The report of the two Chinese ambassadors who visited the Kingdom of Funan, is our chief source of information about early Cambodian civilization. A comprehensive picture of the court, the king, his administration and the people is given to us. Houses, dress, customs and habits are all included. A strong absolute monarch, who was surrounded by a retinue of nobility and servants, ruled a powerful kingdom which became increasingly warlike and expansionary.
It was the Chinese who gave this kingdom the name of Funan, derived from the Khmer word `[G 24 / phnom].' It grew to be a huge and powerful empire by the fifth century, and it was therefore necessary that the Chinese collect adequate information about its size and administration for their own protection.
