Relationship between Anisong Manuscripts and Rituals : A Comparative Study of the Lan Na and Lao Traditions ; Beziehung zwischen Anisong-Manuskripten und Ritualen : eine vergleichende Untersuchung der Traditionen von Lan Na und Laos
This comparative research studies two corpora of manuscript that contain so called anisong homiletic texts which were very widespread especially in Northern Thailand and Laos and enjoy broad popularity. Usually manuscripts with anisong texts are written on palm-leaf and – in a clearly smaller scale – mulberry paper. These are used by monks and novices in different religious ceremonies. They are often donated to Buddhist monasteries and the community of monks and novices and therefore fulfill an important function in the social and economic interaction between Sangha and laity. The corpus of anisong manuscripts in Northern Thailand includes 207 palm-leaf manuscript bundles (Thai: mat) in which 339 fascicles (Thai: phuk) are contained; whereas those from Laos – mainly archived in the ancient royal city Luang Prabang, the Lao Buddhist center – include 143 bundles in which 366 fascicles are contained. Many of the anisong manuscripts are real multiple-text manuscripts (MTMs) or composite manuscripts (COMs). Benefits or rewards gained from meritorious actions are known as Anisong (P. ānisaṃsa) which is textually categorized as a Theravāda Buddhist literary genre especially found in the Tai-Lao cultural domain. Anisong constitutes a large corpus of Buddhist literature that is directly associated with the belief in meritorious rewards resulting from generosity. In Northern Thailand, the sermons are known as anisong, representing ‘rewards’. In Laos, however, the sermon is popularly known by the terms salòng or sòng – from Khmer: chlaṅ ឆ្លង, “to dedicate”, “to celebrate”) – which literally mean ‘to transit’ or ‘to celebrate’. Anisong sermons in Laos are held as the Lao terminological interpretation of the term insinuates and their anisong manuscripts diversely conceptualize the notions of anisong or salòng in a broader sense. Anisong sermons originated from the notion of merit expectation, thereby being included as part of religious ceremonies in which practitioners are assured of the rewards for their meritorious acts. ...