Buddhism and Violence: Militarism and Buddhism in Modern Asia (Routledge Studies in Religion)

It is generally accepted in the West that Buddhism is a peaceful religion. The Western public tends to assume that the doctrinal rejection of violence in Buddhism would make Buddhist pacifists, and often expects Buddhist societies or individual Asian Buddhists to conform to the modern Western standards of peaceful behavior. This stereotype which may well be termed positive Orientalism, since it is based on assumption that an Oriental religion would be more faithful to its original non-violent teachings than Western Christianity has been periodically challenged by enthusiastic acquiescence by monastic Buddhism to the most brutal sorts of warfare. This volume demolishes this stereotype, and produces instead a coherent, nuanced account on the modern Buddhist attitudes towards violence and warfare, which take into consideration both doctrinal logic of Buddhism and the socio-political situation in Asian Buddhist societies. The chapters in this book offer a deeper analysis of Buddhist militarism and Buddhist attitudes towards violence than previous volumes, grounded in an awareness of Buddhist doctrines and the recent history of nationalism, as well as the role Buddhism plays in constructions of national identity. The international team of contributors includes scholars from Thailand, Japan, and Korea. Cover Title Copyright Contents List of Figures and Tables Preface Introduction: Dialectics of Violence and Non-Violence—Buddhism and Other Religions PART I Nationalism and Militarism in Modern Asian Buddhisms 1 Sinhala Ethno-nationalisms and Militarization in Sri Lanka 2 Military Temples and Saffron-Robed Soldiers: Legitimacy and the Securing of Buddhism in Southern Thailand 3 Reconsidering the Historiography of Modern Korean Buddhism: Nationalism and Identity of the Chogye Order of Korean Buddhism PART II Militarism and the Buddhist Monks 4 A Path to Militant Buddhism: Thai Buddhist Monks as Representations 5 Canonical Ambiguity and Differential Practices: Buddhism and Militarism in Contemporary Sri Lanka 6 The Monks and the Hmong: The Special Relationship between the Chao Fa and the Tham Krabok Buddhist Temple in Saraburi Province, Thailand 7 A Closer Look at Zen at War: The Battlefield Chaplaincy of Shaku Sōen in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905) PART III Buddhist Justifications for Peace and Militarism 8 Question of Violence in Thai Buddhism 9 Buddhism and the Justification of War with Focus on Chinese Buddhist History 10 Anti-War and Peace Movements among Japanese Buddhists after the Second World War 11 Violent Buddhism—Korean Buddhists and the Pacific War, 1937–1945 Conclusion Notes on Contributors Index Edited By Vladimir Tikhonov And Torkel Brekke. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.