When Khmers were sent to teach all things Khmer to the Chinese...

According to the Cambodian tale "Thon-Chey", the Chinese learned to make noodle from the clever Khmer Thon-Chey (albeit it could be a "tall" tale also)

Researchers discovered a group of ancient ethnic Khmers living in southern China

Tuesday, 27 April 2010
By Khmerization Source: RFA

KI-Media note: In the Cambodian tale of “Thon-Chey”, Thon-Chey’s cleverness earned him the ire of the Khmer king who exiled him to China. Upon arriving there, Thon-Chey made “num banh-chok”, the Cambodian noodle, to sell to make a living. His food was the rave among the Chinese who never ate noodle before (most likely a mockery of the Chinese by Thon-Chey’s author). One day, the Chinese emperor ordered that Thon-Chey be brought to the palace along with his “num banh-chok” so that the emperor may have a taste of it. Prior to entering the palace, Thon-Chey was told that he is not allowed to look at the face of the emperor. This order made Thon-Chey even more curious. As the Chinese emperor was eating the noodle, he had to pick it up with chopsticks, tilt his head backward to gulp the long string noodle. Thon-Chey then took the opportunity to sneak a peek at the emperor’s face, after which he spoke to himself: “Muk sdach chen doch kdet chhker, muk sdach khmer to kher penh boramey” (The face of the Chinese emperor looks like the dog’s derriere, whereas the face of the Khmer king looks like a full moon). As it turned out, the Chinese emperor overheard Thon-Chey’s comment and ordered him to be thrown in jail. The tale went on to tell Thon-Chey making Khmer kites (khleng ek) while he was in jail, and how the noise made by the kite bothered the Chinese emperor enough that he ordered Thon-Chey be released and sent back to Cambodia. It appears that the tale of Khmer people teaching the Chinese is not a tale at all, but rather a fact.

A group of Khmer cultural heritage and civilisation researchers have just discovered a group of ancient Khmers living in one region of southern China, reports Radio Free Asia.

Dr. Soum Chhum Bun, Secretary General of the Cambodian Royal Academy who is a researcher of cultural heritage and civilisation of the Asian region, has told RFA's reporter, Mr. Orm Oudom, on 26th April that researchers have discovered a group of more than 1,000 ancient ethnic Khmers living in Sisorng Phana region in southern China. He said this group of ethnic Khmers were descendants of Khmer mahouts and Khmer cooks sent by Khmer kings to help train elephants and cook Khmer food for the Chinese emperor in the 13th century which was at the end of the Angkorian era. "The Khmer king sent two Khmer families to help keep and care for the (Chinese emperor's) elephants. Later, when the Khmer king found out that emperor Ching Hong likes Khmer food, he sent another two families to cook for Emperor Ching Hong. That's why they (those ethnic Khmers) said that the four families of their ancestors came to China from Cambodia. Presently, there were about 1,000 ethnic Khmers living in their village and they can speak some ancient Khmer language which they still can remember", he said.

Dr. Soum Chhum Bun said the reason the Khmer kings sent Khmer mahouts and Khmer cooks to the Chinese imperial court in Sisorng Phana region was because at that time Cambodia had formed a very close tie with the Chinese imperial court in Sisorng Phana region due to Cambodia's long wars with the T'ai people, which presently known as Thais. Dr. Soum said the Cambodian Royal Academy will send its researchers to conduct study on this group of ancient Khmers in Sisorng Phana region very soon.

Ethnic Khmers not Thai temple vandals, says Cambodian official

May 23, 2008
DPA

Phnom Penh - Ethnic Khmers were unlikely suspects in the desecration of an ancient Hindu temple in Thailand earlier this week and the very insinuation showed a deep ignorance of Khmer culture, a senior Cambodian official said Friday.

Son Soubert, a member of the Cambodian Constitutional Council, said he was disappointed some Thais apparently suspected that ethnic Khmers would damage a temple for black magic rites.

He said Khmers were the original architects of the 10th century Phanom Rung temple.

He was responding to a report in the Thai English-language daily Bangkok Post published Thursday, in which police were quoted as saying the vandalization of Thailand's Phanom Rung temple may have been an occult ritual, also noting many ethnic Khmers lived there.

'The Khmers of Buri Ram and Surin provinces respect the Linga of Brahmanism because they believe if they desecrate it they cannot live in peace,' Soubert, a US and French-trained archeologist, said.

The provinces lie on the Thai-Cambodian border within Thailand and have a strong ethnic Khmer community.

Relations are already strained between some Cambodians and Thais over disputed lands around the sacred Preah Vihear border temple.

Cambodia has rejected Thai offers to co-manage the site and hired 22 Thai-Khmer speaking guards, who also act as guides, to protect it.

Phanom Rung's ancient Shiva Linga stone, which was in the centre of the temple, was found to have been moved off its plinth Tuesday and several statues badly vandalized.

Accusations have flown wildly over who may have damaged the temple and why, with allegations of guilt ranging from Khmer sorcerers to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra being made.

Soubert begged Thailand to protect such sites more carefully.

'Thailand is a peaceful, developed country so it should be able to protect monuments - but I am not Thai,' he said.