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Comment by OVEPI 8 hours ago

李安樂·山莊：追尋鄉土社會的潛在記憶——閱讀《山莊記憶》

最近火了的一部央視熱播紀錄片《舌尖上的中國》，它勾起了國人對飲食文化中的民族記憶。這種舌尖上的美食控源自於對不同地域文化的鄉愁，也是中國文化深層結構中的鄉土集體記憶。在非虛構的散文寫作中，很大一部分來自於對鄉土社會的表述。也許是社會上此類的文本太多，也許是民眾的閱讀取向多元化，鄉土文學抑或已經很難再產生曾經一時洛陽紙貴的效應。這也是情理之中的，我們本身已經不自覺投入到這個消費的娛樂化時代中，在搞笑中很快進入角色，就連我們自己也有時不得不暗暗懷疑需要堅守的價值觀。

雖然一般的讀者樂此不疲地閱讀和談論著這類作品，但嚴肅的評論家無一例外地對這一現象保持著冷淡的沉默態度。評論家的沉默使我們憑直覺就可以感覺到此類作品的某些先天不足和泛濫帶給評論家的審美疲勞。評論家南方朔對鄉愁不待見，他論到：「鄉愁雖美，但卻有害！鄉愁是不能當做一個城市的目標的，一個歌頌鄉愁的社會是個落後保守的社會。」這或許是許多評論家對鄉土主題避之不及的一個原因吧。 

在這一悖論中，文本泛濫與批評冷漠的現象很顯然與傳統農耕文化在中國現代化進程中的境遇有關，一方面，深厚的農業文化基礎使得整體書寫繞不開鄉土這個舊瓶裝新酒的主題。只要這個農民國家的歷史現狀還存在著，這種大范圍集體性的鄉土記憶的敘事就更不會終止。另一方面，在鄉土敘事中，鄉愁還佔有一部分，這是許多批評家唯恐避之不及的。從政治心理圖景來說，在城鄉的二元格局中，鄉村有時往往會被復古為與「廟堂」相對的渺遠的「江湖」，成為知識分子心往神會的飛地。重要的是，鄉村是大多數人的根，是現實或夢回的家園。

楊顯惠說：「文學離不開社會、思想，如果把思想、對社會的思考去掉了，文學就沒意思了。」文學意義不僅在於對社會的勾畫，更在於其對社會的責任和獨立的價值判斷。柏夫的散文集《山莊記憶》不單是關於對鄉土記憶的書寫文本，而是表述出了對鄉土社會流逝的真誠追思和人文悲憫之情。正如作者所言，「對於許多離開農村身居城市的人來說，山莊已經退出他們的生活，成為一種遙遠的記憶。但對於更多的人來說，山莊是生活中最溫馨的家園，它安慰靈魂，也滋養肉體；山莊也是生活中最踏實的依托，它成就生命，也鍛造精神。」需要強調的是，它重新闡釋了有關「山莊」的全部意義及其人文關懷。(下續)

（李安樂：山莊：追尋鄉土社會的潛在記憶——閱讀《山莊記憶》，見：中國藝術人類學學會2013-09-23）

延續閱讀：

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最接近中國的馬來西亞北隅鄉鎮

《愛墾·鄉頻道》濱雪鄉鎮

韻文化：和諧的聲音

韻文化：詩賦詞曲

韻文化：美、標致

地方文化營銷·慢遊

Comment by OVEPI 12 hours ago

鄉土社會與地域文化：由於特殊的地緣構築了作家心靈中的鄉土世界。鄉土做為在現代化進程中行將逝去的文化遺產，業已成為大多數作家回憶中的資源。對於鄉土的特性，費孝通在其早年的名著《鄉土中國》中這樣寫道：「歷世不移的結果，人不但在熟人中長大，而且還在熟悉的地方上長大，熟悉的地方可以包括極長時間的人和土的混合。祖先們在這地方混熟了，他們的經驗也必然就是子孫們所會得到的經驗。……他們個別的經驗，就等於世代的經驗。經驗無需不斷累積，只需老是保存。」 鄉土世界中的這種親密的、信任的依靠了地緣與血緣的社會結構是現代城市社會中所不具有的，這也是作家們所不斷表現的，因為他們是從鄉土移植到城市中的過去時態的農民，有著很深的鄉土情結。

