Religion in Southeast Asia: An Encyclopedia of Faiths and Cultures

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LAO TZU (LAOZI)

Lao Tzu, or Laozi, is the founder of Daoism, one of the primary philosophical and religious teachings originating in China. The influence of Lao Tzu’s teaching through Daoism can be observed today across Southeast Asia, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Vietnam, Korea, and Singapore. The classic work in the Daoist tradition is variously called the Daodejing, the Tao Te Ching, or simply by the name of its alleged author, Lao Tzu. The Daodejing is believed to have been written in the third or fourth centuries BCE, though the ideas within the work are considered to be much older. The Daodejing has inspired many, both within and beyond Asia, and is the most widely translated book after the Christian Bible.

Despite the popularity of the Daodejing throughout history, little is known about its reputed author, Lao Tzu. The earliest and subsequent classical biography of Lao Tzu is recorded in the Shih chi history of China, written in the first century BCE by Ssu-ma Ch’ien (145–86 BCE) This version of the story recounts how Lao Tzu, whose name was Li Erh, was a native of the state of Ch’u and worked as the historian in charge of the archives in the Chinese imperial city of Luoyang. Witnessing the disintegration of Chinese society, Lao Tzu retired from his position and traveled west. Upon reaching the border, Lao Tzu encountered the Keeper of the Pass, who requested from Lao Tzu that he write down the wisdom of his philosophical learning. Lao Tzu obliged the request of the Keeper, writing in around 5,000 characters the meaning of the “way,” otherwise known as the dao, or “path,” in which one is taught how to appropriately behave and to assist in leading others. This is considered to be the “Classic of the Way and Its Power.” After writing his enigmatic work, Lao Tzu departed into the distant mountains, not to be heard from again. Speculation over what eventually happened to Lao Tzu has become the source of many a legend.

Another feature of Ch’ien’s biography is his description of a meeting between Lao Tzu and Confucius in which the wisdom of Lao Tzu dominates over that of his inquirer. Indeed, there are plenty of stories of alleged debates between the two great philosophers, usually depicting Lao Tzu as the victor, though it is likely that these stories emerged during a time of anti-Confucian polemical writing by Daoist members during the fourth century BCE.

The stories surrounding the life of Lao Tzu have long been debated, to the point of questioning whether or not he was a historical figure. Even the historical narrative presented by Ch’ien suggests several possible identities for Lao Tzu, including a man named Tan, a historian of Chou, who lived 129 years after the death of Confucius. Ch’ien admits that the world is unable to know where the truth in the story is to be found. The name “Lao Tzu” means “old man,” reflecting the essence of mature wisdom in the source of Daoist teaching. Indeed, to emphasize the wisdom of Lao Tzu, one legend suggests he was in his mother’s womb for 82 years prior to his birth, emerging as an aged man with white hair and fully able to communicate to those around him.

One thing that is certain is the influence of Lao Tzu’s teaching within Daoism over the centuries. To roam in the company of the Dao, the source from which everything is created and sustained, and to which all things return, is to live free to the self and free from the entrapment of all forms of conformity that would restrain us. The power of such a message, in a world that stresses conformity to social, political, and cultural norms, continues to resonate deeply with individuals and communities across Asia, Southeast Asia, and the rest of the world.

Adrian Bird

See also: Confucianism; Daoism (Taoism); Freedom of Religion; Religion and Society.

LAOS

Laos is a landlocked country in mainland Southeast Asia. It borders China and Myanmar to the north, Thailand to the west, Vietnam to the east, and Cambodia to the south. The climate is tropical. The population is 6.5 million, living on an area of 85,000 square miles. A single-party state, Lao government is dominated by the Leninist Lao People’s Revolutionary Party. The capital is Vientiane; the official language is Lao. The 49 official ethnicities are divided into lowland Lao, Lao of the mountain slopes, and Lao of the hilltops. The ethnic dimension bears strong religious and political connotations.

Religion in General

The history of Christianity in Laos is integrally linked to the missionary movements led by the various (and often warring) mission bodies and denominations. The Christian faith reached the region in 1642 with the Jesuit Giovanni-Maria Leria. Five years later, he was pressured out of the kingdom by religious fanatics. The first Protestant missionary in Laos was the Presbyterian Daniel McGilvary. In the early decades of the twentieth century, the Swiss Anabaptists and the Christian and Missionary Alliance too were active in the country. In 1975, all the missionaries had to leave the country.

