Xiaoxing Zhao 趙曉星 of the Dunhuang Academy (China), visiting professor at the EFEO and the CRCAO, is giving a lecture entitled "A Chronological Overview of the Tantric Paintings in the Dunhuang Caves" for the SEECHAC (Société européenne pour l'Étude des Civilisations de l'Himalaya et de l'Asie Centrale).

At the Maison de l'Asie, 22 avenue du Président Wilson, 75116 Paris. 1st floor lounge, from 6pm to 7pm.

Legend: Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara with a thousand hands and a thousand eyes, on the east wall of cave no. 361 at the Mogao caves, Dunhuang. Mid-9th century (© Dunhuang Academy).

As part of the East-West Comparative Cultural History on the Transition of Literal Phrases in Popular Images (2022-2025) project directed by Hara Kiyoshi (Joshibi University of Art and Design), the EFEO Centre in Kyoto is co-organising the conference Comparing folk paintings from East and West, and analysing their relationship with texts (民衆画の東西比較、詞書との関係を分析しつつ).

Presentations will be in Japanese only. On site only (reservation through the EFEO Centre). Information on the blog of the Kyoto Centre.

Legend: Ōtsu-e-bushi, cover of a songbook on the images of Ōtsu, Ōsaka, 1850s (© Christophe Marquet).

Together with Stéphane Gros (CESAH), Pascale-Marie Milan is organising two study days entitled Family Resemblances: Kinship Practices along the Sino-Tibetan Borderlands.

They will be held at the Maison de l'Asie and the Condorcet campus. They will bring together specialists in kinship issues in different communities along the Sino-Tibetan borderlands.

Find out more about the event.

Legend: Field photo, intergenerational survey situation (© Pascale-Marie Milan).

As part of the "Kyoto lectures", Emma Cook (Hokkaido University) gives a lecture on "Holocaust Ashes on the Move. Incinerated Human Remains as Objects of Global institutional Exchange".

The event is organised by the EFEO, ISEAS and the Institute for Research in Humanities, Kyoto University.

At 6pm (Japan) or 11am (France), on site and online on the Zoom platform. Login details are posted on the Kyoto Center's blog.

The LXIst Seoul Colloquium in Korea Studies, organized by the EFEO Center in Seoul in collaboration with the Royal Asiatic Society, is led by Youngpa Kwon, Ph.D. at the Graduate School of Theology at Sogang University, on the topic "The Spread of hangŭl in 19th-Century Korea and the Changes Brought by Catholicism"

At 6:00 p.m. (South Korea), Grand Conference Room (#310), Asiatic Research Institute, Korea University: register with the EFEO Center.

Legend: The text Chugyo yoji by Chŏng Yak-chong, a detailed presentation of Christian doctrine, was composed using han'gŭl in about 1798.

As part of the "Crafting Legacy. Tracing the Threads of Traditional Craftsmanship" conference cycle organised in partnership with the Institut d'histoire des sciences naturelles de l'Académie des sciences and the Max Weber Foundation, Nicolas Adell, Professor of Anthropology at the Université de Toulouse-Jean Jaurès, will be giving a lecture on "Enskilment in trouble. Magic, aesthetics, and technics in craftmanship".

From 4pm to 5.30pm. Information to follow in the Centre's blog.

Legend: Tour of the Musée du Compagnonnage in Tours.

Until October 20, in partnership with Tsinghua University and as part of the promotion of the EFEO's iconographic holdings, the Beijing Centre is organizing an exhibition entitled "Joseph Skarbek, un ingénieur français photographe de la "Chine inconnue" (Henan 1906-1909)" (中法建交60周年影像展："未知的中国--1906约瑟夫-斯卡别克到河南).

The event, like a previous exhibition organised in May in Luoyang on the same theme, is part of the 60th anniversary of France-China diplomatic relations. It is taking place in premises adjoining the Cross-strait Tsinghua Research Institute Artworks Diagnosis & Conservation Research Center (ADCRC), at the High Mountain Art Center in Beijing.

The photographs on display are part of those taken by Joseph Skarbek (1879-1961), a French engineer of Polish origin who, between 1906 and 1909, directed the construction of the Kaifeng-Luoyang line (central China) for the Imperial Chinese Railway Company. They are some of the earliest photographic evidence we have of a region that was then visited only by rare archaeological expeditions. Thanks to their kaleidoscopic nature, these photos provide a vivid, if necessarily biased, record of the way in which certain Europeans involved in China viewed the social realities of the late empire.

Information to follow in the Centre's notebook.

Legend: Central China (1906-1909), "Chinese looking at Europeans as they enter a village", Joseph Skarbek (EFEO_SKAJ0018).

The GIS Asie co-finances with the EFEO a series of lectures and debates organized by the Saigon Social Sciences Hub (SSSH) for early-career social scientists specializing in Vietnamese studies, hosted by the EFEO's office in Ho Chi Minh City.

