Religion in Southeast Asia Religion in Southeast Asia An Encyclopedia of Faiths and Cultures JESUDAS M. ATHYAL, EDITOR o ABC-CLIO Santa Barbara, California 11 Denver, Colorado II Oxford, England Contents Alphabetical List of Entries Topical List of Entries ix Preface xv Introduction Encyclopedia Entries Copyright © 2015 by ABC-CLl 0, LLC All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brieI quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Religion in Southeast Asia: an encyclopedia of faiths and cultures / Jesudas M. Athyal, editor. pages em Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-61069-249-6 (hardback) - ISBN 978-1-61069-250-2 (ebook) 1. Southeast Asia-Reiigion-Encyclopedias. 1. Athyal, Jesudas, 1957- editor. BL2050.R43 2015 200.959'03-dc23 2014038752 ISBN: 978-1-61069-249-6 EISBN: 978-1-61069-250-2 19 18 17 16 15 1 2 3 4 5 This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an eBook. Visit www.abc-clio.com for details. ABC-CLl 0, LLC 130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911 Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911 This book is printed on acid-free paper (00) Manufactured in the United States of America vii xvii 1 Selected Bibliography 363 About the Editor and Contributors 373 Index 381 Alphabetical List of Entries Ahmadiyya Aisyiyah and Nasyiatul Aisyiyah Alatas, Syed Hussein Ancestor Worship Animism Armenians Atheism!Agnosticism Attas, Syed Muhammad Naquib alBaha'i Faith Bela, Carlos Filipe Ximenes Bhikkhu, Buddhadasa Bhikkhuni, Dhammananda Brunei Darussalam Buddhism Calungsod, Pedro Cambodia Cao Dai Christian Conference of Asia Christianity Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colonialism Communism Confucianism Contextualization Dance and Drama (Theater) Daoism (Taoism) Dhammakaya DharmaIDhamma Diaspora Due, Thich Quang Education Engaged Buddhism Ethnicity Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences Feminism and Islamic Traditions Freedom of Religion Fundamentalism Ghosananda, Maha Globalization Goddess Traditions Hanh, Thich Nhat Hinduism Hoa Hao Buddhism Humanism Heto, ReynaIdo C. Indonesia Interreligious Relations and Dialogue Islam ]ainism Jesuits Judaism Khmer Buddhism Koyama, Kosuke Kyaw Than, U Lao Tzu (Laozi) Laos Liberation Theologies Localization of Hinduism in Indonesia Loh, I-to Maarif, Ahmad Syafi'i Malaysia Melanesian Religion Messianic Movements Minorities Missionary Movements Morality Muhammadiyah Music Muslimat NU Myanmar (Burma) MythIMythology Nacpil, Emerita Nahdlatul Ulama Nationalism Oka, Gedong Bagus Orientalism Papua New Guinea Peace-Building Pesantren viii ALPHABETICAL LIST OF ENTRIES Philippines Pilgrimage Popular Religiou Postcolonial Theory Puppetry Rais, Muhammad Amien Reform Movements Religion and Society Religious Conversions Religious Discrimination and Intolerance Ritual Dynamics Ruiz, lorenzo Santi Asoke Sauto, Iguacia del Espi ritu Sathya Sai Baba Movemeut Sayadaw, Mahasi Sayadaw, Thamauya Secularism Sexuality Shamanism Shari'a Siddique, Mnhammad Abdul Aleem Simatupaug, T. B. Siu, Cardinal Jaime Lechica Siugapore Sisters in Islam Topical List of Entries Sivaraksa, Sulak Southeast Asiau Religious iu the USA Spirit Mediumship Study of Religiou Sufism Syncretism Thailaud Thaipusam Thien Buddhism Timor Leste (East Timor) Tourism Uplanders Vietnam Wahid, Abdurrahman Wali Sauga (Wali Songo) Water Festivals Women Women's Monastic Communities Zoroastlianism BIOGRAPHIES Alatas, Syed Hussein Attas, Syed Muhammad Naquib alBela, Carlos Filipe Ximenes Bhikkhu, Buddhadasa Bhikkhuui, Dhammananda Calungsod, Pedro Due, Thich Quaug Emerito, Naepil Ghosananda, Maha Hanh, Thich Nhat !leto, Reynaldo C. Koyama, Kosuke Kyaw Than, U Loh, I-to Maarif, Ahmad Syafi'i Oka, Gedong Bagus Sayaclaw, Mahasi Siddique, Muhammad Abdul Aleem Rais, Muhammad Amien Ruiz, Lorenzo Santo, Ignacia del Espiritu Sayadaw, Thamanya Simatupang, T. B. Sin, Cardinal Jaime Lachica Sivaraksa, Sulak Wahid, Abdurrahman BRUNEI DARUSSALAM Buddhism Christianity Islam Malaysia Minorities Religious Conversions Religious Disclimination and Intolerance Shmi'a BUDDHISM Bhikkhu, Buddhaclasa Bhikkhuni, Dhammananda Buddhism DharmaIDhamma Due, Thich Quang Engaged Bucldhism