Papers by François Lagirarde
Bulletin archéologique des Écoles françaises à l'étranger, 2023
Lecture et interprétation de la plus ancienne inscription sur pierre millésimée d'Ayutthaya.
Bulletin de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient n° 107 , 2021
Publication and interpretation of a bilingual Sukhothai inscription (Thai and Pali)
in Manuscript Cultures and Epigraphy of the Tai World, edited by Volker GRABOWSKY, Chiang Mai, Silkworm Books, pp.44-82, 2022
The ongoing publication of the inscriptions of northern Thailand allows relatively easy access to... more The ongoing publication of the inscriptions of northern Thailand allows relatively easy access to a considerable amount of information, well exploited by some historians and linguists, but still somewhat neglected by historians of literacy and literature. Although major texts attributed to the 15 th and 16 th centuries largely dominate ancient literature, no known Thai manuscript of these distant epochs survived. The peak of manuscript culture is in the 19 th century, while that of inscriptions is around the 16 th century. Reading inscriptions ensures the validity, if not the facts, of acts of speech and language from the late premodern period and the early modern period. The time of recording was closer than the present to the instances and situations that supported and conceived such inscriptions. The inscriptions of Lan Na evoke the history of books as objects, the stories they tell, and the subjects they address. But primarily they disclose the epigraphic habit itself as an act of literacy-rarely studied for its own sake. This chapter highlights the technical aspects of many inscriptions and uncovers what is told or reflected in the stone (or bronze) messages. The practical side is often concerned with land, property, and legal management of laborers, but the ultimate raison d' être is the rich sum of Buddhist references and literary practices quoted or mentioned in every inscription.
From : Buddhist Legacies in Mainland Southeast Asia, EFEO & SAC, 2006, pp. 79-112
l'Encyclopédie des historiographies. Afriques, Amériques, Asies. Volume 1, 2020
Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism, 2015
The ongoing publication of the inscriptions of northern Thailand allows a relatively easy access ... more The ongoing publication of the inscriptions of northern Thailand allows a relatively easy access to a considerable amount of information rather well exploited by historians and linguists but still somewhat neglected by the historians of literature and in particular the historians of Buddhist literature. Although some major texts attributed to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries AD largely dominate ancient literature, almost no manuscript of these distant epochs ever survived. The center of gravity of manuscript culture is in the nineteenth century, while that of inscriptions is rather around the sixteenth. The reading of the inscriptions thus makes it possible to ensure the validity, if not of facts, at least of acts of speech or language from the late pre-modern period and the beginning of the early modern period, closer to the instances and situations that supported or conceived them. The inscriptions of Lanna evoke both the history of the "books" as objects, the stories they contain or the subjects they deal with. But, first of all, they disclose the epigraphic habit itself as a tool of communication rarely studied for its own sake. This paper will try to highlight the technical aspect of many inscriptions and attempt to find in the stone message what is told or truly "reflected" about its function. This practical side is often concerned with land property and legal management of laborers but finds its ultimate raison d'être in a rich sum of Buddhist references and literary practices quoted or mentioned on every inscription. The reading of Lanna epigraphy goes with the recognition of textual topicality and tradition. It works on a wide system of references that finds its ultimate meaning in the Buddhist faith in its confrontation with the secular power (a final point that will be exposed in the second part of this paper, not published here).
Even if the corpus of Northern Thai “chronicles” or tamnan has not yet been fully
documented or c... more Even if the corpus of Northern Thai “chronicles” or tamnan has not yet been fully
documented or catalogued, it is safe to state that most tamnan tell and retell, reformulate, reframe and recycle Buddhist narratives with different degrees of fact and fiction.
Traditional chronicles, as a relatively “free” or open genre, have actively exploited ancient formulas,
templates and recipes from mainstream and regional Buddhist literature, together with Thai/Tai folklore, to bring new and multiple meanings into evolving historical situations.
This is especially true for what are called the tham tamnan and puttha tamnan, but it also holds true
for, at least in some aspects, the phuen or tamnan mueang. [...]
Brill's Encyclopedia of Buddhism Volume II: Lives, 2019
in Pichard, Pierre and Lagirarde, François. The Buddhist Monastery: a cross-cultural survey. Proceedings of an International Workshop on the Buddhist Monastery held at the Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre (Bangkok 1997), Paris, EFEO (Études thématiques 12), 2003.
