This History of Champa and the Golden Arts
Although it is relatively unknown to most Westerners, the Kingdom of Champa existed for more years than the Roman Empire (27 BC - 1453) with which many similarities can be drawn. From the 2nd to the 19th century, Champa was a Hindu kingdom located in present day central and south Vietnam. During its halcyon days (7th-10th century), Champa stretched from Deo Ngang (also called Ngang Pass) to Cape Vung Tau (Cape St. Jacques) with 5 principalities named after historic regions of India: Indrapura (Dong Duong), Amaravati (Quang Nam), Vijaya (Cha Ban), Kauthara (Nha Trang), and Panduranga (Ninh Thuan).
The Champa people (Cham) are descended from Malayo-Polynesian settlers who reached the SE Asian mainland from Borneo during the Bronze Age. The Cham language is part of the Austronesian family and is written in Sanskrit. Recent research by archaeologists has shown that the Cham are linguistic and cultural descendants of the Sa Huỳnh culture (Vietnamese: Văn hóa Sa Huỳnh). The Sa Huỳnh culture flourished in Vietnam from 1000 BC to 200 AD.
The history of Champa can be found in various places to include Vietnamese history books, Chinese annals, and Champa steles written in Sanskrit and ancient Cham. From these writings, we know that early in its existence Champa was able to survive despite numerous defensive and offensive military encounters with the Chinese, the Javanese and the Khmer. During the 4th century, after successful campaigns against the Kingdom of Funan, Champa expanded southward into Funanese territory. The integration with Funan led to an infusion of Indian culture and religion into Cham society. Champa’s ultimate conflict was with a country to the north called Dai Viet (Vietnam) which gained its independence from China in 939. Through a series of endless conflicts Dai Viet finally conquered and destroyed Indrapura in 982, isolating and forcing the Kingdom of Champa south to Vijaya. This defeat left Champa much weakened and initiated a gradual cultural and religious decline that ended in the complete loss of Vijaya in 1471. Throughout this period of subjugation, the Champa culture continued to decline. In 1832, the Kingdom of Champa was completely subsumed when the Vietnamese emperor Minh Mang annexed the last remaining Cham territory of Panduranga. Today the Kingdom of Champa no longer exists.
The Champa people (Cham) are descended from Malayo-Polynesian settlers who reached the SE Asian mainland from Borneo during the Bronze Age. The Cham language is part of the Austronesian family and is written in Sanskrit. Recent research by archaeologists has shown that the Cham are linguistic and cultural descendants of the Sa Huỳnh culture (Vietnamese: Văn hóa Sa Huỳnh). The Sa Huỳnh culture flourished in Vietnam from 1000 BC to 200 AD.
The history of Champa can be found in various places to include Vietnamese history books, Chinese annals, and Champa steles written in Sanskrit and ancient Cham. From these writings, we know that early in its existence Champa was able to survive despite numerous defensive and offensive military encounters with the Chinese, the Javanese and the Khmer. During the 4th century, after successful campaigns against the Kingdom of Funan, Champa expanded southward into Funanese territory. The integration with Funan led to an infusion of Indian culture and religion into Cham society. Champa’s ultimate conflict was with a country to the north called Dai Viet (Vietnam) which gained its independence from China in 939. Through a series of endless conflicts Dai Viet finally conquered and destroyed Indrapura in 982, isolating and forcing the Kingdom of Champa south to Vijaya. This defeat left Champa much weakened and initiated a gradual cultural and religious decline that ended in the complete loss of Vijaya in 1471. Throughout this period of subjugation, the Champa culture continued to decline. In 1832, the Kingdom of Champa was completely subsumed when the Vietnamese emperor Minh Mang annexed the last remaining Cham territory of Panduranga. Today the Kingdom of Champa no longer exists.
The Art of Champa
Even more than its history, Champa art is understudied and has little exposure in the Western world. This is primarily due to the complete loss of the Champa Kingdom when it was conquered by the Vietnamese. Moreover, Vietnam went through many years of wars and political turmoil until it finally fell to the Northern Communist regime, which resulted in the destruction of many Cham temples and contributed to the lack of interest in the lost Kingdom of Champa. In the introduction to The Art of Champa, Jean Francois Hubert wrote “Evoking Champa means glorifying death, sanctifying remnants, magnifying clues, singing the praises of mourning, and reconstructing of history.” Champa only exists now in museums and glorified temple ruins across Hue in central Vietnam to Da Nang to Binh Thuan near Saigon. The remaining stone statues, steles and metal objects are few even in the museums of Vietnam, fewer still in museums of America, France, Belgium, Germany, and Singapore. However, in the past few years more Champa art objects of bronze, silver and gold have found their way into the public eye. A large number of these never seen before objects can be found at the Dr. Zelnik Southeast Asian Gold Museum in Budapest, Hungary. These objects are just now revealing an astonish look into the lost culture of a dead kingdom. Hubert wrote “What pleasure! What stimulation! What topics for study and reflection! Dr. Zelnik’s collection of Cham gold pieces presented notably in a first and now this second volume of a series destined to include several is an exceptional gathering of objects that pose more questions than they offer answers….Bring us to refer not the influence of Khmer art on Cham art but of Cham art on Khmer art, facts on which serious works must be done in the years to come.” (2008 Gold Treasures of the Cham Kingdoms, Vol. 2)
Ancient Champa Gold
At its apex, Champa gold flourished with exceptional quality, technique and vigorous originality. The majority of Champa gold jewelry was not made to adorn the human body but as tributary objects, offerings to the gods, for rituals and for the King. Therefore Champa art production was mobilizes to the highest technical skill, consisting of variety of techniques like intaglio engraving. It appears that very little casting was used in the crafting of Champa jewelry, much less than in jewelry from Java or India. From the Western perspective, the jewelry of a goldsmith is usually not classified as art but rather as a handicraft. In the case of Champa gold jewelry, the craftsmanship is considered the highest of art forms producing decorations for the king and the gods.