在柏夫的作品中，我們直觀地閱讀出了淳樸的鄉土情感，其更深地把民俗與風土人情血肉交融在充滿大地氣息的文字之中，土炕、土窯、野電影、土堡、土話以及廟戲、鄉村棋壇等。在鄉土世界敘事裡，依然表達了鄉戀情結，這種表達可能更多緣於對自己由農民到城裡人身份的游離不定的把握，同時更缺乏城裡人強烈的自我認同感。

在西北干旱的靜寧，六盤山的余脈綿延至此。粗狂蒼茫的地理特征造就了其與之同構的地域性文化。這種獨特的地域文化暫時很難明晰地定義，但我們能夠深深地感受到在枯山禿嶺的地域文化絕對不會如三秦文化中的通俗演義那樣：八百裡秦川塵土飛揚，三千萬秦人齊吼秦腔，端一碗長面喜氣洋洋，沒有辣子嘟嘟囔囔。干旱少雨的內陸型氣候，加之受六盤山西麓小氣候的影響。或許，這一地域性文化特征和其他西北的地域文化別無二致，抑或更接近於西海固的文化，或者說西海固文化與之很像。

土性文化：記憶中的山莊

對柏夫作品中的文化意象，我更願意以土性文化的屬性來理解和闡發。早有學者在對浙東文化的闡釋中用到了「土性文化」與「水性文化」，其以「山」、「水」之多寡來概括。認為「水性」文化反映出溫柔、內斂的性格，反映在文風上則是秀美、飄逸、浪漫的主體風格。而「土性文化」則相反，其文化影響下的文風多具氣概、凝重、頑固、叛逆的性格，亦即魯迅所說的「山岳氣」，有了更多的深至與厚重。《山莊記憶》就很好得體現了這種風格。

在這裡要說的是，土性文化是對鄉土社會的非現代性的歸繹。以其泛「土」性而帶有強烈的地域文化色彩：土炕、土窯、土豆、土堡、土話、山花、泥濘等。土味也正是鄉野的魅力所在。在《土炕》中，作者體味到自然精神：「人本來就是自然之子，土炕盤在堅實的大地上，它雖然是炕，可依然是土；是房屋的組成部分，也是大地的人工延伸。人睡在這樣的土炕上，身體和心靈都會和地氣相通。睡在土炕上不只是簡單地睡覺，而是在夜深人靜的時候與大地進行溝通，那是一種來自四肢百骸及心靈深處的全身心的舒展和放松。」土，並非意味著俗氣，而是土氣，純真質樸的氣質。而土氣是土性文化的基本特性，在堅實的大地上，微涼也好，溫熱也好，人總要停佇腳步去體味大地的體溫和脈搏，領會古人所孜孜言說的天人合一的奧妙。

在美國學者約翰·吉利斯(John Gillis)的論述中將鄉土記憶與公共記憶對立起來，並指涉其作為被官方歷史的記憶所界定的民間基層記憶的特征：被認可和被製造。這些散發著土味的鄉野之物徑由記憶的被認可與製造，逐漸地廓清了更具豐富含義的山莊圖景，這也是作者所表述的重點。對於山莊，作者有其獨到的見識：「山莊並不是某一個具體的村莊，其地理位置也不一定非在山上。當然，山莊也不可能是聞名於世的避暑山莊，其來歷和功用與避暑山莊更是迥異其趣。山莊在更大程度上是相對於老莊而言的。」正是在這一意義上，山莊拉遠了與老莊的距離，不再簡單到只是一座山裡的村莊，而是投射到歷代的記憶中，描畫出族人拓展繁衍的社會景觀。（下續）

