Ang Mey
Ang Mey | |
---|---|
French Cambodia | |
Burial | |
Issue | 20 sons and daughters |
Father | Ang Chan II |
Mother | Neak Moneang Krachap |
Religion | Buddhism |
Ang Mey
Queen Ang Mey, also known by her Vietnamese title Ngọc-Vân-công-chúa (Princess Ngọc Vân), was proclaimed monarch on the death of her father by the Vietnamese faction at court with the title of "Chân Lạp quận chúa" (Duchess of Cambodia) in January 1835, then deposed in August 1840 with the demoted title of "Mỹ-Lâm-quận-chúa" (Duchess of Mỹ Lâm). She was reinstated in 1844, and again removed from the throne by the Vietnamese and taken to Huế with her sisters in 1845.[4]
Biography
Early life
Ang Mey was born in 1815 as the second daughter of Ang Chan II, King of Cambodia during the Oudong period, by his second wife, Neak Moneang Krachap.[citation needed]
After King Ang Chan II died in 1834, there was no heir apparent to the Cambodian throne. The king had no son but four daughters: Princess Baen, Mey, Peou and Sngon.
Instead, the Vietnamese emperor and the Cambodian courtiers chose to install Ang Chan II's eldest daughter, Princess Ang Baen, as the sovereign. However, she was passed over due to her being sympathetic to the Thai court's interests and her refusal to marry the emperor's son.[7] Ang Mey was an alternative to her sister, Baen. A Thai manuscript stated that the Vietnamese had tried to persuade Ang Mey to marry the son of emperor Gia Long in order to facilitate the incorporation of Cambodia into Vietnam; however, this plan was abandoned at strong objections from Cambodian nobles.[8]
Puppet queen
In May 1835, Ang Mey was crowned with the title of quận chúa (郡主) or "
During Ang Mey's reign, all Cambodian women were ordered to wear Vietnamese-style garments
In 1840, the elder sister of Ang Mey, Princess Baen, was discovered corresponding with her mother and uncle who were living in
Spurred by the death of Princess Ang Baen and the absence of their Queen Ang Mey, many Cambodian courtiers and their followers
As the warring factions fought to a stalemate in 1845, the Thai and Vietnamese initiated talks to resolve the Cambodian succession. In October 1846, the Vietnamese released the daughter and other family members of Ang Duong to join him in Oudong. Vietnam and Siam forged a compromise whereby both Ang Duong and Ang Mey would rule together are co-sovereigns. However, when the simultaneous coronation was held in Bangkok and Phnom Penh in 1848, records only show Ang Duong's accession to the throne. His niece, Ang Mey, was recorded as his successor instead of co-sovereign.[17][10]
Later life
After her reign concluded, Ang Mey lived with memories of death and dishonour for over twenty years. She did not succeed the throne after Ang Duong's death. His son and heir, Norodom, left her in the care of an old retainer when he and his court moved to Phnom Penh. At Oudong, Ang Mey carried on, although sources described her as "unbalanced" when she took merchandise by her right as queen. Her servants had to intervene to placate the merchants.[18]
She later married an unknown man and had two daughters.[19] She and her husband died in an accident in late December 1874 but were cremated at Phnom Penh in 1884.
Legacy and aftermath
Ang Mey was portrayed as a puppet of the Vietnamese emperor and officials in sources like The Cambodia Chronicle.
During the succession crisis, Ang Mey did seem to seek a peaceful solution to the factional strife in Cambodia, corresponding through Ang Duong's envoys that she wished for a return to peace and the family's reunion. This may have been at diplomatic response; the Vietnamese annals described her as an intelligent young lady at the time of her accession.[10] Sudden and forced relocations to Vietnam and back, the murder of her sisters, and continued changes in her status may have induced hysterical or untoward behaviour. By the end of her reign, Ang Mey reportedly was mad.[22]
Cambodian history has constructed Mey as a passive victim hardly legitimate in the eye of her own people,[23] her reign a disaster during which Khmer territory, culture, and independence was almost lost. While it cannot be denied that the Vietnamese were in control of Cambodia during Ang Mey's reign, she inherited a country that had already been mortgaged to the Court of Hué by her father, Ang Chan II. Mey was crowned sovereign of a kingdom under Vietnamese overlordship. It is difficult to ascertain what course of action other than acquiescence was available to her.[10]
References
- ^ ISBN 978-87-7694-001-0.
ANG MEI 1815-1875? r. 1835-1840 and 1844-1846/48?
- ^ In Vietnamese record, she was called Ngọc Vân (玉雲).
- ^ "បញ្ជីព្រះនាមព្រះមហាក្សត្រខ្មែរពីសតវត្សទី១ ដល់បច្ចុប្បន្ន". ilovekhmer.org. Archived from the original on 6 August 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
- ^ "Cambodia Heads of State". www.Guide2WomenLeaders.com. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
- ^ Sexual Culture in the east Asia pp, 127–155
- ^ Socheata (15 September 2009). "KI Media: The Forgotten History Part 1: Queen Ang Mey". ki-media.Blogspot.com. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
- ^ Fieldnote, 2006
- ^ Gender in election, p. 7
- ^ A Comparation analysis of traditional and contemporary of female house hold p 48 by Andrey Riffaund
- ^ ISBN 978-87-7694-001-0.
- ^ Fieldnote, 2005, 2006
- ^ Violent against woman in Asian society 2003, p. 107
- ^ Cambodian people by Sipar, p. 29
- ^ Phnom Penh: a cultural and literary history By Milton Osborne, p. 51
- ^ "Ayutthaya, Capital of a Kingdom, Part 19". www.Chiangmai-Chiangrai.com. Archived from the original on 6 August 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
- ^ "Siam, Cambodia, and Laos 1800–1950 by Sanderson Beck". www.san.Beck.org. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
- ^ "cambodiatheroyalandourland". CambodiaTheRoyalAndOurLand.Blogspot.com. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
- ^ River Road to China: The Search for the Source of the Mekong, 1866–73 By Milton Osborne p. 26
- ^ "Women in power 1800–40". www.Guide2WomenLeaders.com. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
- ^ Khmer woman on the move, p. 113
- ^ River Road to China: The Search for the Source of the Mekong, 1866–73 by Milton Osborne p. 25
- ^ "Andy's Cambodia: http://www.andybrouwer.co.uk: Jacobsen rewrites history". www.AndyBrouwer.co.uk. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
- ^ Phnom Penh Post, 20 December 2002 – 2 January 2003, p 14