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On the path to enlightenment: Nuns going to gather food at HCM City's Central Pagoda. The photo is featured in Chua Viet Nam. |
HA NOI — The fourth edition of Chua Viet Nam (Vietnamese Pagodas) recently hit bookstores throughout the country.
The book provides a closer glimpse of the country's most remote pagodas and is more expansive in its scope than previous editions.
The collection, which was first printed in 1993 in both Vietnamese and English, now contains portraits and information about 118 pagodas in 61 cities and provinces throughout Viet Nam. However, this recent addition is only available in Vietnamese.
"Written by three renown scholars Ha Van Tan, Nguyen Van Ku and Pham Ngoc Long, the book is one of the few archaeological publications that has been reprinted time and time again," archaeologist Nguyen Viet, from the Centre for Southeast Asian Prehistory, told Viet Nam News.
Viet said that each of the three writers had spent an ample amount of time researching Vietnamese archaeology.
Professor Tan was the director of the Viet Nam Archaeology Institute between 1988 and 2006 and was also the deputy director of the Ha Noi Buddhism Research Institute.
Ku is also a well known archaeologist, who was one of the first archaeologists to work in Viet Nam since it gained independence in 1945.
Photographer Pham Ngoc Long also worked as an archaeologist before he died last year.
"We would like to republish the book in English as well, but we lack the financial resources," said Ku, "This is why the fourth edition is now only available in Vietnamese."
The book, which features 1,000 photos, contains sketches, maps, and an introduction about Vietnamese pagodas written by Prof Tan.
The pagodas are listed chronologically according to their age. Each section features a short historical introduction about the featured pagodas along with an architectural analysis.
The book also lists 730 pagodas, which have been recognised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as historical relics. — VNS