7:00–9:00 pm
University of Chicago Center in Beijing
20th Floor, Culture Plaza
59A Zhong Guan Cun Street
Haidian District, Beijing
23
Professor Alan Kolata, Bernard E. and Ellen C. Sunny Distinguished Service Professor of the University of Chicago Department of Anthropology visited the Center in Beijing between April 20 and 26. He has taught at the University of Chicago since 1987, and he has written numerous books and articles that have defined the field of archeology and historical anthropology, working both in the Andes and in Southeast Asia. On April 23 he delivered a lecture on the Angkor Kingdom (c. 9th-13th C.) of Cambodia entitled “Kingship and Compassion: The Paradox of Jayavarman VII.” The talk explored questions of pre-modern Asian kingship, arguing that the most famous of Khmer kings, Jayavarman VII, was simultaneously a caretaker of the people and a cruel exploiter of their labor. An audience of more than fifty attended, many of them with ties to Cambodia development work, and some found opportunities to share networking information with Professor Kolata. During his stay in China, Prof. Kolata will also meet with a group of Southeast Asianists in Beijing and visit archeological research sites in Xi’an, Anyang, and Wuhan, where he will meet Chinese colleagues.
More about the talk
After destroying multiple political rivals from neighboring kingdoms in Thailand and Vietnam, the Southeast Asian monarch known as Jayavarman VII (1125 to1218 CE) reigned over the largest geographical expanse ever attained by the Angkorean Empire. Jayavarman VII's instruments of rule simultaneously deployed extreme violence and profound compassion, brutal warfare and vigorous economic development. This talk will explore the paradoxes of Jayavarman VII's religious "infrastructure of compassion" that, for a time, held the empire of Angkor together, but ultimately fell into desuetude under the burden of its own ideology and the extreme piety of its patron. The life history of Jayavarman VII offers insight into the nature of rule and the role of religion in the construction and eventual disintegration of empire.
在消灭比邻的泰国、越南诸多政治对手后，阇耶跋摩七世（1125-1218）统治了吴哥王朝历史上最大片的领土。阇耶跋摩七世的统治工具压制了极端的暴力，同时培植了深刻的社会共情；避免了残酷的战争，同时促进了经济的繁荣。本讲座探讨阇耶跋摩七世的宗教“慈悲设施”是如何一度把吴哥王朝紧密团结在一起，又是如何恰因这样的意识形态和信众的极度虔诚而最终使得王朝走向末路。阇耶跋摩七世的生平给后世的人们带来很好的视角，检视统治的本质和宗教的作用对王朝兴衰的影响。
About the Speaker
Alan L. Kolata received his Ph.D. in Anthropology from Harvard University. He is currently the Bernard E. and Ellen C. Sunny Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Chicago.
Professor Kolata has conducted interdisciplinary research projects studying urbanism and the interactions of humans with the physical environment, including the long-term effects of climate change on complex societies. He has organized archaeological and ecological research in Bolivia, Peru, Thailand and Cambodia. He and his collaborators currently focus on the physical, biological, and social impacts of ongoing hydroelectric power development and environmental change in the Mekong River Basin.
Alan L. Kolata于哈佛大学获得人类学博士学位。他目前担任芝加哥大学人类学系Bernard E. and Ellen C. Sunny杰出服务讲席教授。
Kolata教授长期从事城市生活以及人与环境互动的跨学科研究，包括气候变化对复杂社会的长期影响。他在玻利维亚、秘鲁、泰国和柬埔寨都组织、进行过诸多考古和生态方面的研究。他和他的研究伙伴们目前高度关注水电设施开发和环境变化将对湄公河盆地地区所带来的物理、生物、社会等方面的影响。