Culture of Cambodia

The birth of a child is a happy event for the family. According to traditional beliefs, however, confinement and childbirth expose the family, and especially the mother and the child to harm from the spirit world. A woman who dies in childbirth—crosses the river (chhlong tonle) in Khmer is believed to become an evil spirit. In traditional Khmer society, a pregnant woman respects a number of food taboos and avoids certain situations. These traditions remain in practice in rural Cambodia, but they have become weakened in urban areas.[4]

Death is not viewed with the great outpouring of grief common to Western society; it is viewed as the end of one life and as the beginning of another life that one hopes will be better. Buddhist Khmer usually are cremated, and their ashes are deposited in a stupa in the temple compound. A corpse is washed, dressed, and placed in a coffin, which may be decorated with flowers and with a photograph of the deceased. White pennant-shaped flags, called "white crocodile flags," outside a house indicate that someone in that household has died. A funeral procession consisting of an achar, Buddhist monks, members of the family, and other mourners accompanies the coffin to the crematorium. The spouse and the children show mourning by shaving their heads and by wearing white clothing. Relics such as teeth or pieces of bone are prized by the survivors, and they are often worn on gold chains as amulets.[4]

Primary school kids in Kampot province.

A Cambodian child may be nursed until two to four years of age. Up to the age of three or four, the child is given considerable physical affection and freedom. Children around five years of age also may be expected to help look after younger siblings. Children's games emphasize socialization or skill rather than winning and losing.[4]

Normally, children start school when they reach the age of 6 years old. By the time they reach this age, they are familiar with the society's norms of politeness, obedience, and respect toward their elders and toward Buddhist monks. The father at this time begins his permanent retreat into a relatively remote, authoritarian role. By age ten, a girl is expected to help her mother in basic household tasks; a boy knows how to care for the family's livestock and can do farm work under the supervision of older males. Adolescent children usually play with members of the same sex. During his teens, a boy may become a temple servant and go on to serve a time as a novice monk, which is a great honor for the parents.[4]

In precommunist days, parents exerted complete authority over their children until the children were married, and the parents continued to maintain some control well into the marriage. Age difference is strictly recognized with polite vocabulary and special generational terms for "you".[4]

Pre-wedding photographs of Cambodian couple at Angkor Wat

Khmer Wedding Dress

In Cambodia, premarital sex is deplored. The choice of a spouse is a complex one for the young male, and it may involve not only his parents and his friends, as well as those of the young woman, but also a matchmaker and a haora (a Khmer "fortuneteller" versed in Indian astrology). In theory, a girl may veto the spouse her parents have chosen for her. Courtship patterns differ between rural and urban Khmer; marriage as a culmination of romantic love is a notion that exists to a much greater extent in larger cities. A man usually marries between the ages of nineteen and twenty-five, a girl between the ages of sixteen and twenty-two. After a spouse has been selected, each family investigates the other to make sure its child is marrying into a good family. In rural areas, there is a form of bride-service; that is, the young man may take a vow to serve his prospective father-in-law for a period of time. By tradition, the youngest daughter and her spouse are expected to live with and care for her ageing parents and their land.

The traditional wedding is a long and colorful affair. Formerly it lasted three days, but in the 1980s it more commonly lasted a day and a half. Buddhist priests offer a short sermon and recite prayers of blessing. Parts of the ceremony involve ritual hair cutting, tying cotton threads soaked in holy water around the bride's and groom's wrists, and passing a candle around a circle of happily married and respected couples to bless the union. After the wedding, a banquet is held. Newlyweds traditionally move in with the wife's parents and may live with them up to a year, until they can build a new house nearby.[4] The majority of married Cambodian couples do not obtain legal marriage documents. Marriage is seen more as a social institution, regulated by societal pressures, expectations and norms, than a legal matter. This practice continues today. All that is necessary for a couple to be considered married by the community is to have a ceremony, after which a party is often held for family, friends and well-wishers to celebrate. This is how the overwhelming majority of Cambodian couples marry. Whether these traditional marriages are considered legal contracts by the government and courts is unclear. Therefore, when a couple separate, they likewise need not obtain divorce documents.

Divorce is legal and relatively easy to obtain, but not common.[4] Divorced persons are viewed with some disapproval. Each spouse retains whatever property he or she brought into the marriage, and jointly-acquired property is divided equally. Divorced persons may remarry, but the woman must wait 300 days according to article 9 of Marriage and Family Law. Custody of minor children is usually given to the mother, and both parents continue to have an obligation to contribute financially toward the rearing and education of the child.[4] The divorced male doesn't have a waiting period before he can remarry.[5]

The consequences of the social upheaval caused by the Cambodian Civil War is still being felt. At present there is variation in tradition from province to province. In Siem Reap, it is widely understood, for example, that the man takes the first-born child upon separation. Men who leave their families typically do not support their other children, especially when they leave one woman for another woman. The new woman and her family will not accept children from a previous relationship. This is also an important source of the 70% or so of non orphans living in fake orphanages around cities in Cambodia which are tourist focal points.

