Sompot chong kben

Sompot chong kben (Khmer: សំពត់ចងក្បិន, sâmpót châng kbĕn [sɑmput cɑːŋ kɓən])[1] is a unisex lower-body wraparound garment. It originated in ancient Cambodia and was later adopted in neighbouring countries including Laos and Thailand,[2] where it is known as pha hang (ຜ້າຫາງ [pʰȁː hǎːŋ]) and chong kraben (โจงกระเบน [tɕōːŋ krābēːn]). It is most commonly worn by women, particularly those of middle to high socio-economic status.[3]

Etymology

Sompot chong kben (សំពត់ចងក្បិន)[1] combines three Khmer words: សំពត់ (/sɑmpʊət/, sampot),[4] a long, rectangular cloth worn around the lower body; ចង (/cɑɑŋ/, chang),[5] to wrap around; and ក្បិន (/kbən/, kben),[6] referring to the lower body cloth that is wrapped around the waist then pulled back between the legs and tucked in at the back. The name of this cloth, kben or chong kben, literally means "to wrap or to wear the kben" in Khmer. Chong kraben (โจงกระเบน) is used among Thai people and derived from these Khmer words.[2]

History

Deities were often portrayed wearing such clothing. It is believed the Khmer people in Funan first began wearing sompot chong kben after King Kaundinya I began importing a very similar type of clothing in the 1st century CE, the Indian dhotis.[7]

The sampot dates back to the Funan era when a Cambodian king ordered the people of his kingdom to wear the sampot at the request of Chinese envoys.[8]

During the Angkor period, different styles of chong kben are apparent. After a chong kben is wrapped around and then knotted, there are multiple ways the end panels can present: rolled together and then pulling the bunch through the legs and securing the tip in the back waistband or a belt; for deities and kings we see a style that entails pulling one end from the front to the back as the other end drapes the front with the tip secured in the waist-area, creating a pocketfold; knotting the chong kben at the waist with one end hanging front and center whereas the other end goes front-to-back through the legs then slid under the fabric in back permitting the end to hang in the center, and a minimal chong kben resembling a loincloth. This is characteristic of “austerely-garbed Brahman priests,” laborers, soldiers, slaves from the mountains, and prisoners of war in bas-reliefs. Exuberant versions of minimal chong kben, called “flared” chong kben, are shown on protagonists of the Mahabharata-epic bas-reliefs, as well as high-ranking soldiers and warrior kings.[9]

The back of the sompot chong kben is in reference to the tail of Hanuman.[10][11] By the 17th century, the royal court of Siam had also adopted the sampot chong kben.[12] In 1856, Siamese King Mongkut gifted US President Franklin Pierce four Khmer silk garments. Three were woven silk sampot chong kben in hol pattern, a textile achieved from the distinct, sophisticated Khmer uneven twill groundweave.[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "SEAlang Dictionary". www.sealang.net. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Everything You Need to Know About Traditional Thai Dresses". Amazing Thailand. 6 March 2021. Men and women alike wear Chong Kben, a lower-body silk wrap-around garment adopted from Cambodia.
  3. ^ Kasetsiri, Charnvit (29 April 2022). Thailand: A Struggle for the Nation. ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. p. 192. ISBN 978-981-5011-25-8.
  4. ^ "SEAlang Dictionary". www.sealang.net. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  5. ^ "SEAlang Dictionary". www.sealang.net. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  6. ^ "SEAlang Dictionary". www.sealang.net. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  7. ^ Green, Gillian. "Textiles at the Khmer Court". Arts of Asia. 30 (4): 82–92.
  8. ^ Schliesinger, Joachim (2011). Ethnic groups of Cambodia. Bangkok, Thailand: White Lotus Press. ISBN 978-9744801777.
  9. ^ Greene, Gillian (2003). Traditional textiles of Cambodia : cultural threads and material heritage. p. 29.
  10. ^ Nadeem, Zuha (1 October 2019). "Traditional Thai Clothing-16 Beautiful Outfits From Thailand". Outfit Trends - Ideas How to Wear & What to Wear. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  11. ^ * Sereysothera Archived 3 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine
    • Quick informative glossary of the Dhoti referencing its modern use despite a large wave of preferences for more western garments.
  12. ^ Berthon, Magali An (2021). Silk and Post-Conflict Cambodia: Embodied Practices and Global and Local Dynamics of Heritage and Knowledge Transference (1991-2018). p. 108.
  13. ^ Green, Gillian (2003). Traditional textiles of Cambodia: cultural threads and material heritage. pp. 45, 89, 109.
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