After the integration of Funanese territory at the end of the 4th century, Indian influence was soon established that would have far reaching implications for Cham culture, religion and art. The imagery of art was shaped by Indian mythology of the Hindu gods from the 4th century and Bodhisattva from the 9th century, which was also found in the temple of Dong Duong. Even with these strong influences, Cham art remained distinct and identifiable. For example, the Cham depiction of Shiva exhibits stylistically incorporated Cham features of a wide nose, thick lips sometime with a hint of smile (all of which can be seen in the picture of Balarama holding his rice reaper on the left). Cham art does not follow the iconography prescriptions of Indian art and is amazingly original in style, with flamboyant detail reflecting Cham culture. It is unique, independently magnificent, and reached its peak during the classical period of the 9th - 12th century. This was the apex of The Kingdom of Champa, which flourished with artistic originality in religious art to include the building of temples, carving stone statues and manufacturing of gold, silver and bronze objects. During this time, Cham gold religious objects flourished with exceptional quality, technique and vigorous originality.
After the integration of Funanese territory at the end of the 4th century, Indian influence was soon established that would have far reaching implications for Cham culture, religion and art. The imagery of art was shaped by Indian mythology of the Hindu gods from the 4th century and Bodhisattva from the 9th century, which was also found in the temple of Dong Duong. Even with these strong influences, Cham art remained distinct and identifiable. For example, the Cham depiction of Shiva exhibits stylistically incorporated Cham features of a wide nose, thick lips sometime with a hint of smile (all of which can be seen in the picture of Balarama holding his rice reaper on the left). Cham art does not follow the iconography prescriptions of Indian art and is amazingly original in style, with flamboyant detail reflecting Cham culture. It is unique, independently magnificent, and reached its peak during the classical period of the 9th - 12th century. This was the apex of The Kingdom of Champa, which flourished with artistic originality in religious art to include the building of temples, carving stone statues and manufacturing of gold, silver and bronze objects. During this time, Cham gold religious objects flourished with exceptional quality, technique and vigorous originality.
Dating Champa Gold Jewelry (New)
The iconography of the jewelry in this collection bears significant similarities to the iconography of the temples and sandstone sculptures found in the same regions. Therefore, it is no great stretch of imagination to apply the same classification schema to Champa gold jewelry that researchers have used for years to identify and date structures and sculptures. Indeed, in writing the descriptions of each of the items in this website I have applied these very same techniques.
The artistic styles of Cham art are classified according to the sites or locations of the Champa remnants recorded by Henri Parmentier in 1912-1918, Philippe Stern in his remarkable book, The Art of Champa (former Annam) and its Evolution published 1942, Jean Boisselier in Statuary of Champa (1963) and most recently by Jean F Hubert in The Art of Champa (2005). The fact that many temples at the same location had been constructed throughout the history of Champa makes this type of classification extremely complex. Regardless, this classification it is still widely used and can be simplified according to the requirement as outlined below:
There are two sub-styles in Champa art both of which represent transitional periods between two of the above major periods. The first called Khuong My style shares much of its iconography with the Dong Duong style. Khuong My style occurred in the transitional period between Dong Duong and Tra Kieu. The second transitional style incorporates Chien Dan and Chanh Lo, both of which have some similar iconography to the Tra Kieu style. However, there are significant deviations in the two styles. More pronounced in the Chanh Lo style is a simplification of jewelry, new style of hair and clothes, lack of smile and the return of strong facial features. These two styles represent the transitional period between Tra Kieu and Thap Mam.
The artistic styles of Cham art are classified according to the sites or locations of the Champa remnants recorded by Henri Parmentier in 1912-1918, Philippe Stern in his remarkable book, The Art of Champa (former Annam) and its Evolution published 1942, Jean Boisselier in Statuary of Champa (1963) and most recently by Jean F Hubert in The Art of Champa (2005). The fact that many temples at the same location had been constructed throughout the history of Champa makes this type of classification extremely complex. Regardless, this classification it is still widely used and can be simplified according to the requirement as outlined below:
- My Son E1 style from 7th-8th century
- Dong Duong style from 9th-the first half 10th century
- Khuong My style is from the first half of the 10th century
- Tra Kieu style (also called My Son A1) from the second half 10th to the first half 11th century
- Chien Dan and Chanh Lo style is from the end of the 10th to the first half of the 11th century
- Thap Mam (also called Binh Dinh) style from the second half 11th to the 14th century
- Yang Mam style from 14th-15th century
There are two sub-styles in Champa art both of which represent transitional periods between two of the above major periods. The first called Khuong My style shares much of its iconography with the Dong Duong style. Khuong My style occurred in the transitional period between Dong Duong and Tra Kieu. The second transitional style incorporates Chien Dan and Chanh Lo, both of which have some similar iconography to the Tra Kieu style. However, there are significant deviations in the two styles. More pronounced in the Chanh Lo style is a simplification of jewelry, new style of hair and clothes, lack of smile and the return of strong facial features. These two styles represent the transitional period between Tra Kieu and Thap Mam.