Lakhon Bassac
Open-knowledge reference entry
Lakhon Bassac or Lakon Bassak (Khmer: ល្ខោនបាសាក់) is a popular theatre of Cambodia, created by Khmer people near the Bassac River in southern Vietnam at the beginning of the 20th century. It is derived from Chinese opera which explains some of the costumes, modified face painting, musical instrumentations (drums, gongs, chimes, and wood blocks), singing dialogues, acrobatics and fighting. Musically it appears similar to pinpeat versions of Vietnamese cải lương. Dances in Lakhon Bassac are often popularized versions of Lakhon Kbach Boran (Khmer: ល្ខោនក្បាច់បូរាណ), a classical court performance. Repertoires come from Jataka tales and local legends, and sometimes by localizing dramas from China, Vietnam, and France, "such as altering the villains in Vietnamese hát bội from Chinese to Vietnamese!"
Before the Democratic Kampuchea era, professional troupes performed in Phnom Penh, Battambang, Siem Reap and other cities, while amateurs staged shows at religious festivals. Unlike many other forms of traditional arts, it was not destroyed under the Khmer Rouge, but rather co-opted for propaganda purposes.
“Lakhon Bassac” enters the record as open-knowledge reference entry. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Lakhon, Bassac and Open-knowledge can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Lakhon Bassac” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Lakhon, Bassac and Open-knowledge provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 8, 2024. The linked authority identifier is Q25679730. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Lakhon Bassac”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Lakhon Bassac primary sources, Lakhon Bassac archive and Lakhon research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Lakhon Bassac”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Lakhon Bassac” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.