Comment by OVEPI yesterday

山莊的文化隱喻—中國農村的近代化是痛苦的，這無不與鄉村對現代文明的盲目不自覺反抗有莫大的關係，這種痛苦雖然沒有像英國圈地運動那樣悲惨，但鄉村經濟結構與城市的錯位必然決定了其要與近代化發生磨擦，鄉村的近代化在痛苦的蛻變中一步步緩解過來。這一方面縮小了城鄉之間的文化審美趣味和社會經濟的訴求結構，加快了鄉村城鎮化進程，使鄉村以追慕城市為要。

在這種急進中，反復的拆建透射出對城市文化的無奈盲從，這使得鄉村簡單習得城市中的垃圾文化——照抄了表面；另一方面這種近代化又擴大了城鄉在經濟上的差距和鄉村自身在文化傳統上的裂痕。造成了城鄉之間認知心理及文化上的隔膜。在這兩種變化之下，人被緊緊裹進現代化的進程中，變得無所適從。

同時城市人和鄉下人變得更加貌合神離。與原有的鄉村模式背道而馳，通過不得不尋找土地以外的生存模式，表現出一部分鄉村人與城市的接近，而另一部分人與城市的抵觸、抵觸的多為老年人，而認同和追逐的多為年輕一代鄉村人。

鄉村農家樂中的高朋滿座、垂釣閒逸不是山莊中的情形，是山寨化的山莊，就像許多地方爭相投資幾十個億打造古城一樣，其缺失了文化的隱秘內核，剩下的只是商業的吊詭而已。山莊的隱在意義在於顯露出了現代知識分子避退現代性的匆忙慌亂與手足無措。山莊表明了從原來族譜中衍生出來的新勢力的擴張，表明了從川地到山地的拓荒精神。

「坐山莊並不意味著落魄或沒落，反而恰恰是一個鄉村家族興旺發達的標志，也就是說，當一個家族的土地廣闊到耕種時的路程一天之內難以返回時，家族的當家人自然就會考慮選擇一個恰當的地方，圍成一個院落，建起幾座房子，派一個放心的子侄帶一幫人去住一段時間耕種那片偏遠的土地。……於是，院落邊一個個衍生，久而久之，就會形成一個村落。這就是山莊了。」

很顯然，這些坐了山莊的人就會永遠變成山裡人。山莊成了遠離喧囂老莊的清幽之地，但山莊仍在拱衛著老莊。山莊的迷人之處不單在於具有田園的風光與情致，而是體現了游走者的精神路線圖。在《山莊記憶》中通過記憶的敘事展現了過去時態中山莊的歷史動態，在口傳的歷史中，山莊變得豐盈起來。那些淹沒並沉淀在歷史塵土中的人物和事件復活了出來，在敘述著山莊的歷史和命運。

近讀熊佩雲的《一個村莊裡的歷史》感觸頗多，一顆樹的歷史就是一部民族志，那一座山莊更何嘗不是一部社會史。在一個大歷史行將遠去的時代，我們痛切關注到過去曾經被忽視與刻意忽略的微小個體的歷史和命運，關注那些小人物和小事物。這種關注也並非以民俗學者的視角來看待，而是以更深的文化關懷來理解，在現代、後現代與傳統交混的時代中，行將消失的鄉土也跟隨長者的記憶轉瞬即逝。對於此我們不是要持守傳統的東西不放而是要反思現代性的某種盲目激進和偏頗，其要義在歷史的共生與維持歷史的厚度。