Ghosananda, Maha Hanh, Thich Nhat Haa Hao Buddhism Interreligious Relations and Dialogue Khmer Buddhism Liberation Theologies Missionary Movements Pilgrimage Religious Conversions Santi Asoke Sayadaw, Mahasi Sayaclaw, Thamanya Sivarakaa, Sulak Thien Buddhism Water Festivals x TOPICAL LIST OF ENTRIES TOPICAL LIST OF ENTRIES GENERAL RELIGIONS CAMBODIA Buddhism Cao Dai Christianity Colonialism Etlinicity Gliosananda, Maha Hinduism Indonesia Islam Klimer Buddhism Minorities Vietnam CHRISTIANITY Armenians Belo, Carlos Filipe Ximenes Calungsod, Pedro Christian Conference of Asia Christianity Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences Ileto, Reynaldo C Interreligious Relations and Dialogue Jesuits Koyama, Kosuke Kyaw Than, U Liberation Theologies Loh, I-to Missionary Movements Nacpil, Emerito Pilgrimage Religious Conversions Ruiz, Lorenzo Santo, Ignacia del Espiritu Simatupang, T. B. Sin, Cardinal Jaime Lachica Diaspora Daoism (Taoism) Etlinicity Islam Missionary Movements COCOS (KEELING) ISLANDS Baha'i Faith Christianity Christmas Island Diaspora Etlinicity Islam COUNTRIES Brunei Darussalam Cambodia Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Indonesia Laos Malaysia Animism Confucianism Dance and Drama (Tlieater) Daoism (Taoism) Goddess Traditions MythlMythology Popular Religion Puppetry Ritual Dynamics Shamanism Syncretism HINDUISM CHRISTMAS ISLAND Baha'i Faith Buddhism Christianity Cocos (Keeling) Islands Confucianism Contextualization Ancestor worship Myanmar (Bunna) Papua New Guinea Philippines Singapore Thailand Timor Leste (East Timor) Vietnam DliarmalDhamma Hinduism Interreligious Relations and Dialogue Localization of Hinduism in Indonesia Missionary Movements Oka, Gedong Bagus Pilgrimage Sathya Sai Baba Movement Thaipusam Water Festivals INDONESIA Ahmadiyya Animism Atheism!Agnosticism Buddhism Christianity Communism Hinduism Islam Localization of Hinduism in Indonesia Muhammadiyah Nahdlatul Ulama Oka, Gedong Bagus Pesantren Shmi'a ISLAM Ahmadiyya Aisyiyah and Nasyiatul Aisyiyah Alatas, Syed Hussein Attas, Syed Muhammad Naquib alColonialism Feminism and Islamic Traditions Indonesia Interreligious Relations and Dialogue Liberation Theologies Maarif, Ahmad Syafi'i Malaysia Minorities Missionary Movements Muhammadiyah Muslimat NU Nahdlatul Ulama Pesantren Pilgrimage Rais, Muhammad Amien Religious Conversions Shari'a Siddique, Muhammad Abdul Aleem Sisters in Islam Sufism Wahid, Abdurrahman Wali Sanga (Wali Songo) LAOS Animism Baha'i Faith Buddhism Christianity xi xii TOPICAL LIST OF ENTRIES Colonialism Communism Ethnicity Freedom of Religion Islam Minorities TOPICAL LIST OF ENTRIES Missionary Movements Religion and Society Secularism Spirit Mediumship Thailand Uplanders MALAYSIA Bnddhism Christianity Colonialism Ethnicity Freedom of Religion Hindnism Interreligious Relations and Dialogue Islam Religious Conversions Shmi'a Singapore MOVEMENTS AND IDEOLOGIES Ahmadiyya Aisyiyah and Nasyiatul Aisyiyah Ancestor Worship Animism Atheism/Agnosticism Cao Dai Christian Conference of Asia Confucianism Dance and Drama (Theater) Daoism (Taoism) Dhammakaya Engaged Buddhism Fundamentalism Goddess Traditions Hoa Hao Buddhism Interreligious Relations and Dialogue Jesuits Khmer Buddhism Lao Tzu (Laozi) Melanesian Religion Messianic Movements Muhammadiyah Muslimat NU Nahcllatul Ulama PAPUA NEW GUINEA Ahmadiyya Ancestor Worship Animism Baha'i Faith Christianity Colonialism Fundamentalism Indonesia Islam Melanesian Religion Missionary Movements Morality Shamanism Spirit Mediumship Syncretism Women PHILIPPINES Buddhism Calungsod, Pedro Christianity Colonialism Contextualization Ethnicity Hinduism Interreligious Relations and Dialogue Islam Liberation Theologies Missionary Movements Nacpil, Emerito Religion and Society Religious Conversions Ruiz, Lorenzo Santo, Ignacia clel Espiritu Secularism Sin, Cardinaljaime Lachica Spirit Mediumship Pesantren Popular Religion Re form Movements Religious Conversions Ritual Dynamics Santi Asoke Sathya Sai Baba Movement Shamanism Sisters in Islam Study of Religion Sufism Thaipusam Thien Buddhism SINGAPORE Buddhism Christian Conference of Asia Christianity Colonialism Daoism (Taoism) Education Freedom