Sophia Symposium on the Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the Foundation of the Sophia Asia Center for Research and Human Development

The Second International Symposium on the Hydraulic City

 [The Hydraulic City of the Angkor Empire and Construction of Angkor Wat]  

 Date and time: Saturday, November 5, 2022; (13:00~17:30)
The venue will be open from 12:30 PM.

Pre-registration is required, (60 visitors + 150 Zoom webinars)

Place: Sophia University International Conference Hall (Building number 2, 17th Floor), 7-1 Kioi-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo.

Language: English/Japanese (simultaneous translation).              

In 1979, an article by B. P. Groslier was published in the bulletin of the École française d’Extrême-Orient (BEFEO). It was an important article which endorsed the “economic activities” of the highly affluent Angkor Empire, and it has since been the topic of much debate due to the reactions it evoked. If we were to present the economic setting of the period around 1113 when Suryavarman II occupied the throne, we arrive at a hypothesis of “Reservoirs, at that time (barays)→ Double cropping→ Securing food supplies→ Population increase→ Site determination→ and Securing workers.” The alluvial fan that constitutes the main stage of the empire slopes from the north-northeast to the south-southwest, descending about one meter after about a kilometer, and fields were cultivated below. This was the origin of the intensive agriculture of the Angkor Empire. A reservoir (baray) was constructed at a high place on the upper part of the alluvial fan by means of embankment work, water from rains and rivers was drawn into it, small grooves made within and outside the baray served as secondary channels, and water was supplied to paddy fields through a waterway from the outlet. Erecting the grand temple of Angkor Wat took the king 37 years, despite the fact that in some places the construction is incomplete. The base has dimensions of 187 meters by 215 meters, and the five central spiers are 65 meters high (equivalent to a modern nine-story building). Furthermore, the moat has a width of 200 meters, a circumference of 5.5 kilometers, it is surrounded by 18 tiers of paving stone walls and holds approximately 5 million cubic meters of water. It was a major undertaking, and the water conservancy work in the construction was a success.            

Basing ourselves on the survey report of B.P. Grolier and utilizing the 1:5000 topographic map data of the JICA, we seek to confirm the background of Groslier’s theory of the Hydraulic city. This is the second international symposium on the Hydraulic City, as the first was held in the year 2000. Following the theory of historical material limitation of inscriptions pointed out by G. Cœdès in 1965 and relying on the results of the in-depth scientific research conducted by NASA and the École française d’Extrême-Orient, we shall reflect here over the national energy and wisdom of the Khmer people that enabled them to erect those massive stone temples, via the “theory of the Hydraulic City.”  
Moderator: Nhim Sotheavin, (Researcher, Sophia University)

General moderator: Yoshiharu Tsuboi, (Professor Emeritus, Waseda University)   

13:00~ Opening Address
Professor Tsutomu Sakuma (Chancellor, Sophia Corporation/ Trustee for Jesuit Higher Education)   
13:10~ Presentation of the Problem (1), (30 minutes) “Groslier's Theory of the Hydraulic City and the Angkor International Research Team of Sophia University.” Dr. Yoshiharu Tsuboi, (Professor Emeritus, Waseda University)   

13:40~ Presentation of the Problem (2), (30 minutes)“Discovery of raised footpaths between rice fields for Tagoshi irrigation by utilizing of a JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) computer.”   Dr. Yoshiaki Ishizawa, (Director, Sophia Asia Center for Research and Human Development, Sophia University)   

14:10~ Reports, (60 minutes, by three individuals)
Controlling Water with Stone and Sand in Greater Angkor: A Study of Outlets Dr. Roland Fletcher (University of Sydney/Australia)

Sacred and Profane Donations: The Gift of Waterworks in Khmer Epigraphy
Dr. Dominique Soutif (École française d’Extrême-Orient /Siem Reap)

 “Angkor Hydraulic City and its Water Management System”
H. E. Dr. Hang Peou (Director General, APSARA National Authority, Cambodia)

Message: “Reflecting on the 22 years that have elapsed since the First International Symposium on the Hydraulic City, (2000).”
Dr. Christophe Pottier (École française d’Extrême-Orient /Paris)   

17:10~ Question-and-Answer Session   

17:20~ Closing Remarks
H. E. Tuy Ry (Ambassador of the Kingdom of Cambodia to Japan).
Dr. Yoshiaki Ishizawa, (Director, Sophia Asia Center for Research and Human Development, Sophia University).