The National Museum Volunteers (NMV) presents a lecture on “The Dai of Yunnan: Theravada Buddhism in China” at the auditorium of the National Museum Bangkok tomorrow from 10am to noon.
The speaker will be Assoc Prof Thomas Borchert from the University of Vermont, US, where he specialises in the religions of Asia.
Buddhism in China is mainly thought of in terms of Mahayana Buddhism, the form most common throughout East Asia. However, the Buddhism of China is more diverse than this, including both Tibetan Buddhism, as well as several Theravada Buddhist communities in Yunnan province.
The largest of these is based in Sipsonpanna, or the Dai People’s Autonomous Prefecture of Xishuangbanna, which is a minority region of China where the majority people, the Dai-lue, are best understood as Tai people. Their traditional culture is largely similar to that of the Tai regions of the golden triangle of Northern and Northeast Thailand, the Shan States and Laos.
This means that Theravada Buddhism has been a central part of the various communities of Sipsonpanna and it was a key institution for the continuity of culture across time.
At the same time, Sipsonpanna has been recognised as being a part of China since at least the end of the 19th century, and the Dai-lue and other peoples of Sipsonpanna have been transformed over time into being Chinese citizens.
They have also been subject to the various shifts of the Chinese revolution. Of greatest significance is that during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), the religion was deemed counter-revolutionary and monks and novices were forced to either disrobe or flee.
In this lecture, Thomas will examine Buddhism in Sipsonpanna after Mao Zedong. In particular, he will look at how monastic education has developed over the last 40 years, considering education in village temples, formal schools and the Chinese public schools. Participants will learn how some Dai-lue actors, constrained by Chinese and Thai politics, as well as a marginal location, have fostered the Buddhist Sangha to both preserve their culture and as a tool for negotiating the process of modernisation and what it means to be both Chinese and Tai.
Thomas received a PhD in the history of religions from the University of Chicago in 2006, where his dissertation was focused on monastic education in Sipsonpanna.
He is a Fulbright Scholar and visiting research fellow at the International PhD Programme in Buddhist Studies at Mahidol University. His research is on how monks are situated as social actors and citizens in Thailand.
Donation fee to the lecture is 200 baht (100 baht for members). The museum is on Na Phra That Road.
Email NMVmonthlyprogram@gmail.com.
