Cambodian Buddhism: History And Practice

369 Pages·2005·3.78 MB·English

by  Ian Charles Harris

Buddhism / History
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Of related interest a
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Print and Power i
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ditions in Thailand and Sri Lanka, yet he study of Cambodian religion
Confucianism, Communism, and Buddhism in the Making
there are also signifi cant differences. has long been hampered by a lack
of Modern Vietnam
The book concentrates on these and of easily accessible scholarship.
Shawn Frederick McHale C
illustrates how a distinctly Cambo- This impressive new work by Ian
Southeast Asia: Politics, Meaning, and Memory
dian Theravada developed by accom- Harris thus fi lls a major gap and
a
modating itself to premodern Khmer 2003, 272 pages offers English-language scholars a
modes of thought. Following the Cloth: ISBN 0-8248-2655-8 book-length, up-to-date treatment
m
overthrow of Prince Sihanouk in “An elegantly written and beautifully argued study of how the rise of a of the religious aspects of Cam-
1970, Cambodia slid rapidly into dis- modern print culture in Vietnam in the last years of French colonialism bodian culture. Beginning with a
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order and violence. Later chapters stimulated a far more pluralistic and transnational recasting of Vietnam- coherent history of the presence
chart the elimination of institutional ese thought than we previously believed. A major contribution both in o of religion in the country from its
Buddhism under the Khmer Rouge modern Southeast Asian history and to our rethinking of the history of inception to the present day, the
and its gradual reemergence after Pol colonialism.” d book goes on to furnish insights
Pot, the restoration of the monastic —Alexander Woodside, University of British Columbia into the distinctive nature of Cam-
order’s prerevolutionary institutional i bodia’s important yet overlooked
forms, and the emergence of contem- Zen in Medieval Vietnam a manifestation of Theravada Bud-
porary Buddhist groupings. A Study and Translation of the Thiên Uyên Tâp Anh dhist tradition and shows how it
n
Cuong Tu Nguyen reestablished itself following
Cambodian Buddhism: History and almost total annihilation during
Classics in East Asian Buddhism
Practice synthesizes an enormous B the Pol Pot period.
Published in association with the Kuroda Institute
range of scholarship (most of it in
1998, 496 pages
French), complemented by the u Historical sections cover the domi-
Cloth: ISBN 0-8248-1948-9
author’s own fi eldwork in modern nant role of tantric Maha¯ya¯na
Cambodia. The result is a wide- “A classic among studies on Vietnamese Buddhism.” d concepts and rituals under the last
ranging, well-documented, and com- —Journal of Buddhist Ethics great king of Angkor, Jayavarman
prehensive account of a neglected d VII (1181–c. 1220); the rise of Thera-
Southeast Asian tradition. vada traditions after the collapse
h
of the Angkorian civilization; the
Cover art: Buddha image photographed at Vat Sambok, impact of foreign infl uences on the
i
Kratie province, by the author. s development of the nineteenth-
Ian Harris is reader in Buddhist century monastic order; and politi-
studies at University College of St. Cover design by Santos Barbasa Jr. m cized Buddhism and the Buddhist
Martin, Lancaster, and associate contribution to an emerging sense
fellow, Becket Institute, St. Hugh’s of Khmer nationhood. The Bud-
University of Hawai‘i Press
College, Oxford. dhism practiced in Cambodia has
Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96822-1888 much in common with parallel tra-
www.uhpress.hawaii.edu
jack mech.indd 1 7/16/09 1:43:16 PM
Harris,Cambodian Buddhism 10/27/04 9:35 AM Page i
Cambodian Buddhism
Harris,Cambodian Buddhism 10/27/04 9:35 AM Page ii
Harris,Cambodian Buddhism 10/27/04 9:35 AM Page iii
Cambodian Buddhism
History and Practice
Ian Harris
University ofHawai‘i Press
Honolulu
Harris,Cambodian Buddhism 10/27/04 9:35 AM Page iv
© 2005 University ofHawai‘i Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States ofAmerica
10 09 08 07 06 05 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Harris, Ian Charles.
Cambodian Buddhism : history and practice /
Ian Harris.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8248-2765-1 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Buddhism—Cambodia—History. 2. Bud-
dhism and politics—Cambodia. 3. Political
atrocities—Cambodia. I. Title.
