Register for a CSMC lecture

Monday, 18 August 2025, 4:15 pm – 6:00 pm CEST
AAI, room 124

From Handwriting to Woodblock Engraving

The Buddhist Printing Culture in Early 20th Century Northern Vietnam

Tô Lan NGUYỄN (Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences)

Woodblock printing was the principal technique for producing printed books in Vietnam’s pre-modern literary tradition, even after other methods such as lithography or typography had been developed. This presentation offers a case study of a Four-Part Vinaya《四分律》text, for which the calligraphy of Venerable Tâm An 心安和尚 (1892–1982) was used as the model for engraving the woodblocks. It discusses Vietnamese woodblock printing culture at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries from various aspects, including the reasons for choosing woodblock printing rather than other techniques; the source manuscripts used for copying; the process of transcribing the original into a copy for printing; the calligraphic style employed; the individuals and communities involved in hand-copying and inscribing the woodblocks for engraving; the engraving techniques and workshops; and the circulation and role of woodblock-printed sutras in Buddhist practice.

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