Centre of Northern Lao Manuscript Culture: A catalogue of manuscripts from Vat That Luang Rasamahavihan, Luang Prabang

This catalogue aims at documenting only the palm-leaf manuscripts that have been digitised in the frame of the EAP1398 project. It is intended for use as a research reference. The manuscripts documented and described in the catalogue are all written on palm-leaf manuscripts. The vast majority of these palm-leaf manuscripts contain one single text running over one fascicle (phuk), although others contain more than one, and some even run up to ten or more fascicles. However, many of the multi-fascicle manuscripts are not complete with one or more fascicles missing. A number of manuscripts comprised of one single fascicle may have originally been part of a larger multi-fascicle manuscript, with the remaining fascicles having got lost. Some manuscripts are complete and in good physical condition while others are lightly or severely damaged with parts of the text missing. The manuscripts, palm-leaf as well as paper manuscripts, contain various texts of various genres. Most of the texts are canonical Buddhist scriptures, homiletic texts called anisong, Jataka tales (stories of the Buddha’s previous existences) or other Buddhist literature. However, some secular texts also deserve our attention, for example treatises on language and grammar, didactic literature, or astrological and medical treatises, and customary law texts.