生活常常需要回味來調整自我的狀態，詩意的鄉土也是如此。鄉土不再有詩意，詩意早已在近代化的步伐聲中被傾軋得四散遁形，鄉土世界所刻意營造的鄉土詩意崩潰了。懷舊成了對逝去鄉土詩意的追思，而還鄉就是對鄉土詩意某種更深程度的復古。而山莊的文化隱喻在於提供了我們還鄉的可能性。鄉村在現代性的機器轟鳴中面目全非乃至於消失。山莊及記憶中的山莊承載了知識分子自傳統以來士大夫的「江湖」隱逸情操。土堡在誓死捍衛了這一最後的家園，土炕退縮到現代性逼仄的角落，卻成為一劑治療失眠的良藥。

王小波說過：一個人只擁有此生此世是不夠的，他還應該擁有詩意的世界。詩意與我們何其重要。德國浪漫主義詩人荷爾德林曾吟唱到：「人充滿勞績，但還詩意地棲居在大地上。」他的聲音為什麼會使後來的人如此的著迷？作為一個「還鄉者」在斷裂了的鄉土詩意中，在城鄉的對立中重新尋找精神的家園。還鄉必然是心靈中的對已失鄉土詩意的再度體認，並非記憶中的囈語，重建鄉土精神家園使游走在詩意棲居大地上的「還鄉者」得到靈魂的休憩。

誠如柏夫在其小說《鄉韻》中所感嘆道的，「任何一個有過鄉村到城市經歷的人，再經歷一番情感的迷離之後，懷著對傳統鄉村的懷念，也懷著對城市文明的終極理解，他們遲早要打開精神和情感的通道，在城鄉的對視中，最終抵達一種相生、相連、相通、相融的和諧境界。」山莊的敘事承受還鄉者還鄉的話語架構，這根源於一種樸素的、彌足珍貴的人文精神，一種發自肺腑的悲憫情懷，鄉土散發出了憂傷而迷人的魔魅之美。（《社會學家茶座》第47輯）

作者簡介: 李安樂，1980年生，甘肅靜寧人，中學美術教師。中國藝術人類學學會會員、中華美學學會會員。曾獲中央美術學院青年藝術批評獎，有文章發表在《社會學家茶座》、《中國社會科學論叢》及《美術報》等。

（李安樂：山莊：追尋鄉土社會的潛在記憶——閱讀《山莊記憶》，見：中國藝術人類學學會2013-09-23）

Comment by OVEPI on April 19, 2024 at 9:41am

藝術鄉建——焦點：各地藝術鄉建共同面臨的問題首先依然是在地和主體性問題。藝術鄉建有四個主要的推動力：當代藝術內部的觀念性轉向、政府政策導向、創意經濟崛起和逆城市化潮流。藝術鄉建開始變成背負過強道德性與倫理感的一種身份壓力。藝術從業者開始和鄉村一起進入生產-消費的交換流通體系裡，以求達到鄉建目標。把藝術鄉建放置在「建設」的知識經驗中，會弱化藝術鄉建在替代性、可能性、先鋒性上的特質。空間改造主打的藝術鄉建，應落腳於重構「傳統」、「遺產」相關的價值話語。「文藝鄉建」導向的仍然是一種基於空間交錯的休閒經濟。弱視角與微觀視角，是近年來采納人類學方法的藝術實踐的一個共性。如何處理與當地人的關係（社會關係、知識產權、情感聯系等）等倫理問題，人類學更應有所貢獻。「藝術鄉建」在觸動和改變有關鄉村的話語體系和城鄉文化關係上，已經成效顯著。但在新形態的主體性養成方面，仍然需要一個更長的時間坐標才能有所論斷。

體驗脈絡：藝術鄉建之所以與一般建設工程不同，恰恰在於其「藝術」的面向，這個藝術面向不只是呈現為「作品」，或簡化為「美化」、「裝飾」、「藝術節」，而是更具有生命感的、嵌入當地生活與社會關係脈絡中的體驗方式。

