National Geographic Glories Of Angkor

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00:00:11 For hundreds of years, they lay in
00:00:14 Their creators had been destroyed,
00:00:21 Gods had built them, some said.
00:00:23 Others insisted...
00:00:27 Yet most believed that powerful
00:00:32 deep in the Cambodian jungle.
00:00:35 And woe would come to whomever
00:00:40 Centuries apart, two men would fall
00:00:46 One was a naturalist,
00:00:47 lured by tales of exotic creatures
00:00:52 The other was a diplomat, sent to
00:00:55 from a civilization far richer than
00:00:59 Their epic tales would inflame the
00:01:03 and light a fire in the darkness of
00:01:51 The mystery of Angkor is what is
00:01:54 We don't know much about the
00:02:00 Think about it with people, when it
00:02:04 the community were out in the
00:02:07 What was it like when it was
00:02:13 It's absolutely extraordinary,
00:02:14 the mystery is basically what is
00:02:17 Why is it so big? Why is it
00:02:20 What's it for?
00:02:24 It's mysterious, you feel that
00:02:28 that's not going on there today,
00:02:30 but something went on there that's
00:02:34 from much of the rest of the world.
00:02:38 In Southeast Asia, an abandoned
00:02:42 across the heart of Cambodia.
00:02:46 Its hundreds of monuments
00:02:48 contain more stone than the
00:02:51 and cover more ground than
00:02:57 This is Angkor,
00:02:59 the capital of an empire that once
00:03:05 They were called the Khmere.
00:03:08 And more than five hundred years
00:03:15 To the outside world, the city existed
00:03:21 Until a Frenchman in the 19th century
00:03:26 He was a naturalist,
00:03:27 searching for unknown species of
00:03:33 Almost by accident he uncovered
00:03:42 In the 1850's Frenchman Henri
00:03:45 on his way to becoming the
00:03:52 A naturalist and a portrait painter,
00:03:54 Mouhot dabbled in the new,
00:04:09 Mouhot was a born roamer
00:04:11 - by age 30 he'd crisscrossed
00:04:15 But it was the tales of those who
00:04:18 that would lure him to the jungles
00:04:22 A book had just been published
00:04:25 about the area of Southeast Asia.
00:04:28 In a sense it was the focus that
00:04:31 The first Europeans to explore
00:04:35 were usually marginal people in
00:04:39 They didn't quite fit in.
00:04:41 And so they went to these other
00:04:44 But in the process of exploring
00:04:48 wrote about them, and provided
00:04:52 that the European countries needed
00:05:00 In 19th century Europe,
00:05:02 models for undaunted courage
00:05:06 like Henry Morton Stanley.
00:05:08 While searching for the source of
00:05:10 Stanley watched most of his
00:05:12 die of fever and warfare with
00:05:16 Stanley lost 60 pounds and his hair
00:05:21 "We have wept so often we can
00:05:25 But there was one more blow
00:05:27 In his absence his fiancé had
00:05:33 For late 19th century explorers, it
00:05:38 What they lost at home they
00:05:42 as the front-line troops of a new
00:05:47 The revolution in manufacturing
00:05:50 was fueled - in part - by
00:05:54 Great Britain, France, and
00:05:56 had developed huge appetites for
00:05:59 and markets for their products.
00:06:04 This set off a land grab for Asia
00:06:08 farmland, even labor could be
00:06:14 They also wanted to bring
00:06:17 to the peoples of these regions.
00:06:20 It was a sort of cultural
00:06:23 They wanted to, in a sense,
00:06:24 bring what they considered the
00:06:30 to people who they thought had
00:06:39 These allegedly 'inferior' cultures
00:06:41 weren't always happy to see the
00:06:45 Along with hostile armies,
00:06:46 explorers had to battle disease,
00:06:52 Some were military men
00:06:53 who brought much-needed
00:06:58 Others were doomed amateurs
00:07:03 Henri Mouhot would take his
00:07:10 Mouhot decided to devote his life
00:07:11 to studying new species of flora
00:07:16 It seemed likely he'd combine his
00:07:19 and become history's first
00:07:25 But fate stepped in.
00:07:29 He met and married an
00:07:34 She was a relative of one of the
00:07:38 Mungo Park.