BQ466.H37 2005
294.3’09596—dc22 2004018492
University ofHawai‘i Press books are printed on acid-
free paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and
durability ofthe Council on Library Resources.
Designed by University ofHawai‘i Press
Production Staff
Printed by The Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group
Harris,Cambodian Buddhism 10/27/04 9:35 AM Page v
Contents
Preface vii
1 Buddhism in Cambodia: From Its Origins to the Fall ofAngkor 1
2 The Medieval Period and the Emergence ofthe Theravada 26
3 Theravada Buddhism in Cambodia: Territorial and Social Lineaments 49
4 Literary and Cult Traditions 81
5 Cambodian Buddhism under Colonial Rule 105
6 Buddhism and Cambodian Nationalism 131
7 Liberation: The Religio-political Dimension 157
8 Cambodian Buddhism after the Khmer Rouge 190
Conclusion 225
Appendix A Cambodian Inscriptions Discussed in the Book 231
Appendix B Evidence Chart Based on Materials Discussed
in Chapter 1 233
Appendix C Ecclesiastical Hierarchies in the Two Cambodian
Buddhist Orders 236
Abbreviations 239
Notes 241
Glossary 301
Khmer Word List 305
Bibliography 309
Index 343
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Harris,Cambodian Buddhism 10/27/04 9:35 AM Page vii
Preface
S
urprisingly little material specifically related to Cambodian Buddhism has
been written in English. A brief glance at the bibliography accompanying
this book demonstrates the truth ofthis assertion. Rather more is available in
French, as one would expect from the ex-colonial power, but much is out of
print and can be consulted only in specialist libraries. In addition the bulk of
French-language materials tends toward the recondite, and no introductory
overview exists. The present book represents a modest attempt to fill the gap.
In 1853 the Catholic priest Jean Claude Miche had been responsible for
drafting King Ang Duang’s letter to Napoleon III, asking for French protection
and aid in retrieving the provinces ofCambodia that had been lost to the neigh-
boring powers of Thailand and Vietnam. Thus he was instrumental in estab-
lishing a European presence in the region. But he was also an early observer of
the religious scene. Yet to his prejudiced eyes Cambodian Buddhism appeared
a “vast and absurd Pantheism, which covers with its veil a hopeless atheism.”
He wrote that it “defies the whole ofnature,” for its sacred writings ranked “man
in the same class with the brutes.” Its conception ofheaven was likewise prob-
lematic, in that the blessed were supposed to experience various joys that “for
the most part consist in carnal pleasures of which decency forbids the men-
tion” (Miche 1852, 605, 607–610). Such attitudes must be seen in their histori-
cal context, but they were quite long-lived and influential. Indeed, some ofthem
have persisted down to the present. But they were soon to be challenged by a
more careful and less ideologically charged approach to the study ofBuddhism
in the region.
Adhémard Leclère had begun service as a fonctionnairein Cambodia in 1866,
but he is principally known today for his seminal work of 1899, Le buddhisme
au Cambodge.This remarkable book is one of the very few works of Western
vii
Harris,Cambodian Buddhism 10/27/04 9:35 AM Page viii
viii Preface
scholarship to treat the subject in the round. It covers matters as diverse as cos-
mology and metaphysics, the annual cycle of the Buddhist year with its vari-
ous festivals, and monastic ordination and contains materials that illuminate
both ecclesiastical organization and discipline. It is therefore a fundamental
starting point for anyone seriously wishing to understand the nature and prac-
tice ofBuddhism in Cambodia. Yet it does, to my mind, suªer from a number
ofproblems. From a practical perspective it is available only in French and, de-
spite a relatively recent reprint, continues to be rather di‹cult to obtain. It is
also quite weak from the historical standpoint, and it reveals a tendency, par-
ticularly in the more doctrinally oriented sections, to indulge in somewhat tan-
gential discussion of issues of more interest to the Christian theologian than
to the student wishing to know more about the nature oftraditional beliefs and
practices. Admittedly, Leclère has abandoned the coarser forms of Christian
missionary rhetoric found in Miche, yet an unexamined European triumphal-
ism remains. Leclère admits the “elevated” character of Buddhist philosophy
and ethics yet regards the mass of ordinary Cambodian Buddhists as lacking
intellectual strength: “[they] are excessively contemplative, slack, without ini-
tiative, very imaginative; they seem always to have had for their sacred domain
absolute respect for their ancestors, even the most barbaric” (1899, xiii). Thus,
his work acted as a lens through which Cambodian culture and history were
refracted in support ofthose anxious to extend French influence in the region.