藝術效用空間：如果希望藝術鄉建作為中國農村社會發展與轉型的唯一出路，那麼不僅藝術鄉建難以勝任，任何一種單方面建設都難以勝任。藝術及藝術家有其擅長的方面，例如借由一種多感官、超語言、超文本的總體感知方式體悟世界，但這並不意味著它可以替代諸如政策、行政、基建等職能在鄉村建設方面的作用。從另一方面說，鑑於「藝術鄉建」多討論建設而非藝術，或許藝術鄉建的作用不是被誇大，而是真正能夠發揮「藝術」效用的部分還有相當大的空間值得探索。


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PGC

世界文化遺產

(李耕 馮莎 張暉：中國藝術人類學前沿話題三人談：藝術參與鄉村建設的人類學前沿觀察; 原文載於《民族藝術》2018年第3期，請以紙質版為准。)

Comment by OVEPI on March 21, 2024 at 7:22am

 A History of Pahang

CHAPTER II.THE PRE-MALACCAN PEOPLE.

In the seventh century A.D. a kingdom called by Chinese chroniclers San Fo-ts'i which has been identified by Dr. Coedes with the Malay Seri-Vijaya with a capital, at one period, situated in Palembang, became predominant in the Malay Archipelago and the Peninsula. This empire has been thought to be the contem- porary Zabug or Zabag of Arab geographers. In 1225 A.D. the Chinese writer Chau Ju-Kua, apparently describing conditions in the preceding century, records that Pong-fong (Pahang) was one of the dependencies of San Fo-ts'i. Another vassal state of San Fo-ts'i was Tan-ma-ling, to which place we shall return presently. The Tao i chik lio written by Wang Ta-Yuan in 1349 makes mention of P'eng K'eng (Pahang) and Pa-tu-ma (?Pulau Tioman) among other regions.

According to the Nagarakrtagama, composed in 1365, Pahang, Ujong Medini (Johore), Muar, Langkasuka, Kelantan, Trengganu, Paka and Dungun, Tumasik (Singapore), Sang Yang Ujong (Sungai Ujong), Kelang and Kedah were tributary states of Majapahit. To this list of the Javanese empire's dependencies the " Chronicles of Pasai " add various islands off the east coast of the Peninsula including Pulau Tioman, Pulau Tinggi, Pulau Pemanggil and Pulau Laut.

The History of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1643)1 presents a picture of Pahang in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries: " Pahang is situated at the west of Siam. In the year 1378 the king, Maharaja Tajau, sent envoys with a letter on a gold leaf, and bringing as tribute six foreign slaves, and products of the country. They were received according to the established rules. "

[Pg.16] In the year 1411 the king, Pa-la-mi-so-la-ta-lo-si-ni sent envoys carrying tribute. In 1412 Cheng Ho went as an envoy to their country, and in the year 1414 they sent tribute a gain.

"In the year 14.16 they sent tribute together with Kalikut and Java, and Cheng Ho was again ordered to go there.

" The soil of this country is fertile; the climate is always warm, and rice is abundant there; they make salt by boiling sea water, and wine by fermenting the sap of the coconut tree.

" The higher and lower classes are on a very intimate footing, and there are no thieves ; they are very superstitious regarding demons and spirits, making their images of fra- grant wood, and sacrificing men. to them, m order to avert calamities or to pray for happiness. "

Amongst the articles which they brought as tribute were elephant-teeth, camphor baros, olibanum, lignum aloes, sandal wood, pepper, sapan-wood, and such more .... "

（1）Book 325, quoted in " Notes on the Malay Archipelago " by W. P. Groeneveldt: Miscellaneous Papers relating to Indo-China, 2nd Series, Vol. I, London, 1887, p. 256. 1936) Royal Asiatic Society.

Comment by OVEPI on February 24, 2024 at 9:10pm

Tajau of the Chinese chronicler may be Tanjong, and the reference may be to the northern head-land of the estuary of the river Pahang which was known to sea-farers as TanJong Pahang, " Cape Pahang."

