• DOI:10.1080/14639940902968939
• Corpus ID: 143896245

Tai Khun Buddhism And Ethnic–Religious Identity

@article{Karlsson2009TaiKB,
  title={Tai Khun Buddhism And Ethnic–Religious Identity},
  author={Klemens Karlsson},
  journal={Contemporary Buddhism},
  year={2009},
  volume={10},
  pages={75 - 83}
}

• Klemens Karlsson
• Published 1 May 2009
• Sociology
• Contemporary Buddhism

This article examines the Buddhist ethnic-religious identity expressed by the Tai Khun people of the Eastern Shan State of Myanmar. The author argues that they possess a double ethnic identity: on the one hand, they have an ethnic-political identity as a Shan people, while on the other hand, they have an ethnic-religious identity based on Yuan Buddhism and connected with the historical region of Lan Na. The article discusses the history, myth and cult of a Burmese Buddha image standing in the middle of the city of Chiang Tung and the ways in which religious visual culture expresses ethnic-religious identity.