Abstract
The profound transformation of Buddhism that occurred in Myanmar (Burma) during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries manifested itself in various ways.1 One of them was conceptual, including the creation of new overarching terms “Buddhism” (botdabada) and “religion” (bada) and the redefinition of Buddhist identity. Rather than the single-horizontal identity connoted by the modern term “Buddhism,” precolonial Burmese usage signified status differentiation, hierarchical arrangements and specific roles for samgha and laity.2 In addition, while precolonial concepts emphasized a discrete set of observances, the term “Buddhism,” adopted into modern Burmese, implies the primacy of a uniform set of doctrines.
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Notes
John Ross Carter, “The Origin and Development of ‘Buddhism’ and ‘Religion’ in the Study of Theravada Buddhist Tradition,” in On Understanding Buddhists: Essays on the Theravada Tradition in Sri Lanka (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993), 9–25.
Gustaaf Houtman, “How a Foreigner Invented Buddhendom in Burmese: From Tha-tha-na to Bok-da’ba-tha,” Journal of the Anthropological Society at Oxford, 21, no. 2 (1990), 113–128.
Kitsiri Malalgoda, “Concept and Confrontations: A Case Study of Agama,” in Sri Lanka: Collective Identities Revisited, ed. Michael Roberts, vol. 1 (Colombo: Marga, 1997), 55–78.
Kitsiri Malalgoda, “Sinhalese Buddhism: Orthodox and Syncretic, Traditional and Modern,” Ceylon Journal of Historical and Social Studies, 2, no. 2 (1972), 164.
See, for example, Gananath Obeyesekere, “Buddhism,” in Global Religions: An Introduction, ed. Mark Juergensmeyer (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), 63–77
Gananath Obeyesekere, “Buddhism, Ethnicity and Identity: A Problem of Buddhist History,” in Buddhism, Conflict and Violence in Modern Sri Lanka, ed. Mahinda Deegalle (London: Routledge, 2006), 134–162
Michael Roberts, Sinhala Consciousness in the Kandyan Period 1590s to 1815 (Colombo: Vijitha Yapa Publications, 2003).
David Scott, “Religion in Colonial Civil Society,” in Refashioning Futures: Criticism after Postcoloniality (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999), 53–69.
For the discussion of colonial constructions of Buddhism and its influence on contemporary Buddhists see John Ross Carter, “The Coming of ‘Early Buddhism’ to Sri Lanka,” in On Understanding Buddhists, 27–35; Philip Almond, The British Discovery of Buddhism (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988)
Curators of the Buddha: the Study of Buddhism under Colonialism, ed. Donald S. Lopez Jr. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995)
Judith Snodgrass, “Colonial Constructs of Theravāda Buddhism: Current Perspectives on Western Writing on Asian Tradition,” in Traditions in Current Perspective (Yangon: Universities Historical Research Centre, 1996), 79–98
Patrick Jory, “Thai and Western Buddhist Scholarship in the Age of Colonialism: King Chulalongkorn Redefines the Jatakas,” The Journal of Asian Studies, 61, no. 3 (2002): 891–918
Donald Lopez, Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998)
Judith Snodgrass, Presenting Japanese Buddhism to the West: Orientalism, Occidentalism, and the Columbian Exposition (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2003)
N. J. Girardot, “Max Müller’s Sacred Books and the Nineteenth-Century Production of the Comparative Science of Religions,” History of Religions, 41, no. 3 (2002): 213–250.
See Michael M. Ames, “Magical-animism and Buddhism: A Structural Analysis of the Sinhalese Religious System,” in Religion in South Asia, ed. Edward B. Harper (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1964), 28–30
Heinz Bechert, “Contradictions in Sinhalese Buddhism,” in Contributions to Asian Studies. Vol. 4 Tradition and Change in Theravāda Buddhism: Essays on Ceylon and Thailand in the 19th and 20th Centuries, ed. Bardwell L. Smith (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1973), 11–12
Mark A. Ehman, “Early History of Buddhism in Ceylon” in Buddhism a Modern Perspective, ed. Charles Prebish (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1975), 163–169
Richard F. Gombrich, Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo (London: Routledge, 1988)
Jane Bunnag, Buddhist Monk, Buddhist Layman: A Study of Urban Monastic Organization in Central Thailand (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1973), 20
F. Bruce Morgan, “Vocation of Monk and Layman: Signs of Change in Thai Buddhist Ethics,” in Contributions to Asian Studies 4: 68–69
Robert C. Lester, Theravada Buddhism in Southeast Asia (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1973), 5–8
These arguments are summarized in such works as Bimala Churn Law, “Nirvana and Buddhist Laymen,” Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute 14 (1932–1933): 80–86
P. D. Premasiri, “The Social Relevance of the Buddhist Nibbana Ideal,” in Buddhist Thought and Ritual, ed. David J. Kalupahana (New York: Paragon House, 1991), 45.