Pa-la-mi-so-la-ta-lo-si-ni was almost certainIy the Chinese rendering of Parameswara Telok1 Chini, " the prince of Chini Haven." Chini, which, in Siamese, means gibbon, gives its name to a mountain, a lake, a stream and a village situated about forty miles from the mouth of the river Pahang. There pre-Malaccan remains have been found. （3） In the same locality is Luit, with a village Singgora called after the capital of Patani, where, too, there are traces of pre-Malaccan habitation.3 Except on the banks of the river, Chini is still jungle-clad, and little investigation has yet been done. For the Malays, Lake Chini has associations with the past : in their eyes the lake and its adjoining mountain are sacred, and they credit the place with the possession of a white crocodile styled Seri Pahang: "the glory of Pahang." It is possible that the lake did not always exist in its present form and that it covers the site of an ancient town. Only when the jungle gives up its secrets will the truth be known.

[pg 17]  Assuming the correctness of these identifications, we then have, in 1378 A.D., a king at Tanjong Pahang known by the designation of Maharaja, and, in 14ll A.D., at Chini, a ruler with the style of Parameswara4, a title also used by the founder of Malacca. Did these two kingships exist contemporaneously or do both titles refer to the same undivided line of rulers with merely a change o[ residence, or is it to be supposed that between 1378 and 14ll the king at Tanjong Pahang was displaced by the Chini potentate? These are questions which cannot, at present, be answered.

We are told by d'Eredia that the kings of Pahang ruled only the coastal region. We know that the ruler of Pahang, at the date of its conquest by the Malacca Malays about 1454, bore the title of Maharaja. There is reason to believe that, at least as far as the people were concerned, apart from their rulers, the region of Kampong Melayu near Chini was at one time the boundary between the Malays and another race.1

2 Menangkabau: telok, a bay, or a bend in the river, commonly used in the expression telok rantau
"the bends and the reaches " of a river.

3 J. M. B. R. A. S., Vol. VI, Pt. IV, 1928, p. 79.

4 Journal, F.M.S. Museums, Vol. IX, Pt. 2, 1920, p. 152.

5 Dr. P. V. van Stein Callenfels points out that the term Parameswara seems to have been, in mediaeval times, in Majapahit and Bali the special title of the non-royal husband of a ruling princess, and that the word where it occurs in old inscriptions, designates the consort of a queen.

7 J. M. B. R. A. S., Vol. VI, Pt. IV, 1928, p. 81. 1 " Report on the Golden Chersonese," translation by J. V. Mills (J. M. B. R. A. S., Vol. VIII, P t. I, p. 233). 

Comment by OVEPI on February 23, 2024 at 2:55pm

The Hsing-ch'a Sheng-lan, written in 1486 by Fei Hsin, a Chinese Moslem and an Arabic scholar, gives the following interesting account of Pahang and its people :

" This country is situated at the west of Siam ; it is surrounded by rocky ridges of mountains, which, seen from a distance, have the appearance of a table-land. The ground is fertile, and they have abundance of rice. The weather is often very warm.

"Their customs cannot be much praised; they make human images of fragrant wood, and kill people in order to make a sacrifice of the blood, when they pray for luck or try to ward off evil.

" Men and women have their hair in a knot, and are clad with a single piece of cloth. Girls of rich families wear four or five golden circles on their foreheads, and the daughters of the common people use strings of coloured glass beads instead.

" They boil salt out of sea-water, and make wine by fermenting rice-gruel. " Products of the country are lignum-aloes, camphor, tin and a kind of wood used in dyeing. Articles of import are gold, silver, coloured silks, Java-cloth, copper and iron- ware, gongs, boards, etc."