Khmer culture is very hierarchical. The greater a person's age, the greater the level of respect that must be granted to them. Cambodians are addressed with a hierarchical title corresponding to their seniority before the name. When a married couple becomes too old to support themselves, they may invite the youngest child's family to move in and to take over running the household. At this stage in their lives, they enjoy a position of high status.[4]

The individual Khmer is surrounded by a small inner circle of family and friends who constitute his or her closest associates, those he would approach first for help. The nuclear family, consisting of a husband and a wife and their unmarried children, is the most important kin group. Within this unit are the strongest emotional ties, the assurance of aid in the event of trouble, economic cooperation in labor, sharing of produce and income, and contribution as a unit to ceremonial obligations. In rural communities, neighbors—who are often also kin—may be important, too. Fictive child-parent, sibling, and close friend relationships Cambodia transcend kinship boundaries and serve to strengthen interpersonal and interfamily ties. Beyond this close circle are more distant relatives and casual friends. In rural Cambodia, the strongest ties a Khmer may develop—besides those to the nuclear family and to close friends—are those to other members of the local community. A strong feeling of pride—for the village, for the district, and province—usually characterizes Cambodian community life.[6]

Legally, the husband is the head of the Khmer family, but the wife has considerable authority, especially in family economics. The husband is responsible for providing shelter and food for his family; the wife is generally in charge of the family budget, and she serves as the major ethical and religious model for the children, especially the daughters. Both husbands and wives are responsible for domestic economic tasks.[6]

Sampeah (Cambodian greeting)

In Khmer culture a person's head is believed to contain the person's soul—therefore making it taboo to touch or point one's feet at it. It is also considered to be extremely disrespectful to use the feet to point out a person, or to sit or sleep with the soles of the feet pointing at a person, as the feet are the lowest part of the body and are considered to be impure.

When greeting people or to show respect in Cambodia people do the "sampeah" gesture, identical to the Indian namaste and Thai wai.

Customary Cambodian teachings are laid out in verse form in long works from the 14th to 18th centuries collectively called Chhbap ("rules" or "codes").[7] These were traditionally learned by rote. Works such as the Chhbap Pros ("Boy's Code"), Chhbap Srey ("Girl's Code") and Chhbap Peak Chas ("Code of Ancient Words") gave such advice as: a person that does not wake up before sunrise is lazy; a child must tell parents or elders where they go and what time they will return home; always close doors gently, otherwise a bad temper will be assumed; sit in a chair with the legs straight down and not crossed (crossing the legs is a mark of an impolite person); and always let the other person do more talking.

In Cambodia it is not polite to make eye contact with someone who is older or someone who is considered a superior.

The history of visual arts in Cambodia stretches back centuries to ancient crafts; Khmer art reached its peak during the Angkor period. Traditional Cambodian arts and crafts include textiles, non-textile weaving, silversmithing, stone carving, lacquerware, ceramics, wat murals, and kite-making. Beginning in the mid-20th century, a tradition of modern art began in Cambodia, though in the later 20th century both traditional and modern arts declined for several reasons, including the killing of artists by the Khmer Rouge. The country has experienced a recent artistic revival due to increased support from governments, NGOs, and foreign tourists.

Cambodian musical instruments

Especially in the 60s and 70s, the 'big two' duet of Sinn Sisamouth and Ros Serey Sothea had been a large hit in the country. However, after their deaths, new music stars have tried to bring back the music. Cambodian music has undergone heavy Westernization.

The Cambodian pinpeat ensemble is traditionally heard on feast days in the pagodas. It is also a court ensemble used to accompany classical dance for ritual occasions or theatrical events. The pinpeat is primarily made up of percussion instruments: the roneat ek (lead xylophone), roneat thung (low bamboo xylophone), kong vong touch and kong vong thom (small and large sets of tuned gongs), sampho (two-sided drum), skor thom (two large drums), and sralai (quadruple-reed instrument).

Cambodian dance can be divided into three main categories: classical dance, folk dances, and vernacular dances.

