Preservation of Palm-Leaf Scriptures in Dai Buddhism : หน้า 97/141

donate palm-leaf scriptures as an act of merit and such donations appear less frequently in the sacred dantam (贽坦) or offering ceremony. Donors prefer to donate Buddhist scriptures printed using modern technology on the less expensive Chinese paper. The donation of a Buddhist text printed on Chinese paper or sa-paper costs only a few Renimbi, while the donation of a traditionally inscribed palm-leaf manuscript can cost many thousands of Yuan. Another reason for the popularity of Chinese and sa-paper is the increased legibility of the manuscripts: monks prefer to hold sa-paper and Chinese paper manuscripts while chanting. The main halls of Dai Buddhist temples in Menghai are usually very dark and it is very difficult to read palm-leaf scriptures under these lighting conditions. The Author had tried to hold one Palm-Leaf scripture in the Hall to read, and found it very hard to see clearly the dense and numerous small letters. In contrast, Chinese and sa-paper texts are much easier to read because both the page and the character size is larger, and the white background contrasts sharply with the black letters. A further problem is that increasing amounts of Dai people are unable to read and write the ancient Dai Dhamma script or the Pāli language. The traditional script has been replaced by the New Dai script developed since the 1950s which currently is part of the bilingual curriculum in the National Education System. The traditional place where literacy in the Dhamma script was learned was the Buddhist temple. Dai men who ordain as Buddhist novices and monks can and do learn the Dhamma scripts. However, today, the ordination period tends to be very short (often only 3 months in duration) which is not enough time to learn the ancient script adequately (today, few Dai males choose to become lifetime monks). Dai women have never learned the Dhamma script, as it is associated with the ordination of males as Buddhist novices and monks. It seems likely that in the future, the preservation of Palm-Leaf scriptures will rely on those academics who master Pāli as well as the Dai Dhamma script. Unless priority is given to the study of Dai Buddhist manuscripts, it seems likely that this ancient manuscript culture will also vanish slowly from Sipsong Panna.