"The Beauty of Angkor" has been written for a long time. It is a collection of Jiang Xun’s insights from visiting Angkor Wat three times since the 1990s.
Angkor Wat is a huge royal city and temple complex built by the Khmer Dynasty in Cambodia from the 9th to the 11th century in the north of Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Reading this book requires a certain amount of knowledge.
First, history. The beautiful description of the architecture and the compassionate attitude towards the war in the book are all related to the history of the Khmer people for more than 1,000 years. This land was first called Funan, then Chenla, then Angkor, and then Cambodia. Chenla at that time was recorded in a small book "Chenla Customs" written by Zhou Daguan, a spy sent by the Yuan Dynasty, which happened to be attached to the back of the book "The Beauty of Angkor".
The second is geography. Three rivers flow parallel to each other in the Hengduan Mountains. The Lancang River in the middle is the Mekong River outside the country, winding through Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Angkor is located in the middle section of the Mekong River, on the north bank of Tonle Sap, the largest lake. Angkor was built on water, and the art and technology of architecture are mostly related to water.
The third is war, which cannot be ignored. When the Angkor dynasty was strong, they conquered Champa, but when it was weak, it was destroyed by Siam. Because the French translation of "Chen La Feng Tu Ji" attracted French colonists, it later became a French colony. The bloody Pol Pot, The Cambodia-Vietnam War, and the recent war with Thailand over the Preah Vihear Temple in the north.
Fourth, it is a mine. Jiang Xun saw landmine victims with severed limbs, limbs and eyes everywhere. During the Cambodian Civil War, the war between Cambodia and Vietnam, and the US-Vietnam War, a large number of landmines and unexploded cluster munitions were randomly deployed on hillsides, jungles, rice fields, and roads. There were 100 million mines across the country. An average of ten coins per person. Cambodia and Laos are the most mine-affected countries in the world.
Let’s talk about this book again.
"The Beauty of Angkor" has a preface by Tsui Hark and Brigitte Lin, which introduces Angkor Thom, Angkor Wat, temples in the east of the city, temples in the north of the city, and the earliest Rolos ruins by region. Lizhi Mountain and Qianyang River were also introduced in the middle.
Jiang Xun used his extremely rich humanistic knowledge, combined with his understanding of Hinduism and Buddhism, to explain the concept of architecture, the significance of various exquisite carvings, and recalled the superb skills in building these temples in history, as well as the destruction of The infinite pity of war.
The ubiquitous Khmer smile has not changed in a thousand years. This is the meditative smile of Jayavarman VII of Angkor Thom.
Within a thousand years, dynasties changed, lives were devastated, floods and beasts, guns and mines, and countless human tragedies were staged in a cycle.
After a massacre, Angkor disappeared into the smoke and grass of the tropical rain forests of Southeast Asia. It is fortunate that it has been ignored by the world, leaving future generations with the opportunity to appreciate the creations of their predecessors. of miracles.
After understanding the history and the war, if you really go there, the most shocking thing will be seeing the extremely beautiful buildings on the spot, the feeling of time and space intertwining and changing.
When visiting historical sites, the most touching thing is the feeling that the mountains and rivers are still there, but things and people are different. When traveling in the country, I have this feeling in front of the Sutra Cave in Mogao Grottoes, under the mouth of the treasure bottle in Dujiangyan, in front of the Sanxingdui Colossal Bronze Statue, in front of the Yin Ruins in Anyang or the tombs of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses.
Sometimes I wonder, will history change its course just because a butterfly flaps its wings?
Maybe, a large number of time-travel or imaginary historical novels satisfy modern people's desire for history.
However, the past has indeed disappeared, or is engraved on the earth, or is stored in a glass cabinet with a constant temperature. We can only pay tribute to it. Time will never go back, and all that is left to us are memories. and assumptions.
Therefore, standing on this beautiful ruins, the suffering of this land passes through my mind, and the reflection of history and the real scene in front of me can truly feel the Khmer smile that has traveled through thousands of years. Eternal beauty and sadness.