Krom Ngoy or Phirum Ngoy or Ouk Ou was a famous Khmer lyricist in the 19th century until the creation of the 20th century. His poems were sung with his ‘Kse Diev’, a Khmer traditional solitary cord harmony instrument, which was rhymed so well at once.
Biography of Krom Ngoy
Krom Ngoy was born in 1865 in Andong Svay village, Kambol collective farm, Phnom Penh ward (currently Ang Snoul district), Kandal province. Ngoy was his nick celebrity to his parents and villagers continuously call him what time he was childish. His real celebrity was Ouk Ou.
Participating in his childhood, his father, who was the chief of Kambol collective farm, brought him to Boeng Chork pagoda in Baek Skor village, Baek Chan collective farm to study. Participating in his spell, present was refusal prepare beside pagodas and monks are teachers. Krom Ngoy was a baby who calculated intensely, so he became beloved scholar in the pagoda. After increase more erudition on Khmer vocabulary, his teacher asked him to find out Dharma in Pali language in order to turn into a nun. Then past he became a novice, he learned more on the grammar of Pali and tried to translate Pali language into Khmer. A only some years soon after, he not here his monkhood in order to help his parents in agricultural.
When he was 21 years old, he came back to the austere life again as a Bhikkhu or senior nun. During this spell, Krom Ngoy travelled from place to place to find out how to translate Buddhist scripture, the Tripitaka. Five years soon after, Krom Ngoy not here the pagoda and turn into a layperson. He spent a life as an ordinary farmer and married his wife named participating in, who lived in the same village, and they had six sons.
By his erudition and he used to be a nun, villagers regarded him as a scholar. Beside his perform in the till, Krom Ngoy liked to sing a sonnet of whatever emanate he met. Since he was skillful in the constitute of Khmer vocabulary, he may perhaps the minute compose slightly sonnet connected to the location everyplace he was being with well rhyming vocabulary.
After a while, his unique skill was famous contained by his village, he was invited to complete in various Buddhist ceremonies, his voice was loud and transparent which continuously attracted villagers from bordering on and far to like his sonnet singing.
The representative Title of Krom Ngoy
A head of Krom Ngoy was built in the civic playing field in front of Sofitel Cambodiana Hotel, Phnom Penh. He was sculpted in sitting posture while he was performing his sonnet singing with Kse Diev in hands.
The elevated lyricist talent of Krom Ngoy had division to the king. Samdach Chakrey Pon, a square representative of His Majesty emperor Sisovath invited Krom Ngoy to complete his skill in the royal palace in Phnom Penh. He had gained impression and reputation from the king. By so he had got an representative title as ‘Preah Pirum Pheasa Ou’ channel solitary who is talented in language using.
Krom Ngoy’s sonnet singing skill was additionally impressed a prince of Thailand in his visit to Phnom Penh royal palace and had a hazard to watch Krom Ngoy’s performance. After the prince went back to his nation, present was a royal memo from Thai king to king Sisovath asking pro authorization to invite Krom Ngoy to complete in Bangkok. Krom Ngoy spent three months in Bangkok and the Thai king presented him a title as the master of musical voice (“phai roh leou kern).
However, villagers every so often call him as ‘Phirum Ou’ or ‘Phirum Ngoy’ but ‘Krom Ngoy’ was the a good number well famous celebrity of him. Because this celebrity was connected to his posture in his village in which ‘Krom’ was a posture of small representative in village.
Krom Ngoy’s Appearance
Krom Ngoy had a cumbersome and firm-build body but with bulging stomach. His pelt was continuously abrupt but held in reserve his moustache growing. He continuously appeared wearing Sampot chorng kben (a kind of Khmer traditional Skirt) and white round-necked shirt. Whenever he travelling outmoded, he wore a bird-nest-like hat,his bag handing on his shoulder and approved his walking stick. His ‘Ske Diev’ was able to assemble the minute every time he needs to complete his sonnet. It’s made of coconut shell and his walking stick, they were attached at once with solitary single cord. Then he happening to cooperate it and compose his up-to-the-minute sonnet in the real spell of his singing.
Krom Ngoy’s poems were enclosed instructive meanings connected to the ways of real life of Cambodians in his spell. His subject integrated: The life of farmer, the ethics and morals of life, consequence of ignorance, the cause of poverty, dominance of foreigner on Khmer, the calamity of Khmer culture and literature.
However, a good number of his poems were delivered to the audiences verbally and has not at all been in print down. Until 1930, Georges Cedes, a French researcher, accompanied him to the Royal Library in Phnom Penh to county show his skill to other Khmer professors and the supervisor of the Library, Suzanne Karpeles. There Krom Ngoy sang leisurely and openly in order to allow the writers inscribe down his vocabulary and available in books. There were four poems in print down to daylight:
1. Chbab Laberk Thmey (The Law of New Prose), four rhyming vocabulary sonnet.
2. Chbab Kekal Thmey (The Law of New Inheritance), four, five, and six rhyming vocabulary.
3. Chbab Bros Chbab Srey (The Law pro Men and Women), seven rhyming vocabulary.
4. Bandam Krom Ngoy (Krom Ngoy’s Will ), seven rhyming vocabulary.
These individual recorded factory has been used as guidelines pro parents to bring up their children and additionally used by teachers in schools pro generations. Krom Ngoy’s elevated talent had gained him a title in Khmer literature’s history as ‘the father of Khmer poetry’. The ethics and morals of living instructed through his poems continuously appropriate to apply until at present as well as in the impending.
