The Art Of Champa

In the 5th century, the Champa kingdom held sway over a large area of today’s Vietnam. Several magnificent structures still testify to their former presence in the Nha Trang region. Cham sculpture was worked in a variety of materials, principally sandstone, but also gold, silver and bronze. It was primarily used to illustrate themes from Indian mythology. The kingdom was gradually eroded during the 15th century by the inexorable descent of the people towards the south (“Nam Tiên”) from their original base in the Red River region. The author explores, describes, and comments on the various styles of Cham sculpture, drawing on a rich and, as yet, largely unpublished iconographic vein.

The Cham people once inhabited and ruled over a large stretch of what is now the central Vietnamese coast. Written by specialists in history, archaeology, anthropology, art history, and linguistics, these essays reassess the ways that the Cham have been studied.

The kings of ancient Champa, a civilization located in the central region of today's Vietnam, started building sacred temples in a circular valley more than 1500 years ago. The monuments, now known by the Vietnamese name M? So'n, were discovered by nineteenth-century colonial soldiers and first studied by the French architect Henri Parmentier. Bombed during the Vietnam War, the ruins of the brick towers, decorated with exquisite carvings and sculptures, were designated as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site in 1999. An Italian team has worked at the site for the last ten years, doing archaeological research and restoration work in cooperation with Vietnamese specialists. This book is the first published volume based on their efforts. The opening section consists of historical, anthropological and architectural studies of the civilization of Champa. The remainder of the book presents an unusually intimate and extensively illustrated portrait of the archaeologists' research and restoration work at M? So'n. While this book is important for specialists and students of the history and archaeology of Champa and Southeast Asia, it also tells a fascinating story that will appeal to general readers and visitors to this exceptional archaeological site.

The kingdom of Champa, which flourished from the second to the nineteenth centuries, is by far the least-known of all the great Indianized civilizations of Southeast Asia. Its own history was violent and ultimately tragic, and, as it covered large areas of what is now central and southern Vietnam, access to the region has been difficult for most of the last sixty years. Hindu-Buddhist Art of Vietnamis the first substantial book in English on the art of this remarkable and distinctive civilization. It first provides an overview of Cham history, including references to the many influences from neighboring civilizations that shaped it, including Khmer, Javanese, Srivijaya, Dvaravati, and Chinese. It goes on to illustrate and describe more than a hundred major sculptures at present housed in the National Museum at Dà Nang. Cham art is unmistakable and individualistic, vigorous and even dramatic in its rendering of movement. Mostly carved in sandstone and in high relief, the sculptures represent the main Hindu and Buddhist deities, real and fabulous animals in combative poses, and flying celestial beings and dancers. Richly illustrated with views of the monuments and the superb countryside in which they were built, this book brings to life a brilliant civilization.

The first report in this book offers an overview of Cham art with sixty-five photographs and an introductory text by the eminent French archaeologist Henri Parmentier. Originally published in 1922, this book remains one of the best introductions to the treasures preserved in the Tourane Museum in Danang. It features splendid photographs of Cham art discovered in the main areas of this long lost culture-Mi Son, Dong Duong, Khuong My, and Tra Kieu. The development of Cham art is sketched against the background of Annamese migration pushing the Cham people and their kingdom ever further south. The second part consists of two research reports. The first one by Paul Mus summarizes what is known about the religious practices of the Cham people and is based on artifacts and translated inscriptions. The author also reviews evidence from contemporary Cham culture. The religious inheritance of Champa is related to Vedic, Indian, Chinese, and Annamese forms of worship, and the significance of the Champa king as intermediary between the gods and the soil is also discussed. The second report by Étienne Aymonier contains an overview, dated 1884-85, of the religious practices, ceremonies related to veneration of divinities, marriage, birth, priesthood, death, agriculture, collection of eagle wood, and other customs of both groups of Chams, Muslims and non-Muslims, in Vietnam, and Chams in Cambodia.

"This volume is an exciting, eclectic collection of essays in honor of Kermit S. Champa, a leading scholar of impressionism and critic of twentieth-century art. The lead essay by David Carrier is followed by others from several generations of scholars and museum curators trained by Professor Champa. Together, they cover an extremely wide historical range, from the eighteenth to twenty-first centuries, and honor Professor Champa's own scholarly rigor, methodological diversity, and intellectual breadth through topics ranging from art history to cultural studies."--Jacket

The art of Champa (central and southern Vietnam) thrived from the 2nd to the 9th centuries. It consists chiefly of Hindi and Buddhist deities, carved in high relief from sandstone. This book describes some 100 major sculptures housed in the Da Nang Museum and also provides a historical overview.