timeline - Wing Luke Museum

presents
On display in the Special Exhibition Gallery
December 11, 2015 – November 13, 2016
KHMER AND KHMER AMERICAN TIMELINE
KHMER AND
KHMER AMERICAN
TIMELINE
1st–6th
CENTURIES AD
Funan Empire, the earliest recorded state along the Mekong Delta.
Documented trade with Rome, China, and India. From the 6th to 8th
centuries, the Chenla Kingdom dominates.
550–
650 AD
Incursions from Java along the coast push Khmer people inland.
Several Khmer states emerge around the Tonle Sap Lake in NW
Cambodia. Khmer influence extends into present day Laos.
802–
850 AD
Jayavarman II consolidates Khmer rule and begins to build an empire.
9th–13th
Golden Age of Khmer Empire. The great temple complex Ankgor Wat is
constructed in the 12th Century.
CENTURIES AD
15th–18th
CENTURIES AD
Angkor is abandoned in 1432. As the Khmer Empire collapses, it is
squeezed between Siam (Thailand) and Vietnam. The royal capital
moves from Longvek (1561-1618) to Udong (1618-1779) and finally to
Phnom Penh in 1861.
1863
King Norodom signs a treaty establishing a French protectorate
over Cambodia.
1884
The French impose a treaty limiting the king’s power, abolishing slavery
and establishing a colonial bureaucracy. The following year, armed
revolt breaks out in the countryside, targeting Norodom’s Frenchbacked government. The revolt is suppressed in 1886, and the French
retain control of Cambodia until WWII.
1896–
1907
French return Angkor, Battambang, Siem Reap, and Banteay Meanchey
Provinces from Siam to Cambodia.
1915
Khmer monk Botumthera Som publishes “Tum Teav,” a tragic love story
based on a popular legend.
1941
The French Governor General appoints Prince Sihanouk to the throne.
1941–
1945
Japan occupies Cambodia during WWII. France regains control when
the war is over.
1944
Thailand occupies the provinces of Battambang and Siem Reap. In
1947, France helps King Sihanouk regain control of Siem Reap.
1950
United States establishes diplomatic relations.
1952
France formally gives the area including Prey Nokor (now Ho Chi Minh
City) to Vietnam. The Khmer bitterly resent this loss of land they claim
as their own.
1953
Following a long campaign by King Sihanouk, Cambodia gains its
independence from France.
1955
King Sihanouk abdicates the throne to his father, founds the Popular
Socialist Community Party, and becomes prime minister. Sihanouk
eventually names himself Chief of State and Head of Government. He
was and still is known as the “father of the nation,” ruling in a highly
authoritarian centralized government until 1970.
1960s–
mid ’70s
Golden Age of Cambodian music includes the well known stars Sinn
Sisamouth and Ros Serey Sothea. This golden period ends with the rise
of the Khmer Rouge.
1965
U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act abolishes national origin quotas
and opens up immigration from Asian countries.
Cambodia severs diplomatic relations with the United States, whom
they held responsible for air attacks by South Vietnam. Relations are
restored in 1969.
1969
The U.S. begins a secret bombing campaign, targeting North
Vietnamese forces on Cambodian soil.
1970
While on a trip to the U.S.S.R., Sihanouk is overthrown by General Lon
Nol, a pro-U.S. military leader. Lon Nol proclaims the Khmer Republic
and abolishes the monarchy. Sihanouk lives in exile in Beijing and allies
himself with the Khmer Rouge, who also oppose Lon Nol and the U.S.
1973
The U.S. launches massive bombing, destroying infrastructure and
killing up to 150,000 people. This action increases support for the
Khmer Rouge.
1975
APRIL 17
The Khmer Rouge conquer Phnom Penh, overthrow Lon Nol, and
establish Democratic Kampuchea under the leadership of Pol Pot.
Over the next four years between one and three million people die
from torture, execution, overwork or starvation. Longstanding antipathy
for the Vietnamese re-emerges, and in 1977 the Khmer Rouge launch
attacks along the border with Vietnam.
APRIL 30
The U.S.-Vietnam war ends with the Fall of Saigon and the evacuation
of the American Embassy. Later that year the U.S. closes its embassy in
Cambodia as well.
1978
The Vietnamese invade Cambodia and capture Phnom Penh in 1979.
Pol Pot flees to the jungles along the Thai border. From there a guerrilla
war continues.
1979
Vietnamese install the People’s Revolution Council, led by Hun Sen,
that continues to be the dominant political force in Cambodia
today. Prime Minister Hun Sen is often referred to as the “Strongman
of Cambodia.”
