H I S T O R Y O F B U D D H I S M I N C A M B O D I A ( 1st part ) SHARE By S K MONOHA of Cambodia, Suvannaphum King Ashoka sent missionaries to the land of Suwannaphum, which has sometimes been identified as the mainland southeast Asian region of Mon(now a stat in Myanma,the stat of Mon) and Khmer(now Cambodia)people. The Mahavamsa, a Sinhalese Pali chronicle, mentions these missions.[1] Unconfirmed Singhalese sources state that Buddhism was introduced to Suvannaphum, or the Golden Peninsula, as mainland Southeast Asia was once referred to, in the 3rd century B.C. under the reign of King Ashoka, the great Buddhist ruler. According to these sources, two monks, Sona and Uttara, were sent to propagate the doctrine of the Master in this region following the great council of 274 B.C. held in Asokas capital Pataliputta, India. While this mission may be legendary, it indicates that Buddhism has been present in Southeast Asia for a long time. Various Buddhist sects and schools, including Tantrism, vied or coexisted with a dominant Brahamanism and indigenous animistic faiths for centuries before the rise of the classical Southeast Asian empires beginning in the 9th century A.D. In part through Indian merchant traders, Indian cultural influence was pervasive in this early period. In Funan (1st to 5th century A.D.) the first organized Khmer polity, the Khmer people embraced not only the diverse Brahmanic and Buddhist religions but also the social customs and mores of India.[2] Funan Kingdom[edit] In the period between 100 BC and 500 AD, the Kingdom of Funan in the present-day Mekong Delta established a flourishing seafaring trade between China, Indonesia, and India. This kingdom was Hindu, with the kings of Funan sponsoring the worship of Vishnu and Shiva. Buddhism was already present in Funan as a secondary religion in these earliest times. A Sanskrit inscription from 375 documents the presence of Buddhism in Funan. King Kuandinya Jayavarman (478-514) cultivated Buddhism and sent a Buddhist mission complete with Funanese Buddhist images, carved in coral, to the Emperor of China.[3] Another early inscription in Sanskrit dated 586-664 at Wat Prey Vier notes that two Buddhist monks named Ratnabhanu and Ratnasimha were brothers. Chinese texts attest that Buddhism flourished in Cambodia in the last half of the 5th century, and that King Jayavarman sent the Indian monk Nagasena to present a memorial in the Chinese Imperial court.[4] Buddhism was clearly beginning to assert its presence from about year 450 onward, and was observed by the Chinese traveler I Ching toward the close of the seventh century. Chenla Kingdom[edit] The Kingdom of Chenla replaced Funan and endured from 500-700. Chenla extend from the Mekong Delta, and along the lands surrounding the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers. According to Ma Touan-Lin, a 13th century Chinese chronicler, there were ten monasteries of Buddhist monks and nuns studying the sacred texts in the 4th and 5th centuries. He stated that two monks from Funan traveled to China in this period at the request of the Chinese emperor, to translate the Sanskrit Tipitika into Chinese. A passage from the History of Leang, a Chinese chronicle written in 502-556, tells us that King Rudravarman sent a mission of monks to China in 535 under the direction of an Indian monk, Gunaratana. The delegation arrived in China in 546, accompanied by 240 palm leaf manuscripts of Mahayana Buddhist texts. Evidence of a cult of Buddhas relics was seen in Rudravarmans request of the Chinese emperor for a 12-foot (3.7 m) long relic of Buddhas hair.[5] Buddhism was weakened in the Chenla period, but survived, as seen in the inscriptions of Sambor Prei Kuk (626) and those of Siem Reap dealing with the erection of statues of Avalokitesvara (791). Some pre-Angkorean statuary in the Mekong Delta region indicate the existence of Sanskrit-based Sarvastivada Buddhism.[5] Khmer-style Buddha images are abundant from the period of 600-800. Many Mahayana bodhisattva images also date from this period, often found alongside the predominantly Hindu images of Shiva and Vishnu. An inscription from Ta Prohm temple in Bali province, dated about 625, states, that the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha are flourishing.[4] S T O R Y O F B U D D H I S M I N C A M B O D I A
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 13:19:33 +0000
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