of Religion Fundamentalism Ethnicity Globalization Hinduism Interreligious Relations and Dialogue Islam Malaysia Minorities Nationalism Religion and Society Secularism THAILAND MYANMAR (BURMA) Buddhism Christianity Colonialism DharmalDhamma Ethnicity Hinduism Islam Kyaw Than, U Laos Minorities Missionary Movements Nationalism Religious Discrimination and Intolerance Sayaclaw, Mahasi Thailand Buddhism Confucianism Daoism (Taoism) Dhammakaya Ethnicity Fundamentalism Hinduism Islam Koyama, Kosuke Nationalism Santi Asoke Secularism Spirit Mecliumship Study of Religion Sivaraksa, Sulak Syncretism Uplanders xiii xiv TOPICAL liST OF ENTRIES TIMOR LESTE (EAST TIMOR) Bela, Carlos Filipe Ximenes Christianity Colonialism Ethnicity Freedom of Religion Indonesia Interreligious Relations and Dialogue Islam Melanesian Religion Minorities Missionary Movements Religious Conversions Religious Discrimination and Intolerance Preface Religion in Southeast Asia: An Encyclopedia of Faiths and Cultures provides a compreVIETNAM Buddhism Cambodia Cao Dai Christianity Colonialism Confucianism Daoism (Taoism) Due, Thich Quang Engaged Buddhism Ethnicity Goddess Traditions Hanh, Thich Nhat Haa Hao Buddhism Interreligious Relations and Dialogue Islam Laos Minorities Missionary Movements MythlMythology Popular Religion Reform Movements Ritual Dynamics Shamanism Spirit Mediumship Syncretism Thailand WOMEN Aisyiyah and Nasyiatul Aisyiyah Brunei Darussalam Buddhism Christianity Confucianism Daoism (Taoism) Diaspora Education Ethnicity Feminism and Islamic Traditions Fundamentalism Globalization Hinduism Indonesia Interreligious Relations and Dialogue Islam Judaism Malaysia Muhammadiyah Muslimat NU Myanmar (Burma) Nahdlatul Ulama Oka, Gedong Bagus Philippines Popular Religion Religion and Society Ritual Dynamics Sexuality Shari'a Study of Religion Thailand Tourism Vietnam Women's Monastic Communities hensive introduction to the complex world of the faiths and practices of the Southeast Asians. Rapid changes in Asia and the West necessitated a publication such as this. Increased migration to the United States in recent decades has redrawn the societal and demographic map of this nation. Religions such as Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism and their institutions, beliefs, and cultures are already a part of the landscape of the United States. The immigrants today playa high-profile role at various sectors in this country, pointing toward the need for a closer understanding of their faiths. While the immigrants have brought the faiths and cultures of Asia closer to the West, the forces of globalization have brought the traditions, cultures, and lifestyles of the West closer to Asia. The emergent pluralist societies in both the contexts, and the consequent challenges they raise, point toward the need for a publication such as this. While this volume will be relevant to a wide cross-section of the society, more specifically, it is addressed to several target groups. The primary audience of the publication will be the high schools, colleges, and libraries of the United States. Following the decision of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) to recognize the study of religion as an integral part in meeting its Curriculum Standards, the public schools and colleges in the counlry have started to focus more sharply on a study of world religion. Reference materials that provide accurate and sufficient infonnation to support sludent research on world religions will become absolutely necessary in such a context. This volume, which provides comprehensive research material on the religions and cullures of Southeast Asia, will enormously benefit students and researchers in broadening their horizon. The encyclopedia provides valuable and user-friendly reference material for several other sections as well. Southeast Asia has rapidly emerged as a major buyer and seller of goods for the American market. Understanding people and their religions and cultures is an essential part of sound business practices. Considering the enormous potential of U.s.