This Thesis Has Been Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for a Postgraduate Degree (E.G
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. A Two Site Study of the Reconstruction of the Buddhist Monastery in Cambodia Post-Khmer Rouge Matthew E. O’Lemmon PhD Social Anthropology University of Edinburgh 2010 Table of Contents 1. Introduction 9 Research Sites and Focus of Study 12 Selection of Research Sites 12 Initial Focus of Research 17 Kampot Province 23 Chum Kriel Commune and Chum Kriel Village 25 Wat Chum Kriel 27 Krong Kep 30 Prey Thom Commune and Kompong Dtrou Lite Village 31 Wat Kompong Dtrou Lite 34 Khmer Cosmology: The Great and Little Traditions of 38 Southeast Asia Development of Theravada Buddhism within Southeast 41 Asia Buddhist Cosmology 43 Macro-Buddhism 46 2. Cambodian Historical and Contemporary 55 Development Technological, Historical, and Cultural Development 57 Agriculture and Irrigation 57 Funan, Chen-la, and Angkor: The Great Khmer Kingdoms 59 The French Colonial Experience and the Rise of 63 Millenarian Movements Twentieth Century Cambodia 67 The US-Vietnam Conflict and the Khmer Rouge 70 Power, Education, and Social Hierarchy 72 Historical Concepts of Power within Cambodia 72 Khmer Education and the Buddhist Monastery 77 Social Hierarchy and the Buddhist State 79 Traditional Khmer Curriculum 83 The Restructuring of Education and Identity: The Rise of 85 ‘Base’ Society The Education Gap and the Transfer of History and 92 Tradition 3. Religious Specialists 103 Daily Life within the Monastery 107 Fundamentals of the Monkhood 113 Rules and Observances 121 Education within the Monastery 128 Secular Primary Education within Local Village Wats 136 Secondary Buddhist Education 143 Extracurricular Schooling Outside of the Wat 146 4. The Local Wat before and after Democratic 153 Kampuchea Similarities and Differences under the Khmer Rouge 156 Regime Early Connections between the Khmer Rouge and 159 Buddhist Monastery 2 Use of Neo-Monumental Architecture Post-Khmer Rouge 161 Social Order and the Re-establishment of the Sangha 168 Political and Religious Associations 173 5. Structures, Functions, and Lay Personnel 189 Within the Local Wat Traditional Roles of the Buddhist Monastery 194 Similarities in Roles Pre- and Post-War 198 Physical Layout of the Local Wat 202 Structures within the Wat 206 Time and Space within Theravada Buddhism 217 6. Ceremony and the Merit Economy 227 Festivals, Ceremonies, and Life Cycle Rituals 229 The Buddhist Sabbath: T’ngai Seul 236 Neak Ta and T’ngai Seul: A Ceremony within a Ceremony 240 Prachum Benda (Bonn Pchum Ben): Festival of the Dead 246 Katun 249 Local Agricultural Ceremonies 254 Life-Cycle Ceremonies 262 The Merit Economy: The Wat as an Economic Distribution 267 Centre Political Economy and Social Capital 278 Merit-Making and other Traditions 290 7. Khmer Cosmology: History, Diversity, and Change 299 3 The Study of Folk Religious Practice in Southeast Asia 301 Folk Religious Practice in Cambodia 305 Modern Folk Religious Expression within the Cambodian 314 Buddhist Monastery Hindu Beliefs within Khmer Mythology/Cosmology 320 The Role of the Great and Little within Khmer Cosmology 324 8. Conclusion 343 Summary of Arguments 345 Power and Identity 345 The Sacred, Profane, and wider State before, during, and 349 after Democratic Kampuchea The Economics of Merit and the Role of Hindu and 354 Folk Beliefs within Cambodian Buddhism Institutional ‘Devarãja-ism’: Royal Power and Expressions 360 of Religious Authority Reintegration and Power 363 The Future of the Cambodian Buddhist Monastery 369 References 373 Internet References 391 4 Acknowledgements I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all those who have helped me in the completion of this thesis. Specifically, I would like to thank my advisers, Dr. Anthony Good and Dr. Neil Thin, for their guidance and insight without which this study would not have been possible. I would also like to thank my parents for their continued support and understanding that a path less travelled brings with it rewards in a person‟s life they may not have known to exist otherwise. Lastly, I would like to thank the good people of Cambodia who allowed me to be part of their lives and have shown me that despite the cruel and despicable actions mankind is capable of, there remains a part of us that can still find happiness and the will to overcome even the most challenging of circumstances. 