| Powerful Learning: Buddhist Literati and the Throne in Burma's Last Dynasty, 1752-1885 Contributor(s): Charney, Michael (Author) |
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ISBN: 0891480935 ISBN-13: 9780891480938 Publisher: U of M Center for South East Asian Studi OUR PRICE: $54.40 Product Type: Hardcover Published: January 2006 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Ethnic Studies - Asian American Studies - History | Asia - Southeast Asia - Religion | Buddhism - History |
| Dewey: 959.103 |
| LCCN: 2006051697 |
| Physical Information: 1.11" H x 6.54" W x 9.08" (1.34 lbs) 312 pages |
| Themes: - Ethnic Orientation - Asian |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Powerful Learning challenges the notion of the court and the monastic order as static institutions by examining how competition within and between them prompted major rethinking about the intellectual foundations of indigenous society and culture. The catalyst for this reformation of indigenous thought was the rise of a small clique of Buddhist monks and lay people from the frontier to commanding positions in the state and monastic order over the course of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. This clique had a major influence on the creation of state myths, the ways in which the throne ruled and presented itself, and, ultimately, the relationship between the throne and the state. The new state and monastic orthodoxy, however, was challenged by other Burmese literati, who, over the course of the nineteenth century, sought in Western science, technology, and political theory other ways in which to shape Burmese perspectives on state and society. |