-Asian (including ASEAN) business dealings, this volume will capture the interest of additional users such as business librarians, journalists, and policy makers. In the context of globalization, the publication has the further purpose of providing businesspersons and all those who deal with Southeast Asians at diverse levels as well as the general public with nontechnical information. As the American-Asian partnership in business grows, such resources would become valuable. Recent geopolitical developments and the increased American involvement at the global level indicate that Southeast Asia will probably be a major arena for U.S. u UPLANDERS The uplands in SDutheast Asia, as elsewhere, are Dften markedly different from IDwland areas, and this distinctiDn has been an impDrtant analytical dimensiDn Df research in the regiDn. While historical states have spread in IDwland and cDastal areas Df SDutheast Asia, the uplands are cDmmDnly characterized by nDncentralized, village-based sDcieties. The difference between uplands and IDwlands is framed in sDmewhat different terms in insular SDutheast Asia and Dn the mainland. In insular SDutheast Asia, pDwerful pDlities based Dn trade histDrically emerged Dn CDasts, while the hinterland provided trade gDDds, but was less integrated intD state structures. Thus, the distinctiDn is knDwn as Dne between cDastal, dDwn-river regiDns and thDse up river. On the mainland, the genesis Df states was based Dn permanent wet rice fields, but their influence ceased where the terrain is more rugged and Dnly allDws for temporary dry rice fields, called shifting cultivatiDn or swidden. FDr the upland areas Df the mainland, schDlars have used the terms "SDutheast Asian Massif' and "ZDmia" in recent years. While world religiDns like Buddhism Dn the mainland and Islam in IndDnesia spread in the IDwlands, Dften as the state religiDns Df newly emerging pDlities, uplanders cDmmDnly practiced IDcal religiDns, cDnventiDnally termed animist. In the cDurse Df histDry, states and the religiDns assDciated with them slDwly encroached Dn the highlands. HDwever, mDre Dr less efficient administrative structures were Dften Dnly established during the secDnd half Df the twentieth century, especially Dn the mainland. In terms Df religiDn, animist uplanders respDnded in fDur different ways tD IDwland influence: subtly including SDme IDwland religiDus practices intD their lDcal systems; full conversiDn to the IDwland religiDn; conversiDn tD a fDreign and markedly different religiDn, in particular Christianity; and millenarianism. CDnversiDn tD IDwland religiDn was Dften accDmpanied by slDw acculturatiDn, and presumably the ancestDrs Df numerous current IDwlanders Driginated in the uplands. HDwever, sDmetimes IDwland religiDn was adDpted in the uplands while keeping upland cultural identities intact, as is the case with the Buddhist PhunDy in LaDS. HDwever, uplanders' ethnic and religiDus identities can be cDnstantly shifting. Thus, anthropDIDgist Edmund Leach reported Dn perSDns whD passed as nDnBuddhist Kachin in the uplands and as Buddhist Shan in the IDwlands Df Myanmar. The secDnd DptiDn is tD CDnvert tD a different world religiDn, but Dne that is marked Dff from thDse Df the IDwlands. For example, many uplanders Df Myanmar have cDnverted tD Christianity since the late nineteenth century. CDnversiDn is Dften reasDned Dn the base Df IDcal SDciD-CDsmic cDncepts. As animism is based Dn careful 336 UPLANDERS and laborious negotiations with spirit forces, Allah or Christ appear as superior spirit protectors, or Buddhist ritual as an improved technique to control spirits. Thus, Buddhism or Christianity were not perceived as alternative cosmologies but as more efficient means to engage with the established cosmology. Also, conversion promised a new way of engaging with new types of relationships, including global trade and the expansion of the modern nation-state. Christianity in Myanmar or Eastern Indonesia often proved to be an important means to articulate local identities in the face of aggressively expanding nation-states. Being Christian meant to be different from the state. A third option, even more explicit in its engagement with the increasing power of state centers, consisted in millenarian uprisings. These characterized the mainland