Project description DEENESFRITPL Digital analysis of ancient Vietnamese inscriptions The discovery of 40 000 paper stampings reproducing the inscriptions on columns erected between the 16th and 20th century in Vietnam offers a unique opportunity for the study of the Vietnamese society during this period. The inscriptions are written in an idiom that comprises Chinese and local vernacular. These inscriptions are invaluable for the richness in information they contain. The EU-funded VIETNAMICA project will analyse the material to study rural society, religion approaches and economic structures during the five centuries covered by the inscriptions. Popular Buddhism, woman’s role in the gift economy, land ownership and monetisation will be among the studies the project pursues. The stampings will be analysed and studied through advanced digitalised instruments and techniques. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective Driven by a general movement in Asia to invest in Classical studies, the project Vietnamica aims for a historical and linguistic study of ancient, invaluable Vietnamese inscriptions, while also helping to determine a ground-breaking method for the use of epigraphic resources. In partnership with Han-Nôm Institute and Vietnam National University, the project is motivated by the recent divulgence of 40,000 paper stampings that reproduce the inscriptions engraved on the surfaces of 25,000 steles erected between the 16th to 20th century in Vietnam. These inscriptions, written in a complex Chinese embedded with the local vernacular, are conserved at the Han-Nôm Institute in Hanoi.Offering an unexpected counterpoint to existing official sources, these inscriptions prompt the study of rural inhabitants, monks and notables across an era of five centuries through their very own language. The project will produce a series of studies on popular Buddhism and its connection to the ancestor cult, donations and the role of women in the economy of gifting, and monetization and land property. Based on these themes, the project will record and analyze the logographic processes that the Vietnamese once used to transcribe the language they spoke. Such research - close to the field and to its people - was once a dream for scholars, and is now possible due to the corpus of stampings available. Characteristic of local histories, information is dispersed in fragments all throughout the corpus and it is first necessary to categorize the existing inscriptions. Vietnamica will rely on tools available through digital and computational humanities to construct a database of the stampings, connect it to data mapping, and on a more technical level, proceed with a segmentation of the text to allow for the automatic identification of the demotic characters. The results from the project will converge on a Platform (Vietnamica.eu) that is meant to remain accessible to researchers indefinitely. Fields of science humanitiesphilosophy, ethics and religionreligionseastern religionsnatural sciencescomputer and information sciencesdatabaseshumanitieshistory and archaeologyhistorynatural sciencescomputer and information sciencesdata sciencedata processing Keywords History Donation Computational humanities Inscription Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme Topic(s) ERC-2018-ADG - ERC Advanced Grant Call for proposal ERC-2018-ADG See other projects for this call Funding Scheme ERC-ADG - Advanced Grant Host institution ECOLE PRATIQUE DES HAUTES ETUDES Net EU contribution € 924 441,50 Address RUE FERRUS 4-14 75014 Paris France See on map Region Ile-de-France Ile-de-France Paris Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 924 441,50 Beneficiaries (2) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all ECOLE PRATIQUE DES HAUTES ETUDES France Net EU contribution € 924 441,50 Address RUE FERRUS 4-14 75014 Paris See on map Region Ile-de-France Ile-de-France Paris Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 924 441,50 AGENCE UNIVERSITAIRE DE LA FRANCOPHONIE Canada Net EU contribution € 1 567 142,00 Address BOULVARD EDOUARD MONTPETIT 3034 H3T1J7 Montreal See on map Activity type Other Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 1 567 142,00
