Parabaik
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| Parabaik | |
|---|---|
| Burma (Myanmar) | |
| Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:InfoboxImage/data' not found. Black parabaik, c. 1875 CE | |
| Also known as | Shan: Script error: No such module "lang". |
| Type | Folding book manuscript |
| Date | bef. 16th century - late 19th cen. |
| LanguageTemplate:Pluralize from text | Page Template:Hlist/styles.css has no content. |
| Patron | Page Template:Hlist/styles.css has no content. |
| Material | Mulberry paper |
| Size | Folio: Template:Cvt to Template:Cvt |
| Format | Folding book |
| Script | Mon–Burmese script |
| IlluminationTemplate:Pluralize from text | Burmese Buddhist art |
| ExemplarTemplate:Pluralize from text | Burmese chronicles (Maha Yazawin) |
The parabaik[a] (Template:Langx; Script error: No such module "IPA".) is a Burmese-culture folding book manuscript. Used concurrently with palm-leaf manuscripts since at least before the 16th century, two main varieties of parabaik were used: black parabaiks served as erasable notebooks, and white parabaiks were used for official documents, and as a support for Burmese art. Use of parabaiks was usurped by the European codex after the British conquest of Burma. Historical parabaiks are valued in codicological research for both Burmese state chronicles, as well as examples of ephemera and gray literature.
History
The majority of Burmese chronicles were originally written on parabaik.[1]Template:Rp
Use outside Burma
Use of parabaik outside of Burma is rare. A black parabaik palimpsest of Islamic syair exists that was written in 15th January 1835 in Jawi script by a Patani Sultanate scribe, for a Burmese jurist. The parabaik was written in portrait orientation. [2]
Related manuscript types
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". Thailand has a related folding book manuscript tradition of the Template:Interlanguage, also called samut khoi.[3]Template:Rp
Construction and use
Parabaiks are made from thick paper. The standard paper was saa paper (Script error: No such module "Lang"., Template:Literal), a mulberry paper sourced from Shan communities and often referred to by their craft village (e.g. "Minegaing paper", "Maingkaing paper").[4][5] Mango tree-bark paper (Script error: No such module "Lang"., Script error: No such module "lang".) was a lower-grade alternative to saa paper used in the 18th to 19th century. Bamboo paper was also used as a low-grade option for drafts and duplicates; laid bamboo paper (Script error: No such module "Lang"., Script error: No such module "lang".) was stronger and smoother than ordinary, coarse bamboo paper (Script error: No such module "Lang"., Script error: No such module "lang".).[6]
The paper is glued into a very long sheet and folded in a concertina fashion, with the front and back lacquered to form protective covers or attached to decorative covers. Parabaiks range in size from Template:Cvt to Template:Cvt; lower-grade paper is typically favored as the manuscript dimensions increase.[2][6]
Black parabaik
"Black" parabaiks (Script error: No such module "Lang"., Script error: No such module "lang".) are given a black, tacky finish using ground charcoal, adhered with rice starch or animal glue. Black parabaik are written on using white soapstone crayons (Script error: No such module "Lang"., Script error: No such module "lang".); these markings can be erased, and the entire surface re-blackened for use as a palimpsest. Black parabaik were used for note-taking, sketching, and drafting.[2][6]
White parabaik
The "white" parabaik (Script error: No such module "Lang"., Script error: No such module "lang".) is left uncolored, or else sized with entada seeds or rice starch.[2][6]
White parabaiks are used for painting, called Script error: No such module "lang". (Script error: No such module "Lang".).[5]
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Method of use
Textual parabaik are typically read by opening them two pages at a time, flipping a fold forward to expose the next pair in sequence.[2]
Conservation
Parabaiks are susceptible to pest damage, water damage, and decay. The glue that keeps the accordion together may also fail, splitting the document into loose folios.
The Universities' Central Library in Yangon houses the country's largest collection of traditional manuscripts, including 4,000 parabaiks.[7]
Notes
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- ^ also parabeik, parabike
References
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- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Hla, Pe (1985). Burma: Literature, Historiography, Scholarship, Language, Life, and Buddhism. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. ISBN 9789971988005.
- ^ a b c d e Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.binte Zulkifli, Noorashikin (2018), "A Rare and Unusual Malay Parabaik" (PDF), Cultural Connections, vol. 3, The Culture Academy Singapore, pp. 121–126
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Terwiel, Barend Jan (2014), "On the Trail of King Taksin's Samutphāp Traiphūm", Journal of the Siam Society, vol. 102, Bangkok, Thailand: The Siam Society, pp. 41–66
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Tin, Phone Nwe (2016-12-13), Preservation and Conservation of the Ancient Myanmar Manuscripts at Universities’ Central Library (Yangon), Symposium Program for Digitization and Conservation of Myanmar Old Manuscripts, University of Yangon
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Tawthalin Month: The Month of Boat Races" (PDF), Regional Centre for Archaeology and Fine Arts, Cultural Understanding through Paintings of Southeast Asia and Korea, Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization, pp. 78–83
- ^ a b c d Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Thaw, Kaung (2016-08-06), Unearthed Story of Myanmar History: Preserving Myanmar Manuscripts, Program for Digitization and Conservation of Myanmar Old Manuscripts, University of Yangon, Myanmar
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The Documentary heritage of Myanmar: selected case studies". UNESCO. 2018. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
