The Stab-stitched Binding of Tai Manuscripts
A Survey of History, Technique, and Function
Abstract
This article discusses various aspects of stab-stitched binding in manuscripts of Laos and Northern Thailand, dealing with various binding patterns of this format, their function and the social history context of their production. The eighteen bound manuscripts from the collections of the Buddhist Archives in Luang Prabang, Laos, and the Chiang Mai Rajabhat University Library in Thailand were selected for detailed study. Provenance, category of text, function, bookbinding style, form and materials used were all considered for this study. Both historical and scientific methods were combined to better understand the provenance of this binding style, as well as the functional and historical aspects of these manuscripts.
References
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Wyatt, David K. (2006). Manuscripts, Books, and Secrets. (unpublished manuscript).
Interviews
Nan Savaeng, son of Mai Saengkham, the local healer from Pak Chaek village, by telephone on 21 August 2020.
Nan Pan, the ceremonial master from Pak Chaek village, by telephone on 21 August 2020.
Aubertin, Catherine. 2004. “Paper Mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera) in Lao PDR: a successful example of forest product domestication”, in Koen Kusters and Brian Belcher (eds). Forest Products, Livelihoods and Conservation: Case Studies of Non-Timber Forest Product Systems, Vol. 1: Asia. Jakarta: Center for International Forestry Research, 227–245.
Bounleuth Sengsoulin. 2016. Buddhist Monks and their Search for Knowledge: An Exmination of the Personal Collection of Manuscripts of Phra Khamchan Virachitto (1920–2007), Abbot of Vat Saen Sukharam, Luang Prabang. Ph.D. dissertation, Faculty of Humanities, Universität Hamburg, Germany.
Chaiyapol Sakunluangaram. 2013. Art & Craft Wisdom of Paper Mulberry: A Case Study of Ban Ton Pao Paper Mulberry Cluster, San Kamphaeng District, Chiang Mai Province. Master’s thesis, Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok (in Thai).
Chinnery, Colin and Li Yi. (2007). “IDP Education: Bookbinding.” In The International Dunhuang Project: The Silk Road Online. http://idp.bl.uk/education/bookbinding/bookbinding.a4d.
Galambos Imre. (2020a). Dunhuang Manuscript Culture: End of the First Millennium (Studies in Manuscript Cultures, vol. 22), Berlin: De Gruyter.
Galambos, Imre. (2020b). “Untying the Bonds of Hatred: Manuscripts of a Dhāraṇī from Dunhuang”. International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Culture 30 (2), 169–191.
Guy, John. (1982). Palm-leaf and Paper: Illustrated Manuscripts of India and Southeast Asia. Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria.
Hayashi, Yukio. (2003). Practical Buddhism among the Thai-Lao: Religion in the Making of a Region. Kyoto: Kyoto University Press.
Helman-Ważny, Agnieszka. 2006. “Asian paper in works of art: a comparative fiber analysis”, Hand Papermaking 21 (2), 3–9.
Helman-Ważny, Agnieszka. 2014. The Archaeology of Tibetan Books. Leiden / Boston, MA: Brill.
Hopkirk, Peter. (1984). Foreign Devils on the Silk Road: The Search for the Lost Cities and Treasures of Chinese Central Asia. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press.
Hunter, Dard. (1978). Papermaking: The History and Technique of an Ancient Craft. New York: Dover Publications.
Ikegami, Kōsanjin. (1979 [1986]). Japanese Bookbinding: Instructions from a Master Craftsman / Kōjirō Ikegami, adapted by Barbara B. Stephan. New York: Weatherhill.
Ilvessalo-Pfäffli, Marja-Sisko. (1995). Fibre Atlas: Identification of Papermaking Fibres. Berlin: Springer.
Kongkaeo Wiraprachak. (1990). Kan tham samut thai lae kan triam bai lan (The making of Thai folding books and the preparing of palm-leaf manuscripts). Bangkok: National Library of Thailand, Fine Arts Department.
Li, Zhizhong and Frances Wood. (1989). “Problems in the history of Chinese bindings”. The British Library Journal, 15.1: 104–119.
Martinique, Edward. (1973). “The Binding and Preservation of Chinese Double-Leaved Books”. The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy, 43.3: 227–236.
Pan, Jixing. (1998). The History of Chinese science and technology: Paper making and Print. Beijing: Science Press.
San San May and Jana Igunma. (2018). Buddhism Illuminated: Manuscript Art from Southeast Asia. London: The British Library.
Van Schaik, Sam and Imre Galambos. (2012). Manuscripts and Travellers: The Sino-Tibetan Documents of a Tenth-Century Buddhist Pilgrim. Studies in Manuscript Cultures, vol. 2. Berlin: De Gruyter.
Siriporn Jangsutthivorawat. (2001). “Paper mulberry identification using molecular genetic techniques”, Master’s thesis, Department of Genetics, Kasetsart University, Bangkok (in Thai).
Song, Minah. (2009). “The history and characteristics of traditional Korean books and bookbinding”. Journal of the Institute of Conservation, 32.1: 53–78.
Songsi Praphatthong (ed.). (1994). Phasa lae wannakam loetlam nakhòn thai (Language and excellent literary works of Thailand). Bangkok: Fine Arts Department.
Stoddard, Heather. (2010). “Stitched Books from the Tibetan World”. In Anne Chayet et al. (eds.), Edition, éditions: l’écrit au Tibet, évolution et devenir. Munich: Indus Verlag, 363–379.
Terwiel, Barend Jan (with the assistance of Chaichuen Khamdaengyodtai). (2003). Shan Manuscripts, Part 1. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner.
Tsien, Tsuen-Hsuin. (1985). “Paper and Printing”. In Joseph Needham (ed.), Science and Civilisation in China, v. 5: Chemistry and Chemical Technology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wharton, David. (2017). Language, Orthography and Buddhist Manuscript Culture of the Tai Nuea: an apocryphical jātaka text in Mueang Sing, Laos. Ph.D. dissertation, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Passau, Germany.
Wikhan, Anapanurak and Puangsin Buapun. (2001). “Paper Mulberry Pulp Properties by Various Alkaline Processes”, http://posaa.kapi.ku.ac.th/Document/PDF/FinalRep2001_V2/Full_2A-2-1(3).pdf (accessed 3 October 2020).
Wyatt, David K. (2006). Manuscripts, Books, and Secrets. (unpublished manuscript).
Interviews
Nan Savaeng, son of Mai Saengkham, the local healer from Pak Chaek village, by telephone on 21 August 2020.
Nan Pan, the ceremonial master from Pak Chaek village, by telephone on 21 August 2020.
