
Aims and objectives
From both of the historical and cultural perspectives, Cham are an important group of minority in Vietnam. Cham once had their own kingdom called Champa, which lasted approximately from the 7th century to 1832, when the kingdom was eliminated by the Vietnamese. There are only 162,000 Cham living in Vietnam today. Cham people possess a rich history and unique culture, which can still be appreciated through their ancient temples, ritual practices, and daily customs. The most notable evidence of Cham civilization is their writing system, which has been used for centuries. It is estimated by local Cham scholars, and also through my field trips to Cham villages, that there are up to 3,000 Cham manuscripts, including palm-leaf and paper manuscripts, still available in Central Vietnam. These manuscripts are currently in poor physical conditions and will continue to deteriorate in the tropical climate of Vietnam. This project is a continutation of EAP698.
This project will help preserve Cham manuscripts in Vietnam by achieving two main objectives:
- To digitise about 500 manuscripts currently kept in Cham villages in Ninh Thuan province and Binh Thuan province. The selected manuscripts for digitisation are those that are unique in their content (some Cham manuscripts are copies of the same religious texts).
- To assist Cham manuscripts holders in preserving their manuscripts by providing them with acid-free archival boxes and basic preservation knowledge.
The digitisation of the manuscripts will be carried out in Vietnam by a team associated with the Center for Vietnamese and Southeast Asian Studies, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The project is directed by Dr. Thanh Phan (also known as Dharbhan Po Dam or Gru Hajan), a prominent Cham scholar highly respected by his people. Dr. Thanh Phan and his team have the equipment, training, and experiences from digitising 504 Cham manuscripts for the previous project EAP698. Dr. Thanh Phan and the leader of the digitisation team, who is also a scholar of Cham manuscripts, will ensure that the manuscripts selected for digitisation are unique in their content and not duplicated copies, as it might be the case with some Cham religious manuscripts. The project team will also confirm with manuscripts holders that the material have not been previously digitised by any party. Given the facts that there are every few Cham manuscripts having been digitised elsewhere, and the manuscripts are held in private collections, it is unlikely that the project will duplicate the work of others, not to mention of its own previous work in project EAP698.
Dr. Thanh Phan is based in Ho Chi Minh City while a team of three members, led by another local Cham scholar, will travel from village to village in Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan to digitise the manuscripts. Dr. Thanh Phan will come from Ho Chi Minh City to Central Vietnam every three months to work with the team and to bring the files to Ho Chi Minh City, where he will read the digitised manuscripts to learn about their contents.
The photographing of the manuscripts in Cham villages is expected to last for nine months, from August 2017 to August 2018. For four months, from April to July 2018, Dr. Thanh Phan will hire two graduate students to assist him in compiling the metadata for the digitised manuscripts.
While digitising manuscripts in Cham villages, the project team will provide 100 acid-free archival boxes to manuscripts holders and instruct them how to preserve the manuscripts properly.
Outcomes
The project successfully completed the two main goals of project EAP1005; they digitised 464 Cham manuscripts consisting of 28,375 pages/images. All of the manuscripts were held in private family collections. The project also distributed almost 100 acid-free archival boxes, used for manuscripts storage, to manuscripts holders in Cham villages. The project team also gave advice on preservation to the manuscripts holders.
