Tour guide: If you charter a car, the driver is generally experienced and can serve as a tour guide, telling you the characteristics and history of each temple, and can also take you to some unique photo spots. ○ If you hire a professional Chinese tour guide, it will cost 20-25 US dollars a day, and you can negotiate. However, the tour guide's itinerary and time are strictly arranged (07:30-12:00 in the morning, 14:30-18:30 in the afternoon).

Books: There are many guidebooks about Angkor. Lonelypla is very helpful for planning itineraries. The Chinese book is "Cambodia in May" written by Carmen, but it was published a few years ago, and many things have changed. You can buy very cheap pirated or second-hand lonelypla in the market in Angkor, and there are many exquisite books, about 4-6 US dollars per book.

You will encounter many children begging in Angkor. Before you leave, you can prepare some stationery, snacks (such as candy) or bring unused disposable toiletries from star-rated hotels to them.

When entering temples and other places, you are not allowed to wear slippers, shorts, skirts, sleeveless tops, etc. Shoes should be light, well-fitting, and suitable for walking. Newly bought shoes or high heels should not be worn.

Angkor Thom, also known as Great Angkor, was the longest-lasting capital of the Khmer Empire from the 9th to the 15th century. The Angkor Thom covers an area of ​​9 square kilometers, including a series of ancient capital ruins built by various dynasties: the Sky Palace rebuilt by Suryavarman I and the Papang Temple built by Udayadityavarmanii.

The Bayon Temple, the Elephant Terrace and the Terrace of the King were built by Jayavarman VII. During the hundreds of years from the 9th to the 15th century, the Angkor Dynasty built Angkor City, Angkor Wat and the surrounding temple complexes under the "God-King Thought" of the integration of politics and religion.

In the early 9th century AD, Khmer King Jayavarman II unified Cambodia, declared independence from Java, and established his capital at Hariharalaya to the north of Tonle Sap Lake, which is now the Roluos area.

Jayavarman II proclaimed himself "King of the Universe". He was a devout believer in Brahmanism and worshipped Lord Shiva, laying the foundation for religious consciousness for the Angkor Dynasty. The "God King Thought" of Jayavarman II, which combined politics and religion, continued for a hundred years in the Angkor Dynasty. After the ascension of the Angkor Dynasty, the first local temple, Preahko, was built in Hariharalaya. The Bayon Temple in the Angkor Archaeological City was completed in 880. It was an early small ancestral temple building, named after the sacred bull lying in front of the temple. Indravarman I also built the national temple Bani and began to build the capital Yasodharapura (Yasodharapura), which is now the Angkor area. He ordered the construction of the East Baray artificial lake and the national temple Bakheng on Phnom Bakheng, symbolizing Mount Sumeru, the center of the Indian mythological world.

There are canals around it, symbolizing the salty sea around Mount Sumeru. In addition, Yasovarman I also built many Hindu temples and monasteries. In 967, Yajnyavahara, a courtier of Rajendravarman II (Anii), built Banteaysrei in the northeast of Angkor. It is mainly dedicated to the Brahmanic Lord Shiva.

The intricate reliefs carved from rare red sandstone are considered to be the highest level of Angkor sculpture art.

Over the course of a hundred years, temples of all sizes were built one after another. In the middle of the 11th century, Udayadityavarman II built the Baphuon Temple, a national temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, which was also a large Mount Sumeru temple. Udayadityavarman II also dug the Western Great Artificial Lake (W) on the west side, which was built by Suryavarmanii between 1113 and 1150.

Breaking the traditional design, Angkor Wat is a Mount Sumeru temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu and was also the national temple at that time. It consists of five towers and three-story corridors. There is a water-filled trench outside as the Salt Sea, and the wall reliefs are mythological stories and the personal royal life of Suryavarman II.

The building covers a vast area. It is magnificent and has vivid and natural wall carvings. It is a representative work of Khmer classical art and the largest religious building in the world.

After the death of Suryavarman II, the Angkor Kingdom fell into civil strife, and then the foreign enemy Champa invaded. They looted and destroyed the capital Yasodharapura. Jayavarman VII, who was still a prince at the time, expelled the Champa people and ascended the throne in 1181. During his more than 30 years in office, the empire reached its peak. <). In view of the painful experience of the previous invasion by Champa, Jayavarman VII built the walls of Angkor City very high and thick. A moat was built outside the city. The Bayon Temple in the center of the city is most famous for the 54 four-faced Buddha statues carved based on the face of Jayavarman VII.

This is also the origin of the "Smiling Khmer". The reliefs on the walls of the temple not only show the magnificent scenes of Jayavarman VII's battle with Champa, but also depict the life scenes of ordinary people.