[pg. 18] According to d' Eredia, Pahang was the second Malay kingdom in the Peninsula, in succession to Patani, and flourished before the founding of Malacca ; the ruler of Pahang in the latter part of the fourteenth century, a relative (by marriage) of Parameswara, first ruler of Malacca, was Lord of Ujong Tanah (the southerly part of the peninsula including Singapore).

d'Eredia 2 records that .: " Pan was the second seat of the Empire of the Malaios ; its site lies on the eastern coast of the Peninsula in three degrees of North latitude; the port is just as much frequented by merchants, because of the gold from its auriferous mines : it contains the best and largest gold-mines in the whole Peninsula : it was from here, one presumes, that there came the gold which formed the subject of the ancient trade with Alexandria .... "

The same chronicler writes : （8） " It is to be noted that the eastern coast of Ujontana was peopled and frequented before the other 01:  western coast : thus the histories relate that Malayos, was inhabited Pattane and Pam before the foundation of Malacca. "

Comment by OVEPI on February 22, 2024 at 4:41pm

At that time the ruler of Pam governed Syncapura : and the monarch who resided in Pathane, the metropolis of the Malayos, was tributary to the empire of Syam, for right clown to the present day the Malayos regard the latter as their master: while the head of the principal empire and administration was the Emperor of Attay .... "

He adds : ·' Permicuri,2 by birth a Jao of Palimban in Samatta or the Golden Chersonese allied himself in marriage with the lords and monarchs of Patane and Pam who belonged to the family of the Malaios .... " 3

[Pg 18]

This first Malaccan potentate chose Malacca as his headquarters about the end of the 14th century. cl'Eredia relates that:

" Permicuri selected this spot in the interests of his own safety, for he stood in fear of the ruler of Pam, over-lord of the countries of Ujontana, who was making warlike preparations to capture him, in consequence of the treachery which Permicuri had perpetrated in Sincapura, when he assassinated the ' Xabandar ' who was telated to the lord of Pam, despite the kindness which the ' Xabandar' had shown at his house in Syncapura, when Permicuri took refuge there in his flight from his father-in-law the Emperor of Java Major .... " 4

In the same chapter d'Ereclia calls Permicuri the " flrst king of the Malayos." According to d'Albuquerque's "Commen- taries," it was the ruler of Palani of whom Permicuri stood in fear, and the murdered chief's name was Tamagi.

d'Eredia (12) states that the religion of Islam was in introduced into Patani and Pahang before it was accepted by "Permicuri at Malacca in the year 1411." That statement is certainly true of Trengganu (which at that time appears to have formed a province of Patani), and is probably true of Pahang, though we have no other evidence to show that Islam was practised in the country before 1454.

Mahayana Buddhism, on which were superimposed Tantric orgies involving human sacrifice, had reached the Malay Peninsula about the 8th century. Its influence in Pahang, I though it waned with the introduction of Islam as the State religion about 1454, may be traced up to the beginning of the 17th century.

In the 12th century the kingdom of San Fo-ts'i began to decline, and by the 14th century, in the south, the east-Java state of Majapahit had become predominant, while, in the north, by 1292, the Siamese (Thai) kingdom, with its capital at Sukhodaya, had emerged.

8. d'Eredia's "Description of Malacca," translation by J.V. Mills, loc. cit., p. 3
9. An incorrect rendering of Parameswara.
10. aop. cit., p. 57.
11. op. cit., p. 16.
12. op. cit., p. 49.
13. JRAS (Journal Malayan Branch [Vol. XIV, Part II, History of Pahang. 9 ~

A vassal of San Fo-ts'i, according to Chau Ju-Kua, was Tan-ma-ling. Gerini (13) identified this country with Kuantan, a district of Pahang, on the ground that the north promontory of the Kuantan river was called Tanjong Tembiting, '' Cape Ternbeling.''