The records copied by this project have been catalogued as:
- EAP1005/1 Cham manuscripts collected by Mr. Thanh Phan, from Phuoc Nhon Village Văn bản của ông Thành Phần, sưu tầm từ làng Phước Nhơn
- EAP1005/2 Cham manuscripts inherited or acquired by Mr. Dang Doi, Binh Thang Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Đặng Đòi, kế thừa từ tổ tiên hoặc sưu tầm được
- EAP1005/3 Cham manuscripts inherited or collected by Mr. Ta Van Phu, from Binh Minh Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Tạ Văn Phú, kế thừa từ tổ tiên hoặc sưu tầm được
- EAP1005/4 Cham manuscripts inherited or collected by Mr. Lu Thanh, from Binh Minh Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Lư Thanh, kế thừa từ tổ tiên hoặc sưu tầm được
- EAP1005/5 Cham manuscripts inherited by Mr. Ba Van Cach, from Binh Thang Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Bá Văn Cách, kế thừa từ tổ tiên
- EAP1005/6 Cham manuscripts inherited by Mr. Dong Tanh, from Pacam Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Đổng Tánh, kế thừa từ tổ tiên
- EAP1005/7 Cham manuscripts inherited by Mr. Thong Thuong, from Pacam Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Thông Thương, kế thừa từ tổ tiên
- EAP1005/8 Cham manuscripts inherited by Mr. Dong Tuyen, from Pacam Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Đổng Tuyên, kế thừa từ tổ tiên
- EAP1005/9 Cham manuscripts inherited by Mr. Thong Hoa, from Pacam Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Thông Hòa, kế thừa từ tổ tiên
- EAP1005/10 Cham manuscripts inherited by Mr. Dong Tin, from Pacam Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Đổng Tín, kế thừa từ tổ tiên
- EAP1005/11 Cham manuscripts inherited by Mr. Thong Dat, from Pacam Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Thông Dặt, kế thừa từ các sư cả đời trước
- EAP1005/12 Cham manuscripts written by Mr. Ba Van Cuong, from Binh Thang Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Bá Văn Cường viết
- EAP1005/13 Cham manuscripts inherited by Mr. Truong Thanh Huan, from Van Lam Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Trương Thanh Huấn, kế thừa từ tổ tiên
- EAP1005/14 Cham manuscripts inherited by Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Vi, from Van Lam Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Nguyễn Ngọc Vĩ, kế thừa từ tổ tiên
- EAP1005/15 Cham manuscripts inherited by Mr. Dao Van Thi, from Luong Tri Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Đạo Văn Thị, kế thừa từ tổ tiên
- EAP1005/16 Cham manuscripts inherited or collected by Mr. Thanh Tam, from Luong Tri Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Thành Tầm, kế thừa từ tổ tiên bên vợ
- EAP1005/17 Cham manuscripts inherited by Mr. Cau Van Chat, from Luong Tri Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Câu Văn Chát, kế thừa từ tổ tiên
- EAP1005/18 Cham manuscripts inherited by Mr. Tôn Diên Chính, from Binh Tien Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Tôn Diên Chính, kế thừa từ tổ tiên
- EAP1005/19 Cham manuscripts inherited by Mr. Dương Quoc Khanhh, from Tinh My Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Dương Đình, kế thừa từ tổ tiên
- EAP1005/20 Cham manuscripts inherited or collected by Mr. Dinh Anh Hung, from Binh Hieu Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Đinh Anh Hùng, kế thừa từ tổ tiên
- EAP1005/21 Cham manuscripts inherited by Mr. Cuu Lac from his teacher, from Binh Hieu Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Cừu Lạc, kế thừa từ thầy
- EAP1005/22 Cham manuscripts inherited or collected by Mr. Ham Bap, from Lac Tri Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Hàm Bắp, kế thừa từ tổ tiên
- EAP1005/23 Cham manuscript inherited or collected by Mr. Thong Tao, from Ham Tri Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Thông Tạo, kế thừa từ tổ tiên
- EAP1005/24 Cham manuscripts inherited by Mr. Bich Van Luong, from Binh Tien Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Bích Văn Luông, kế thừa từ tổ tiên
- EAP1005/25 Cham manuscripts inherited by Mr. Qua Dinh Lang, from Lac Tri Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Qua Đình Lang, kế thừa từ tổ tiên
- EAP1005/26 Cham manuscripts inherited by Mr. Hai Thanh, from Phuoc Lap Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Hải Thạnh, kế thừa từ tổ tiên
- EAP1005/27 Cham manuscripts inherited by Mr. Phu Tru, from Phuoc Lap Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Phú Trừ, kế thừa từ tổ tiên
- EAP1005/28 Cham manuscripts inherited by Mr. Hua Van Lap, from Luong Tri Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Hứa Văn Lập, kế thừa từ tổ tiên
- EAP1005/29 Cham manuscripts inherited or collected by Mr. Dao Si Kheo, from Van Lam Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Đạo Sĩ Khéo, kế thừa từ tổ tiên hoặc sưu tầm được
- EAP1005/30 Cham manuscripts written or collected by Mr. Ba Dai Long, from Van Lam Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Bá Đại Long, viết hoặc sưu tầm được
- EAP1005/31 Cham manuscripts inherited by Mr. Thông Đình Phụng, from Lam Thuan Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Thông Đình Phụng, kế thừa từ tổ tiên
- EAP1005/32 Cham manuscripts inherited by Mr. Ma Ngoc Thanh, from Lam Thuan Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Mã Ngọc Thanh, kế thừa từ tổ tiên
- EAP1005/33 Cham manuscripts inherited by Mr. Nai Cao Liem, from Vu Bon Village Văn bản Chăm của ông Nại Cao Liêm, kế thừa từ tổ tiên
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