SOUTHEAST ASIAN CIVILIZATIONS

SOUTHEAST ASIAN
CIVILIZATIONS
CONTENT
I. GEOGRAPHY
II. HISTORY
III. RELIGIONS
IV. ART AND ARCHITECTURE
I. GEOGRAPHY

SOUTHEAST ASIA:
a sub-region of Asia
south of China, east of India, north of Australia
consisting of two geographic regions:
*Mainland Southeast Asia
*Maritime Southeast Asia
II. HISTORY
1. The prehistoric period
2. The Rise of Southeast Asian Kingdoms: 4th–9th century
3. Vietnam
1. The prehistoric period

Little known about the early indigenous cultures of Southeast Asia
some Bronze and Iron Age sites:
*Ban Chiang in Thailand (4th century B.C.–A.D. 3rd century)
*Dong-son in Vietnam (7th century B.C.–A.D 2nd century)
 well organized prehistoric cultures
2. The Rise of Southeast Asian Kingdoms: 4th–9th century
Commercial center flourished in the region.
Indian merchants settled in these centers and intermarried with local nobility, forming states ruled in Indian model.
By the sixth century A.D., kingdoms and principalities had formed in:
# the southern part of mainland Southeast Asia,
#on the Thai peninsula
#and on Java and Sumatra.
Southern Cambodia and Vietnam: Hindu rulers of:
the Funan kingdom (4th – 6th century)
the Zhenla kingdom (6th – 8th century)
From 770 to 855, in Central Java
a kingdom - the most powerful Southeast Asian ones of its time.
classical style of Indonesian art flourishing
a large number of temples, both Buddhist and Hindu built.
4th - 9th century, parts of Thailand and Myanmar:
controlled by the Mon peoples - who were Theravada Buddhists.
Other small kingdoms in the region also strongly influenced by India.
VIETNAM
over 4000 years ago
in the northern and north-central regions of the country
coincided with:
the establishment and development of the Bronze-early Iron Age in Vietnam
the emergence of the Dong Son culture
2000 years prior to the Chinese invasion and colonization of Vietnam in 111 BC: a loose confederation of tribes, called Van Lang was established.
the 1000 years of Chinese rule over Vietnam, with its policy of assimilating Vietnam politically, socially and culturally into the Chinese empire, long blurred the origins and cultural developments of the Vietnamese people and nation.