00:07:41 Perhaps Anna pressed Henri
00:07:46 - or maybe Henri wasn't
00:07:50 For less than two years
00:07:53 Mouhot set out for Southeast Asia.
00:07:58 Mouhot intended to keep a diary
00:08:00 while documenting the natural world.
00:08:05 But on his quest for facts, he'd
00:08:10 an abandoned city in the jungle...
00:08:12 a rival among the greatest
00:08:22 On the 27th April, 1858 I
00:08:27 in a ship of very modest
00:08:31 Mouhot books passage on a
00:08:34 The very first part of this trip
00:08:37 The boat was small, the captain
00:08:40 and he writes of his perils on the
00:08:47 Mouhot is really interesting to me
00:08:49 because he went there without a
00:08:56 He was also went there on his own
00:08:59 In a sense he took a real chance
00:09:03 This, this chance to open up a new
00:09:06 to the rest of the world and he
00:09:13 After pausing in Singapore and
00:09:15 Mouhot recovered his land-legs in
00:09:18 famous in Europe as 'the Venice
00:09:23 At Bangkok's Royal Palace,
00:09:25 the Frenchman dined with Siam's
00:09:33 The cultured king grilled Mouhot for news of Europe.
00:09:37 He'd become an expert in foreign
00:09:39 in order to defend his nation.
00:09:43 While countries around Siam fell
00:09:46 Mongkut would sign trade treaties
00:09:49 knowing that this would
00:09:52 from invading his kingdom.
00:09:55 To teach English to his children,
00:10:00 Her memoirs would inspire the
00:10:04 Its clownish portrait of Mongkut
00:10:06 would become the modern
00:10:10 who almost single-handedly
00:10:16 Mongkut's gifts were all but lost
00:10:21 Barely acquainted with Asia,
00:10:22 he was distracted by its 'peculiar'
00:10:28 Every inferior crouches before
00:10:31 He receives his orders with
00:10:36 The whole of society is in a
00:10:47 Despite such attacks on his
00:10:50 Mouhot relished his journeys by
00:10:53 through uncharted regions of Siam,
00:10:55 and in time, to the frontier of
00:11:02 He was warmly received by lesser
00:11:05 and met with enthusiastic curiosity
00:11:09 to having a farang, or white man,
00:11:16 Mouhot wasted little time on
00:11:20 his goal was Science.
00:11:23 My principal object...
00:11:24 is to benefit those who in the quiet
00:11:28 delight to follow the poor traveler
00:11:31 who with the sole object of being
00:11:35 crosses the ocean and sacrifices
00:11:43 and all too often their life itself.
00:11:47 Nature has her lovers,
00:11:49 and those alone who have tasted
00:12:02 In the 19th century, the science of
00:12:06 studying exotic species meant
00:12:09 or dunking them alive in jars of
00:12:14 Mouhot's zoological treasure
00:12:19 ten reptiles, eight freshwater fish,
00:12:25 The spider still bears his name.
00:12:31 While Asia's animals enchanted
00:12:34 its people bewildered him.
00:12:38 Their languages were gibberish to
00:12:43 - their religion had many spirits,
00:12:48 The people played music in alien
00:12:51 and filled their dances with
00:12:56 Yet the cultural divide that
00:13:00 was about to be crossed... by the
00:13:16 When Mouhot traveled throughout
00:13:18 he employed several helpers who
00:13:24 Mouhot became attached to one
00:13:30 He even helped him with some of
00:13:40 He was a guide, he was an
00:13:45 Phrai started out as a servant of
00:13:48 but became his comrade and his
00:13:52 In fact we owe to Phrai our knowledge
00:14:00 On his expeditions
00:14:01 Mouhot kept meticulous records of
00:14:05 and made charts of rivers and
00:14:10 He cataloged the peoples he
00:14:12 noting differences in their looks
00:14:15 He turned himself into a one-man
00:14:20 And, in the tradition of great
00:14:25 Insects are in great numbers -
00:14:28 several of my books and maps have
00:14:36 We suffered terribly from mosquitoes,
00:14:42 and had to keep up the incessant fanning
00:14:44 to drive off these pestilent little
00:14:49 There is a small species of leech...