of Southeast Asia much more than the archipelago. Millenarianism denotes the idea that a catastrophic upturning of the established order is near, often leading to a more just leadership, a golden age or the predominance of a previously oppressed group. These movements were not restricted to uplanders, but often attracted any marginalized group. Millenarian movements like the Phi Bun uprising in Thailand and Laos in the early twentieth century were as political as they were religious. They often focus on charismatic leaders and spread among people who experience themselves as disempowered. Millenarianism thus necessarily emerges in a context of strongly felt social inequality. Characteristically, millenarian movements create their own cosmologies, but often make strong use of religious imagery borrowed from the outside, often from dominant and state religions. Thus, Kommadam, the leader of a revolt in southern Laos in the first half of the twentieth century, was celebrated as the Maitreya Buddha, the Buddha of the coming age, even though most of his followers were probably not Buddhist. Uprisings of the Hmong, an ethnic group originating from China, sometimes centered on the idea of regaining their mythical lost script, a cultural feature that would put them on equal terms with the Chinese empire or the lowland Southeast Asian states. Some of these millenarian cults still survive today in a politically less volatile form, e.g. among Hmong in northern Thailand. All these types of responses to lowland states share a particular quality. Uplanders often combine elements from their own local rituals with external elements, in order to create constantly changing ritual systems. Sometimes, these systems serve to stress local identity and the difference to lowlands. Sometimes, elements from lowland societies and religions were integrated into quite different societies in the uplands. The process is highly selective and creative, but historically served to maintain upland identities. In many cases, only a limited number of elements from a lowland religion were integrated into upland ritual systems, as for example in the form of Buddhist ritual verses endowed with healing powers. Today, the state administration of the uplands has intensified. Therefore, the forms that uplanders use to express their identities have changed. While some people try to escape from lowland prejudices about superstitious and unrefined uplanders by embracing lowland lifestyles, others find new ways of showing their distinctiveness to the world. This often takes the form of ritual. Typically, local UPLANDERS rituals like New Year festivals or harvest rituals are transformed and become platforms for performing folkloric versions of local culture. Shows of costumes and dances, some newly invented, are less addressed to benevolent spirits but to national and global media, state majorities, and tourists. These local culture festivals can be called neither authentic nor inauthentic. Although they have little to do with the rituals uplanders perforrued 50 years ago, they still serve the same purpose: to relate them to an outside world of spirits and states, foreign religions, and peoples, by selectively combining local usages with external ideas. Guido Sprenger See also: Ancestor Worship; Animism; Buddhism; Christianity; Contextualization; Dance and Drama (Theater); Ethnicity; Indonesia; Islam; Laos; Messianic Movements; Myanmar (Burma); MythlMythology; Religious Conversions; Ritual Dynamics; Spirit Mediumship; Thailand; Tourism. Further Reading Kirsch, A. Thomas. Feasting and Social Oscillation: Religion and Society in Upland Southeast Asia. Ithaca, NY: Comell University Press, 1973. Leach, Edmund. Political Systems oj Highland Burma: A Study oj Kachin Social Structure. London and New York: Continuum, 2001 [19541. Michaud, Jean. Historical DictionalY oj the Peoples oj the Southeast Asian Massif Lanham, MD; Toronto; and Oxford: Scarecrow Press, Historical DictionaIies of Peoples and Cultures no. 4, 2006. Scott, James c. TIle Art oj Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History oj Upland Southeast Asia. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009. 337