religious change; new religion; competitive Thai religious market; mobility and religious network; religion and gender
摘要
Yiguan Dao (I-Kuan Tao, or in Thai, Anuttaratham) 一貫道 is a folk religious group that has developed rapidly in Thailand in the past decades. Although it is a prominent religious phenomenon in Thailand that warrants scholarly attention, there is almost no academic research on this topic. Literatures on Yiguan Dao in Southeast Asia focus on its relationship with overseas Chinese communities and Chineseness, and Yiguan Dao members tend to use similarity with Thai Buddhism to explain its development in Thailand. However, those suppositions are not suitable for Yiguan Dao in Thailand both phenomenally and theoretically. On the one hand, there are a number of non-Chinese Yiguan Dao members in Thailand. On the other hand, it supposes the openness of Thai Buddhism and cultural continuity of religious change. Instead of considering Yiguan Dao in Thailand as a “Chinese religion” or extension of Thai Buddhism, I argue that weshould perceive it as a new religious organization in Thailand, and focus on the dynamic relationship among Yiguan Dao, Thai Buddhism, and Thai society in terms of members’ agency.Most scholars tend to use syncretism or hybridization to comprehend the relationship between Thai Buddhism and various religious practices in Thailand (Kirsch 1977; Terwiel 1994; Swearer 1995; Tambiah 1970). Some scholars criticize this view and indicate a more all-inclusive view of “religious repertoire” (McDaniel 2011) or complementary view between Thai Buddhism and other religious practices (O’Connor 1993; Kataoka 2014, 2015). However, those views are usually a description of the change in structure itself, but seldom an explanation of it. Instead, I argue that we should adopt a competitive view to understand Yiguan Dao in the Thai religious market. In Thailand, although Yiguan Dao is not recognized as a religion by the state administratively, few regulations are imposed by the Thai government Instead, it faces attacks and criticism from the critics who adhere to the Thai Buddhist views. In response to such critics, Yiguan Dao members create various discourses and practices to map out their location in relation to Buddhism in the Thai religious market. Moreover, among various religious practices and groups in Thailand, the widely distributed segmented organization structure of Yiguan Dao offers support for members with high mobility or those who are excluded from his/her family or community. It also offers its female members more opportunities for seeking religiosity in comparison with other religious practices limited by the restrictions on women in Thai Theravada Buddhism. Regarding Thai religion and Thai society, some scholars adopt the secularist view and argue for the “individualization” of religious practices in Thailand (O’Connor 1993; Taylor 1990). However, I argue that religious organizations such as Yiguan Dao in Thailand are not as “individualized” as they indicate. Although Yiguan Dao provides salvation for personal problems and can exhibit the freedom of choice in the Thai religious market rather than the ascribed one, it also offers a worldview related with order and discipline for members to define themselves and the modern world that faces the problem of “communal dislocations.” Moreover, with the modified concept of “merit,” that is, making others members in order to build an advanced self and a reasonable world, members do not focus only on their own personal religious practices but the concerns of others as well. Related to those concepts, Yiguan Dao in Thailand form trans-regional networks for members’ interactions and security in the modern Thai society, particularly for women’s solidarity in the changing period. In other words, different from traditional territorybased Buddhism or individualized urban religious practices, Yiguan Dao is developing in a niche in the Thai religious market as a new religious group forming new communities for its members.
