King Ang Duong was born in 1796. He was the youngest son of King Ang Eng (1794-1797) and fled to Thailand for more than a decade. Prince Duong returned to Cambodia in 1841, which we can assume that he reigned since then, but Princess Ang Mey has not yet died. By treaty between Siam and Vietnam in December 1845. Agreed to return the Khmer throne to King Duong.
Prince Duong was crowned in Udong on March 7, 1848 at the age of 52. His name was Pitheay “King Samdech Preah Hari Reaksa Rama Isarathipati Preah Srey Suryoporn Borom Sorendra Maha Chakrapat Thireach Borom Reach”. Immediately after ascending the throne, he began to rebuild the country with funds from the royal treasury, establishing social institutions, ie poor people and monks could come and eat fresh food and cook daily. He reduced taxes and restored security in the country, establishing structures to crack down on theft and crime. In 1848, Duong established the Court of Appeal, and he personally presided over the second court. From 1852, a general revision of various articles of law began, with his active participation.
He commissioned the swan in 1848 and underwent general reform. He began to build walls and roads, and between 1850 he ordered officials to mobilize the people to build a wall to protect the eastern part of the capital, and took money from the palace warehouse to build roads for the people to farm. Delivered to Phnom Penh Port.
He reformed Buddhism by sending a delegation of two Cambodian officers to the Siamese king on Tuesday, April 12, 1853, to ask the Siamese king to send back to Cambodia a monk with a high knowledge of Buddhism. Mahapan agreed to take out the three scriptures. It means that Buddhism, the Judiciary, came to Cambodia from then on.
Henria Mouhot met King Ang Duong between 1858 and wrote on his body: He was about 60 years old, short, fat, short-haired. The water of the face shows wisdom, sincerity and kindness.
Duong rebuilt the kingdom both culturally and economically. He escaped from Thai and Vietnamese control and returned to the mainland. He died in 1860. He had two sons who succeeded him.
King Ang Duong was a royal moralist and a strong Buddhist. According to existing research, his works include the story of Khaki, written in 1815, and the female version in 1837.
Khaki story
As for Khaki, Khmer literary scholars highly value it, especially in the art of poetry. Khaki is a Pali word meaning “crow” and this khaki is the word for the female protagonist in the story and the title of the story. The story of Khaki, the Khmer people, we know almost everyone. The Khaki story has been included in the Ministry of National Education in the modern first grade curriculum since Cambodia was freed from the yoke of French colonization. The word khaki in our Khmer and phonetic meanings means a metaphor for a woman who is beautiful and elegant, but whose heart is like a pine tree betraying her husband or lover forever. We observe the comparison of a beautiful woman who betrays her husband to Khaki in modern songs, in novels, and in the words of the common people. This means that the Khaki story is not only known among the intellectuals, students or leaders, that is, it permeates all sections of the population. Thus, the khaki story is popular in all national sizes.
A) Documents
The literature and documents that we find in the libraries on Khaki are:
Khaki is a manuscript with a string from Wat Serey Botum, Kampong Cham province, kept at Puth San Bandith until 1975, number 681.
Khaki is a manuscript kept at the French School of the Far East, Paris, No. 78.
Khaki is a handwritten document on a book kept at the French School of the Far East, country number 102 or 371, 31 pages.
Keo Kaki, a scholar, kept at the National Library of Paris, Indochina, 137 B.C.
Khaki published in Paris by Blong Nouri Bookstore in 1901, 76 pages.
Pavy publishes the story of Neang Khaki in his book entitled Research on Literature in Cambodia, Laos and Siam.
But this article is a shorter summary than the documents.
B) Author and date
According to the observation in the preface, the story does not specify the name of the poet, only the expression as in the original words:
“Ang Anh, the top national clan of Kampuchea… ..” said the author in the family of the king of the earth, Choam, group on Cambodia and left Cambodia to Siam, as the quote: Negotiate the ancient city of Venice to live in Sro Tep Nokor… ….
Therefore, we do not see the name of the poet clearly, but through detailed study and observation, we do not see any other Khmer king in the 19th century as a scholar, only this poet. As Professor Khuon Sokphou claims: “But like the preface of the story of Khaki or Chbap Srey Ang Duong, who did not give his name, it is true that he said that he was the king of Cambodia. Researchers in the field of Khmer literature, both at home and abroad, have come to the conclusion that the Khaki story is the work of Preah Ang Duong, namely Pov Sav Se, Leang Hap Anly, Theam Teng Heng Yan and Khuon Sokphou.
Excerpted from a book on Khmer history and Khmer elite