00:14:51 you have to be constantly pulling
00:14:55 but you are sure to return home
00:14:59 Scorpions, centipedes,
00:15:01 and above all, serpents, were the
00:15:09 But remarkably, while Phrai and the
00:15:13 Mouhot's health couldn't
00:15:17 I drank nothing but tea,
00:15:19 hoping by abstinence from cold
00:15:23 to escape fever.
00:15:25 In spite of the heat, the fatigue,
00:15:27 and the privations inseparable
00:15:31 I arrived among the Cambodians
00:15:37 The people flocked to see my
00:15:40 and could not imagine what I should
00:15:46 I offered the children my cigar-ends to smoke,
00:15:49 in return for which they would
00:15:52 and bring them to me uninjured.
00:16:00 Once more in boats,
00:16:02 the Frenchman and his
00:16:04 Their destination- the rumored
00:16:08 which interested Mouhot less than the
00:16:18 On the way they paused at a
00:16:22 - a Catholic mission run by a
00:16:29 Years of isolation, and dysentery,
00:16:31 had soured the priest's view of the
00:16:34 and made him gloomy about
00:16:41 Do you know where you're going?
00:16:44 The rains have begun and you are
00:16:48 or will at least catch a fever,
00:16:50 which will be followed by years of
00:16:54 May God be with the poor traveler!
00:17:00 Mohout said he'd abide by God's will
00:17:07 After another leg of his river
00:17:10 he reached a landmark he knew
00:17:13 - the Ton LeSap Lake,
00:17:15 and marveled as the shorelines
00:17:23 By now it'd been more than a year
00:17:25 since Mouhot had dined in
00:17:31 Rough travel had left him
00:17:33 for what he was about to see,
00:17:36 a vision few Europeans had shared.
00:17:42 The lost city of Angkor was not a
00:17:51 There are ruins of such grandeur,
00:17:56 which must have been raised at
00:18:01 that at the first view, one is filled
00:18:05 and cannot but ask what has
00:18:11 so civilized, so enlightened, the
00:18:25 He came looking for insects,
00:18:28 came looking for flora, fauna,
00:18:32 He didn't come looking for
00:18:36 and I think if any of us who may
00:18:41 would have been excited.
00:18:43 But whether we could have
00:18:46 with such precision as Henri
00:18:53 One of these temples... a rival to
00:18:58 and erected by some ancient
00:19:01 might take an honorable place beside
00:19:08 It's grander than anything left to us
00:19:15 The natives enlightened the
00:19:18 it's the work of angels, they
00:19:25 It was built by a magician-king.
00:19:39 Mouhot was not an archeologist,
00:19:41 nor an art historian, nor could he
00:19:45 that adorned the monuments of
00:19:51 Yet he was an illustrator.
00:19:53 With his customary zeal
00:19:55 he set out to sketch the most
00:19:57 of the lost city's some 1,000 temples,
00:20:00 and describe them inch-by-inch.
00:20:03 The west side the gallery is
00:20:06 by two rows of square columns,
00:20:10 on the east, blank windows have
00:20:13 with balconies of twisted columns
00:20:20 In the center of the causeway are
00:20:25 one on each side, having at each
00:20:28 thirty-three meters sixty-six
00:20:35 Mouhot was a very keen observer.
00:20:37 He was a collector of information.
00:20:40 He had this natural history
00:20:44 in a very careful way.
00:20:45 So when he found the monuments
00:20:49 he went ahead and approached them
00:20:51 in the same way he would
00:20:54 with careful description.
00:20:57 The vaulted ceilings of the
00:20:59 are raised six meters from the
00:21:02 those of the second roof are four
00:21:10 The bas-reliefs represent combat
00:21:15 Fabulous animals are busy
00:21:19 others are in irons and have had
00:21:25 He could tell that it was the results
00:21:29 that had flourished in this area. He could also tell by the
00:21:33 on many of the, many of the
00:21:36 they were mostly in Sanskrit and
00:21:38 He could tell by these inscriptions,
00:21:41 that these were a very learned
00:21:42 who had built all this and yet they
00:21:49 Sad frailty of human things!
00:21:52 How many centuries and
00:21:55 have passed away, of which history
00:22:01 What treasures of art will remain
00:22:07 How many distinguished artists,
00:22:09 kings, and warriors are
00:22:15 Mouhot was deeply frustrated
00:22:17 by the mystery of who had
00:22:21 He noted the similarity
00:22:24 and the people living in the
00:22:27 But he couldn't bring
00:22:29 that these Cambodians were descended
00:22:48 In fact, the artistry of Cambodia
00:22:54 Though it never again reached the
00:22:56 Khmere art flourished throughout
00:23:03 Demand for replicas if its most
00:23:05 grows with Angkor's fame.
