École française d'Extrême-Orient

EFEO logo

The École française d'Extrême-Orient [ ekɔl fʀɑ̃sɛz dɛkstʀɛmɔʀˈjɑ̃ ] (EFEO) is a French institute founded in 1901 for the scientific research of South , Southeast and East Asian history and culture. The main areas of activity are archaeological research, restorations (see also Anastilosis ), the recording and translation of written and oral traditions and the study of modern Asian societies. Today, EFEO's headquarters are in Paris .

The work of the early employees of EFEO, such as Henri Parmentier's publications on the Cham or Henri Marchal's work on Angkor from the first half of the 20th century, often form the basis of modern research today and are regarded as standard works. Scientists at EFEO developed their own system for transcribing Chinese script ( EFEO transcription ), but this is no longer used.

History of the institute

After France incorporated Vietnam , Laos and Cambodia into its colonial empire as " French Indochina " in the late 19th century , interest in the culture and history of these countries increased a little later (see also Vietnam under French colonial rule ).

In 1899, under the direction of the French archaeologist Henri Parmentier, the "Mission archéologique de l ' Indochine " was established with its headquarters in Hanoi . In 1901 the "École française d'Extrême-Orient" emerged. Initially, the institute's task was to research early civilizations in the area of Ho Chi Minh City (then Saigon ) in southern Vietnam.

After its establishment in Saigon, the seat of the institute was relocated to Hanoi. The EFEO was under the colonial government and was intended as an instrument of the colonial state. In the 1920s, EFEO gained a certain degree of administrative independence. The institute works with scientific institutions from its home country and was able to set its research goals relatively autonomously. When Japan came to power in March 1945, the Viet Minh took over EFEO. With the reconquest of Hanoi and the outbreak of the Indochina War at the end of 1946, France regained control of Hanoi and thus of the EFEO. A minority of EFEO scientists around Paul Mus campaigned for a policy of decolonization after the end of the Second World War . After the defeat in the Indochina War, EFEO withdrew from Hanoi in 1957. In 1968 the institution's headquarters were relocated to Paris.

Branches

EFEO headquarters in Paris

Branch in Pondicherry

In addition to its headquarters in Paris, EFEO has 17 branches in twelve Asian countries:

• India , Puducherry
• India, Pune
• Indonesia , Jakarta
• Japan , Kyoto
• Japan, Tokyo
• Cambodia , Phnom Penh
• Cambodia, Siem Reap
• Laos , Vientiane
• Malaysia , Kuala Lumpur
• Myanmar , Yangon
• South Korea , Seoul
• Taiwan , Taipei
• Thailand , Bangkok
• Thailand, Chiang Mai
• Vietnam , Hanoi
• PR China , Beijing
• PR China, Hong Kong

Fields of activity

Vietnam

Wat Si Saket in Vientiane (Laos)

EFEO scientists have been active in Vietnam since it was founded. Under the direction of Parmentiers, head of the archaeological department of EFEO since 1904, research was carried out on Champa , a historical empire that existed in southern Vietnam from the 2nd to the 14th centuries. From 1909 to 1918 the “Inventaire descriptif des monuments Chams de L'Annam” was published, a standard work that is still valid today, which in the form of photos and drawings also contains the only evidence of a series of temples that were built during the Vietnam War (1964–75 ) were destroyed by bombing by US forces . In My Son alone , where Parmentier's team had recorded around 70 buildings, some of the most important of which had been restored by EFEO from 1937 to 1944, the bombs damaged or destroyed around 50 of the structures between 1,300 and 800 years old.

Laos

In the 1930s , EFEO employees restored the oldest surviving temple in Vientiane , Wat Satasahatsaham (also Wat Si Saket ).

Cambodia

The Banteay Srei , the first temple in Angkor to be restored using the methods of Anastilosis

The Ta Prohm temple and monastery complex in Angkor. The archaeologists at Conservation d'Angkor were the only ones in Angkor to intentionally leave these buildings largely in the condition in which most were found - overgrown by tropical vegetation.

In 1908, stimulated by the interest aroused in Europe in the temple complexes in Angkor , a separate department was founded to research them, the "Conservation d'Angkor" . At the beginning, the work in Angkor was limited to freeing the temples from the vegetation that overgrown them and cataloging them. In addition, Louis Finot and George Cœdes translated the more than 1200 inscriptions found in the process from the Khmer language and Sanskrit , thereby laying the foundation for an understanding of the history of the historical empire of the Khmer .

At the end of the 1920s, the archaeologist Henri Marchal (1876-1970) , who worked for Conservation d'Angkor, visited Dutch colleagues who were busy restoring the Buddhist temple complex of Borobudur in Java in what was then the " Dutch East Indies " (now Indonesia ) . He got to know their method of restoring dilapidated buildings, the Anastilosis , and was introduced to the procedure by Pieter Vincent van Stein Callenfels (1883–1938). From 1931, the anastilosis, in which buildings were primarily rebuilt from the original components and new materials were only used where it is absolutely necessary for structural reasons, was also used in Angkor. The first temple rebuilt in this way from 1931 to 1936 was Banteay Srei . Until the Khmer Rouge seized power in 1975, which also forced the EFEO archaeologists to leave, some of the most important temples could be restored in this way.

The Buddhist Institute, founded in Phnom Penh at the suggestion of the King in 1921, was also supported by the EFEO until the time of the Japanese administration. Suzanne Karpeles was turned off as the first director . There is also general research into Cambodian literature, art and folklore. The Buddhasāsanapaṇḍity was merged with the Buddhist college in 1954.

Only since the 1990s has Conservation d' Angkor been able to resume work in Angkor , alongside a number of other institutes from Cambodia and, for example, Japan , the USA and Germany . One focus today is the continuation of the restoration of the Baphuon, which began in the 1950s .

Visitors to the Angkor temples today generally follow two routes that date back to the work of EFEO in the 1920s. The “Petit Circuit” ( small circular route , approx. 17 km) and the “Grand Circuit” ( large circular route , approx. 25 km) point the way to all the major temple complexes and buildings in the area.

In addition to the work in Angkor, EFEO is also active elsewhere in Cambodia. For example , the temple complexes of Sambor Prei Kuk , built by the Khmer in the late 6th and early 7th centuries, were restored in the 1960s .

Web links

• École française d'Extrême-Orient
• Sinologist biographies (here: Maspero) from the EFEO website
• George Coedes and the Coedes Collection English article on Professor Cœdès

literature

• Henri Cordier : Bibliotheca Indosinica. Dictionnaire bibliographique des ouvrages relatifs à la Péninsule Indochinoise . 5 parts in 2 volumes. Reprographic reprint of the Paris edition 1912–1932. Olms, Hildesheim et al. 1972, ISBN 3-487-04196-0 , ( Publications de l'Ecole Française d'Extrème-Orient 15-18).
• Bruno Dagens (English: Ruth Sharman): Angkor - Heart of an Asian Empire . Thames & Hudson, London 1995, ISBN 0-500-30054-2 .
• Martin H. Petrich: Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos - temples, monasteries and pagodas in the countries on the Mekong . DuMont, Cologne 2004, ISBN 3-7701-4398-1 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Christopher E. Goscha : Historical Dictionary of the Indochina War (1945-1954) , Copenhagen, 2011, pp. 160f