Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity in Southeast Asia Essay Example

Introduction

Buddhism in Southeast Asia came as a result of Indian merchants setting up their trading places in the region. They not only built their stations but also carried their culture with them, as time went by; the local people began practicing Buddhism while a few retained their old traditions. In South Asia, there is a Buddhism spread of in the present day Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos. In the modern nation-state, Buddhism has played an essential role during the colonial and post-colonial periods. Its involvement in national independence movements led many people to convert to Buddhism, for example in 1918, Young Men's Buddhist Association got formed which comprised of many young people across Burma. The movement wanted Europeans to comply with the Burmese rules; they banned Europeans from wearing shoes in their religious places known as Pagodas. Moreover, it should get understood that Buddhism includes two main traditions which are the Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism, the latter culture is the most practiced one.

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There are very few Christians and Muslims in the mainland Southeast Asia, however, in the islands of Southeast Asia which include Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Timor Loro Sae, Indonesia and Brunei majority of people are either Christians or Muslims. In Malaysia, Indonesia and south Philippines most people in the population are Muslims, in addition to this, Indonesia is the world's most famous Muslim country. Christianity is embraced in the Northern Philippines where 93 percent of the population is Christian remarkably the Roman Catholic.

According to Keyes, Charles F, Christianity was brought by Apostle Thomas who established churches all over Southern Asia before he died after twenty years of missionary work (280). Catholicism and Protestantism were mainly carried by the Dutch, Portuguese and British missionaries in many parts of Asia as much as Islamic movements restricted the spread of Christianity. On the other hand, in the mid-eighth century, Islam had spread swiftly during the Umayyad Empire. Islam remains the most followed religion in Southeast Asia covering about forty percent of the entire population.

Factors that led to Buddhism in mainland Southeast Asia

Geographical position

Southeast Asia is part of India where Indian influences hugely adopted over a thousand years. Buddhism originated in northern India and spread to Sri Lanka during visits by Buddha Monks in the fourth century. The Silk Road in the north of Tibet was mostly used by the Indian merchants to travel to Northwest Asia where they brought their cultural influences with them. There was also a sea route from India to China which Indian merchants used to bring their sanctified texts and teachings to China. Indian's proximity to Southeast Asia especially the way from India to Cambodia contributed a lot to Buddhism in Southeast Asia.

Missionary work

Assavavirulhakarn, Peapod argues that the success of Buddhism was greatly influenced by Mono people who were missionaries from Burma (336). During the reign of Ashoka Maurya, leader of Mauryan dynasty who ruled in line with the Buddhist law, ordered different apostles to spread the teachings of Buddha to Macedonia and some parts of Southeast Asia. The Mono people are believed to be the earliest people in Burma, and so their culture and beliefs have been adopted by the new inhabitants ever since. Therefore, through the works of missionaries, Buddhism has come a long way as a missionary tradition to the people of Southeast Asia.

Marriages

Intermarriages between Indian merchants and people from Southeast Asia especially from Thailand and Vietnam became rampant during the first century of Buddhism existence. Through these marriages, the tradition became very popular expanding from northwest India to central and Southeast Asia. Buddhism got heavily influenced by a great Kushana king, Kanishka who ruled a large area that covered parts of northwestern India and central Asia. As the population grew with time, individuals from central Asia influenced those from Southeast Asia thereby leading to the spread of the Buddhism tradition in the region. Due to these intermarriages, religious places like the monasteries got built which helped to facilitate marriages.

Fertile soils

The soils in mainland Southeast Asia were extremely fertile as compared to the lands in the islands. The areas attracted many Indian cultivators who started growing wet rice, therefore, as the Indian farmers began interacting with the locals from Southeast Asia especially from northern Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand, Buddhism tradition was successfully adopted by the locals. The Insular regions in Southeast Asia were not suitable for farming this was due to many Volcanoes, dense forests and impassable swamps, these conditions made transport and settling difficult for the Indian's cultivators leading them to stay in the rich mainland Southeast Asia.

Peace

Over a long period, mainland Southeast Asia has been a very peaceful place where people from different ethnicity easily interacted with each other. The Indian influencers gained a lot of favor from South Asian rulers because they were able to conduct their missionary work in a very diplomatic manner. That led the rulers to produce Indic cosmology versions and established great and excellent Indian temples all over the cities in Angkor Cambodia.

Factors that led to Christianity and Islamic traditions in islands of Southeast Asia

Trade

The Asian waters played a crucial role in the spread of Islam and Christianity during the pre-colonial period. The Southeast Asian people interacted with Arabian merchants who came to Malaysia and Indonesia and brought the Islamic teachings to the regions. In the Philippines, Christianity came along with Spanish and Dutch priests who spread the beliefs to the local people in the area. However as the two religion began to gain popularity, clashes between Muslims and Christians often occurred as they tried to outdo each other. The Philippines acknowledged Muslims as enemies, and they desired to control the trade in Indonesia.

Holy books

Buddhism failed to establish itself in the islands of Southeast Asia because it did not have any holy books or written documents. The Muslims had Qurans while Christians had the Bibles with doctrines put down. Written policies make religions to build up permanence on people while oral religious beliefs vary and familiarize with a new state of affairs (Clancy 1066). Today, these two religions have left a considerable legacy in Southeast Asia as 90 percent of the population in Malaysia is Islamic while in the Philippines only 5 percent of the population is Muslims.

Crusades

Muslims had taken over the spice trade in the islands of Southeast Asia especially in the Philippines. Crusades largely contributed to the split between Muslims and Christians in Southeast Asia. The Portuguese and Spanish who brought Christianity in the region identified Muslims as foes and launched attacks on them several times; they aimed to take over the valuable items owned by the Muslims. However, the Muslims fought back the European intimidation and led to the increased conversion of individuals to Islamic mostly in Indonesia and Christians in the Philippines.

Works Cited

Assavavirulhakarn, Prapod. The Ascendancy of Theravada Buddhism in Southeast Asia. Silkworm Books, 2010.

Clanchy, Michael T. From memory to written record: England 1066-1307. John Wiley & Sons, 2012.

Keyes, Charles F. "Being protestant Christians in southeast Asian worlds." Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 27.2 (1996): 280-292.

SarDesai, Damodar Ramaji. Southeast Asia: past and present. Routledge, 2018.