Tradition
Chol Chhoung
ចោលឈូង
Chol Chhoung (ចោលឈូង, Chol Chhoung) is a Khmer folk throwing game played by young men and women at Khmer New Year.[1][2] It is played at pagodas and village gatherings in the New Year season, once on moonlit evenings and now mostly by day at organized events.[1][3][4][5]
Practice
The game needs only one thing, the chhoung. It is a krama, the Khmer scarf, rolled and knotted tightly into a soft ball with a short tail left for throwing.[2][6] The players form two groups, usually boys and girls, of about 10 to 20 people each. The groups stand in two facing rows about 8 to 10 meters (26 to 33 feet) apart.[3][1][5][7]
The group holding the chhoung is the tossing team. A player grips the tail and throws the ball in a high arc to the other row. Whoever catches it throws it back fast, trying to hit someone on the tossing team.[2][8] Players often aim at someone they like in the opposite row.[9][2] When a player is hit, that player's whole group must sing and dance to win back the chhoung, while the other group sings.[1][10] A team that fails to catch the ball also sings and dances as it returns it, and in one telling the player who misses must perform a comic act.[2][7] If a throw hits no one, the game can begin again with the tossing team changed.[6]
The game joins eye exercises, paddling hand movements, cheering, singing and dancing.[2] Some games use a traditional song and dance, and in others the players make up lyrics to tease one another, which leaves room for flirting.[8][2] A traditional Chol Chhoung song is linked to the singers Sin Sisamuth and Ros Sereysothea, and the words change with the local singers who compose or adapt them.[2]
Variations
Two versions are common. In Sing-and-Dance, the boys open by throwing the chhoung high, and the girls try to catch it before it lands. A player who is hit is out, and that player's team sings and dances before returning the ball. The team with more players left after the set number of rounds wins.[2][5]
In Free Your Team, the other side seizes a player the moment he or she is hit. Teammates must hit a member of the opposing team to free the captured player, and captives may act as guards against incoming throws.[2][5]
History
Khmer traditional games were handed down through oral tradition and shared play rather than written records, and many use simple natural or handmade materials.[5] Young people have gathered at pagodas to play games such as Chol Chhoung since at least the Sangkum Reastr Niyum years of Norodom Sihanouk, in the 1950s and 1960s, and the custom may be older. Ang Choulean called this tradition intangible heritage and said it had declined sharply and was almost gone.[11]
In 1964 the game was described as one for unmarried young men and women, or for older men and women, played across Cambodia on moonlit evenings in the New Year months of Chet and Pisakh. Men and women formed two facing lines of 10 to 20 players or more, and the ball was a krama or scarf knotted tight, with a small tail to throw by.[3] In the sing-and-dance form, a dropped catch counted as a fault. A player hit by the ball carried it back to the other side, singing and dancing, while the rest of his or her side answered in chorus. In the "redeem me" form, the second of today's two versions, a player who was hit was taken to the other side until a teammate scored a hit, and the side that lost all its players lost the game. This form was sometimes played without songs. The game was said to train sharp eyes and a straight throwing arm.[3] IntoCambodia finds Chhoung and other New Year games less common than modern dance concerts, and it calls on authorities and youth groups to hold the games in public places and promote them in the media.[2]
For Khmer New Year 2026 (April 14 to 16), the National Committee for Organizing National and International Events called on the public to play folk games such as chol chhoung at suitable places, while it banned gambling, water-throwing, smearing charcoal and fireworks.[12]
Meaning and significance
Khmer New Year games are held to keep the mind and body nimble, and IntoCambodia ties them to emotional, physical and cultural agility.[1][2] Playing them draws on teamwork, respect, patience and cooperation. Chol Chhoung joins movement, teamwork, music and laughter, and winning is not its only point.[5] Folk games are regarded as part of Khmer identity, carried down from earlier generations.[2]
Community
Chol Chhoung is played by Khmer people, mostly teenagers and young adults, although people of all ages enjoy Khmer folk games.[2][8] Khmer people abroad may hold their New Year celebrations on a weekend rather than only on the calendar dates kept in Cambodia.[1] Cultural festivals, school programs and public events introduce the games to younger generations, carried out by schools, cultural organizations and local communities.[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Wikipedia, Cambodian New Year
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 IntoCambodia.org, Chhoung game
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Khmer Customs Commission, Khmer popular games, pages 4 to 7 (Buddhist Institute, 1964; in Khmer)
- ↑ Cambodianess, Village games, new vibes: Sangkranta brings them back (April 14, 2025)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Tap Taxi, Top Khmer New Year traditional games in Cambodia (March 27, 2026)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Borei Angkor Resort and Spa, How krama became the main topic of this year's celebration (December 1, 2023)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Thalias Hospitality, Ten things to know about Khmer New Year
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Study.com, Traditional games in Cambodia (May 25, 2023)
- ↑ San Mateo County Libraries, Celebrate Cambodian New Year together
- ↑ Khmer Buddhist Society Norway, Khmer New Year tradition with fairy tale (April 8, 2021)
- ↑ The Cambodia Daily, As traditions fade, New Year festivals fill void
- ↑ Cambodianess, Khmer folk games urged ahead of New Year celebration (March 12, 2026)