Michael Kleinod

The constitution of 1991 declares “the right and freedom to believe or not to believe in religions.” Decree 92 (2002) defines the rules for religious practice. While it legitimizes a broad range of activities (printing of materials, proselytization by Lao citizens, contact to overseas groups, etc.), each is contingent on a tedious process of approval by the Department of Religious Affairs of the National Front for Construction. Both the constitution and Decree 92 simultaneously proclaim religious freedom and stress the potential threat religion poses to national stability. The state is the final arbiter regarding whether religious practice is “beneficial” or not. Officially recognized religions include Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and Bahá’í. The National Census (2005) counts 67 percent Buddhists, 1.5 percent Christians, less than 1 percent Muslims and Bahá’í, and 31 percent “others” (mainly animists). The census does not regard animism as a religion for its lack of written doctrines.

Buddhism

Theravada Buddhism is the religion of the dominant ethnic group, the lowland Lao, and other Tai-Kadai speaking groups. In precolonial times, Buddhism occupied a rather clear place in the political space of the Lan Sang kingdom and its successor states: Theravada was the central legitimizing source of kingship. From French colonialist rule onward, the Buddhist Order (sangha) gradually lost its traditional social functions: education and health care were taken over by state institutions, the Order relegated to the religious sphere in the narrow sense (rituals, meditation, Buddhist education). Parts of the sangha were instrumental for the independence movement (1945–1975) in gaining popular support. After 1975, it lost its traditional relative autonomy, and the Lao United Buddhist Organization united the opposing Thammayut and Mahanikay sects, and Buddhism was brought under direct party control. Instead of eradicating religion, the state reduced the sangha to a means for building socialism by streamlining Buddhist doctrines and practices, excluding “superstitions” such as ideas of heaven and hell, karma, and religious merit. Many left the sangha or the country. This restrictive attitude through the 1970s undermined the government’s legitimacy rather than Theravada’s popularity being diminished among the broader population. After the introduction of market economy in the 1980s, the sangha found itself in a state of ideological uncertainty but kept conforming to the party line. Today, Theravada is being (re)established as central to Laos’s national identity. Experts observe a re-Buddhification: Buddhist symbols and rituals are integrated into state functions (e.g., the That Luang Festival, or the “new City Pillar” in Vientiane). Buddhist practice is largely exempt from the regulations set down in Decree 92, and Buddhism is financially supported and promoted by the government (even though it is not an official state religion).

At the same time, Buddhism’s central role in constituting national identity is problematic, not least because roughly half of the population are ethnic minorities who, for the most part, do not adhere to Buddhism at all. Additionally, even lowland Lao are increasingly less likely to become monks for a longer period in life. The average is three to four years, and most enter for education reasons. There is high fluctuation within the sangha, a very low average age, and rank-and-file monks constitute only a minority. Although the amount of time monks devote to Buddhist study has increased recently and the sangha’s organization has been strengthened, the devaluation of monastic education for a life considered desirable, especially among younger generations, cannot be concealed. In rural areas, the vat (Buddhist monastery) is still the center of the village, also providing traditional services such as education. This, however, is due to either traditionalism among the elders or poor infrastructure of government services in peripheral regions. The vat is often the only institution to provide at least some education, a chance to escape rural poverty. Many young monks and novices leave for monasteries in urban areas and quit at the next available occasion. Moreover, about half of Buddhists are estimated to practice out of habit instead of belief. Sociologically, the current process of social differentiation splits Buddhist practice into performance, knowledge, and belief, and distributes these aspects differently among emerging groups and milieus.

Animism

Although the National Census distinguishes animism, or belief in spirits (phii), from religions (sadsana) such as Buddhism, sadsana phii is commonly used to denote spirit worship. This shows that animism and Buddhism are no distinct categories in everyday life, including among “Buddhist” lowland Lao. Animist-magical ideas are widespread and often frame the way “proper” religions are seen and practiced. The baci-ritual (wrist tying), based on the belief in khwan (“souls”), has become an icon of Lao-ness, as has the haw phii (spirit house) in front of every urban Lao home. Even in Vientiane, the capital, there is a sacred forest inhabited by phii and taken care of by the nearby vat. The existence of spirits is generally taken for granted, also by modern urban Lao. Animism is thus not an archaic remnant, but vital for mediating Laos’s social transformation. However, modernity—a value accepted also by “animistic” minority groups—is equated with lowland Lao Buddhism and contrasted with animism, which implies backwardness. The logic that ethnic minorities are poor because they are animists is common and has its effects on national development programs and on the way “target groups” relate to their “traditions.” There are instances where sacred forests are turned into “productive” land by villagers themselves, claiming that spirits are a thing of the past.

