Date Log
THE ORIGINS OF CHAMPA: WAS THERE A KINGDOM OF XI-TU (西屠國) IN THE THU BỒN VALLEY ?
Corresponding Author(s) : Vo Van Thang
UED Journal of Social Sciences, Humanities and Education,
Vol. 11 No. 2 (2021): UED Journal of Social Sciences, Humanities and Education
Abstract
There is a theory that explains the origins of Campā (Champa) by rendering a paradigm in which a kingdom referred to as Xi-Tu emerged in the Thu Bồn valley (a part of Quảng Nam Province today in central Việt Nam) around the 3rd century CE, and then absorbed the Lin-Yi kingdom by the end of the 6th century, resulting in what today is known as Champa. In contrast to this assumption, this paper uses both historical and archeological evidence to show that there was, in fact, no such a kingdom in the Thu Bồn valley in the 6th century. Instead, the evidence shows that from the beginning of the 4th century Lin-Yi conquered many small neighbouring kingdoms, including Xi-Tu (if it in fact existed). Champa, or Campā, was the Sanskrit name used by the ruling class of the Kingdom of Lin-Yi to refer to their territory (Lin-Yi is the name derived from Chinese historical documents).
The discussions concerning the existence of Xi-Tu aim to clarify the nature of the birth of the polity with Indic influences located on the coast of Indochina,known as Champa. Determining the cradle of Champa, once known to be in the territory of Lin- Yi, could lead to a better understanding of the growth of this kingdom, with its unique historical and geographical background. With this in mind, the author would like to share his views on the issue, currently regarded as "a critical point in the historiography of Champa" (Taylor, 2021, 581).
Keywords
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)BibTeX
- Aurousseau, L. (1914). Georges Maspero: Le Royaume de Champa. Bulletin de l’École française d’Extrême-Orient, 14(1), 8-43.
- Coedès, G. (1939). La plus Ancient Inscription en langue Cham. In A Volume of Eastern and Indian Studies Presented to Professor F.W. Thomas on his 72nd Birthday, 21, March 1939 (pp. 46-49). Karnatak Publishing House.
- Dao, D. A. (2005). The history of ancient Vietnam (Lịch sử cổ đại Việt Nam). Culture and Information Publisher.
- Finot, L. (1903). Notes d’épigraphie. Bulletin de l’École française d’Extrême-Orient, 3, 206-213. https://doi.org/10.3406/befeo.1915.5229
- Finot, L. (1904). Notes d’épigraphie: XI. Les inscriptions de Mi-Sơn. Bulletin de l’École française d’Extrême-Orient, 4(1), 897-977. https://doi.org/10.3406/befeo.1904.1405
- Griffiths, A. (2014). Early Indic Inscriptions of Southeast Asia. In Guy, John, Lost Kingdoms, Hindu - Buddhist Sculpture of Early Southeast Asia (pp 53-57). The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Huber, E. (1911). Études indochinoises. Bulletin de l’École Française d’Extrême-Orient, 11, 259–311.
- Ian, G., & Nguyen, K. D. (2011). Excavations at Gò Cấm, Quảng Nam, 2000–3: Linyi and the Emergence of the Cham Kingdoms. In Trần Kỳ Phương & Bruce M. Lockhart (eds), The Cham of Vietnam, History, Society and Art (pp. 54-80). NUS Press.
- Maspero, H. (1918). Etudes d’histoire d’Annam. Bulletin de l’École française d’Extrême-Orient, 18, 1-36. https://doi.org/10.3406/befeo.1918.5888
- Schweyer, A. V. (2010). The Birth of Champa. Connecting Empires and States:Selected Papers from the 13th International Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists, 102-117.
- Southworth, W. A. (2001). The Origins of Campā in Central Vietnam: A Preliminary Review [Ph.D, thesis, Archaeology]. SOAS, University of London.
- Southworth, W. A. (2004). The Coastal States of Champa. In Ian Glover & Peter Bellwood (eds), Southeast Asia - From Prehistory to History (pp. 209-233). Routledge- Curzon.
- Stein, R. A. (1947). Le Lin-Yi, sa localisation, sa contribution à la formation du Champa et ses liens avec la Chine. In Han-Hiue. Catholic University Press.
- Taylor, K. W. (1983). The Birth of Vietnam. University of California Press.
- Taylor, K. W. (2021). Review of Champa: Territories and Networks of a Southeast Asian Kingdom, Arlo Griffiths, Andrew Hardy & Geoff Wade (eds) Paris: EFEO, 2019. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 52(3), September 2021, 580–584. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022463421000710
- Vickery, M. (2011). Champa Revised. In Trần Kỳ Phương & Bruce M. Lockhart (eds),, The Cham of Vietnam, History, Society and Art (pp. 363-420). NUS Press.
- Yamagata, M. (2007). The Early History of Lin-i Viewed from Archealogy. Acta Asiatica, 92, 1-30.
- Yamagata, M., & Nguyen, K. D. (2010). Ancient Roof titles found in Central Vietnam. In B. Bérénice, 50 Years of Archaeology in Southeast Asia, Essays in Honour of Ian Glover, (pp. 195-206). River Books.
- Zakharov, A. (2019). Was the Early History of Campā Really Revised? A Reassessement of the Classical Narratives of Linyi and the 6th-8th-Century Campā Kingdom. In Arlo Griffiths, Andrew Hardy & Geoff Wade (eds), Champa: Territories and Networks of a Southeast Asian Kingdom (pp. 147-157). EFEO.