We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
from Part I - Traditional Law and its Modern Resonances
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 May 2021
For centuries, Buddhism was said to be the main source of law in Buddhist kingdoms in mainland Southeast Asia, as seen in the prevalence of the cult of Dhammasastra. But what is Buddhist about these Buddhist laws? Buddha had never taught a legal code, only dhamma and vinya for monastic life, so the relationship between Buddhism and law is not straightforward. Dhamma itself is cosmic law. Vinya is a monastic code of conduct. This chapter aims to explore how the three types of ‘law’, dhamma, vinya, and Buddhist law, related with one another in ancient Siam. How did Buddhism shape legal, and political, arrangement in Siam? More importantly, when the service of Buddhist law officially came to an end in the early 20th Century, is there any residue of the idea left in the modern legal thought and culture of today Thailand?
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