00:23:15 Oblivious of Cambodia's past,
00:23:20 Only a full scale takeover,
00:23:22 he concluded, could correct the
00:23:26 The sooner the better.
00:23:30 European conquest wise and
00:23:36 would alone effect the
00:23:39 I wish France to possess this land,
00:23:42 which would add a magnificent
00:23:47 Though Mouhot wouldn't live to
00:23:49 France did intervene soon after
00:23:52 making Cambodia a protectorate
00:23:58 It would last nearly a century.
00:24:03 Mouhot's diary wasn't the cause.
00:24:05 But like explorer's tales before,
00:24:12 King Mongkut's tutor,
00:24:13 Anna Leonowens, was so moved
00:24:17 she'd later copy it for her own
00:24:24 Angkor was never a lost city
00:24:27 They knew about it and from
00:24:30 Jesuit priests wrote it in
00:24:33 It's just that their diaries
00:24:35 it didn't reach a wide public.
00:24:37 Mouhot was the first person to
00:24:40 And it was his sketches, his
00:24:44 that really is why he was credited
00:25:00 With a saber in one hand, Phrai
00:25:05 He and his shadow reflected on
00:25:09 might easily be mistaken by the
00:25:15 It is pleasant to the man devoted to
00:25:19 to think that his work, his fatigues,
00:25:22 his troubles and dangers, are
00:25:30 I doubt not others will follow in
00:25:33 and gather an abundant harvest
00:25:36 but cleared the ground.
00:25:41 Mouhot had been traveling for the
00:25:46 The amateur enthusiast had
00:25:49 a skilled outdoorsman, a hardened
00:25:54 He treated Phrai and his other
00:25:57 whom he alternately nursed and
00:25:59 and with whom he shed tears at
00:26:09 Yet even as his letters home turned
00:26:13 and his journey stretched from two
00:26:16 he couldn't seem to turn back.
00:26:18 Only on the trail was he at peace.
00:26:24 Do not be anxious when you think
00:26:28 for you know that up to the
00:26:31 everything has prospered with him.
00:26:33 And truly I experience a degree of
00:26:37 and internal peace, which I have
00:26:45 But the French priest's dire
00:26:50 The weather and mosquitoes were
00:26:54 First Phrai fell sick.
00:26:56 For five days we were compelled
00:27:02 it rained a great part of the day,
00:27:07 I never in my life passed such
00:27:12 My poor Phrai was seized with a
00:27:17 and I myself felt very ill.
00:27:22 October 29, 1861.
00:27:25 Overcome by fever
00:27:27 the 35 year old Mouhot scratched
00:27:32 Have pity on me, oh my God!
00:27:41 Phrai recovered and made sure his
00:27:46 Then he brought Mouhot's
00:27:49 and put them on boats for Europe.
00:27:52 Most of the zoological samples
00:27:53 the naturalist had collected during
00:27:56 had already been lost at sea.
00:27:58 But his journal made it safely back
00:28:09 Henri's widow Anna persuaded the
00:28:13 to publish Mouhot's diary.
00:28:15 The first edition did not sell;
00:28:17 there were no profits to share
00:28:22 Yet, owing chiefly to its
00:28:25 Mouhot's work remained in print
00:28:30 Generations of travelers and
00:28:34 the treasures of Khmere culture
00:28:40 And perhaps some took heart in
00:28:44 a fitting epitaph for Mouhot, and
00:28:50 Courage, then, and hope!
00:28:52 Our perseverance and efforts will
00:28:57 Adieu, adieu, Au revoir.
00:29:11 Shortly after Henri Mouhot alerted
00:29:15 the work of recovering its treasures
00:29:22 Mouhot's meticulous descriptions
00:29:23 had inspired Europe to take
00:29:28 But the questions had only just
00:29:32 Who were Angkor's builders, the
00:29:37 What were their lives like?