Khmer folk dance

Khmer Apsara dancers

Khmer classical dance is a form of Cambodian dance originally performed only for royalty. The dances have many elements in common with Thai classical dance. During the mid-20th century, it was introduced to the public, where it now remains a celebrated icon of Khmer culture, often being performed during public events, holidays, and for tourists visiting Cambodia. Khmer classical dance is famous for its use of the hands and feet to express emotion; there are 4,000 different gestures in this type of dance. Khmer classical dance, also known as the royal ballet of Cambodia, has been selected as one of UNESCO's Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Khmer folk dances, which are performed for audiences, are fast-paced. The movements and gestures are not as stylized as Khmer classical dance. Folk dancers wear clothes of the people they are portraying such as Chams, hill tribes, farmers, and peasants. The folk dance music is played by a mahori orchestra. A popular folk dance is the Cambodian coconut dance which is a dance performance involving coconuts with male and female dancers. The dance originated around 1960 from Romeas Haek District in Svay Rieng Province.[9]

Cambodian vernacular dances (or social dances) are those danced at social gatherings. Such dances include Romvong, Rom Kbach, Rom Saravan, and Lam Leav. Some of these dances have been influenced by the traditional dances of Laos. Other dances, such as Rom Kbach, borrow heavily from the classical dance of the royal court. Other social dances from around the world have influenced Cambodian social culture including the cha-cha, the bolero and the Madison.

The tale of Vorvong & Sorvong illustration, a Khmer 19th century drawing.

A testimony of the antiquity of the Khmer language are the multitude of epigraphic inscriptions on stone. The first written proof that has allowed the history of the Khmer Kingdom to be reconstructed are those inscriptions. These writings on columns, stelae and walls throw light on the royal lineages, religious edicts, territorial conquests and internal organization of the kingdom.

Following the stone inscriptions, some of the oldest Khmer documents are translations and commentaries of the Pali Buddhist texts of the Tripitaka. They were written by the monks on palmyra palm leaves and kept in various monasteries throughout the country.

The Reamker (Khmer: រាមកេរ្តិ៍, "Rama's Fame") is the Cambodian version of the Ramayana, the famous Indian epic. The Reamker is composed in rhymed verses and is staged in sections that are adapted to dance movements interpreted by Khmer artists. The Reamker is the most ubiquitous form of traditional Cambodian theatre.

Cambodia had a rich and varied traditional oral literature. There are many legends, tales and songs of very ancient origin that were not put into writing until the arrival of the Europeans. One of the most representative of these tales was the story of Vorvong and Sorvong (Vorvong and Saurivong), a long story about two Khmer princes that was first put into writing by Auguste Pavie. This French civil servant claimed that he had obtained the story from old Uncle Nip in Somrontong District. This story was put into writing in Battambang.[10] In 2006 the Vorvong and Sorvong story was enacted in dance form by the Royal Ballet of Cambodia.[11]

Tum Teav, which has been compared to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, is probably the most well-known indigenous story, based on a poem first written by a Khmer monk named Sam. A tragic love story set during the Lovek era, it has been told throughout Cambodia since at least the middle of the 19th century. The story has been portrayed in many forms including oral, historical, literary, theatre, and film adaptions. Tum Teav also has played a role in Cambodia's education, appearing as a topic for the 12th-grade Khmer language examination several times. Although a translation into French had already been made by Étienne Aymonier in 1880, Tum Teav was popularized abroad when writer George Chigas translated the 1915 literary version by the venerable Buddhist monk Preah Botumthera Som or Padumatthera Som, known also as Som, one of the best writers in the Khmer language.[12]

Some talented members of Khmer royalty such as King Ang Duong (1841–1860) and King Thommaracha II (1629–1634) have produced lasting works of literature as well. King Thomaracha wrote a highly esteemed poem for younger Cambodians. The prolific King Ang Duong is most famous for his novel Kakey, inspired from a Jataka tale about an unfaithful woman. While not written as a work of instruction, Kakey is often used as an example to teach young Khmer girls about the importance of fidelity.

Nang Sbek Thom figure plate.

Nang Sbek (shadow theatre) (or Lakhaon Nang Sbek; Khmer) is closely related to the Nang Yai of Thailand, Wayang and Indonesia like the islands of Java and Bali, thus implying that Nang Sbek may have an Indonesian origin many centuries ago. Nang Sbek is also a dying art form and may disappear because of the decline in popularity due to the introduction of modern entertainment. Before the spread of modern entertainment such as movies, videos and television the Khmer enjoyed and watched shadow theatre apart from the other sources of entertainment available during that time. There are three kinds of shadow theatre in Cambodia:

• Nang Sbek Thom is an art that involves mime, song, music as well as dance and narration to the accompaniment of the Pinpeat orchestra. It most often features the Reamker.
• Nang Sbek Toch also called Nang Kalun and sometimes called Ayang (small shadow theatre) uses smaller puppets and a wide range of stories.
• Sbek Paor (coloured puppet theatre) uses coloured leather puppets.

Cinema in Cambodia began in the 1950s; King Norodom Sihanouk himself was an avid film enthusiast. Many films were being screened in theaters throughout the country by the 1960s, which are regarded as the "golden age". After a decline during the Khmer Rouge regime, competition from video and television has meant that the Cambodian film industry is relatively weak today.