Upcoming events:

- October 11: "A Nation Held Together by Summer Camp: a Study of the Summer Program for Volunteer Youth from 1964 to 1966" by Linh Đan Võ

- October 25: "Educational Cadres: How Efforts to Reform Rural Education and 'Chinese Characters' (Nho Hoc) shaped Mobilization across Tonkin and Annam (1887-1945)" par Austin Hoàng Nam Võ

Contact : Olivier Tessier

From 3 to 15 October, Véronique Degroot (EFEO) and Agustijanto Indrajaya (Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional) will be organising the second excavation campaign at Bototumpang (Kendal, Central Java) as part of the DHARMA project (ERC no. 809994).

On 11 October, Dominic Goodall will be taking part in the Yogavidyā online symposium organised by Seth Powell. He will give a talk entitled "The Yoga of the Seventh-century Śivadharmottara".

On 14 October, Dominic Goodall will take part in the Five-Day International Online Seminar on Ophiolatry Traditions in India organised by Tanashree Redij and Manish Rajan Walvekar at the Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Bengaluru, with a paper entitled "Traces of Ophiolatry in the Literature of the Śaivasiddhānta".

Legend: Roadside shrine (near Pondicherry airport) for snake worship: ophiolatry (© Dominic Goodall).

On Thursday 10 October from 6.30pm to 8pm, Benoît Jacquet, Yann Nussaume (ENSA Paris La Villette), Ōnishi Maki (Yokohama University) and Hyakuda Yūki (o+h) will give a lecture on "Habiter ensemble avec nos diversités" at the École nationale supérieure d'architecture de Paris-La Villette.

On Friday 11 October from 6pm to 8pm, Benoît Jacquet and Yann Nussaume will be organising a lecture and round table discussion on "Une architecture qui pourrait être aimée / aisareru kenchiku" with Ōnishi Maki and Hyakuda Yūki (o+h), Frank Salama (ENSAP Lille) and Anne Schéou (ENSA Nancy) at the Maison de la culture du Japon in Paris.

On Monday 14 October from 6 pm to 8 pm, Benoît Jacquet will be holding a conference on the theme "L’architecture comme un être vivant" with Ōnishi Maki and Hyakuda Yūki (o+h), Frank Salama and Mathieu Berteloot (ENSAP Lille) at the École nationale supérieure d'architecture et de paysage in Lille.

On Saturday 19 October from 1 to 6 pm, Benoît Jacquet and Takagi Hiroshi (Kyoto University) will be presenting their research in the Nichibunken Collaborative Research Project seminar on "The city and the monument: urbanism and memory as seen from the history of visual culture", directed by Timon Screech at the International Research Centre for Japanese Studies (Nichibunken) in Kyoto. Benoît Jacquet will give a lecture entitled "Architecture without history: the undocumented heritage of Kyoto townhouses" and present previously unseen images (photos and videos) of Japan's largest ‘tea house’ (chaya), taken before its demolition in November 2021.

Legend: Photograph of the north-east façade of the Sanyū "teahouse" (chaya), built around 1910, Kyoto (© Benoît Jacquet, 2021).

On 11 October, Gregory Kourilsky will give a lecture entitled "Une visite épigraphique au Musée national de Bangkok", during which he will present in situ a series of inscriptions from the Dvāravatī civilisation and the kingdoms of Sukhothai and Lanna. Organised by the National Museum Volonteers Bangkok (under the auspices of the Fine Arts Department), this lecture-visit is aimed in particular at French-speaking guides approved by the museum.

As part of his project to enhance the collections of the Vat Ho Phra Kaeo Museum in Vientiane (FEF-R funded by the French Embassy in Laos), from October 12 to 26 Michel Lorrillard will be welcoming Phongsathorn Buakhampan, research assistant at the EFEO Centre in Chiang Mai, to make stamps from a collection of inscriptions on stele.

In October, Bertrand Porte will continue to supervise the various activities of the Vat Phou museum unit: inventories of the collections, condition reports, packaging of ceramics stored in the Champassak depot, restoration of certain pieces, as part of the museography component of the CHAMPA project, in preparation for the extension of the depot and the redevelopment of the museum.

Legend: Tongbang Phensawath and Sisamay Silaphet preparing the reconditioning of ceramics excavated between 1994 and 2006, in the Champassak storeroom (© CHAMPA project).

Soulisak Khotxay, an architect from Champassak, is continuing to produce graphic elements for the architectural projects associated with the EFEO components of the CHAMPA project (Houay Sa Houa 2, Vat Phou) under the supervision of Vissa Chanthaphasouk, until early January 2025.

Legend: Soulisak Khotxay modelling the layout of Houay Sa Houa 2, at the LiDAR/EFEO laboratory in Vat Phou Champasak (© CHAMPA project).

The call for applications for the EFEO Field Scholarships for the first semester of 2025 has been launched.

