Bulletin Winter 1976

world. However, we are glad that some of our research efforts have borne fruit, such as the publication of A Collection of Chinese Inscription in Singapore, co-compiled by Mr. Tan Yeok-seong and myself, and the collation of Vietnamese historical sources. With the completion of these two projects, scholars in the field are provided with mor e reliable historical sources for their research on Singapore and Vietnamese history. Unfortunately the publication of the latter has to be delayed owing to the lack of sufficient funds. Mr. James Watt, Curator of the Art Gallery and concurrently Research Fellow of our Centre, is conducting a research on "The Pottery Trade in Southeast Asia from the 13th to 16th Centuries" with a grant from the Harvard-Yenching Institute, and has visited the University of Michigan in U.S.A. and various museums and private collectors in the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand for data-collection. Archaeologists attach much importance to this research and hope that more information on the pottery trade in Southeast Asia in the Ming Dynasty may come to light in the near future. Thanks to the efforts of its Advisers, who are all world-renowned erudite scholars, the CEAS is able to offer some services to our confreres in other parts of the world. I ， for my part, have also tried to do what I can. For several years, I have been serving the National Endowment for the Humanities, Washington D.C. as its Assessor for research projects on Asian problems applying for grants. And, as a member of the Executive Committee of the Japan Society for Southeast Asian Historical Studies, I have been of assistance in liaison between Japanese scholars and those from Southeast Asia, Europe and�America. Other activities that serve to stimulate the exchange of ideas include participation in various internatonal conferences. In November 1975 members of the Centre, with grants from The Asia Foundation, attended the Meeting of the Society of Southeast Asian History in Japan and research papers were delivered. We shall also be attending the 7th Conference of Asian Historians to be held in Bangkok, Thailand in August 1977. Q. Japanese and Vietnamese studies seem to be the main thrust of the Centre's research. Has the political situation of Vietnam affected the study of its culture? Have you encountered any difficulties in data collection? A. Since China ha s long-standing close cultural relations with both Japan and Vietnam, it behoves us to train specialists in Japanese and Vietnamese studies along purely academic lines. This is indeed one of the prime objectives of the Centre. I hope my close association with academics in the two countries will help me in these endeavours. The unification of North and South Vietnam should facilitate Vietnamese studies both within and without the country. Take historical studies for example. Before unification, the academic worlds of North and South Vietnam had no contact whatsoever, hence the duplications in research and publication efforts , resulting in great waste in time and manpower. Now in data collection, we can readily buy all publications from a national bookstore in Hanoi or a Vietnamese bookstore in Paris which deal centrally with all orders. Although the academic world in Vietnam has not yet resumed contact with other countries, it is believed that Vietnamese scholars will soon be travelling to other countries for cultural contacts and research, and will also be attending international conferences. Cultural interchange with Vietnam will then flourish again. I have many friends in both North and South Vietnam, and I shall be more than pleased to accept an invitation t o visit them and find out what they are doing in historical studies. Q. Is the Centre contemplating other new projects focusing on other countries in the area? A. We are discussing with the Asiatic Researc h Centre of Korea University the possibility of exchanging both research staf f and students for a joint venture in the comparative study of Korean and Vietnamese cultural history. Because of geographical proximity, Vietnam and Korea have long been within China's sphere of cultural influnce. However, the degree of influence by Chinese culture differs in the two countries and the course of development of their own cultures and society warrants an intensive study by scholars of Far East histories. Personally, I strongly hope that this project will materialize in the near future.