00:29:39 Archeologists had no written record
00:29:43 - If the Khmere had chronicled
00:29:45 they probably did so on palm leaves
00:29:50 Time had turned the perishable history
00:29:58 With nothing known about their
00:30:00 Angkor's monuments seemed destined
00:30:09 Then in 1902 a remarkable document
00:30:13 and a most unlikely voice
00:30:19 The fantastic civilization of the
00:30:21 thought to be forever beyond reach,
00:30:27 In about 10,000 words
00:30:29 this report captured the heart of the
00:30:37 Its author was a diplomat sent to
00:30:40 by China's fearsome Mongol Dynasty.
00:30:48 The Mongols are famous for
00:30:52 and for tactics that routed European
00:30:57 At the end of the 13th century,
00:30:58 however, they took aim at Southeast
00:31:03 In 1286 the Mongols struck deep into
00:31:08 A year later the capital of Burma
00:31:12 Yet the infamous horsemen didn't
00:31:15 in the alien jungle terrain
00:31:17 - perhaps this alone saved Angkor
00:31:25 Instead, Mongol Emperor Timur
00:31:29 to go to Angkor and collect tribute
00:31:34 This would appease the Khan while
00:31:38 to size up Angkor for possible
00:31:44 One of these diplomats was
00:31:50 Zhou Dagoun in his writing, never
00:31:53 He was part of an embassy
00:31:55 which obviously meant that it was
00:31:59 check out, get the intelligence on
00:32:02 To show to Mongol Emperor
00:32:04 what sorts of people lay at the far
00:32:08 what sorts of products they had,
00:32:17 The inhabitants are rude and ugly
00:32:22 The indigenous women are very
00:32:25 If a husband has to leave for a
00:32:28 that's alright for a couple of nights.
00:32:30 But after a dozen nights the woman
00:32:35 "Who am I, a ghost that needs no
00:32:40 He was a keen observer, telling us
00:32:45 Zhou Dagoun left us something very
00:32:49 He has left the only first hand
00:32:54 He was here when Angkor was a
00:32:58 But we have to always keep in mind
00:33:01 so he was perceiving the kingdom
00:33:05 in his background which was
00:33:08 About Zhou Dagoun little is known.
00:33:12 He was probably about thirty
00:33:14 a diplomat, perhaps an aristocrat.
00:33:17 From the details he reported to
00:33:20 emerge a character fascinated with
00:33:25 He came from an obsessive prudish
00:33:28 and he saw in this tropical climate
00:33:30 and enjoyed seeing, women taking
00:33:34 and getting into the river to bathe
00:33:36 and he commented on this
00:33:39 not only because it was so barbarian
00:33:42 but I think also because he enjoyed
00:33:49 Every three or four days
00:33:51 the women go and bathe in a river
00:33:56 Even the women from the noble
00:33:58 take part in these baths and aren't
00:34:04 Everyone can see them from the to
00:34:07 to the bottom of their feet.
00:34:09 The Chinese, on their day off,
00:34:13 I've heard that there are those who
00:34:17 to take advantage of the situation.
00:34:22 The water is always as hot as fire.
00:34:31 For Zhou Dagoun, his year in Angkor
00:34:34 would be full of such surprises
00:34:37 He was Chinese, but from the
00:34:40 a Mongol whose race worshipped
00:34:47 By contrast, the Khmere had
00:34:50 and its creed of compassion
00:34:56 The city of one million enjoyed
00:34:58 full of parades, festivals,
00:35:31 The Chinese who arrive as sailors
00:35:35 that in this country one doesn't
00:35:38 And since rice is easy to earn, and
00:35:43 there are many who desert to stay.
00:35:47 As he cataloged Angkor's marvels,
00:35:49 Zhou Dagoun himself may have
00:35:52 in the jungle paradise.
00:35:56 As a spy of sorts, he no doubt
00:35:57 that all the Khmere's might and
00:36:00 largely depended on one thing
00:36:09 Three rice-harvests a year fed the
00:36:13 and paid for everything from
00:36:19 To grow the rice, they had to tame
00:36:26 They harnessed the water from the
00:36:30 by building a series of canals, dikes,
00:36:34 from the lake up to the city of
00:36:37 During the rainy season,
00:36:39 when the lake began to rise
00:36:40 water was forced up these canals,
00:36:45 and collected in large reservoirs,
00:36:51 And in fact the system
00:36:54 a thousand years ago
00:36:55 is more advanced than any
00:36:57 used in Cambodia today.
