Chinese Deathscapes in Insulindia: A Special Issue of Archipel, vol. 92 (2016) ed. by Claudine Salmon (review)

This special issue of the journal Archipel comprising seven articles and an introduction is a welcome addition to the historiography of cemeteries in Southeast Asia, relatively scanty in comparison with many other subjects in the history discipline. The references of the articles in this collection, from a workshop convened in Manila in August 2015 with a few written subsequently, supply a useful survey of the current state of the writing – largely in European (mainly English) and Chinese language literature, in keeping with its focus, “Chinese Deathscapes”. It has long been recognised that textual materials alone may be insufficient to reconstruct a satisfactory narrative of historical processes in proto-historic times on a variety of topics. What more, even where documentary evidence in scattered locations are available, archaeological and epigraphic data can enhance considerably the efforts towards accounts of selected subjects. Indeed, in recent decades, crossing disciplinary boundaries has been very much a part of the developments in the various fields in the humanities and social sciences due to an appreciation that the benefits of drawing on the insights, methodologies and analytical frameworks of different areas of knowledge are immense. A few examples1 may suffice to substantiate this approach. For instance, from religious studies, the chief editor of the series Dynamics in the History of Religions posits the benefits of a multi-disciplinary line of inquiry towards an understanding of the “processes of formation, evolution and expansion” of world religions.2 More specifically, Bellezza clarifies that by “Synthesizing archaeological, art, epigraphic and textual materials dating from circa 500 BCE to 1000 CE [this has assisted the project] to elucidate localized and trans-regional aspects of Buddhist transmission and trade routes…”.3 A number of themes are addressed by the writers. In her editor’s Introduction, Claudine Salmon touched on the evolutionary process of cemeteries giving way when up against the pressures of urban expansion. Thereafter, her essay’s title conveyed her focus, “Vanishing Landmarks of the Past”.