The French School of the Far East (, ; also translated as The French School of Asian Studies
[Preferred translation by EFEO staff. Se]
EFEO official website
), abbreviated EFEO, is an associated college of
PSL University dedicated to the study of Asian societies. It was founded on 20 January 1900 with headquarters in
Hanoi
Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...
in what was then
Tonkin protectorate of
French Indochina
French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...
. After the independence of Vietnam, its headquarters were transferred to
Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Cambodia, most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since 1865 and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its political, economic, industr ...
in 1957, and subsequently to
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
in 1975.
Its main fields of research are
archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
,
philology
Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...
and the study of modern Asian societies. Since 1907, the EFEO has been in charge of conservation work at the archeological site of
Angkor
Angkor ( , 'capital city'), also known as Yasodharapura (; ),Headly, Robert K.; Chhor, Kylin; Lim, Lam Kheng; Kheang, Lim Hak; Chun, Chen. 1977. ''Cambodian-English Dictionary''. Bureau of Special Research in Modern Languages. The Catholic Uni ...
.
Paul Mus
Paul Mus (1902–1969) was a French writer and scholar. His studies focused on Vietnam and other Southeast Asian cultures.
He was born in Bourges to an academic family, and grew up in northern Vietnam ( Tonkin). In 1907 his father opened the Coll ...
was a member of EFEO since 1927, and "returned to Hanoi in 1927 as a secretary and librarian with the Research Institute of the French School of the Far East until 1940."
[.]
EFEO romanization system
A
romanization
In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Latin script, Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and tra ...
system for
Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
was developed by the EFEO. It shares a few similarities with
Wade-Giles and
Hanyu Pinyin
Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means ' Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin'' literally ...
. In modern times, it has been superseded by Hanyu Pinyin.
The differences between the three romanization systems are shown in the following table:
Directors
*1900:
Louis Finot
*1905:
Alfred Foucher
*1908:
*1920:
Louis Finot
*1926:
*1929:
George Cœdès
*1947:
*1950:
Louis Malleret
*1956:
Jean Filliozat
*1977:
François Gros
*1989:
Léon Vandermeersch
*1993:
Denys Lombard
*1998:
Jean-Pierre Drège
*2004:
Franciscus Verellen
*2014:
Yves Goudineau
*2018:
Christophe Marquet
*2022:
Nicolas Fiévé
Publications
The catalog of EFEO Publications, of some 600 titles, includes works on a wide range of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences (archaeology, history, anthropology, literature, philology, etc.), centered on Asia, from India to Japan. These publications are directed at specialists and a wider public interested in Asian civilizations and societies.
The EFEO in publishes five scholarly journals on an annual or twice-yearly basis:
*''Bulletin de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient'' – BEFEO (Bulletin of the French School of Asian Studies), published since 1901
*''Arts Asiatiques'' (Asian Arts), published jointly with the
Musée Guimet
The Guimet Museum (full name in ; ''MNAAG''; ) is a Parisian art museum with one of the largest collections of Asian art outside of Asia that includes items from Cambodia, Thailand, Viet Nam, Tibet, India, and Nepal, among other countries.
Foun ...
and the
CNRS
The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe.
In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 eng ...
*''Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie'' (East Asian Journal), published in Kyoto
*''Aséanie'' (Southeast Asian Studies), published in Bangkok
*''Sinologie française''
: 法国汉学, T: 法國漢學, P: ''Fǎguó Hànxué''(French Sinology), published in Chinese in Beijing
See also
*
EFEO Chinese transcription
The Chinese transcription system invented by the French School of the Far East (EFEO) was the most widely used in the French-speaking world until the mid-20th century. While it is often deemed to have been devised by Séraphin Couvreur, who was ...
References
External links
*
Writing in western European languages that deal with China
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ecole francaise d'extreme-orient
Universities and colleges established in 1907
Universities and colleges in France
Archaeological research institutes in France
1907 establishments in France
Asian studies