th century, which would later become the Khmer Empire. He was the son of, and successor to Mahendravarman.

Khin Sok was a Cambodian historian, linguist, literature and arts scholar. He acquired a doctorate of history in Paris, published scientific works, taught as a professor in the Royal University of Phnom Penh and was a member of the Royal Academy of Cambodia. His publications during the second half of the 20th century profoundly contributed to the scientific interpretation of historical sources, literature and the systemic development of the modern Khmer language. As a participant of the Khmerization movement he encouraged the promotion of a culturally independent Cambodia on the basis of enlightened and scholarly education in an international context.

Saveros Pou, also known around 1970 under the name Saveros Lewitz, was a French linguist of Cambodian origin. A retired research director of the CNRS in Paris, a specialist of the Khmer language and civilization, she carried out extensive work of Khmer epigraphy, started as a young researcher with her teacher George Cœdès.

Thommo Reachea II (1602–1631), also known as Ponhea To or Cau Bana Tu, was the Cambodian king who reigned from 1628 to 1631.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wat Vihear Suor</span> Royal Buddhist monastery in Cambodia

Wat Vihear Suor is a Theravada Buddhist temple located in Kandal Province, Cambodia. It was built on an older pre-Buddhist cult site belonging to the Angkor era.

The Poem of Angkor Wat, is a Khmer poem which dates from the beginning of the 17th century. It celebrates the magnificent temple complex at Angkor and describes the bas-reliefs in the temple galleries that portray the Reamker. The Poem of Angkor Wat is considered to be the earliest original literary work in Khmer language. It is one of the two great epic poems of Cambodia with the Reamker in the style of the Indian epic poetry.

<i>Grande Inscription dAngkor</i>

Stupas in Cambodia more often referred to as chedi are steeple-shaped mausoleums holding the bones and ashes of the deceased placed throughout the grounds of a pagoda, typically found in Cambodia, usually financed by wealthier believers for themselves and their relatives. While the prang derived from the Indian shikhara prototype, the chedi felt both the Indian influence, through the prototype of the stupa, especially that of Sanchi, as well as other influences, especially with the prototype stupa of Ruwanwelisaya in Ceylan, from where Theravada Buddhism also arrived.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trasak Paem</span>

Trasak Paem is commonly considered as a ruler from legend of the Khmer Empire who presumably died around 1340.

Baksei Chamkrong is a legendary monarch of Cambodia, whose life and rule are known from the Cambodian Royal Chronicles. Despite a lack of historicity, the narrative of his epic has had a lasting influence on Cambodian culture and politics.

Venerable Pang Khat also known as Bhikkhu Viriyapandito was a Cambodian Theravada bikkhu monk who was notorious from 1940 to 1975 and who is most famous for his translations from Sanskrit language to Khmer.

Louis Em was an important modernist Buddhist monk who encouraged the 1942 Umbrella Revolution against the French protectorate of Cambodia, translated many major documents from Pali to Khmer. During the better part of the 20th-century, he was considered "Phnom Penh's best educated monk," "very capable and extremely popular."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nil Teang</span> First Supreme Buddhist Patriarch of Cambodia

Samdech Preah Moha Sangkha Reach Nil Teang or Nil Tieng as it was written during the French protectorate of Cambodia, was the first Supreme Patriarch of Cambodia in the Mahanikaya. He held that position during the reign of three consecutive kings: King Preah Ang Duong, King Norodom, King Sisowath.

References

  1. ↑ Cœdès, George; Van-Giâp, Tran; Kim, Yung-Kun (1931). "Bibliographie bouddhique. II, janvier 1928-mai 1929". Bulletin de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient. 31 (1): 546–550.
  2. ↑ Skilling, Peter (2001). "Some Literary References in the "Grande Inscription d'Angkor" (IMA 38)". Aséanie, Sciences humaines en Asie du Sud-Est. 8 (1): 66. doi:10.3406/asean.2001.1731.
  3. ↑ Lewitz, Saveros (1970). "VI. Textes en kmer moyen. Inscriptions modernes d'Angkor 2 et 3". Bulletin de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient. 57 (1): 100. doi:10.3406/befeo.1970.5413.
  4. ↑ Antelme, Michel (1996). La réappropriation en Khmer: de mots empruntés par la langue Siamoise au vieux Khmer (in French). Prince of Songkla University. p. 132. ISBN   978-974-605-708-0.
  5. ↑ "Chronique de l'année 1939". Bulletin de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient. 39 (1): 276. 1939. doi:10.3406/befeo.1939.3727.
  6. ↑ Krasem, Chhim (1950). "ទស្សនាវដ្តីមិត្តសាលាបាលី" [The Friend of the Pali School](PDF). L'Ami de l'École de Pali. Preah Reach Trob Printing House.
  7. ↑ Mikaelian, Grégory (2020). "Au Chhieng: The Grū of Parnassus: Au Chhieng among the Titans" (PDF). Journal of Khmer Studies. 15: 144.
  8. ↑ Ellul, Jean (1973). "Le traité de la chasse aux éléphants de l'Uknha Maha Pithu Krassem" (PDF). Annales de l'Université des Beaux-Arts de Phnom Penh (in French). Phnom Penh: 45–76.
  9. ↑ Schober, Juliane; Collins, Steven (2017-09-14). "Belonging in early-20th-century Cambodia". Theravāda Buddhist Encounters with Modernity. Routledge. p. 66. ISBN   978-1-317-26852-9.
  10. ↑ Sasagawa, Hideo (March 2005). "Post/colonial Discourses on the Cambodian Court Dance" (PDF). Southeast Asian Studies. 4. University of Kyoto. 42: 433.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.