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ABSTRACT
Most studies on Chinese religions in Southeast Asia focus on their relationship with Chinese communities, but little attention has been paid to their social interactions outside these communities. At the same time, most studies on Thai religion have concentrated on the issue of syncretism and especially the dominance of Theravada Buddhism. Rather than focusing on either Chinese ethnicity or Theravada Buddhism-dominated syncretism, this article adopts a competitive view of religion to comprehend the relationship between religious practitioners in Thailand. It draws on the example of Yiguan Dao, a religious group that originated in China. The article argues that although the group is not formally recognised as a ‘religion’ (sasana) by the Thai state, it is subject to little government regulation. Instead, it faces attacks and criticism from its Buddhist critics, who call it a ‘cult’ (latthi). Like Bourdieu’s prophet who challenges the priest, Yiguan Dao has claimed its teachings are the ‘truth’ (thamma). The group has asserted its legitimacy and superiority by transferring other forms of symbolic capital to its own religious capital and revising its hierarchical position in Thailand’s Buddhist-dominated religious field.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. The divisions of Yiguan Dao (zuxian) mainly work separately, with their own leaders. However, after Yiguan Dao was recognised by the Taiwanese government, it formed a general association with the aim of integrating its different divisions. Some divisions did not join, though, and most divisions still have individual autonomy.
2. Yiguan Dao members call the places in which they conduct their worship, events and gatherings Buddhist halls (fotang in Mandarin; hongphra in Thai). Yiguan Dao members also sometimes call them Dao places (daochang in Mandarin; sathantham in Thai).
3. Yiguan Dao has spread across all four regions of Thailand, and its Buddhist halls are located in both rural villages and urban centres. Contrary to Sung’s figure of 7,000 Buddhist halls, Hung (Citation2020, 43) claims there are around 3,000 Buddhist halls in Thailand, based on his own summary from several large Yiguan Dao divisions (see Hung, Citation2020).
4. Buddhadasa Bhikkhu established the Suan Mokkh in southern Thailand and has considerable influence on Thai Buddhism (see Ito, Citation2012).
5. There is no exact information on the number of Yiguan Dao members in Thailand. For the division I did my research on, in the upper northeastern part of Thailand where this division is most successful, approximately 100,000 people had performed the initiation rituals and had become Yiguan Dao members as of 2014, with around 4,000 people joining each year. However, among those new recruits, only around 10,000 members had attended the three-day seminars, and only between 1,100 and 1,200 members had taken the lifetime vegetarian vow (qingkou in Mandarin). For an estimate of the scale of different Yiguan Dao divisions in Thailand, see Hung (Citation2020).
6. Lao–Thai Isan people are the main ethnic group in northeastern Thailand. Northeastern Thailand is called Isan in Thai. People of the main ethnic group speak the Lao language. I therefore use Lao–Thai Isan when referring to these people.
7. Some Yiguan Dao groups exist in Thailand without registering. These groups claim that they follow the traditional way of missionary work. They argue that because Yiguan Dao teaches the sacred Truth from Heaven, they do not need to be constrained by the secular government and that they have had many conflicts with the government in many areas over the years.
8. Yiguan Dao masters (dianchuanshi in Mandarin; achan thaithod boektham in Thai) are the representatives of the Respectful Master (Zhang Tianran, 1889–1947) of Yiguan Dao. As representatives of the Respectful Master, they can host important events such as initiation rituals. They must also teach the doctrines, or the Truth, to other members. Chen Hongchen (1923–2008) dianchuanshi is the former leader of the Fayi Chongde division, one of Yiguan Dao’s largest and most prolific divisions. The Respectful Master Zhang Tianran was the 18th patriarch of Yiguan Dao (see Billioud, Citation2016).
9. Two Yiguan Dao masters told me there was some criticism in the newspapers and on TV programmes around 1999, but I could not find exact information about this.
10. The Association of Yiguan Dao in Thailand is primarily supported by the Fayi Chongde division, but not all divisions have joined this organisation. Additionally, although it held many meetings that different divisions attended in the beginning, the Association eventually lost its function as a platform for interaction between the different Yiguan Dao divisions in Thailand.
11. Khruba Bunchum Yanasangwaror is a famous charismatic monk active in the border areas of the upper Mekong region in northern Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and southwestern China. Although born in northern Thailand, he has been proclaimed a ton bun (‘source of merit’; see Cohen, Citation2000; Citation2001) in the Yuan Buddhist tradition that crosses national boundaries. However, people from Bangkok and other urban areas also seek out Khruba Bunchum in this Mekong region (Amporn, Citation2017).
12. Yiguan Dao members trace their history of the Truth back to 64 masters across time. Those masters include 18 masters before Mencius in China (18 Early Eastern Masters), 28 masters before Bodhidharma in India (28 Western Masters), and 18 masters in China (18 Later Eastern Masters) after Bodhidharma brought the Truth back to China. In other words, they believe that the Truth was spread to India after Mencius and succeeded as Buddhism in India. After Bodhidharma went to China, the Truth returned to China and became established there. Huineng was the sixth master after the Truth returned to China.
13. Although some Theravada Buddhist teachings in Thailand also emphasise the ability of lay Buddhists to achieve Enlightenment, Yiguan Dao members tend to think Buddhism teaches that only monks can achieve Enlightenment.