关于《真腊风土记》的作者周达观 | About Zhou Daguan, Author of "Zhenla Fengtu Ji"

by Lisheng Duan & Lin Bo & Angkor Database

Who really was Zhou Daguan, the first chronicler of Angkor at its peak in 1296 CE?

Wenzhou

Publication: Retrieved from http://www.ixueshu.com/ - With thanks to Pascal Medeville | ADB Chinese Sources Series #004

Published: 2021

Authors: Lisheng Duan, Lin Bo & Angkor Database

Pages: 6

Languages : English, Chinese

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More than seven hundred years after his historic stay in Angkor, and his vivid description of the Khmer capital city that constitutes a prime source for historians and researchers, Zhou Daguan largely remains an enigma.

Reflecting on the different names under which the famous chronicler has been referred to, historian Duan Lisheng asserts that his pen name probably meant Zhou (family name) Da-Guan’ (literally, the one who observes everything”), the observer…of Zhenla, or Chenla, (Cambodia), in this particular instance.

Noting that reputed poet Wu Qiuyan dedicated three poems to the traveler-chronicler, the researcher also notices that Zhou Daguan is often described as a citizen of Wenzhou’. We shall remark that Wenzhou, as an important port city, has been historically associated to traveling and migration. 

吴哥数据库 (Angkor Database) 中文资料系列旨在提供有关吴哥和古代高棉文明的中文原始文献和论文,以及英文翻译和注释。

Chinese Sources Series at Angkor Database is designed to provide original documents and essays related to Angkor and the ancient Khmer civilization in Chinese language, with their English translation and annotations.

Photo: 温州小镇 (Little town of Wenzhou), by artist He Daqiao 

Tags: Chinese sources, ADB publications, Zhou Daguan

About the Authors

Duan Lisheng

Lisheng Duan

教授 (Jiaoshou, Professor) 段立生 Duan Lisheng (1944, Dali, Yunnan Province 大理市 云南), a descendant of the Duan Royal Family of Dali, is distinguished scholar in history of art, Siamese and Thai cultures, Southeast Asia and world architecture.

Graduated from Beijing University in 1967 after studying history witht the guidance of Prof. Guangxi People’s Publishing House; 1st edition (February 1, 2018), Prof. Duan Lisheng joined the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies at Sun Yat-sen University, and was a guest lecturer at Chiang Mai University (Thailand) in 1984 – 1985, then visiting researcher at the Institute of Asian Studies of Chulalongkorn University. From 1987 to 1992, he was a visiting scholar at Cornell University and Columbia University (USA). After returning to Sun Yat-Sen University in 1992 – 1994, he taught at Huachiew Chalermprakiet University (Thailand) from 1994 to 2002.

He has authored several books and essays, in particular a History of Thailand, a General History of Cambodia (柬埔寨通史) and, more recently The Realm of Walking (Guangxi People’s Publishing House, Feb. 2018, ISBN-13978 – 7219104583, in Chinese).

阅读更多关于段立生教授的信息 | Read more about Prof. Duan Lisheng (in Chinese)

Dib Club 13

Lin Bo

薄琳 BO Lin is originally from Hanshan, China and has lived in Cambodia since 2015. Two years after she graduated with a degree in law, she decided to focus on business and ran her own coffee shop at a university in Beijing. 

After moving to Cambodia, she began teaching Chinese, working as a translator and working in communications & marketing for a Cambodia-based hospitality company. She is a fan of reading and cinema, loves animals, and plays ukulele in her free time.

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Angkor Database

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Indexed and reviewed books, online documentation, photo and film collections, enriched authors’ biographies, searchable publications.

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