Preface
Historians noted that the first State of the Khmer Nokor Phnom or Funan came into existence with the hands of the ancient indigenous people of Cambodia at the beginning of the Christian era. It developed through different epochs from Funan to Zhenla and then to Moha Nokor(The Angkorian era) (802-1431) when the civilization reach its zenith, leaving rich cultural heritages to later generation of the Khmer. Through many centuries, these elements of life and thinking were synchronized into an identity of the Khmer nation, including language, letter, literature, cults, religions, morals, arts, inventions, entertainments, traditions and customs, the festival of kite flying, to name a few. Unfortunately for Cambodian people, their country was in flames of successive wars and civil strife of the 1970s. During this dark period, millions of Cambodian people were killed; cultural patrimonies destroyed and traditional practices of kite flying were no longer seen. These led to a poor knowledge about the national kites among younger generation. With an ardent desire to make a humble contribution to the revival of the Khmer traditional practices of kite flying, as an intangible cultural heritage of Cambodia, I approached and sought for support and assistance of top management of the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts by early 1994 in initiating festivals of kite-flying in the country. The quest was made and three festivals of kite flying were consecutively held in Phnom Penh respectively on 31 December 1994, 25 December 1996 and 22 December 1999 with large participation of the mass population. The 1994 kite-flying festival was the first of its kind since King Ang Duong died in 1859. It was also the renaissance of such kind of festival after its death for 135 years. As the government would like to make the new millennium and to dedicate itself to peace in Cambodia, the third festival of kite-flying organized in 1999 was so solemn and unprecedented in the country under a motto: "Lay down weapons, Fly kites" Kite-flying practices are resumed by kite fans, especially among children but not active yet. However, many of us gain little knowledge about history of kite and do not know how to make a kite properly. Hence, Cheang Yarin and I try to compile this books a souvenir for all kite lovers and would like to consider it a tool to excite a love of an element of the national heritage among our countrymen. In this thin booklet, you would receive some information about an introduction to Cambodia's brief geographic setting and kite season in Cambodia, kinds of Khmer kites, history of Khmer Kites, history of the Royal Festival of Kite Flying, beliefs in kite flying, legends of Khmer kites, gathering for kite flying, methods of making Khleng EK , model of Khleng Ek , kites in various provinces, etc. Great sources of my inspiration to compile this book are reference books and encouragement from my colleagues and friends, namely Etude sur les rites agraires des cambodgiens by Eveline Porée-Maspero (1964), series of Kambuj Sorya Digest, Khmer Ceremonies of the 12 months of the year published by Buddhism Institute of Cambodia (1974), and first-hand information provided by kite lovers in various provinces, especially, the provinces of Kampong Thom, Kampong Cham, Kampong Speu, Takeo, Kandal, Prey Veng, Siem Reap, and Kep ville. Sim Sarak.
Indroduction1.1 Geographical Setting Situated in Southeast Asia, Cambodia shares the north with Thailand and Laos, the east with Vietnam, and the west with Thailand. It has 440 kilometers of coastal border, facing the Gulf of Siam. The Mekong River, the longest river in the region, begins in China's Tibet and flows generally south through southwest China, next circuits across or along the borders of Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and then covers through 500 km of Cambodia meandering via southern Vietnam before reaching the South China Sea. In addition, Cambodia has Tonle Sap, a greatest lake in Southeast Asia. Phnom Penh sits at Chaktomuk (four faces), the confluence of the upper Mekong, the Tonle Sap rivers, the Bassac and the Lower Mekong. About the size of Missouri of the United States, Cambodia spanning a land area of 181,035 square kilometers and having a chain of mountains. This chain of mountains standing to the west and north and the eastern plateau shield the country from the effects of treacherous storms and squalls is ideal for farming, especially for growing rice, the chief crop. The population of Cambodia was 11.4 million, according to the 1998 National Census. About 85% of population lives in rural areas and their livelihood dependent upon agricultural production. Still based on the General Population Census, an absolute majority of the population are Khmer making the country the most homogeneous in Southeast Asia. The remaining 10% are hill-tribe Khmer Leu, Chinese, Vietnamese and Cham Muslims (Khmer Islam). Cambodian people speak Khmer of Mon-Khmer, which is one of the most ancient Austro-Asiatic languages. On the globe Cambodia is situated between the Tropic of Cancer and the Equator and has a tropical monsoon climate. The country is tropically hot and humid with two distinct seasons: Rainy (high tide) and Dry (low tied), which set rhythm of rural life and characterize beliefs of the Khmer . 