Bulletin de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient, 2007
les tamnan apparaissent en général comme des récits très imagés destinés à être lus publiquement ... more les tamnan apparaissent en général comme des récits très imagés destinés à être lus publiquement dans un but édifi ant : le recueil méthodique des éléments historiques et de leurs coordonnées géographiques -le « fait local » -semble souvent secondaire, presque « enfoui », par rapport à l'effet textuel et didactique recherché dans l'élaboration de la part fi ctionnelle du récit. Nous verrons cependant qu'il n'est plus possible d'aborder les tamnan directement à partir de leur fonction instrumentale, rituelle, à l'intérieur d'idéologies religieuses et politiques dominantes : on ne peut tout simplement plus les écouter dans le contexte qui fut le leur. Comme il n'est sans doute pas possible non plus de les considérer a priori, et selon des standards occidentaux, comme des annales qui relateraient les événements d'une façon factuelle, neutre, et pour tout dire « objective » 5 , que nous reste-t-il, sinon l'analyse philologique, qui nous permettra seule de les apprécier comme des types de perception du passé 6 ? Un genre mal connu, une histoire vue dans sa dépendance, des récits complexes
Aséanie 21, 2008
The inscription engraved on the pedestal of a bronze statue kept in the storerooms of the Vietnam... more The inscription engraved on the pedestal of a bronze statue kept in the storerooms of the Vietnam History Museum in Hô Chi Minh-City can be related to two other inscriptions read by Hans Penth, one appearing on the central lotus petal adorning the socle of a statue representing Buddha defeating Mara kept in Wat Phan Tao in Chiang Mai, and the other one on the front part of the pedestal of a similar statue kept in Wat Thung Yu in Chiang Mai.
Arts Asiatiques, 2014
This illustrated article provides an overview of the libraries of the Buddhist monasteries in Nor... more This illustrated article provides an overview of the libraries of the Buddhist monasteries in Northern Thailand from an historical and architectural point of view. These libraries, called ho tham, can be distinguished from other monastic buildings by their small proportions and remarkable elegance. If the inest specimens are now famous attractions this success has not so far brought the academic attention they deserve. These houses of the Dhamma' were designed to organie the ritual conservation of manuscripts excluding any kind of intellectual workspace (reading room, etc.). Their function is primarily religious and not educational. Appearing at an unspeciied date (around the ifteenth centuryy) they reelect the literary development in the Buddhist kingdom of Lanna and the textual vitality in the vernacular, up to the twentieth century. Some sophisticated buildings were erected by palace craftsmen under royal command while many others were achieved by village artisans paid by local pious donations. All remained faithful to the aesthetics of the religious buildings of Lanna and other Tai kingdoms of the region. or all these reasons, history and heritage, they remain worthy of the greatest interest.
Enriching the Past: Preservation, Conservation and Study of Myanmar Manuscripts, The Centre for Documentation & Area-Transcultural Studies, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, 2006
in Myanmar Historical Commission Conference Proceedings, part 2, Yangon, pp. 125-135., 2005
Encyclopedia of Buddhism, Robert E. Buswell ed., Macmillan Reference USA/Thomson/Gale, 2004, 301-302.
Cahiers de l'Asie du Sud-Est, 1991
Translation of a poem about Thai-Lao traditional tattoos.
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Papers by François Lagirarde
documented or catalogued, it is safe to state that most tamnan tell and retell, reformulate, reframe and recycle Buddhist narratives with different degrees of fact and fiction.
Traditional chronicles, as a relatively “free” or open genre, have actively exploited ancient formulas,
templates and recipes from mainstream and regional Buddhist literature, together with Thai/Tai folklore, to bring new and multiple meanings into evolving historical situations.
This is especially true for what are called the tham tamnan and puttha tamnan, but it also holds true
for, at least in some aspects, the phuen or tamnan mueang. [...]
documented or catalogued, it is safe to state that most tamnan tell and retell, reformulate, reframe and recycle Buddhist narratives with different degrees of fact and fiction.
Traditional chronicles, as a relatively “free” or open genre, have actively exploited ancient formulas,
templates and recipes from mainstream and regional Buddhist literature, together with Thai/Tai folklore, to bring new and multiple meanings into evolving historical situations.
This is especially true for what are called the tham tamnan and puttha tamnan, but it also holds true
for, at least in some aspects, the phuen or tamnan mueang. [...]
Vol. I Texts and Translations. Vol. II Glossary and Indices, by Marek Buchmann.