柬埔寨宮廷舞劇大約在 8~12世紀的吳哥王朝有相當蓬勃的發展，1431年當暹邏人攻陷吳哥城導致王朝滅亡，宮廷舞劇被認為因帝國的瓦解而消失，據信暹邏人當時擄走大批舞者，使柬埔寨宮廷舞劇傳統在泰國被保留下來，直到 1841年柬埔寨王子安東 (Ang Duong) 回國繼位，從泰國帶回一批舞者重建柬埔寨宮廷舞劇傳統。在接下來幾任國王的大力支持下，宮廷舞劇在 19-20世紀期間有蓬勃的發展，達到前所未有的藝術高度，成為柬埔寨象徵吳哥文化傳統的其中一個重要代表。 本文將聚焦於討論「前吳哥時期」到 1960年代之間，柬埔寨宮廷舞劇從發展、消失到重現等變遷的軌跡，並探究以下問題：在缺乏文字記載和有限的圖像記錄情況下，一個消失幾世紀的表演藝術傳統，究竟憑藉著什麼而被重建起來？而此重建是「還原」抑或是「創新」？為何在消失這麼長時間之後，柬埔寨皇室和民眾還能辨認出、並接納這是屬於柬埔寨的傳統？本文藉探討柬埔寨宮廷舞劇的變遷歷程，思考其傳統變遷是否為我們帶來不同的啟示。

Cambodian court dance-drama was believed to have highly developed in the Angkor period during the 8th -12th century. When Angkor was captured by Siamese in 1431, the court dance-drama was considered lost due to the empire’s downfall. We are told that the Siamese brought thousands of Cambodian court dancers back to Thailand and the tradition of Cambodian court dance-drama has therefore been preserved in the Thai court since then. In 1841, after being a hostage in Thailand for more than twenty years, Cambodian prince Ang Duong with a number of Thai court dancers was back to Cambodia for ascending the throne, and reestablished the tradition of Cambodian court dance-drama as a part of the restoration of Angkor glory. Under enthusiastic support of several kings following Ang Duong, Cambodian court dance-drama had flourished during the 19th -20th century and artistically reached its heyday. It hence becomes one of the major symbols of Cambodian culture. This study will focus on exploring the course of the development, vanishment and reappearance of Cambodian court dance-drama from the pre-Angkor period to the 1960s. Following questions would be the central concern discussed and analyzed in the essay: after vanishing for centuries, how did Cambodian kings reestablish the court dance-drama tradition? Is this reestablishment restoration or innovation? Since the court dance-drama had lost for centuries, why could Cambodian recognize and accept it as an ancient Angkor tradition?