1.2 Kite Season in Cambodia A good beginning of the rainy season and the first part of the dry season bring joy and hope to the Khmer. They are happy with a right time to transplant and harvest rice. The rainy season lasts six months from May to October and the dry season may also last as long as six months from November to April. During the rainy season, monsoons that blow from the southwest bring rains to cover rivers and lakes while the Mekong fills up and overflows into Tonle Sap, pushing the water up into the Great Lake and flooding the forest to become a cradle of all species of fish. The rains provide nearly all water that the farmers use and the annual monsoon flooding of the Mekong deposits nutrient-rich silt across vast tracts of land for agriculture. In the dry season, seasonal winds change its direction from the northeast bringing no rain by dry weather while Tonle Sap reverses it course and the water flows out of the lake southward and into the Mekong. The lake and river water begin to level down, thus giving a sign that the fishing and harvest seasons are nearing. All farmers with broad smiles on their faces at every corner of the country start harvesting rice. While their entertainment season is arriving, the kite season is also taken place. Before civil war breaking out in 1970, Cambodian people were happily flying all kinds of kites in the fields after harvest time usually in November. At night some kite flyers flew lantern kites, Khleng Pnorng or Ek in the open fields and then they came back home or they sometimes gathered at an agreed place to listen to the sound of Ek kites. For them, children like flying Kandaung Kite (without tail), Kantaung or pouch kite and Prabao or Pocket kite by day. However, the horror of war in the 1970s caused the death of millions of Cambodian people while their national culture was eclipsed and kite flying had not been seen since then until recently. A small number of elderly persons, who loved kites and still remembered ways to make kites, again have since 1992 produced and cautiously flown their kites in only safe area (that is free from scattering landmines). On 31 December 1994, the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts initiated the first kite festival in Phnom Penh with the participation of 27 kite flyers from nine provinces. The result of the contest were that a kite flyer from Banteay Meanchey province won the first reward, a kite flyer from Siem Reap province came second, and a kite flyer from Kompong Cham rank third. The ever first festival was unprecedented since 1859. This event was really an opportunity to restore lives of Khmer kites especially Khleng Pnorng or Ek . Since then festivals of kite flying were successively held in Phnom Penh on 25 December 1996, 22 December 1999, 11 December 2000, and 30 November 2001. The season of kite flying traditional practice usually begins in the dry season (from November to March). As yet kite flying in Cambodia has been in action joyfully again since 1994.
History: The locals call a flying kite as "khleng". In Khmer language, khleng means a rapacious bird, preying on and eating flesh of snakes, fish, chicken, rats etc..... In the ancient time, the Khmers invented a flying object and named it as khleng similar to the name of "Le milan rouge" (haliaetus echynatus), a carnivorous bird. Though no contemporary records or proofs of the kite's name, the locals here called this object for flying as "kite" for "hawk". In 1590, Mr. Quiroga de San Antonio2, a Portuguese, came to visit Cambodia and wrote about Khmer kites. He said that Khmer kites made from tall reed "Boboh" (aira arundinacea) plants, papers and strings and when the wind blew it flew up and sounded beautifully. Mr. George Coedes, a French savant and archeologist of Ecole francaise d' Extrême-Orient referred to Khmer-language stone inscription incised in A.D. 972, as saying that replica of kite was among other sacred objects. According to this inscription, the locals considered kite one of most