Khun Chang Khun Phaen - Development As Literature

Development As Literature

Beginning in the eighteenth century, prominent episodes from the story were written down. After the foundation of Bangkok in 1782, the new royal court made efforts to retrieve all kinds of texts which had survived the sack of Ayutthaya fifteen years earlier. Episodes of Khun Chang Khun Phaen were transcribed from earlier texts, or adapted from recitations by storytellers. No manuscripts of Khun Chang Khun Phaen have survived from the Ayutthaya era.

It became conventional to render these written versions in the then-popular poetic meter, klon, especially the variant with eight-syllable lines known as klon paet. Performance of these episodes were popular in the court and among the aristocracy. In the Second Reign (1809–1824), the performance was often enhanced by adding music. From the Fourth Reign (1851–1868), dancing was also added and more than one performer might share the task of recitation.

Several chapters were written down by members of the literary salon of King Rama II (1809–1824). None of these works are signed, but certain chapters and part-chapters are conventionally attributed to King Rama II, the future King Rama III (r. 1824–1851), and the great poet Sunthorn Phu. Another member of the salon, Prince Mahasak Phonlasep, a son of King Rama I (1782–1809) and cousin of King Rama II, may also have contributed to the writing.

Several other chapters were compiled later, probably during the reign of King Rama III, by Khru Jaeng, a performer of sepha and other forms of entertainment. Little is known of him except for an internal reference in the poem. For over half the 43 chapters in the standard version, the author is unknown.

A former missionary, Samuel Smith, printed the first book version in 1872, probably using a manuscript belonging to Somdet Chaophraya Borommaha Sisuriyawong. Another printed version was issued in 1889 by the Wat Ko Press. Five episodes composed by Khru Jaeng were printed around 1890.

The standard modern edition appeared in three volumes in 1917–1918, published by the Wachirayan Library, and edited by its head, Prince Damrong Rachanubhab. Damrong compiled from four sets of samut thai manuscripts and a few other fragments. The earliest of the manuscripts dated from the Fourth Reign (1851–1868). He selected what he believed were the best versions of each episode, and added some link passages. He deleted some passages which he considered obscene, and some which depended on topical jokes and other material which he felt were no longer comprehensible.

This standard edition is around 20,000 lines divided into 43 chapters. The main story ends in chapter 36, but a further seven chapters were included because the episodes were well-known and popular. Performers and authors had already developed many more episodes which extended the story down through three generations of Khun Phaen's lineage. Damrong decreed that these were not good enough as either narrative or poetry to deserve publication. Around fifty of these later chapters have since been published in various collections.