Preserving documentary heritage of the Mekong region

‘If a serious error was made during the incision of characters, the entire page had to be discarded,’ explained Em-orn Chawsuan, Specialist in Ancient Languages at the National Library of Thailand (NLT), as she and her colleagues neatly laid out on the table before them the ten palm-leaf manuscripts that constitute an impressive sample of the extraordinary profusion of Buddhist literary documents that preserve and propagate the Phra That Phanom Chronicle in the intricate Isan Dhamma script.

^{Wat Phra That Phanom}

In the austere, spacious room dedicated to historical documents in safekeeping at the NLT, Ms Em-orn seemed to be completely in her element among the permanent exhibits featuring folding-book manuscripts (known colloquially as samut khoi), palm-leaf manuscripts, and stone inscriptions. 

^{Permanent exhibits of historical documents, National Library of Thailand}

No stranger to the content (often shrouded in recondite scripts that she meticulously deciphers for greater public accessibility) as well as the various time-honoured media of documentary heritage in Thailand and neighbouring countries, Ms Em-orn described in detail the painstaking process of producing palm-leaf manuscripts, occasionally pointing to the displayed examples of elaborate designs and adroit incorporation of precious materials as the tangible manifestation of exquisitely refined craftsmanship. 

‘Faith beautifies everything,’ she said.

^{Elaborate lacquered wooden covers for palm-leaf manuscripts}

Cherished and revered for generations as a key Buddhist text originating in the central Mekong River Basin (particularly in northeastern Thailand and Lao PDR), the Phra That Phanom Chronicle was widely copied and transmitted in the form of palm-leaf manuscripts that were commissioned for merit-making, and the chronicle continues to thrive today in numerous versions housed in temples and memory institutions across the region. ‘The ten versions kept at the NLT are representative of that variety, which allows for intertextual comparative study,’ said Savitri Suwansathit, Vice-Chair of the Thai National Committee on the Memory of the World Programme of UNESCO. Particularly noteworthy is the seven-fascicle version which was given to Krom Luang Prajak Silpakom (1856-1925) during his tenure as governor of the northeastern region of Siam, and which subsequently served as the basis for the first modern printed edition of the Phra That Phanom Chronicle. 

^{Krom Luang Prajak Silpakom}

^{Krom Luang Prajak Silpakom’s version of the Phra That Phanom Chronicle}

Despite differences in length, provenance, and authorship, all ten versions primarily address the origins of Phra That Phanom, an important pilgrimage site, the earliest structure of which dates to around 7-8th century AD. According to the chronicle, however, the famed reliquary stupa was constructed by Maha Kassapa, one of the principal disciples of the Buddha, with the assistance of the rulers of five regional kingdoms over a millennium earlier than archaeological findings would indicate. 

^{Main gate of Wat Phra That Phanom in 1953}

The Phra That Phanom Chronicle indeed offers a highly colourful narrative of the Buddha’s visit to the Mekong region during his lifetime, where he is said to have prophesized the flourishing of Buddhism, encountered mythical beings (like giants and nagas), left footprints as mementos of his sojourn, and expressed his wish for his breastbone relics (known as Urangkathat) to be enshrined atop the sacred hill of Phu Kampra—believed to be the present-day location of Phra That Phanom.

Perhaps the primary reason for the chronicle’s abiding appeal is its beguiling way of blending the epic origins of Phra That Phanom and other religious sites with a realistic account of the ancient geography and socio-political context of the region. References to the Buddha lend sacredness to local sites, while geographical details ground the larger-than-life dimension in an environment familiar to local communities, whose members could conceivably immerse themselves in the story as a kind of ‘augmented reality’ experience that was powered, not by any futuristic technology, but by the sheer strength of human faith and imagination.

‘Many historical accounts of the Mekong region have already been written, but mostly by foreigners,’ observed Ms Savitri. ‘This is not about history. This is what modern scholars see as an intriguing example of regional historiography by people in the Mekong region, written in their own language and using their own script. The mode of expression is direct and honest.’

^{‘Venerable Father Buajan, with purity of faith, created these verses of the Urangkathat tale for the religion of the Buddha.’}

^{Opening passage from 1917 version of the Phra That Phanom Chronicle by Venerable Father Buajan in 1) original Isan Dhamma script; 2) transliteration into Thai script; and 3) modern Thai.}

^{(Photo and handwritten transliteration by Em-orn Chawsuan)}

‘These palm-leaf manuscripts are very important for people in Isan and in Lao PDR,’ said Ms Em-orn, who is of maternal Laotian ancestry. ‘Their faith has been sustained to the present day through the proliferation of such manuscripts.’

^{Em-orn Chawsuan, Specialist in Ancient Languages, National Library of Thailand}

In recognition of the significance of this documentary heritage in recording and disseminating shared beliefs that are inextricably linked to places of great spiritual value to Mekong communities, the National Collection of Palm-Leaf Manuscripts of Phra That Phanom Chronicle was inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World International Register in 2023. 

Ms Em-orn noted that the NLT normally keeps these manuscripts in climate-controlled storage 24 hours a day. In the tropical climate of South-East Asia, humidity poses an especially serious threat to such historical documents, as mould and acid hydrolysis can cause rapid deterioration. When necessary, the document conservation unit at the NLT resorts to acid-free glue and thin layers of mulberry paper to reinforce the decaying pages of old manuscripts.

Such fastidious preservation efforts are a relatively recent development. Traditionally, the copying of palm-leaf manuscripts meant that the sacred text could live on in a new reincarnation. ‘There was no need to be attached to original copies,’ said Ms Savitri. 

^{Savitri Suwansathit, Vice-Chair, Thai National Committee on the Memory of the World Programme of UNESCO}

In other words, the age-old practice of copying and transmitting palm-leaf manuscripts aptly embodies Buddhist doctrine regarding the transitory nature of existence. What endures, of course, is the collective faith of local communities, kindled anew as each generation derives inspiration from timeless narratives and gives them substance and expressive power as documents of far-reaching aesthetic and spiritual resonance.

This is a lightly adapted version of an article that first appeared in the Bangkok Post on 26 March 2024.

#DocumentaryHeritage #MemoryOfTheWorld