Christianity

The legal situation is more restrictive for Christian Lao than for Buddhists. For congregations to be recognized, they must be members either of the Roman Catholic Church, the Lao Evangelical Church, or the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Due to Laos’s colonial history, Christianity is seen as a foreign religion that presents a potential national security threat. Most Catholic Lao belong to Hmong and Khmu minorities. Especially the Hmong, some clans of which were and still are involved in antigovernment activities, raise strong stability concerns for the government. Since the 1990s, evangelicalism in Laos has one of the highest growth rates worldwide, due to very low absolute numbers, the relative novelty of this phenomenon, and the effort put into missionary work. Hundreds of Protestant groups, largely backed by U.S. organizations, are active especially among ethnic minorities. Established by NGOs with religious affiliations providing humanitarian aid, many of these new groups are not registered with the aforementioned associations. The religious fervor of some evangelical groups often goes hand in hand with a political opposition toward the “communist” government.

The law is reported to be applied rather arbitrarily among Christian groups. Protestants, especially, complain that legal regulations are used to restrict religious activities. Moreover, the decentralized structure of Lao administration enables independent action on the part of local officials that is not in line with the central government’s agenda. Outright crackdowns on Christians, such as the closing of churches or the forced renunciation of faith, typically happen in the provinces, while freedom of religious practice is, for the most part, a reality in urban centers. Repression is generally legitimized with the law, but “Lao” identity can justify it as well—e.g., the intention not to lose the title of a heritage site, as reported from Luang Namtha Province. However, also, “religious freedom” is instrumentalized by those hoping to cash in on the weakening of the Lao state.

Bahá’í and Islam

Bahá’í, a rather young Iranian religion propagating unity of all religions and of humankind, has roughly 10,000 adherents in the urban centers of Vientiane and Pakse. Around 400 Muslims are split in two groups: permanent residents from the Indian subcontinent, and ethnic Cham people who fled the Pol Pot regime. The latter constitute the Lao Muslim Society, which counts Lao nationals as well as foreign diplomats among its members. Each group runs a mosque in Vientiane. Since 2001, the Muslim community is under closer scrutiny by the government but practice has not been restricted. Additionally, a small number of Muslims from Yunnan Province, China, live in the far north of the country.

Overall, the traditional predominance of Buddhism is likely to continue given its privileged position for the legitimization of the modern Lao state. However, it has lost its monopoly for interpreting social existence, and with further international integration, the trend toward religious diversification will likely continue. Since colonial times, Buddhism has been integrated into the firm structures of the nation-state and has become one political actor among others. Animist-magical ideas are widespread and have blended with Buddhist or Christian doctrine. It will largely depend on Laos’s socioeconomic development whether these continue to be salient for making sense of Lao society in the future.

Michael Kleinod

See also: Animism; Bahá’í Faith; Buddhism; Christianity; Colonialism; Communism; Ethnicity; Freedom of Religion; Islam; Minorities; Missionary Movements; Religion and Society; Secularism; Spirit Mediumship; Thailand; Uplanders.

LIBERATION THEOLOGIES

Liberation theology emerged as a new social and theological movement in Latin America in the 1960s, wrestling afresh with questions about God’s relationship with the poor and the oppressed in a context of poverty and injustice. Liberation voices sought to understand and interpret the Christian Gospel in light of the lived reality of suffering, struggle, and hope of the poor. Challenging theologies that seemed removed from the concrete historical contexts of so many people’s lives, liberation theologians such as Gustavo Gutiérrez argued that the church must be actively involved in the struggle for liberation from any kind of oppression, including economic, social, racial, or religious oppression. Liberation theology can thus be considered a theology “from below,” or as a “theology of struggle,” which understands the Cross of Christ as a symbol of challenge, struggle, and hope essentially rooted in the critical contextual realities of the people. Justice, as an essential component of humanization, is considered an issue of utmost theological importance.

Given the reality of poverty, oppression, and injustice around the world, it is of little surprise that the influence of liberation theology has extended far beyond the continent of Latin America, in the course of the last several decades. The question of liberation has become an urgent one in Southeast Asia in the latter part of the twentieth century.

Despite the increasing attention given to contextual liberation theologies emerging around the world, particularly across Asia and Africa, building on the initial momentum generated in Latin and North America, Southeast Asia receives only scant notice. Perhaps this is due to the association of liberation theology to its Christian roots, which seem far removed from the religiously diverse context of Southeast Asia. Understood as a concept essential to religious discourse and action, Southeast Asia becomes a valuable resource for further investigation, adding intriguing and stimulating voices to the broader liberation theological narrative.

Adrian Bird

The influence of liberation theology has been witnessed among the different religions in Southeast Asia, each turning to its own sources and traditions in order to refocus attention on the liberation of the people from oppression. While acknowledging that the term “liberation theology,” which was essentially developed and articulated within the context of a Christian worldview, is problematic in the context of other religions, Irfan A. Omar also acknowledges that the search for the revival of liberating principles that places the human at the center of religious discourse exists within all religious movements.

