Cambodian Buddhism : : History and Practice / / Ian Harris.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Asian Studies Backlist (2000-2014) eBook Package
• VerfasserIn: Harris, Ian,
• Place / Publishing House: Honolulu : : University of Hawaii Press, , [2008]; ©2008
• Year of Publication: 2008
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (368 p.)

The study of Cambodian religion has long been hampered by a lack of easily accessible scholarship. This impressive new work by Ian Harris thus fills a major gap and offers English-language scholars a booklength, up-to-date treatment of the religious aspects of Cambodian culture. Beginning with a coherent history of the presence of religion in the country from its inception to the present day, the book goes on to furnish insights into the distinctive nature of Cambodia's important yet overlooked manifestation of Theravada Buddhist tradition and to show how it reestablished itself following almost total annihilation during the Pol Pot period.Historical sections cover the dominant role of tantric Mahayana concepts and rituals under the last great king of Angkor, Jayavarman VII (1181-c. 1220); the rise of Theravada traditions after the collapse of the Angkorian civilization; the impact of foreign influences on the development of the nineteenth-century monastic order; and politicized Buddhism and the Buddhist contribution to an emerging sense of Khmer nationhood. The Buddhism practiced in Cambodia has much in common with parallel traditions in Thailand and Sri Lanka, yet there are also significant differences. The book concentrates on these and illustrates how a distinctly Cambodian Theravada developed by accommodating itself to premodern Khmer modes of thought. Following the overthrow of Prince Sihanouk in 1970, Cambodia slid rapidly into disorder and violence. Later chapters chart the elimination of institutional Buddhism under the Khmer Rouge and its gradual reemergence after Pol Pot, the restoration of the monastic order's prerevolutionary institutional forms, and the emergence of contemporary Buddhist groupings.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- 1. Buddhism in Cambodia: From Its Origins to the Fall of Angkor -- 2. The Middle Period and the Emergence of the Theravada -- 3. Theravada Buddhism in Cambodia: Territorial and Social Lineaments -- 4. Literary and Cult Traditions -- 5. Cambodian Buddhism under Colonial Rule -- 6. Buddhism and Cambodian Nationalism -- 7. Liberation: The Religio-political Dimension -- 8. Cambodian Buddhism after the Khmer Rouge -- Conclusion -- Appendix A: Cambodian Inscriptions Discussed in the Book -- Appendix B: Evidence Chart Based on Materials Discussed in Chapter 1 -- Appendix C: Ecclesiastical Hierarchies in the Two Cambodian Buddhist Orders -- Abbreviations -- Notes -- Glossary -- Khmer Word List -- Bibliography -- Index