5 6 Abstract From the fall of Phnom Penh, to the hyper-Marxist Khmer Rouge, to the decades-long civil war and reconstruction of the country following Vietnam's invasion in 1979, Cambodia has seen a cultural upheaval that brought with it the destruction of institutions and ways of life that have been slow to recover. This two site study examines the reconstruction of one those institutions, the Buddhist monastery, in Prey Thom commune in the southwestern province of Kampot. The loss of traditions, texts, and clergy has meant that the centre of village life -- the local temple -- has had to regain many of those aspects that defined it throughout the centuries. Two of these, the power the monastery commanded in the eyes of locals and the monastic identity which defined how that power was expressed, have historically been vital to the monastery's existence and allowed for temples to be the epicentre of villages, defining individuals' lives and the agrarian economy they depended on. The monastery's reconstruction has also meant that the reliance on local folk and Hindu beliefs continued, and in some instances, grew in prominence in the absence of a viable and competent cadre of Buddhist monks. As the monastery continues to regain its former stature, how this affects merit-making traditions and the local economies which rely on them in many ways reflects the importance of local temples from village to village. While monastic schooling has proved to be important in recreating a knowledgeable cadre, how this affects local attitudes regarding the status of monks is further shaped by those outside of the monastery who either purposely or unknowingly determine local perceptions of it. The future of the monastery will depend on how it can maintain a degree of separation from these larger entities while continuing to serve in the time-honoured roles that sustain villages and the traditions they have historically relied upon. 7 8 1. Introduction Cambodian society has witnessed a drastic change over the past several decades, the likes of which has not been experienced by other countries around the world. From the initial overthrow of Prince Sihanouk in 1970, to the fall of Phnom Penh to Khmer Rouge forces in 1975, to the invasion and subsequent occupation by the Vietnamese throughout the 1980s and the civil war that followed, the once peaceful country coping with the war that surrounded it was transformed while much of the world turned its back on the region. What was left in the wake of the Khmer Rouge was a loss of tradition and traditional institutions that had for centuries played an integral part of Khmer life. One of the most important of these institutions was the Buddhist monastery which had played numerous roles within villages as it had for centuries. Its destruction and later reconstruction under the direction of subsequent secular governments battling an insurgency is in many ways indicative of its real and perceived influence on an overwhelmingly rural, agrarian society. The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate how the Cambodian monastery and monastic community have changed since the war and to assess whether the traditional roles of temples as social, educational, political, and economic centres have been re-established to a similar state they were in before their destruction from 1975-1979. Specifically, it will examine: The power and identity the local monastery is perceived to hold within villages post-Khmer Rouge and the political-spiritual authority it has regained in the wake of its destruction. 9 The relationship between local temples and the wider state and how this in turn affects the relationship between a village and its local temple. The re-establishment of the traditional roles of the local wat and its place as a communal point of reference. The sacred and profane in Buddhism‟s expression pre- and post-war. The economy of merit and the distribution of merit, material, and financial resources within the Great and Little traditions. The reliance on Hindu and folk beliefs in the wake of the Buddhism‟s destruction. The role of institutional „devarãja-ism‟. The future of the Cambodian Buddhist monastery. Probing the changing contexts within which religious beliefs operate and their influence on one another and an overwhelmingly rural populace historically dependent upon a strong monastic system as a conduit for engaging the above institutions is crucial in this endeavour. Therefore, both historical and ethnographic sources have been used for this study. This is partly due to the change in the monastery post-Khmer Rouge and also because of the lack of data available during that regime‟s time in power from 1975- 79 and the subsequent Vietnamese occupation and insurgency which lasted until the late 1990s.