1980
United States Refugee Act, signed into law by President Carter,
“provide[s] a permanent and systematic procedure for the admission of
… refugees of special humanitarian concern.”
1979–
1992
Opposition groups, dominated by the Khmer Rouge and united and
headed by the exiled Sihanouk, oppose the Vietnamese puppet
government. In 1981 the pro-Vietnamese Kampuchean People’s
Revolutionary Party wins parliamentary elections, but the international
community refuses to recognize the new government. Sihanouk’s
government-in-exile holds Cambodia’s U.N. seat.
1984
Haing S. Ngor receives an Academy Award for his portrayal of
Cambodian photo journalist Dith Pran in the movie “The Killing Fields.”
Ngor is the first Asian male actor to win an Oscar.
1985
Hun Sen becomes prime minister. Guerilla warfare continues. By 1987
more than 250,000 Cambodian refugees are living in Thai border camps.
1989
The Cambodian People’s Party establishes the State of Cambodia.
Vietnam withdraws from the country, leaving four competing groups
seeking control.
1990
The United States raises the number of refugees allowed into the
United States, with an emphasis on family reunification and certain new
employment-related criteria.
1991
A peace agreement is signed in Paris, establishing transitional
U.N. authority.
1993
A three-party coalition government is formed, and the monarchy is
restored, with Sihanouk as King again.
1994
The Khmer Rouge surrender under government amnesty. U.S. Embassy
re-opens in Cambodia.
1997
Deputy Prime Minister Hun Sen launches a coup against the Prime
Minister, Prince Radnariddh.
1998
Pol Pot dies in his jungle hideout.
2002
Five hundred Khmer Americans are deported to Cambodia. U.S.
laws passed in 1996 mandated that non-citizens be deported if they
committed a crime, even minor infractions. These laws have affected
thousands of Khmer Americans, mostly young men. Many were born in
refugee camps in Thailand and have never been to Cambodia.
2003
The Rajana Society is founded by a group of Khmer students at the
University of Washington. The Society strives to promote and advance
Khmer arts and entertainment.
The Cambodian Cultural Alliance of Washington is founded to “create
opportunities for diverse communities to understand and appreciate
traditional Cambodian art through events and other cultural activities.”
2005
U.N. approves a plan to try Khmer Rouge leaders in a tribunal. In 2007,
Khmer Rouge member Nuon Chea is arrested and charged with crimes
against humanity. In 2010, KR leader Kang Kek Iew is convicted and
sentenced to life in prison.
Tuy Sobil starts Tiny Toones, a youth program serving at-risk kids in
Phnom Penh. Tuy Sobil, known as KK, was born in a refugee camp in
Thailand and grew up in Los Angeles, where he got involved in a gang.
He was deported to Cambodia, where he started teaching kids in his
neighborhood to break dance. Today the organization teaches English
and computing classes, as well as dancing and music. The Tiny Toones
troupe performs all over the world.
2006
Southeast Asian Young Men’s Group and film program, sponsored by
the Asian Counseling Referral Service in Seattle, launches from a group
bringing together Asian Pacific male students to discuss their culture,
history and personal experiences.
2007
Khmer In Action is founded in Seattle to address issues impacting
local communities regarding institutional oppression, with the hope of
building a stronger more active Khmer community.
2010
1LoveMovement is founded in Philadelphia, in response to the
detention and deportation crisis targeting Cambodian Americans.
It continues to work to address root issues of migration, poverty,
deportation and the criminal justice system.
2011
Khmerican, an online media news platform, is launched in Long Beach,
CA. Serving the Cambodian diaspora, Khmerican currently reaches an
average of 750,000 readers each month.
2012
President Obama becomes the first U.S. president to visit Cambodia.
2014
First annual Cambodian Music Festival held in the United States, in
Hollywood, California.
AUGUST 29
“Remembering the Past & Welcoming the Future: 40 Years Since the
Killing Fields,” held in Seattle, commemorates victims of the Khmer
Rouge Genocide of 1975–1979.
2015
SUMMER
2015
SEA2KHMER education and service project, brought together by
community leaders Sameth Mell and Baron You with Rajana Society,
and Che Sehyun with Experience Education, brings support and
learning opportunities to the children of Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.
LEAD SPONSORS
MAJOR SPONSOR
The Peach Foundation
ADDITIONAL SPONSORS
4Culture
Humanities Washington
KeyBank Foundation
U.S. Bank Foundation
719 South King Street, Seattle, WA 98104
(206) 623-5124 • www.wingluke.org
Museum Hours: Tuesday – Sunday, 10 am – 5 pm
First Thursday of the Month, 10am – 8pm
Closed Mondays