00:37:02 The relationship between the king
00:37:08 The whole reason that Angkor is
00:37:13 is because of the access of water.
00:37:17 So the king could provide fish and
00:37:21 and therefore his people would
00:37:25 and his genealogy would continue.
00:37:34 Not surprisingly the symbol of
00:37:38 is key to Khmere faith.
00:37:40 In Angkor, Zhou Dagoun would
00:37:43 the revered reptile depicted
00:37:46 in scenes said to reveal the secret
00:37:51 The churning of the ocean of milk
00:37:55 - its much loved in Cambodia in
00:37:59 It's depicted with gods on one side
00:38:04 and they're holding a large scaly
00:38:08 They pull left and right and left
00:38:12 in a way that we would call a tug
00:38:14 They're churning to try to yield the
00:38:22 Immortality was a daily pursuit
00:38:25 the abode of Khmere Kings.
00:38:36 Kings had more than a thousand
00:38:39 - the most beautiful women
00:38:43 Scores are depicted at the Royal
00:38:50 Concerning the concubines and the
00:38:54 I've heard that the number is
00:39:04 When in a family there's
00:39:06 she's immediately sent to the
00:39:11 As a foreigner, and an oddity,
00:39:14 Zhou Dagoun wasn't permitted to
00:39:18 but he heard a legend about the
00:39:33 In the Golden Tower
00:39:34 inside the palace the sovereign goes
00:39:40 All the locals assert that inside the
00:39:44 - master of the whole territory of
00:39:47 This genie appears every night in the
00:39:51 Its with her that the sovereign lies
00:39:56 If one night the genie doesn't
00:39:59 this is because the time for the
00:40:04 If the king doesn't show up even for
00:40:07 something terrible will happen.
00:40:15 He would comment on some of
00:40:19 but then he would always draw
00:40:22 we do things in China.
00:40:24 So I think he saw commonalties
00:40:30 In this country it's the women who
00:40:34 If a Chinese arrives here and
00:40:37 its because he wants to take
00:40:40 of the woman's trading skills,
00:40:42 [which could easily exceed his own.]
00:40:46 Zhou Dagoun disapproved of most
00:40:48 but praised one - the status of
00:40:54 The envoy noted that women ran
00:40:58 and women intellectuals were among
00:41:06 Women figure prominently in
00:41:09 called the Bayon.
00:41:14 They depict dozens of types of
00:41:16 and the daily activities of Khmere
00:41:21 In fact everything the Mongols
00:41:24 was right here-agriculture, slaves,
00:41:29 For Zhou Dagoun it would have
00:41:35 Valuable products are the feathers
00:41:39 elephant tusks, rhino's horn, and
00:41:44 The white rhinoceros horn is veined
00:41:50 the black one is inferior.
00:41:59 In general, the people of this
00:42:03 When they see a Chinese,
00:42:04 they are respectfully frightened and
00:42:08 Seeing him, they throw themselves
00:42:14 From Zhou Dagoun's reports we
00:42:18 that there were astronomers there.
00:42:20 We know about the fact that,
00:42:22 that various groups of people within
00:42:27 So this was an area of discovery.
00:42:30 This was the Renaissance area of
00:42:36 More than five centuries before
00:42:40 Cambodian Michaelangelos sent
00:42:45 Reliefs at the Bayon acknowledged
00:42:49 but one monument at Angkor made
00:42:57 The Chinese envoy Zhou Dagoun
00:43:01 from Angkor's greatest marvel, a
00:43:07 He skipped over it in his report,
00:43:09 mentioning only that a Chinese
00:43:19 No doubt the envoy coveted the
00:43:23 - Angkor Wat.
00:43:34 Over a century before Zhou
00:43:37 the last stone was fitted into place.
00:43:41 Archeologists have determined
00:43:43 that it took almost thirty years
00:43:45 and was finished in time to bury
00:43:52 Some historians believe Angkor
00:43:56 The main basis for this is that the
00:44:02 In Hindu mythology this signifies
00:44:06 When you enter you feel you're
00:44:12 to the world of the deities.
00:44:16 Look to the left. It's a battle.
00:44:20 and massacre and slaughter and
00:44:24 But at the east is the famous story
00:44:30 the beginning of life.
