Editing Angkor (section)

=== Zhou Daguan ===
The year 1296 marked the arrival at Angkor of the Chinese diplomat [[Zhou Daguan]] representing the [[Yuan dynasty]]. Zhou's one-year sojourn in the Khmer capital during the reign of King [[Indravarman III]] is historically significant, because he penned a still-surviving account, ''[[The Customs of Cambodia]]'', of approximately forty pages detailing his observations of Khmer society. Some of the topics he addressed in the account were those of religion, justice, kingship, societal norms, agriculture, slavery, birds, vegetables, bathing, clothing, tools, draft animals, and commerce.{{sfn|Higham|2001|p=134 ff}}{{sfn|Chandler|1992|p=70 ff}}

In one passage, he described a royal procession consisting of soldiers, numerous servant women and concubines, ministers and princes, and finally, "the sovereign, standing on an elephant, holding his sacred sword in his hand." Together with the inscriptions that have been found on Angkorian [[stela]]e, temples and other monuments, and with the [[bas-reliefs]] at the [[Bayon]] and [[Angkor Wat]], Zhou's journal is the most important source of information about everyday life at Angkor. Filled with vivid anecdotes and sometimes incredulous observations of a civilization that struck Zhou as colorful and exotic, it is an entertaining travel memoir as well.{{sfn|Higham|2001|p=134 ff}}{{sfn|Chandler|1992|p=71 ff}}
<gallery class="center" caption="Bas-reliefs of Angkor" widths="170px" heights="170px" perrow="5">
File:Bas-reliefs du Bayon (Angkor) (6912571567).jpg|
File:Bayon Angkor Relief1.jpg|
Angkor Wat bas-reliefs (9727534793).jpg|
File:Bas-reliefs du Bayon (Angkor) (6912582597).jpg|
File:Angkor Wat - 055 Frieze (8581698432).jpg|
</gallery>