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The World Tipiṭaka :From 1893 Siam-Script Edition to 2008 Roman-Script EditionA Note for 2009 PublicationbyMaj. Suradhaj Bunnag
In the 112th year of the Rattanakosin Era or B.E. 2436 (1893) the Kingdom of Siam was bueted by events that seriously threatened the nation’s sovereignty. It is,therefore, all the more amazing that in the same year, the ruling sovereign monarch,King Chulalongkorn Chulachomklao of Siam, managed to publish a 39-volume editionof the Pāḷi Tipiṭaka, then written in ‘Siam script’, the rst time that the sacred textof the Theravāda Buddhist tradition had been printed in this script. Intended to markthe 25th anniversary of the king’s accession to the throne, some 500 sets were given asa dāna to monasteries throughout the country. Soon after, an additional 260 sets werepresented as a royal gift to various institutions around the world. Today, these booksare considered to be the earliest printed editions of the Pāḷi Tipiṭaka, and one of the
most important milestones in the dissemination of the sacred scriptures in the history
of the Theravāda Buddhist tradition.As the world’s rst printed edition of the Theravāda Buddhist scriptures, thePāḷi Tipiṭaka in Siam script is a testament to the genius of the Thai forefathers. Itrequired a wealth of cultural and technical knowledge acquired over generations and sixyears of hard work to complete the nal phrase of the publication over a century ago.The publication marked a signicant step forward in the early printing technology forreproducing the Tipiṭaka and the means of disseminating the Buddha’s words. In fact, thePāḷi Tipiṭaka in Siam script broke with centuries of tradition in ve important ways:
 
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1.
Modern and Practical Printing Media
With this publication in the B.E. 2436 (1893), the Pāḷi Tipiṭaka was printed noton traditional palm leaves but on industrial paper, the rst time paper was used in theproduction of a book-form set of the Tipiṭaka since the oral teachings were rst recordedin written form in the 4th century B.E, breaking a world historiographic tradition datingback over 2,000 years.
2.
Contemporary and Popular Script in the Kingdom of Siam
The Pāḷi text was transliterated not in ancient Khmer script but in contemporarySiam script during the reign of King Chulachomklao of Siam, breaking with a regionalscriptural tradition dating back no less than 1,000 years.
3.
Systematic Publishing Technology
For the rst time, the Pāḷi text was not inscribed by hand but printed by machine,using the most advanced publishing technology of the time.
4.
Document-Centric Document
Also for the rst time, the Tipiṭaka was treated as document-centric documentprinting, the most advanced IT concept of the time, with systematic page numberingand an innovative printing of the table of contents. It was no longer simply an artifacthand-printed on a series of palm fronds.
5.
Tipiṭaka Repositories Network Worldwide
In addition to the religious tradition of keeping the Tipiṭaka in “scripture halls” inmonasteries around the country, copies of the 39-volume Pāḷi Tipiṭaka were distributedto and housed at important international learning institutions all around the world,creating a new additional network of Tipiṭaka repositories worldwide.In 2004, to celebrate the 112th anniversary of this great historic achievement, theDhamma Society, in conjunction with the Information Technology and CommunicationsMinistry in Bangkok, held a special lecture on “ Chulachomklao the Dhamma ProtectorPāḷi Tipiṭaka in Siam-Script Edition (1893) : 112 Years of Thai Dhamma Technologyfor the World.”Graciously presiding over the commemorative lecture was His Majesty the King’sElder Sister, Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana, who showed tremendous
 
(ix)interest in the historic edition of the Siam-script Tipiṭaka. Her presence at the lecturemarked the start of a renewed interest in and appreciation for the country’s contributionto the dissemination of Theravāda Buddhist wisdom of Tipiṭaka around the world. It alsosignaled the subsequent success of the on-going project to publish the 40-volume WorldTipiṭaka in Roman script, the rst time that the B.E. 2500 (1957) Great InternationalTipiṭaka Council Edition was to appear in an international alphabet. An edited andrevised version of the 2500 Buddhist Era Great International Council Pāḷi Tipiṭaka, thiswork was nally published by the Dhamma Society, in Bangkok in 2005.On March 6, 2005, to ocially mark the 112th anniversary of the “Chulachomklaoof Siam Pāḷi Tipiṭaka in Siam Script,” Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana, asa granddaughter of King Chulalongkorn Chulachomklao and Honorary President of theTipiṭaka Presentation to Leading International Institutions Worldwide, personally escortedthe inaugural set of the World Tipiṭaka from Bangkok to Colombo in order to presentthis 40-volume edition as a royal gift of Dhamma to the President of the DemocraticSocialist Republic of Sri Lanka, the cradle of the world’s written Tipiṭaka.Consequently, the royal gift generated a great deal of interest in the Tipiṭaka inSiam-script edition, both in Sri Lanka and in other countries throughout the Buddhistworld, since the Siam-script edition had laid the foundation for the meeting of the 1957Great Buddhist Council for the Collation of the Pāḷi Tipiṭaka in Burmese script andhad served as the basis for the transliteration of the Pāḷi Tipiṭaka in Roman script.To preserve the historic Pāḷi text in Siam script, the Dhamma Society tookdigital photographs of each page and stored them in an electronic archive over a periodbetween 2003 and 2004. Then in 2005, this archive began to be made available over theInternet at www.dhammasociety.org. Two years later, the Dhamma Society unvailed anew project to publish a printed version of the digital preservation edition of the PāḷiTipiṭaka in Siam script. Completed in 2007, it incorporated not only all 16,248 pagesof the digital archive images but also the new information of the printed Pāḷi Tipiṭakain Roman Script as well. The digital archive of the Siam-script edition was unvailed in2008 for the Internet users at www.tipitakahall.netEntitled “Chulachomklao of Siam : A Digital Preservation Edition 2009”, itfeatures the following:
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