important things to worship and surely invented before A.D. 972 except that it was not clear whether the kite came into existence by the beginning of Angkor epoch (ninth century A.D.), or Zhenla period (late sixth century to eighth century A.D.) or the Funan era ( first century - sixth century A.D.) or the middle of the last millennium BC. Even though there is no clarification about which era kite was brought into existence, the locals, Khmer kite flyers inclusive, believe that Khmer kites were invented before the first few centuries of the Christian era.This assertion also parallels a conclusion made in Eveline Porée-Maspero's "Etudes sur les rites agraires des cambodgiens" of 1964 edition as saying that "the ceremonies of kite flying as an heritage of culture have existed in the Khmer civilization for along time ago before the Khmer adapted Indian civilization" (Tout ce qui vient d'etre dit prouve que, chez les Khmers, les ceremonies du lancer de cerfs-volants appartiennent à un fonds de civilization antérieur a leur hindouisation). Based on Eveline's conclusion, we can further confirm that the Khmer saw a continuous development of its own civilization before elements of Indian culture were absorbed or chosen by the Cambodian people during the first years of the Christian era. Archaeological evidences found from the site of Laang Spean in northwestern Cambodia and from another site of Samrong Sen in Kampong Chhnang province suggested that pre-historic Khmers presumably inhabited in these respective areas as early as 5000 BC . These are supplemented by archeological findings, especially from the remains at Angkor Borei, an ancient of the former capital of Funan (early first century AD), located in actually southern province of Takeo, excavated in 1999 by an archeological team jointly supervised by the Cambodian University of Fine Arts and Hawaii University of the United States. Remains found at the site included fired-clay jars, bowls, pots, jewelry, other objects and bones of ancient men. These artifacts and evidence were sent to Hawaii for examination and initial conclusions were that the Khmers had their own culture and already had an organized society about 400BC. Thanks to findings at Laang Spean, Samrong Sen and Angkor Borei pre-historic sites and research made by Eveline, one could generally assume that the practice of flying kites were brought into existence around 400BC. Evéline further wrote that Thmén Cei (Thmenh Chey) was the person who introduced kite to ancient China. Therefore kite flying was flying not only in Cambodia alone but also made known to a foreign country as an extension of kite to ancient China. This can be confirmed by records of Khmer history and a work of literature entitled "Thmén Cei" or "Thmenh Chey". Madeleine Giteau in a work titled "History of Cambodia" wrote that Chinese travelers gave the first Indianized Kingdom of the western coast of the Gulf of Siam a name as Funan, which developed between the first and sixth centuries A.D. Henri Parmentier also wrote in his "Angkor Guide Henri Parmentier" that the first region to be "Indianized " was Fou-nan (ignoring the local name) whose empire, from the 2nd century of our era, stretched over nearly the whole Indochina. Mr. Paul Pelliot's text published in the bulletin de l'Ecole Française d' Extrême Orient (BEFEO) in 1903 was one of his prominent work under the title "The Fou-nan" based on Chinese records. In his text dealing with the lower Fou-nan, Mr. Pelliot pointed out that Funan was the first Khmer Kingdom established during the first years of Christian era. Twenty years later, Mr. Pelliot added more substantial information to certain Chinese texts concerning Hindunized Indochina (Etude Asiatiques II, pp. 243-263). Also in his lecture notes on "History of Cambodia" presented to the Faculty of Archaeology under the Royal University of Fine Arts in January 1991 in Phnom Penh, Dr. Michael Vickery asserted that Funan was the early beginning of History of Cambodia recorded in the first century A.D. According to Chinese records, Cambodia and China built commercial relations for long ago as dated back to around the third century AD. Thanks to those records, we come to learn that Funan was generally considered the first period in Cambodia History, beginning perhaps in the first century AD. The name Funan is found only in Chinese records of contact with Funan, which began early in the third century. The location of Funan seems certain from the Chinese records. Chinese officials said Funan was 3000 li (1200km) west of Lin-y (north central Vietnam). Funan was also on a large bay of the sea and it was 3000 li in width, that is, from East to West.