Because Jayavarman VII was a devout Buddhist, the faith in the Angkor area began to change from Hinduism to Buddhism, and the unique style of the coexistence of Hinduism and Buddhism can also be seen in the Bayon Temple. In addition, Jayavarman VII also built a large number of temples such as Taprohm, Tasom, etc., and also built many hospitals and hostels.

Zhou Daguan, a Chinese from the Yuan Dynasty, went to Chenla (Angkor) in 1295. After returning to the country, he wrote a travelogue called "Records of Chenla Customs". During the reign of Emperor Chengzong of the Yuan Dynasty, the book recorded the city and life of Angkor at that time, such as the city walls, religion, justice, bureaucracy, agriculture, slaves, animals and plants, bathing, clothing, utensils, business, trade, daily necessities, etc.

Although the Angkor Dynasty was gradually declining, Zhou Daguan still recorded a passage describing the king's luxurious style: "Whenever he went out, the army and horses would rush in front of him, and flags, drums and music would follow behind him. There were three to five hundred palace maids, wearing flowery buns and holding huge candles in their hands, forming a team of their own, which could illuminate even in the daytime. There were also palace maids, all holding gold and silver utensils and decorative items from the palace, of a completely different system, and it was unknown what they were used for.

There were also palace maids holding spears and shields as internal soldiers, forming another team. There were also sheep carts and horse carts, all decorated with gold. The ministers and relatives of the king all rode elephants in front. There were countless red umbrellas in the distance. Next were the wives and concubines of the king, who rode in sedan chairs, carts, horses, and elephants, and their gold-plated umbrellas were more than a hundred.

Behind him is the king, who stands on an elephant, holding a scepter in his hand. The elephant's tusks are also covered with gold. There are more than twenty gold-plated white umbrellas, all with gold handles. There are many elephants surrounding him, and there are soldiers and horses to protect him. If he visits nearby places, he only uses a golden sedan chair, which is carried by palace maids. When he goes out or enters, he must greet the small golden pagoda with a golden Buddha in front of it. All spectators must kneel on the ground and pay homage, which is called the three stops.

From the middle of the 13th century, the Angkor Dynasty gradually declined, and in 1431 Siam occupied the Angkor area and destroyed many buildings and irrigation facilities. The royal family was forced to move out of Angkor, and the entire area was almost completely deserted, except for Angkor Wat, which was used as a Buddhist holy place.

Archaeologists have proposed several reasons for the decline of Angkor: Most scholars believe that the most direct reason for the decline of Angkor was the continuous war with Siam. In the 13th century, Siam gradually invaded the Angkor area. After Siam occupied Angkor in 1431, it destroyed the city construction.

After the irrigation system was destroyed, the fields on which they depended for their livelihood could no longer be cultivated, so the Angkor royal family moved the capital to Phnom Penh. Some of the Angkor people moved to the capital of Siam, while others moved to Phnom Penh with the royal family. After being abandoned, Angkor gradually withered.

Some scholars believe that after the Angkor people's faith changed from Hinduism to Theravada Buddhism, Buddhist teachings denied the personal worship of the royal family, which destroyed the original respect of the grassroots people for the "God-King" and gradually loosened the royal power's control over the people.

Years of war with Siam made the royal family increasingly neglect the construction of public works. Once the irrigation system of rice fields in the Angkor area was not properly maintained, the food production would not be enough to cope with the huge population, and the economic scale would also decrease, leading to population migration. <) pointed out in 2007 that the irrigation system made Angkor City at that time, but it may also be due to the misplacement of some irrigation channels in the huge system, leading to over-exploitation of water resources and causing water depletion.

There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!

Antonio da Magdalena, a Franciscan friar, and Father Charles-Emile Bouyfu, a French missionary stationed in Battambang in 1857, both reported on the situation at Angkor, but it attracted little attention. In January 1860, French scholar Henri Mouhot discovered the ruins of Angkor in the forest and published a record of his trip, which started to interest people in Angkor.

In 1863, the French colonial regime was established, and scholars came to excavate the Angkor ruins in the jungle. In 1866, the French colonial government began a systematic study, and 19 years later, a chronology of the Angkor royal family was compiled.

After World War II, the Kingdom of Cambodia became independent. Although it continued to maintain Angkor, in the second half of the 20th century, Cambodia experienced political and military turmoil, including the Vietnam War, the Khmer Rouge, and civil unrest, which led to the destruction and theft of the Angkor temple complex.

In 1992, UNESCO announced that the Angkor Archaeological Park was listed as a World Cultural Heritage Site. An international restoration team entered the Angkor Archaeological Park and is still repairing it. (To be continued...)