Buddhism is an integral part of Burmese culture. While Buddhism has been practiced in Burma for around 1500 years and evidence of the religion is found throughout the country, nothing surpasses the concentration of Buddhist monuments found at Bagan. Bagan represents not only the beginnings of a unified Burmese country, but also symbolises Burmese 'ownership' of Theravada Buddhism. ¶ While there is an abundance of artistic material throughout Burma, the study of Burmese Buddhist art by western scholars remains in it infancy due to historical events. In recent years, opportunities for further research have increased, and Bagan, as the region of Buddhism's principal flowering in Burma, is the starting point for the study of Burmese Buddhist art. To date, there has been no systematic review of the stylistic or iconographic characteristics of the Buddhist images of this period. This thesis proposes, for the first time, a chronological framework for sculptural depictions of the Buddha, and identifies the characteristics of Buddha images for each identified phase. The framework and features identified should provide a valuable resource for the dating of future discoveries of Buddhist sculpture at Bagan. ¶ As epigraphic material from this period is very scant, the reconstruction of Bagan's history has relied heavily to this point in time on non-contemporaneous accounts from Burma, and foreign chronicles. The usefulness of Bagan's visual material in broadening our understanding of the early Bagan period has been largely overlooked. This is addressed by relating the identified stylistic trends with purported historical events and it is demonstrated that, in the absence of other contemporaneous material, visual imagery is a valid and valuable resource for both supporting and refuting historical events. ¶ Buddhist imagery of Bagan widely regarded to represent the beginnings of 'pure' Theravada practice that King Anawrahta, the first Burman ruler, actively encouraged. This simplistic view has limited the potential of the imagery to provide a greater understanding of Buddhist practice at Bagan, and subsequently, the cross-cultural interactions that may have been occurring. In this light the narrative sculptural imagery of the period is interrogated against the principal Mahayana and Theravada texts relating to the life of Gotama Buddha. This review, along with the discussion regarding potential agencies for stylistic change, reveals that during the early Bagan period, Buddhism was an eclectic mix of both Theravada and Mahayana, which integrated with pre-existing spiritual traditions. Towards the end of the early Bagan period, trends were emerging which would lead to a distinctly Burmese form of Buddhist practice and visual expression.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(農学) / 甲第22501号 / 農博第2405号 / 新制||農||1077(附属図書館) / 学位論文||R2||N5281(農学部図書室) / 京都大学大学院農学研究科森林科学専攻 / (主査)教授 柴田 昌三, 教授 神﨑 護, 教授 德地 直子 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Agricultural Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

This thesis is an ethnographic study of culture, economy, everyday life, and resistance among ‘Baganiyas’ (workers) of a tea plantation in contemporary Bangladesh. The main goal of this thesis is to highlight the Baganiyas' everyday resistance to the systemic alienation of the plantation structure and to demonstrate how their actions of resistance served as symbolic representations of their community's culture. It draws on the finding from an 18-day field trip with additional autoethnography and netnography conducted while the world was experiencing a global pandemic in 2020. Based on ethnographic observation, participation, interviews, and collaborative dialogues the study aims to explore the social life and stories of the people who bring the most consumed drink in the world into our cup from the ‘Bagan’ (garden). It traces the emerging subjectivities of the Baganiya - Worker, Planter – Manager, Planter – Owner, and neighboring others regarding the garden, on what they are commonly connected to. In doing so, the study investigates workers’ economic network that leads to the social and political association of the workers, which connects them to the occupational and institutional hierarchy within and beyond the plantation. The study explores resistance as culture in a symbolic form that stems from the structural inequality that alienates the workers from tea and everything outside the plantation. However, it argues that the resistance is not an act of idleness, rather an invisible tactic by the workers to counter the hegemonic strategy.