Place
Kampong Chhnang
កំពង់ឆ្នាំង
Kampong Chhnang (កំពង់ឆ្នាំង)[1] is a province in the Tonle Sap (ទន្លេសាប) region of Cambodia, known for its pottery.[2][1][3] Open Development Cambodia, summarizing a Global Times report, gives the meaning of the name as "Port of Pottery" and places the province about 91 kilometers (57 miles) north of Phnom Penh.[4]
Geography
Kampong Chhnang is one of the provinces around the Tonle Sap, and it borders Pursat (ពោធិ៍សាត់) province.[2][1] It covers 5,521 square kilometers (2,132 square miles).[2]
History
After the Siamese sacked Angkor in 1431, the royal court moved first to Srei Santhor and then to Phnom Penh.[5][6] King Ang Chan built a new capital at Longvek, founded in about 1526 by one account and in 1529 by another, and the army of Ayutthaya took it in 1594.[6][5] The post-Angkor period has often been called a dark age, but excavations at the palace found porcelain from China and Japan, earthen walls and a bronze workshop. Martin Polkinghorne, a Flinders University archaeologist on the team, said that people tend to focus on Angkor's golden age.[7] The Cambodia Daily described Longvek as a small village.[8]
In 1976 the Khmer Rouge began building an airfield in the province, on the central plain about 100 kilometers (60 miles) northwest of Phnom Penh, with a main runway 2,400 meters (7,900 feet) long. By 1977 about 10,000 people were made to work there. The airfield was left unfinished in early 1979, and it was one of six sites in the case against the regime's surviving leaders at the UN-backed tribunal.[9]
Pottery
The province is the heartland of Cambodia's pottery tradition, and its villagers have made earthenware for sale across the country for generations. They traditionally make pots in the dry season, when there is less work in the rice fields. Without a wheel, the potter walks in circles around the clay to shape it, and each piece is fired on its own in an open fire.[3]
The center of the trade is Andong Russei village in Sre Thmei commune, Rolea B'ier district, where the roads are strewn with broken pots. One family there makes about 30 clay elephant banks a day and sells them to a middleman for 2,200 riel (about US$0.55) each.[10] Sre Thmei is known for its fine clay. Since 2009 Japanese potters have trained Andong Russei villagers in newer methods, and wheels and large kilns have been installed, and the Khmer Artisan Project has trained village families as well. Imported ceramics and better-paid garment factory work have put the old craft under pressure.[3]
Population
The 2019 census counted 525,932 people in Kampong Chhnang, up from 472,341 in 2008.[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Koh Santepheap, The origin, location and name of Pursat province (July 5, 2020; in Khmer)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 National Institute of Statistics, Provisional Population Census 2019 (2019)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 The Cambodia Daily, Holly Robertson, Preserving an Ancient Pottery Tradition, With a Modern Twist (May 1, 2014)
- ↑ Open Development Cambodia, Cambodia's Kampong Chhnang region home to traditional pottery (January 27, 2014), summarizing the Global Times
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Chapter 2. Overview of the Site, in Report on the Investigations of Royal Capital Sites in the Post-Angkor Period (undated)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Yosothor, UDAYA, Journal of Khmer Studies No. 15, Nhim Sotheavin, Considerations Regarding the Fall of Longvek (2020)
- ↑ Archaeology, Cambodia's Other Great Capital (January 12, 2016), reporting the Phnom Penh Post
- ↑ The Cambodia Daily, from Southeast Asia Globe, The little-known history of Cambodia's dark age (July 19, 2018)
- ↑ Robert Carmichael, Abandoned airfield is key site in war crimes trial (June 22, 2011), reprinted by the Cambodia Tribunal Monitor
- ↑ The Cambodia Daily, A Japanese-funded program nurtures the craft of pottery in Kompong Chhnang (April 16, 2011)