Sompot chong kben
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Sompot chong kben (Khmer: sMbtcngkpin, sampot chang kben [samput ca:ng kb@n])[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 (phaahaang [pha: ha:ng]) and chong kraben (occhngkraebn [tco:ng krabe:n]). It is most commonly worn by women, particularly those of middle to high socio-economic status.[3]
Etymology
[edit]Sompot chong kben (sMbtcngkpin)[1] combines three Khmer words: sMbt (/sampU@t/, sampot),[4] a long, rectangular cloth worn around the lower body; cng (/caang/, chang),[5] to wrap around; and kpin (/kb@n/, 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 (occhngkraebn) is used among Thai people and derived from these Khmer words.[2]
History
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Deities were often portrayed wearing such clothing.[citation needed]
It is believed the Khmer people in Funan first began wearing sompot chong kben after King Kaundinya I began importing Indian dhotis, a very similar type of clothing, in the 1st century CE.[7]
Due to their cultural exchange with India, the influence of the dhoti was incorporated into Khmer culture.[8][9] Indian Hindus traditionally wore the dhoti as a sign of the monkey-form god Hanuman's power, a significant deity in both Indian and Cambodian religious traditions.[10] Thus, the back of the sompot chong kben is in reference to the tail of a monkey. Additionally, the people of the Khmer empire had exposure to drawings of the sompot chong kben in depictions of scenes from the poem Reamker at the major temple Angkor Wat.[11]
Gallery
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6th century Khmer depiction of Balarama wearing sompot chong kben from Phnom Da temple, Angkor Borei, Takeo, Cambodia. Now exhibits in National Museum of Cambodia.
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Envoy of Funan to the Liang dynasty wearing a sampot chong kben by painter Gu Deqian of the Southern Tang dynasty (937-976 CE).
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Murder of the Cambodian King and his son in 1642, from a Dutch engraving.
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Photograph of Prince Chulalongkorn (Rama V) and his two younger brothers wearing chong kraben in 1851
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Photograph of a 19th-century Siamese boatman, photographed by John Thomson
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Photograph of Queen Saovabha Phongsri, principal consort to King Chulalongkorn
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Khmer royal ladies wearing sompot chong kben and sbai in the mid-1800s.
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Khmer woman wearing sompot chong kben
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Mannequins wearing sompot chong kben at the Royal Palace of Cambodia
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A Khmer traditional dancer in sompot chong kben
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See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "SEAlang Dictionary". www.sealang.net. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Kasetsiri, Charnvit (29 April 2022). Thailand: A Struggle for the Nation. ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. p. 192. ISBN 978-981-5011-25-8.
- ^ "SEAlang Dictionary". www.sealang.net. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
- ^ "SEAlang Dictionary". www.sealang.net. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
- ^ "SEAlang Dictionary". www.sealang.net. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
- ^ Green, Gillian. "Textiles at the Khmer Court". Arts of Asia. 30 (4): 82-92.
- ^ "toekhmaerproepraassmliekpMbaakbiibelnnaa?". Archived from the original on 18 August 2009. Retrieved 4 September 2009.
- ^ 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.
- ^ * 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.
- ^ "Reamker | Asia Society". asiasociety.org. 24 July 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
