Opusculum de Sectis apud Sinenses et Tunkinenses

A Small Treatise on the Sects among the Chinese and Tonkinese

Father Adriano di St Thecla author Olga Dror translator Mariya Berezovska translator

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Cornell University Press

Published:1st Jan '02

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Opusculum de Sectis apud Sinenses et Tunkinenses cover

This 1750 text, written by a Catholic missionary in Tonkin, is the earliest known systematic first-hand account of Vietnamese religious practice, including chapters on Confucianism, Buddhism, the worship of spirits, magicians, fortune tellers and diviners, and Christianity in the region. It was recently discovered in a Paris archive and will be of interest to a broad array of scholars. Includes a facsimile of the original manuscript.

Challenging the contemporary understanding of Vietnamese history and culture... this work makes it clearer than ever that there was no definite boundary between court culture and rural culture, and between 'Chinese' and 'Vietnamese.' It is even more admirable that such significant findings are carefully annotated and cross-referenced with an enormous body of sources. This is a first-class piece which marks a new stage in Vietnamese studies.

* Journal of Southeast Asian Studies *

Olga Dror clearly demonstrates tremendous skill and intelligence in the numerous notes that she has appended to the translation.... The ultimate treasure in this book, however, is Adriano di St. Thecla's treatise and its depiction of the religious world of eighteenth-century Tonkin.... The details that Adriano di St. Thecla provides in describing some of these Confucian rituals make this work one of a kind.... The other great strength of the book is the direct way it challenges the manner in which so many of us have been programmed to view the premodern history, culture, and religious practices of this part of the world.

* Journal of the Siam Society *

Dror renders the Latin text accessible to researchers and general readers alike with a highly informative translator's introduction and extensive annotations. Clearly, this is a labour of love and so it will be appreciated and remembered for a long time to come.

* Sojou

ISBN: 9780877277323

Dimensions: 254mm x 178mm x 19mm

Weight: 907g

239 pages