Much of Leclère’s oeuvre is concerned with the traditions of the Cambo-
dian court, but he also shows a strong concern for ethnology. Although many
of the rustic practices he describes are no longer attested, his ethnological in-
stincts appear to have been sound. In this respect he may also be identified as
the progenitor ofa line offine scholars interested in Khmer folk traditions. The
work of Éveline Porée-Maspero, culminating in her three-volume study enti-
tled Étude sur les rites agraires des Cambodgiens (1962–1969), is the most obvious
example, although more recently the baton has been taken up by Ang Chouléan,
particularly in his Les êtres surnaturels dans la religion populaire khmère (1986).
Both scholars shed new light on the nature ofCambodian religiosity, and, when
relevant to Buddhist history and praxis, their insights have been incorporated
into the fabric ofmy own work.
Having acknowledged these debts, by far and away the most significant
scholar in the field ofCambodian Buddhist studies is François Bizot. In a con-
tinuous stream of work beginning in the mid-1970s, precisely the time when
the country had entered its descent into collective madness, Bizot produced
studies ofoutstanding competence, range, and originality. Bizot’s output must
be considered a major landmark in Buddhist and Cambodian studies, since it
clearly demonstrates that, at core, the religious traditions ofthe country are at
Harris,Cambodian Buddhism 10/27/04 9:35 AM Page ix
Preface ix
some variance with Theravada orthodoxy ofthe sort now found in neighbor-
ing countries like Sri Lanka and Thailand. However, and notwithstanding its
importance to Buddhist scholarship, his writing is rather technical, especially
for those not already accustomed to this very specific scholarly terrain. I have
tried to make some ofthese findings more accessible, particularly in the fourth
chapter ofthis book, where I attempt a synopsis ofrelevant aspects ofnonortho-
dox praxis, a tradition that appears to have been almost entirely neglected by
earlier investigators such as Leclère. The present book would have been severely
impoverished had I not been able to depend on Bizot’s work. It will be up to
others to decide how well I have represented his views.
Far be it from me to undermine the brilliance of Bizot’s investigations of
the religious folkways of traditional Cambodia, but it must be admitted that
he adopts a rather dismissive attitude toward those strands of Buddhist doc-
trine and practice that have emerged over the last century or so. I am thinking
here ofBuddhist modernism, a phenomenon that has, in one way or another,
exercised a significant presence in all the countries of Buddhist Asia since the
end ofthe nineteenth century. Put simply, Buddhist modernism has a prefer-
ence for those modes of thought and behavior specifically authorized by the
“scriptural tradition” of Theravada Buddhism as expressed in the Pali canon
(Tripitaka) and its commentaries. It also shows a marked tendency toward lai-
cization and the employment ofmodern proselytizing techniques, such as pam-
phlet production, distribution, and the like. Buddhist modernism, then, pre-
sents itself as a movement of purification, reform, and return to the “original
truth” ofthe Buddha’s vision. It has tended to flourish in Buddhist cultures un-
der colonial rule and has been influential in the development of various na-
tional liberation struggles, which may be read as alternative forms ofthe liber-
ation recommended by the Buddha. Bizot and his coworkers have tended to
accept the traditionalist position somewhat uncritically. Thus they are inclined
to dismiss the modernist position as nothing more than politics and not really
much to do with Buddhism. I disagree with that assessment on the grounds
that it is di‹cult to identify any historical manifestation of the Buddhist tra-
dition that does not, on detailed examination, possess some element ofthe po-
litical. The story ofthe tension between modernism and traditionalism is, con-
sequently, assigned a prominent place in my discussions.
No one can write about the early phases ofCambodian history without an
enormous debt to the labors of George Cœdès. This remains as true today as
it was in the past, despite Vickery’s recent and persuasive criticism of Cœdès’
Sanskrit-oriented approach to the study of the inscriptional record. My debt
is particularly manifest in the early portions ofthis book, even where the great
savant’s conclusions have been reconsidered in the light ofVickery’s more re-