TY - BOOK AU - Jory,Patrick TI - Thailand's theory of monarchy: the Vessantara Jātaka and the idea of the perfect man SN - 9781438460901 AV - JQ1746 .J67 2016eb U1 - 320.959301 23 PY - 2016///] CY - Albany PB - State University of New York Press KW - Tipiṭaka KW - Suttapiṭaka KW - Khuddakanikāya KW - Jātaka KW - Vessantarajātaka KW - fast KW - gnd KW - Monarchy KW - Thailand KW - History KW - Buddhism and state KW - Bouddhisme et État KW - Thaïlande KW - Histoire KW - POLITICAL SCIENCE KW - Essays KW - bisacsh KW - Government KW - General KW - National KW - Reference KW - Kings and rulers KW - Buddhismus KW - Monarchie KW - Staat KW - Buddhistische Literatur KW - Leitbild KW - Electronic books N1 - Includes bibliographical references and index; The Vessantara Jataka as a performative text -- The Vessantara Jataka and early state formation -- A Theravada Buddhist theory of monarchy : the ruler as bodhisatta -- The colonial challenge to Buddhist monarchy -- Thai and western Buddhist scholarship in the era of imperialism -- From jatakas to Thai folktales -- Conclusion : the modern Vessantara N2 - "Discusses the origins and cultural history of the Theravada Buddhist ideals behind the Thai institution of monarchy. Since the 2006 coup d'etat, Thailand has been riven by two opposing political visions: one which aspires to a modern democracy and the rule of law, and another which holds to the traditional conception of a kingdom ruled by an exemplary Buddhist monarch. Thailand has one of the world's largest populations of observant Buddhists and one of its last politically active monarchies. This book examines the Theravada Buddhist foundations of Thailand's longstanding institution of monarchy. Patrick Jory states that the storehouse of monarchical ideology is to be found in the popular literary genre known as the Jatakas, tales of the Buddha's past lives. The best-known of these, the Vessantara Jataka, disseminated an ideal of an infinitely compassionate prince as a bodhisatta or future Buddha--an ideal which remains influential in Thailand today. Using primary and secondary source materials largely unknown in Western scholarship, Jory traces the history of the Vessantara Jataka and its political-cultural importance from the ancient to the modern period. Although pressures from European colonial powers and Buddhist reformers led eventually to a revised political conception of the monarchy, the older Buddhist ideal of kingship has yet endured. Patrick Jory is Senior Lecturer in Southeast Asian History at the University of Queensland and the editor of Ghosts of the Past in Southern Thailand: Essays on the History and Historiography of Patani"--Provided by publisher UR - https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&AN=1237184 ER -