This position is derived from the passage in Samantapāsādikā, a commentary on Pali Vinaya (Sp 1291). Different approach reflected in the commentary on Dīa Nikā where the age of arahats was extended to 4000 years (Sv 899) was ignored by Burman monks until the late nineteenth to early twentieth century when it was used to demonstrate that thathana exists in a full-fledged condition. See Atula Hsayadaw, Nan-zin-pot-hsa amei-ahpei kyan (Enquiries of a Line of Kings-Questions and Answers) (Yangon: Hanthawadi, 1915), 29–30
Ledi Hsayadaw, Thathana-than-shin-yei-khaw thathanavMhawdani (Purification of Sāsana). 2nd ed. (Monywa, etc.: Mya Hsu Mun, 2004), vol. 1, 50–64.
Pahtama Maungdaung Hsayadaw, Amei-davi-hpei (Answers to King’s Questions) (Mandalay: Zambu-meit-hswei, 1961), 588–591
Win Maung, “Mandalei-hkit-botda-thathanawin (History of Buddhism during Mandalay Period)” (M.A. diss., Mandalay Arts and Sciences University, 1978), 7–9.
In 1806, Hsinde Hsayadaw (1744–1816) referred to pariyatti and pativedha as “property (ot-sa) of monks.” See Hsinde Hsayadaw, Tharana-di-wineithsaya-kyan (Decision on Refuge and Other [Observances]) (Yangon: Myanma-than-daw-hsin, 1882), 6.
Atula Hsayadaw, Nan-zin-pot-hsa, 26. Only kings who reigned over the realm where thathana reposed were considered its donors. See Zambudipa-vhsaung-kyan (Crown of JambudTpa), ed. John S. Purnivall (Yangon: Myanma-nain-ngan-thuteithana-athin, 1960), 8.
On the concept of dhammadlpa see Kitsiri Malalgoda, “Millennialism in Relation to Buddhism,” Comparative Studies in Society and History 12 (1970): 434–441
Alexey Kirichenko, “Living with the Future: Succession of Royal Cities Preserving Sasana and Its Influence on the History of Myanmar and Myanmar Historical Writing,” in Myanmar Historical Commission Conference Proceedings, pt. 2 (Yangon: Myanmar Historical Commission, 2005), 1–37.
Shei-haung-sapei-thuteithi-ta-u, Nyaung-yan-hkit amein-daw-mya (Royal Orders of Nyaung-yan Period), vol. 2 (Yangon: Myanma-hmu-beiman Sapei-ban, n.d.), 91, 96–97; The Royal Orders of Burma, A.D. 1598–1885, ed. Than Tun, vol. IV (Kyoto: The Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, 1986), 615.
See, for example, the following two nineteenth-century handbooks for the laity and monks: Hsinde Hsayadaw, Tharana-di-wineithsaya; Namaw Hsayadaw, Thila-withawdani-kyan (Purification of Moral Conduct) (Yangon: Thathana-yei-uzi-htana, 1992).
Commentaries differentiated between going for refuge of common worldlings and ariyas; see summary in John Ross Carter, “The Notion of Refuge,” in On Understanding Buddhists, 55–70; The Threefold Refuge in the Theravāda Buddhist Tradition, ed. John Ross Carter (Charnbersburg: Anima Books, 1982).
Yandameit Kyawhtin, Yeizagyo hkondaw hpyathton (Decisions of Yeizagyo Court) (Yangon: Hanthawadi, 1973), 24–26.
Thant Myint-U, The Making of Modern Burma (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), 221–222
Richard H. Davids, introduction to Religions of India in Practice, ed. Donald S. Lopez Jr. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995), 48.
Kitsiri Malalgoda, “The Buddhist-Christian Confrontation in Ceylon, 1800–1880,” Social Compass XX, no. 2 (1973), 171–200
Kitsiri Malalgoda, Buddhism in Sinhalese Society 1750–1900: A Study of Religious Revival and Change (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976), 213–231.
See, for example, the following writings of Ledi Hsayadaw — “Clarifications Concerning the Sayings of Christian Shwei Kyein Gwin” composed in 1914 and “The Clarification about the Four Great Teachings” written about 1918 in Ledi Hsayadaw, Thathana-than-shzn-yei, 2: 100–187, 1: 128–206. Also his “Answers to Eleven Points [Raised] by a Christian” (1901), “Sixteen Answers and Reply to Questions [Raised] by Christians from Zigongyi” (undated) and “A Reply to Questions [Concerning the Publication] in ‘The Evangelist’ Newspaper” (1919) in Ledi Hsayadaw, Ledi-pothsa-ahpei-paung-gyot-kyan-gyi (The Anthology of Ledi Hsayadaw’s Answers to Questions) 2nd ed. (Yangon: Amyotha, 1923), vol. 1, 1–72.
Ledi U Wannita, Ledi mahatheiyotpatti-katha (The Biography of Ledi Hsayadaw) (Yangon: Hanthawadi, 1956), 106–123.
Ledi Hsayadaw, Thathana-thampatti-dipani-kyan (Mandalay: Gunawadi, 1926).
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© 2009 Alexey Kirichenko
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Kirichenko, A. (2009). From Thathanadaw to Theravāda Buddhism: Constructions of Religion and Religious Identity in Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Myanmar. In: DuBois, T.D. (eds) Casting Faiths. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230235458_2
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