The deadline for submitting applications for the field grant allowing Master II and doctoral students to study in Asia in one of the EFEO centres is October 13 until 23:59 p.m. (Paris time) for a stay to be planned between January 1 and June 30, 2025.

Nine works held in the Japanese collection of the Paris library will be on loan as part of the Regards sur le Japon exhibition organised by the Bibliothèques d'Amiens Métropole from 19 October to 28 December 2024.

Legend: Extract from Ukiyoe-ha gashū 浮世繪派畫集 [Collection of paintings of the floating world], published in Tōkyō in 1906 by the publisher Shinbi Shoin 審美書院 (© EFEO, held by the Paris library).

The Paris library is opened Monday to Friday, from 9am to 6pm.

Please make your book reservation requests via the catalogue and your archive consultation requests via the request form on the website page, bottom left.

Consult the catalogues and digital tools :
- Catalogue of books and periodicals
- Catalogue of Archives and Manuscripts
- Digital heritage library

Check the EFEO's Facebook page and Twitter account regularly for any updates on the terms and conditions of the public reception service.

1,166 stereoscopic glass plates and flexible supports taken by Brother Louis Faucheux (1876-1959) will be put online in October. This collection includes images probably taken between 1905 and 1940 in and around Pondicherry.

Brother Faucheux arrived in Pondicherry in 1903 to teach mathematics and drawing at the seminary college in Pondicherry, a post he held until 1946. As soon as he arrived in India, he became interested in archaeology and took part in a number of discoveries. In September 1941, he directed the first excavations of the Roman site at Virapatman-Arikamedu with Mr Surleau (head of public works in Pondicherry). Brother Faucheux also marked out the site of the old Saint-Louis fort.

Legend: Shivaite yogin accompanied by his disciple wearing a rudraksa necklace. Photograph taken in southern India in the 1st half of the 20th century, by Brother Louis Faucheux (EFEO_FAU00208).

100 new photographs taken by Raymond Eches are about to go online. They were taken in Laos between 1962 and 1967.

Legend: Located in a temple, this small wooden pavilion probably houses a sacred object, Laos, photograph taken in the 1960s, by Raymond Eche (EFEO_ECHE00934).

The photographic exhibition Le port de Hongkong dans les années 1960 : clichés de Luc Ionesco [Hong Kong Harbour in the 1960s: Photographs by Luc Ionesco] is on display on the first floor of the EFEO (landing and library) until November 29, 2024.

Luc Ionesco (Paris, 1934 - Paris, 1977), a professional photographer, was head of the photographic department of the Angkor Conservation Office in Siem Reap (Cambodia) from 1962 to 1966. He contributed to enriching the photo library through his reports on the temples, the collections of the Phnom Penh and Battambang museums and daily life in the Angkor region, as well as through missions to South India and Hong Kong.

Illustration: Jonque sailing and rowing in Guangdong Bay (Canton), 1960s, Luc Ionesco (EFEO_IONL00411).

Discover "Piecing Together Dunhuang Fragments - A Case Study of the Diamond Sūtra Manuscripts" by Luo Mujun.

Luo Mujun, professor at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, School of Humanities, was welcomed by the EFEO from August 28th 2023 to August 27th 2024 thanks to funding from the Chinese Scholar Council (CSC). She has carried out research on Dunhuang Studies, at the EFEO, in cooperation with Costantino Moretti.

Luo Mujun presents the "Diamond Sūtra" an important Mahāyāna scripture, which has been translated six times into Chinese. The translations by Kumārajīva and Xuanzang are the most popular.

There are 3718 Chinese fragments of the "Diamond Sūtra" among Dunhuang documents collected around the world, and 101 of them are kept at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF). The BnF collection has more complete and precious manuscripts compared to the other collections, such as manuscripts P.2876, P.4503, P.3278, etc.

A consistent number of Chinese Dunhuang documents (3650) are fragmentary. In recent years, scholars have carried out in-depth research in order to piece together scattered fragments of manuscripts kept in the various collections. Thanks to this significant work many fragmentary documents are now more complete. This research has also allowed scholars to update information found in previous catalogues of Dunhuang manuscripts, and to formulate new hypotheses concerning the origin and nature of documents found in the so-called "cave library".

The Réseau des Écoles françaises à l'Étranger - ResEFE - will be taking part in the 27th Rendez-vous de l'histoire in Blois as part of the Carte blanche for the Réseau des Écoles françaises à l'Étranger: "Les lieux saints en milieu urbain: ville partagée ou en partage ?", which will be chaired by Emmanuel Laurentin.

Saarthak Singh, for the EFEO, will present "Les villes-temples médiévales de l'Inde du Nord: des arts topographiques aux performances urbaines".

Friday October 11, 4.30-6pm, INSA, 3 rue de la Chocolaterie, amphithéâtre Denis Papin, Blois.

From 11 to 13 October, the 5 EFEs will have a book stand at the Blois history book fair, represented by the bookshop Lerycerp (espace N, stands 76 to 80).