Buddhism Spreads: Southeast Asia

Following its initial development in India Buddhism spread throughout most of Asia, first going south, to Lanka (modern Sri Lanka) with Emperor Asoka’s son, Mahinda, and daughter, Sanghamitta, around 250 B.C.E. The ruling king, Devanampiya, quickly converted, and subsequent rulers generally supported Buddhist establishment. Mahayana and Tantra were present in Sri Lankan Buddhism as well, but eventually the Theravada school became dominant. Since Indian independence from Great Britain in 1948,

Buddhism has had a revival in Sri Lanka and is today a major social institution. Theravada practice spread to neighboring countries of Burma (modern-day Myanmar), Siam (Thailand), and parts of what is today Indonesia. Tradition in Burma is that King Asoka himself visited, and by the fifth century C.E., Buddhism was widespread. Both Theravada and other (Sarvastivadin and Mahayana) schools were active, until in the 11th century King Anaratha dictated that all Burmese should be Theravadin.

Later, the form practiced in Sri Lanka, which recognizes only the Mahavihara Monastery, was adopted in Burma. The Buddhist faith today coexists with indigenous beliefs in folk spirits, called nats. In Cambodia, Buddhism was present from at least the third century C.E., in various forms, including Mahayana. By the 14th century, Theravada seems to have become dominant in the Khmer empire, and it has persisted ever since. Buddhism entered Thailand in the north, via Burmese influence, and in the

south, through seaborne trade with India and Sri Lanka. The first Thai kingdom of Sukhothai, founded in 1238, was officially Theravadin. In the 19th century, under King Mongkut, a former monk, the Thai Sangha was reformed, resulting in formation of the Dhammayut school. Buddhism entered the Indonesian region very early; statues dating to the third century C.E. are found, and the Chinese visitor Yi Jing noted Buddhist activity in Sumatra and Java. Borobudur, a major stupa complex in central Java, was built in the eighth-century Sailendra dynasty, who probably supported Mahayana. Beginning in the 14th century C.E., however, Islam began its great spread throughout the Indonesian islands, and today Buddhism exists only among immigrant communities such as the Chinese.