ECOLE FRANCAISE D'EXTREME-ORIENT

HISTORY

Founded in Saigon on the initiative of the AcadＮie des inscriptions et
belle-lettres in 1898, the Mission archＰlogique d'Indochine became the Ecole
Fran㌢ise d'ExtrＮe-Orient (EFEO) in 1901. At the same time, its seat was
transferred to Hanoi. The original tasks of the EFEO included the
archaeological exploration of French Indochina, the conservation of its
monuments, the collection of manuscripts, and research to the region's
linguistic heritage. In addition, the EFEO set out to study the history of the
major Asian civilizations from India to Japan.
In time the Ecole fran㌢ise d' ExtrＮe-Orient expanded its installations,
beginning with the creation of a library and a museum in Hanoi. In 1907, the
EFEO assumed the responsibility for the conservation of the monumental site
of Angkor in Cambodia. Thus the great works of restoration and maintenance and
the topographic and photographic surveys of the ancient royal capital of the
Khmer, as well as the large scale reconstitution of the site based on the
methods of authentic reconstruction known as "anastylose" were carried out
under the supervision of EFEO archaeologists and architects. In 1970 Angkor
was one of the largest archaeological sites in the world.
In the wake of contemporary political events, the EFEO was compelled to leave
Hanoi in 1957 and Cambodia in 1975. The seat of the EFEO was moved to Paris
and established in the Maison d'Asie at 22 avenue du PrＴident-Wilson in 1968.
At that time the EFEO had begun to implement a new type of installation in
Asia. A permanent EFEO centre for history and indology had been set up in
Pondicherry, India in 1955. Since the late 1950's, a permanent EFEO centre in
Jakarta had provided a base for specialists in the fields of archaeology and
religious epigraphy. The Hobogirin Institute, housed in the great Zen temple
Shokkokuji in Kyoto, was established in 1968 as the centre of the study of the
history of Buddhism. Similarly, a research centre was opened in Chiang Mai in
Northern Thailand, for the study of early Buddhist texts from that region.
In the course of several years, research installations have also been
permanently established in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Taipei (Taiwan), and Poona
(India). Since 1989, the EFEO has renewed its presence in Phnom Penh and
resumed work on the side of Angkor. Meanwhile an agreement signed with the
Vietnamese authorities in 1993 opens the prospect of a new centre and library
in Hanoi. The feasibility of additional centres in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul,
and Vientiane is presently under study.

ACTIVITIES

The EFEO is above all a centre for research into the civilization of South
Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia. It comprises some thirty Asianists,
representing the academic disciplines of Anthropology, Archaeology,
Architecture, History, History of Art, Linguistics, Philology, and Epigraphy.
The EFEO remains attached to its traditional emphasis on the study of primary
sources -archaeological, written, and oral- and requires of its members a
knowledge of the relevant written and spoken languages.
Members of the EFEO based in the centres abroad work within the framework of
agreements on scholarly co-operation with local institutions, including
ministries, universities and research centres. They take part in the training
of young researchres in the countries concerned and in exchanges with
academics and specialists in the respective fields. The EFEO organizes
international meetings of scholars and symposia and workshops in its research
areas. Finally, it publishes the writings of its members and assists in the
publication of other academic work.
The EFEO pursues a long-standing co-operation with the Fourth and Fifth
Sections of the Ecole pratique des hautes Ｕudes (History and Philology and
Religious Studies, respectively) The Ecoles des hautes Ｕudes en sciences
sociales, the Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales
(INALCO), some French universities (Paris III, Paris IV, Paris VII and others)
and the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS). It supervises
doctoral students and welcomes researchers for periods of training in the EFEO
centres abroad. The majority of the members of the EFEO are affiliated with
research projects of the CNRS) and teach in universities in France and abroad.
The EFEO maintains co-operative programmes with European and especially Asian
universities and research centres including Sophia university in Tokyo, the
Academia Sinica in Taipei, the Chinese University in Hong Kong, Silpakorn in
Bangkok, the National Institute of Archaeological Research in Jakarta, Deccan
College of the University of Poona. These programmes comprise exchange in the
co-financing of research projects, and specialized courses offered by the
members of the EFEO.
A close collaboration with the Department of Scientific, Cultural and
Technological Relations of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and with
UNESCO enables the EFEO to undertake certain costly operations, such as the
resumption of archaelogical work at Angkor.

PUBLICATIONS

BOOKS
The EFEO publishing the following series:
* the Publications de l'Ecole fran㌢ise d'ExtrＮe-Orient (PEFEO), comprising
theses and monographs (169 volumes to date),
* the MＮoires archＰlogiques (20 volumes),
* a reprint series for scholarly works out of print (6 volumes),
* the Hobogirin, an encyclopaedic dictionary of Buddhism based on
Sino-Japanese sources.
The EFEO is also solely or jointly responsible for the publication of the
following collections in Asia:
* Textes bouddhiques du Cambodge, edited by Fonds d'Editon des manuscrits
Cambodge, Laos et Tha詰ande (2 volumes), published in in Chiang Mai,
* Textes et documents nousantariens (9 volumes), published in Jakarta,
* Romans et contes du Vietnam Ｄrits en han (12 volumes), published in Taipei.
The EFEO further participates in certain publications of the Institut
fran㌢ise in Pondicherry and the Institute of Social Sciences in Hanoi

PERIODICALS
The Bulletin de l'Ecole fran㌢ise d'ExtrＮe-Orient (BEFEO) has been the main
periodical forum of the EFEO since 1901. It is normally issued in one annual
volume.
Arts asiatiques is published jointly, since 1962, by the EFEO and the Guimet
and Cernuschi Museums, with the assistance of the CNRS.
The Cahiers d'ExtrＮe-Asie, launched in 1982, are published by the Hobogirin
Institute in Kyoto.

LIBRARY
The history of the library of the EFEO parallels that of the Ecole since the
beginning of the century. Soon to be suitably 
installed in the refurbished building at 22 avenue du PrＴident-Wilson, it
forms an important part of the Asian Studies collection in Paris.
The library comprises some 60,000 volumes and more than 1,000 periodical
titles, including 350 active journals. It preserves, in addition, a unique
collection of 159,000 photographic documents, mostly concerning former French
Indochina, especially the monuments of Angkor; a rich collection of some 2,000
manuscripts on various media, of which two-thirds are in numerous Asian
languages; a large collection of rubbings, maps, and plans, as well as
audio-visual materials and objects (bronzes, coins, etc,). Continuously
expanded through acquisitions exchanges and gifts, the library represents a
major resource in France and in Europe.
The library has published and diffuses catalogues of some of its collections:
Indonesia (with supplement), Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, and Tibet. A
catalogue of its holdings in Pali manuscripts is currently in preparation.
Upon completion of the library's ongoing computerization, its catalogues will
be accessible through French and international networks.

For further information please contact:
Ecole Francaise d'Extreme-Orient
22, Avenue du President-Wilson
75116 Paris
France
Tel: (33) 145804900
Fax: (33) 145809701

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