MUS, Paul Léon Joseph. Bourges (Cher) 1.6.1902 — Murs (Vaucluse) 9.8.1969. French Art Historian, Sociologist and Indologist. Professor in Paris. Son of a protestant couple of teachers, in 1907 the family moved to Vietnam (English Wikipedia Hanoi, French Saigon). Studies in Paris under Lévi, Mauss, Pelliot, etc., of Sanskrit, Chinese, Pāli, Tibetan and Thai. In 1927 joined É.F.E.O. in Hanoi, spent two years in Angkor, visited Java and studied Chams of Central Vietnam. In 1937 returned to Paris and succeeded Foucher as directeur d’études at É.P.H.É. (taught in 1939-41 and after the war). During the war he joined France Libre and was sent to Pondichéry in 1943. In 1945 parachuted to still occupied Tonkin and escaping narrowly the Japanese he arrived at Yunnan. Back in Paris he was much used as a specialist of Vietnam. From 1949 Professor at Collège de France, of “civilization de l’Extrême-Orient”. In 1950 visiting Professor at Yale, where he then visited every year. Married 1924 Suzanne Godbille, one son (d. 1960) and one daughter.
Mus’s speciality was South-East Asian culture and Indian impact in it. In India he emphasized the importance of autochthonous, Pre-Aryan element beside the IE background of the Veda, clearly seen e.g. in Viṣṇu and Śiva.
Publications: “Études indiens et indochinoises”, BEFEO 28, 1928, 147–247, 29, 1929, 331-342 & 31, 1931, 39-102; “Cultes indiens et indigènes au Champa”, BEFEO 33, 1933, 367–410; “La mythologie primitive et la pensée de l’Inde”, Bull. de la société fr. de philosophie 1937, 83-126; “La notion de temps réversible dans la mythologie bouddhique”, Annuaire de l’É.P.H.É. 1938-39, 5-78; other articles.
– Barabudur: esquisse d’une histoire du bouddhisme fondée sur la critique archéologique des textes. 1100 p. Hanoi & P. 1935 (first publ. in BEFEO 32-34, 1932-34).
– Diss. La lumière sur les six voies. Tableau de la transmigration bouddhique d’après les sources sanskrites, pāli, tibétaines et chinoises. 1. 28+330 p. Travaux et mémoirs d’Inst. d’Ethnogr. 35. P. 1939; diss. II. Le Ṣaḍgatikārikā de Dhārmika Subhūti. 137 p. P. 1939.
– “Le mythe et l’histoire dans l’Inde: à propos de Puruṣasūkta (RV.X.90)”, Hommage à Lucien Fèvre 2, 1953, 11-18; “Du nouveau sur Ṛgveda 10, 90. Sociologie d’une grammaire”, W. N. Brown Vol. 1962, 165-185; “Où finit puruṣa?”, Mélanges Renou 1968, 539-563.
– “Un cinéma solide: L’intégration du temps dans l’art de l’Inde et dans l’art contemporain; pourquoi?”, Arts as. 10, 1964, 21-34
– Le Viêt-Nam chez lui. 58 p. P. 1946; Viêt-Nam, sociologie d’une guerre. 380 p. P. 1952; Le destin de l’Union française. 359 p. P. 1954; Guerre sans visage. 191 p. P. 1961; Hô Chi Minh, le Vietnam, l’Asie. 253 p. P. 1971; L’Angle de l’Asie. 269 p. 1988.
Sources: *D. Chandler, “P.M. (1902-1969): A Biographical Sketch”, Journal of Vietnamese Studies 4, 2009, 149-191; L. Dartigues, D.O.L.F. 714f.; *G. Moréchand, BEFEO 57, 1970, 24-38 by, with bibliography 39-42 and photo; S. Yhion, L’Acad. des Sciences d’outre-mer in Arch. biogr. fr.; Chercheurs d’Asie 180-182; bibliography also in his *L’Angle de l’Asie. 1988; Wikipedia (more in French version).