That might be why the USA entered the Vietnamese civil war in the 1960s........murdering pres. JFK.......his brother RFK.................etc.......

ANGKOR WAT

ANGKOR WAT

Called “the largest stone monument in the world,” Angkor Wat, the most famous of the Khmer stone structures, took 37 years to build. During this period, millions of tons of sandstone used in its construction were transported to the site by river raft from a quarry at Mount Kulen, located 25 miles to the northeast. Angkor Wat rises in three successive flights to five central towers that represent the peaks of Mount Meru–the cosmic or world mountain that lies at the center of the universe in Hindu mythology and considered the celestial residence of the Hindu pantheon. The towers of Angkor Wat (the tallest of which rises about two hundred feet above the surrounding flatlands) are Cambodia’s national symbol. The temple’s outer walls represent the mountains at the edge of the world, while the moat surrounding the temple represents the oceans beyond.

Angkor Wat dates from the 12th century reign of Suryavarman II (1113-1150) when the Khmer dominion over Southeast Asia was at its zenith, with an empire stretching from the South China Sea to modern Thailand, as far north as the uplands of Laos and as far south as the Malay Peninsula.

THE KINGDOM OF CHAMPA

Angkor was not the only significant kingdom of its time in Southeast Asia. Another major Southeast Asian power and sometimes rival of Angkor was the kingdom of Champa. Champa was the great kingdom of the Blacks on the coast of Southeast Asia in central Vietnam. Indeed, the facial characteristics on the statues of the Cham are as Africoid as anywhere, including full lips and broad noses.

The Cham are believed to have settled along the coastal plains of central Vietnam (Annam) more than two millennia ago. The economy of Champa was based on agriculture and maritime trade. They exported rice and forest products, including sandalwood, and essentially dominated the area from about the fourth century through the 13th century.

Chinese dynastic records from as early as 192 C.E. reference a kingdom of Lin-yi, which meant the “land of Black men.” The kingdom of Lin-yi was known as Champa in Sanskrit documents. They stated the inhabitants possessed “‘black skin, eyes deep in the orbit, nose turned up, hair frizzy” at a period when they were not yet subject to foreign domination and preserved the purity of this type. These records expressly state that: “For the complexion of men, they consider Black the most beautiful. In all the kingdoms of the southern region, it is the same.”

During this same period Cham ships, known to the Chinese by the appellation kun-lun bo (the “vessels of Black men”), were navigating the currents of the Indian Ocean from Southeast Asia to Madagascar.

Among the major centers of Champa were those based near Dong Duong, Tra Kieu and Pandulanga (Phan-Rang). The great southem capital was Vijaya (Binh Dinh), and the early northern capital and religious center was Mi Son.

More than 70 temples were constructed at Mi Son from the seventh century through the 12th centuries. The masterpiece of Cham architecture at Mi Son was an enormous, 70-foot-high stone tower that was destroyed by United States Army commandos in August 1969.