In the book titled "The Khmers" of I.W. Mabbett and David. P. Chandler also referred to initial links, which were establishing between Nokor Phnom or Funan and China around 225 AD. By that time China had sent Messieurs Kang Tai and Zhu Ying as envoys to the Court of Funan. Funan and China continued maintaining their relations and exchanged royal delegations, including the sending of a musician troupe to perform in Wu Kingdom, southern China, in 243. Still according to same sources, Funan and China began to establish links in the first centuries of our contemporary era. Some Khmer literature texts used as curriculum of secondary schools also mentioned relations between Cambodia and China and one of them titled "Thmenh Chey" also referred to the kite flying in China by a Khmer scholar. Through this literature text, Cambodian people can define that it was a history of kite extension to China. A book published in 1972 by Buddhism Institute of Cambodia mentioned that when Thmenh Chey was detained in a bronze jail in China, he made an Ek or Pnorng kite to fly every night. The sound of his Pnorng kite was reaching the Chinese king. Tù! Tù! were the sound of his kite and sounded like a bird's singing, which the king had never heard before. In consultation with his astrologists, the king released Thmenh Chey from the prison to go back home after realizing that Thmenh Chey was a Khmer scholar and for having a fear that Pnorng Kite might eat his people. According to Eveline Porée-Maspero's :"Etude sur les rites agraires des cambodgiens", Thmenh Chey was detained because he mocked at the Chinese King as saying that "the Chinese king's face looks like thunder". The Chinese king felt scared of Thmenh Chey's kite and gave an order to release him from the prison. When the kite was flying above the king's palace and sounded in the dark moon, the Chinese king heard tù tù, which were almost similar to "elimination or killing" in Chinese terms. The book entitled "The Khmers" based on "The Fou-nan" of Mr. Paul Pelliot also wrote that Funan sent a tribute of trained elephants to China under the Chin Dynasty but the then Chinese emperor was afraid of those elephants, considering these animals from distant lands a source of danger to his people and then ordered them be returned. One can assume that the then Chinese emperor scared of elephants because he did not recognize these animals and the another hypothesis was that the Chinese king felt frightened by Thmenh Chey's Pnorng kite because the latter had never known a kite which can air sound by its horns. Thanks to the existing relationship between Funan and China and the exchange of delegations between the two countries, including the sending of elephants to China and the comeback home of a Khmer kite flyer, one can conclude that Thmenh Chey was perhaps a Khmer savant of Funan period and that the Khmer kite was introduced to China around the third century AD.
Kind of Khmer Kites:Nowadays, the most popular kites that local people prefer flying are Khleng Pnorng, Khleng Horpao, Khleng Kandaung, Khleng Paot. Most kite flyers can be found in the following provinces: Kandal, Kompong Cham, Kompong Thom, Siem Reap, Banteay Meanchey, Kratie, Prey Veng, Kompong Speu, Takeo, Kampot, Kepville and Phnom Penh. Khleng Pnorng or Pnorng kite is most preferable among kite flyers. Its shape and design is slightly different from one province to another. There were dozens of types of kites that people used to fly before 1970 but now the locals play only some of them. They are: 01. Khleng Pnorng or Khleng Ek (Ek musical kite) 02. Khleng Kantaung (Pouch kite) 03. Khleng Kandaung (kite without tail) 04. Khleng Kloah (Parasol kite) 05. Khleng Kaun Moan (Chicken kite) 06. Khleng Bao or Prabao or Horpoa (Pocket kite) 07. Khleng Pra-mang (Hawk kite) 08. Khleng Sak or Chak (Tatoo kite) 09. Khleng Kaum (Lantern kite) 10. Khleng Me-ambao (Butterfly kite) 11. Khleng Kang-keb (Frog kite) 12. Khleng Slab-bei (Three-wing kite) 13. Khleng Sva-prachak or Sva-prasak (Fighting Monkey kite) 14. Khleng Yak (Giant or Ogre kite) 15. Khleng Kdam (Crab kite) 16. Khleng Preah-kher (Moon kite) 17. Khleng Bandoeur Kaun (Child escort kite) 18. Khleng Paot (Bucket kite) 19. Khleng Pkay (Star kite) 20. Khleng Pkar (Flower kite) 21. Khleng Puos (Snake kite) 22. Khleng Neak (Naga kite) 23. Khleng Pra-chiev (Bat kite) 24. Khleng Klauk or Ka-am (Gourd or Jar kite) 25. Khleng Krapeu (Crocodile kite) 26. Khleng Trei (Fish kite) 27. Khleng Prasat Angkor Wat (Angkor Wat Temple kite) And many other kites under study.