00:44:36 Never in his life would Zhou
00:44:41 The austere Mongol religion had
00:44:44 to sacred mountains of stone.
00:44:50 Angkor Wat was built to please a
00:44:54 but came to draw the devout of
00:45:02 Climbing the staircase reveals
00:45:10 Then you continue to the next level.
00:45:12 The walls are bare in total contrast
00:45:19 Why?
00:45:20 Because you look at the top and
00:45:25 the image of Vishnu that would
00:45:29 And so the bare walls provide a
00:45:35 to carry your eye upward to the very
00:45:44 According to tradition, priests
00:45:48 inside the temple he built for
00:45:52 Yet the monarch didn't dwell in the
00:45:59 Attending him are 1700 enchanted
00:46:08 The Apsaras are the celestial
00:46:11 that fly through the heavens and
00:46:21 And they stand ready
00:46:23 dressed in their jewelry and
00:46:26 to do whatever the gods would need
00:46:29 and for the kingdom to prosper.
00:46:37 These celestial nymphs were born
00:46:40 can you imagine?
00:46:45 Angkor Wat had hardly claimed its
00:46:49 when disaster struck.
00:46:56 Drawn by its increasing splendor
00:47:00 attacked and burned the city.
00:47:05 Countless inhabitants were killed,
00:47:20 By the time the capital was rebuilt,
00:47:27 His people had suffered...
00:47:29 so the king built a walled city,
00:47:32 to protect them in time of war.
00:47:37 Like their king most of the Khmere
00:47:41 and followed in the Buddha's path.
00:47:46 Zhou Dagoun was familiar with
00:47:48 a popular religion in China.
00:47:51 But he was awed by its
00:47:57 Above each gate of the enclosure,
00:48:00 there are five big Buddha heads
00:48:04 their faces turned towards the four
00:48:09 at the center is placed one
00:48:12 but this one is decorated in gold.
00:48:17 It's a kind face, it's a god of
00:48:22 This art feature had never before
00:48:26 and in fact there's not
00:48:31 Some say that it represents the king
00:48:35 north-south-east-and west,
00:48:36 and that makes him the Ruler
00:48:44 Everyday the king holds audiences
00:48:51 The king, sword in hand, appears
00:48:56 All present join their hands and
00:49:01 It is plain to see that these people,
00:49:06 know what is due to a prince.
00:49:11 Zhou Dagoun arrived in Angkor
00:49:13 when its king had undisputed
00:49:17 of seemingly limitless potential.
00:49:19 Despite his glowing account,
00:49:21 his master, Timur Khan never
00:49:29 Perhaps Cambodia's climate was
00:49:33 where the Mongols had tasted
00:49:38 Or perhaps the Khmere seemed too
00:49:44 Zhou Dagoun may have painted too
00:49:49 Maybe Timur decided it wasn't
00:49:54 Or maybe there were plans
00:49:56 but other things were happening in
00:49:59 that in a sense blocked any future
00:50:05 Yet the Khmere's story would soon
00:50:08 whether the Mongol Khan
00:50:12 Archeologists and historians have
00:50:18 By Zhou Dagoun's time,
00:50:20 22 kings over 500 years had worked
00:50:27 Rice harvests dropped, and stone
00:50:33 Maintenance of the reservoirs and
00:50:37 The kings' sacred covenant with the
00:50:46 Early in the 15th century the
00:50:49 made profitable raids into Khmere
00:50:53 A climactic battle in 1431...
00:50:59 All but abandoned,
00:51:01 the Khmere capital was lulled into
00:51:04 by the encroaching jungle.
00:51:10 Fortunately, Zhou Dagoun had long since
00:51:13 carried his chronicle to safety.
00:51:16 Angkor had won the envoy's
00:51:19 and he repaid it with the only
00:51:22 of Cambodia's ancient treasures.
00:51:30 Coming to Angkor for most people
00:51:31 is a bit of a pilgrimage
00:51:36 Somehow it just touches your soul.
00:51:41 Every time you see it looming out
00:51:43 it hits you very, very hard.
00:51:45 The mystery is it doesn't explain
00:51:50 We don't know much
00:51:51 except from reports of Zhou Dagoun
00:51:55 Yet, we can still see the monuments
00:52:01 and we can dream about the