Comment by OVEPI on February 21, 2024 at 8:33am

Candrabhanu a king of Ligor who, according to the Jaiya inscription (which has now been discovered to have come from Ligor and not from Jaiya or Chaiya). styled himself Seri Dharma- raja and Lord of Tambralinga, the Ceylonese "Mahavamsa" tells us, led two hostile expeditions against Ceylon about the middle of the 13th century with Javaka (Malay) forces. (14)

By 1292, Ligor had become the extreme southern limit of the Thai kingdom of Sukhodaya (Sukhothai). Now Logor has been widely accepted as being the Tan-ma-ling of Chan Ju-Kua 15 and the Tambralinga of the Jaiya inscription. There are two localities in Pahang which are suggestive of the name given by the Chinese chronicler: the river Tembeling which, the discovery of numerous Neolithic and early iron-age implements there indicates, was at one time a thickly populated district, and Tanjung Tembeling the northern headland of Kuantan river. Was there a connection between these places and Logor?

The history of the Ming Dynasty states that the Pahang ruler who sent envoys to China in 1378 was called Maharaja, the same style as that  affected by the King of Logor. When the Malacca forces conquered Pahang about 1454, according to the Malay Annals, (16) they found there a “Siamese” prince with the title Maharaja Dewa Sura, king oi Logor (who bore the same title as that of the prince who ruled in Pahang about 1454), on the instruction of the king of Siam invaded Pahang.，following the route Tembeling.

It is not unlikely that this invasion state was in reassertion of a pre-Thai Suzerainty , that is to Ligor, the Tan-ma-ling of the Chinese and the Tambralinga of the Jaiya inscription, that we must look at least during one period, for the origin of the pre-Malaccan rulers of Pahang., and that it was the men of Ligor who give the name of their country Tan-Ma-ling to the river Tembeling, (18)，a highway of communication between Pahang and the north, and to Tanjung Tembeling at Kuantan, the only safe anchorage for their fleet on the coast during the season of the north-east monsoon (19), and the port of access to the rich tin mines of Sungai Lembing. To Ligor, a state powerful enough to invade Ceylon twice during 13^th cebtury , the conquest of Pahang must present no great difficulty.

Comment by OVEPI on February 20, 2024 at 10:28am

With the subjugation of ligor by Sukhothai about 1280 the suzerainty over Pahang fell to the Thai in the 14^th Century. In the same century Pahang suffered an invasion from Majapahit which thereafter claimed that State as one of its conquests. This raid may have had no lasting effect (20), thought it appeared that it resulted in inter-marriage between members of the ruling family of Majapahit and the princes of Pahang. The Thai over-lords of Ligor apparently did not interfere with the Ligor dynasty in Pahang but they, too, may have contracted marriage alliances with the Pahang royal family. The new empire had arisen in the nor contented itself with exciting tribute from Pahang and establishing settlements in the country.

The Pre-Malaccan people of Pahang lived by mining gold, tin, and iron and planning rice. They left many traces; irrigation works, mine workings, remains of brick building, specimens of Sawankalok pottery, and probably the pottery industry at Kuala Tembeling which has survived through years to the present days. The pre-Malaccan occupied the Tembeling, Thet can be traced as far as south as the Merchong. They extended into the Pahang and the Jelai;their tracks can be found along lake Chini up to the Headwaters of the Rombin; in the old Selinsing mines scoops of Palas wood used by them have been discovered. They left numerous relics in gold-working at Tresang and Sempore. They make their way to bebar, They established settlements at Jeram Kuai (Koi) and Jong Berlabon on the Tembeling, at Lubok Pelang, Lubok Paku, at Chini, at Langgar, at Pengkalan Durian in Ulu Bebar, at pura, and else where. Their occupation is commemorated by the nomenclature of places such as Chini, Parit Siam, Tambak Siam, Lubang Siam (or Lumbong Siam),, Parit Siam, Sungai Lego (Ligor) a tributary of the Tekam in the vicinity of Kota gelanggi. (21)

(Chapter 2, The Pre-Malaccan People, in A History of Pahang, W. Linehan, Silverfish Malaysia Classic Series 18, 2020, Pakka English Enterprise, pg. 15-22, Previously published as Volume XIV Part II, Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society in May 1936 )

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