ダウェー僧伽に関する覚え書

―20世紀以降期のミャンマーとタイにおける宗派対立をめぐって―

抄録

The Theravāda Saṅgha includes exclusive groups of monks called nikāya, or orders, whose members share specific monastic practices or ethnicity. Throughout history, conflicts between different nikāyas have repeatedly arisen and been settled. How have the authority and law of state saṅgha been involved in the onset and resolution of such conflicts? Drawing on the example Dawei monks in Myanmar and Thailand at the turn of the 20th century, this paper examines two incidents: 1) the intervention of the Supreme Patriarch of Myanmar to settle a conflict; and 2) the adoption of the modern Saṅgha Act of 1902 in Thailand, which created a conflict. In the Dawei region, the Gado Nikāya is one of the eight officially recognized “strict orders” of Myanmar and is well known today. When the order’s religious practices were obstructed by non-member monks at the end of 19th century, the Supreme Patriarch of Myanmar played a significant role in settling the conflict by recognizing the independence of the Gado Nikāya. In contrast, in 1913, the Saṅgha Act of Thailand, which strengthened the authority of the abbot of each monastery, resulted in stoking a conflict between Burmese monks at a Dawei monastery (in today’s Bangkok) and its Dawei abbot, although they had previously lived together without problem. These cases from the Dawei Saṅgha provide useful comparative insights into the relations between nikāyas and the hierarchy and governance of the saṅgha in two countries.