The stone
inscriptions found
in the Angkor's
region are mostly
concerned with the
religious related
topics and rarely
speak anything about
the ordinary life of
the local Khmer
people. Only the
stone carvings on
the relief of Angkor
Thom do portray some
glimpses of the
daily life in those
days, however, most
of our knowledge
about the life of
the Khmer laymen
interestingly come
from the Chinese
Chronicle written by
Zhou Daguan who was
a Chinese ambassador
of Yuan Dynasty. He
visited the Angkor
Empire in 1296 and
traveled widely
inside the kingdom
for a year before
his return. Residing
with the local
people in various
circumstances, Zhou
Daguan described
quite an accurate
picture about the
life and activities
of the laymen and
enable us to
project our
imagination.
Zhou Daguan wrote
that both men and
women are
breast-naked and
barefooted with a
piece of cloth
wrapping around
their waists.
Ordinary females
have no hair
ornaments, but may
wear golden rings on
the fingers and
bracelets on the
arms. Beautiful
women are always
sent into the court
to serve the king or
his royal
family....All trades
in Khmer are carried
out by women. In the
market place, there
is no shop, and the
female vendors sell
their goods and
products on the mats
which are spread on
the ground. The
space in the market
is not free, and the
rent must be paid to
the officials....
the Khmer people do
not have any table
and chair in their
house, and neither
have the bowl nor
the bucket. They
cook their food in
the earthen pots
which are used for
boiling rice and for
preparing soup. The
ladle sticks are
made up from the
coconut shells and
the soup is served
in a tiny bowl made
up from the woven
leaves by which the
soup does not leak
from the bowl.
In addition to Zhou
Daguan's
description, the
relief carvings of
Bayon add further
views to the lively
scene of the
market. Many people
walk to and fro; two
bulls can be seen to
pull an oxcart, some
people carry their
goods on the head,
the dignitary on a
palanquin carried by
the servants, and
some people ride on
the horses. In the
carving,
well-dressed
foreigners can be
seen to walk among
the local people.
As the palaces and
the houses in the
Angkor Empire were
mainly made up on
unendurable
materials such as
woods and thatched
leaves, they left no
traces to the
present day, except
the various Khmer
temples which were
built from bricks
and stones. During
those days, we can
imagine the Angkor's
capital such that
the remarkable Khmer
temples like Angkor
Wat and Angkor Thom
must be surrounded
by the wooden
houses, some with
tiles on the roof
while some only with
thatch-leaves, and
the people carried
out their life in
the market place.
However, all these
scenes had long been
faded away; only the
temples and the
memory remain.
The stone
inscriptions found
in the Angkor's
region are mostly
concerned with the
religious related
topics and rarely
speak anything about
the ordinary life of
the local Khmer
people. Only the
stone carvings on
the relief of Angkor
Thom do portray some
glimpses of the
daily life in those
days, however, most
of our knowledge
about the life of
the Khmer laymen
interestingly come
from the Chinese
Chronicle written by
Zhou Daguan who was
a Chinese ambassador
of Yuan Dynasty. He
visited the Angkor
Empire in 1296 and
traveled widely
inside the kingdom
for a year before
his return. Residing
with the local
people in various
circumstances, Zhou
Daguan described
quite an accurate
picture about the
life and activities
of the laymen and
enable us to
project our
imagination.
