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Description
A crucial reference for historians of Southeast Asia and those with a serious interest in the Buddhism and Buddhist art of Southeast Asia.
What explains the spread of Theravada Buddhism? And how is it entangled with the identity shifts that over the next four hundred years gave rise to the Buddhist state now called Cambodia? Early Theravadin Cambodia sheds light on one of the outstanding questions of Southeast Asian history: the nature and timing of major cultural and political shifts in the territory that was to become Cambodia, starting in the 13th century. This important collection challenges the conventional picture of Theravada as taking root in the void left by the collapse of Angkor and its Hindu-Buddhist power structure. Written by a diverse group of scholars from Cambodia, Thailand, the United States, France, Australia, and Japan, this volume is a sustained, collaborative discussion of evidence from art and archaeology, and how it relates to questions of Buddhist history, regional exchange networks, and ethnopolitical identities. Accessibly written and vividly illustrated, the book will be a crucial reference for historians of Southeast Asia and scholars of Buddhism.
About the Author
Ashley Thompson is the Hiram W. Woodward Chair in Southeast Asian Art at SOAS University of London.
Praise For…
"While the recurring thread through the book is Theravāda Buddhism, its reach is broader than just students of Buddhism. Woodward’s, Poolsuwan’s, and Revire’s articles are of particular interest to art historians and Polkinghorne’s article makes references to the dangers of collecting in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Each article references Khmer art and culture, and all highlight the importance of Angkor within their personal fields."
— The Review
"An important collation of recent scholarship investigating the establishment of the conglomeration of religious practices in Cambodia known today as Theravāda Buddhism. . . . In sum, Early Theravādin Cambodia is a worthwhile compilation that is as much a holistic academic entry point into this field of study as a source for scholars looking to bolster new data and arguments."
— Journal of Southeast Asian Studies