Pour mémoire d'un patrimoine sacré

Abstract

Jacqueline Filliozat Preserving a sacred inheritance The Pali manuscripts of Cambodia at the EFEO The EFEO feels concerned about the destruction of a large number of Cambodian manuscripts caused by the war in recent years. Consequently, the value placed upon the manuscripts collected since the beginning of the 20th century for philological purposes has increased, leading this research institute to put at scholars's disposal in its Paris Library the 97 well preserved copies of the original Pâli holdings (of both sacred and profane texts) from the most famous monastic libraries in Cambodia. Some EFEO publications have already displayed significant aspects of the most important texts, but many other works are still to be studied. Some manuscripts are codices unici, rare or unpublished: we present here works belonging to the non-canonical literature, such as rituals, isolated jâtakas, ānisamsas, relics chronicles, stories concerning the nibbāna of famous saints of Theravāda Buddhism. Many boxes containing the records of orientalists involved in the study of Pali manuscripts in Cambodia have not yet been examined. The Pāli Text Society in Oxford has recently shown interest in the EFEO Indochinese collections in preparing for publication the critical edition of the Pathamasambodhi by G. Cœdès.