Spreading the Dhamma: Writing, Orality, and Textual Transmission in Buddhist Northern ThailandHow did early Buddhists actually encounter the seminal texts of their religion? What were the attitudes held by monks and laypeople toward the written and oral Pali traditions? In this pioneering work, Daniel Veidlinger explores these questions in the context of the northern Thai kingdom of Lan Na. Drawing on a vast array of sources, including indigenous chronicles, reports by foreign visitors, inscriptions, and palm-leaf manuscripts, he traces the role of written Buddhist texts in the predominantly oral milieu of northern Thailand from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries. |
Contents
The Oral World | 21 |
Early Thai Encounters with Orality and Literacy | 42 |
Golden Age Golden Images and Golden Leaves | 63 |
Scribes Sponsors and Manuscript | 103 |
The Advance of Writing | 133 |
Overlooked or Looked Over? The Meaning and Uses of Written | 164 |
Conclusion | 204 |
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249 | |
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References to this book
Buddhist Manuscript Cultures: Knowledge, Ritual, and Art Stephen C. Berkwitz,Juliane Schober,Claudia Brown No preview available - 2008 |