Certainly liberation theology in Southeast Asia has its own distinctive realities, questions, stories, and voices to be heard. Bastiaan Wielenga observes that in contrast to Latin America, the distinctive reality of Asia is the religio-cultural context, where the overwhelming majority of the oppressed and the poor are non-Christian. Indeed, despite the shifting centers of Christianity around the world, the majority of people in Southeast Asia adhere to, or are deeply influenced by, the great religious traditions of Asia, including Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, as well as a variety of diverse popular traditions. The significant presence of Islam serves to add further diversity to the Southeast Asian religious landscape. This means that liberation theology in Southeast Asia takes on many forms and encourages mutually enriching conversation and joint action initiatives across the religious spectrum. To be in solidarity with the people in their own concrete historical contexts means forging and nurturing relationships between people of different religious faiths, identifying and challenging the causes of oppression without being destructively invasive to diverse religious identities.

Given the essence of diversity in Southeast Asia, it is clear that there will be no easy solution to the problems of injustice, poverty, indignity, or oppression. Though common points exist across the region, each context provides a different set of issues to be addressed. It is also the case that different religions understand the root causes of human oppression in different ways. Stephen Prothero reminds us that different religions offer different analysis of the human “problem,” and consequently offer different solutions to overcoming the problem. Buddhists, following the teachings of the Buddha, name human suffering as the chief problem to be overcome through the path of enlightenment. For many Christian liberation theologians, the primary cause of human oppression is sin, both on a personal and on a broader systematic level, which needs to be overcome through a process of action and theological reflection to bring about holistic transformation of the individual and society. Despite such differences, Choan Seng Song acknowledges that there are points of commonality to the experience of suffering, a realism that calls for the creative encounter of the Cross of Christianity with the Lotus of Buddhism, building bridges across the religious divide in order to name and challenge shared contextual struggles.

While interreligious relations become critical to the quest for liberation, this task is made more complex by the rawness of historical memory. There are cases in which the very human struggles identified are caused by interreligious tension, manifest through one religion’s support of oppressive or destructive ideologies, or hegemonic theological dogmas. In this sense, religion in Southeast Asia plays a double role, with the potential to abuse power to justify oppression as well as to join in the struggle against injustice and discrimination. Bastiaan Wielenga names patriarchy, prevalent among many religions, and caste discrimination (in contexts such as Myanmar and Bali), to highlight the potentially oppressive role of religious legitimization of human suffering. In order to build bridges across religious boundaries, relationships require a commitment to transformation on a holistic level in order to work toward justice, freedom, peace, and security for all, drawing on diverse religious sources to attain prescribed goals. This is no easy task, particularly as interpretations of “justice” and “freedom” are often done in such a way as to suit individual or collective interests, reinforcing oppressive norms through the power of religious interpretation. The challenges are many, yet the need is great.

Unlike the Philippines, whose population is predominantly Christian, most Christian groups in Southeast Asia exist as marginalized minority communities, a fact that affects the impact that can be made in the struggle of the poor. Given this reality, Christian theological responses to social, economic, and political concerns have been essentially stimulated through ecumenical gatherings and networks such as the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians (EATWOT) and the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA). These networks provide important avenues for solidarity, study, and action in the struggles of the people. EATWOT, for example, has focused on a variety of significant themes in the region, holding important think-tank conferences on the themes “Towards a Methodology of Doing Theology in the midst of Human Struggles” and “Indigenous Peoples’ Struggles for Justice and Liberation in Asia.” The minority status of Christian communities in Southeast Asia means that involvement in protest and advocacy movements has also come through alliances made with secular movements, where people are empowered to struggle against oppression and towards justice.

It has been noted that different religions in Southeast Asia have also sought to respond to the cry for liberation, though context again determines the analysis and response in a particular location. The experience of minority Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, who face ongoing persecution and discrimination at the hands of Buddhist and government groups, will be very different to the Muslims of Indonesia or Malaysia, where they form the majority religious group in the region. Once again, particular contexts determine particular human realities, influencing the impact of liberation theology for a given people.

Responding to the influence of liberation theology, Islamic revivalism in the latter part of the twentieth century can be seen to operate on the principles of liberation theology, challenging political conditions that seek to determine the destiny of people in the midst of their particular socioeconomic and cultural contexts. Justice is intrinsically embedded within the Qur’an, and inspires a passion for resistance against all forms of injustice. While liberation theologians assert that Jesus came to liberate humanity from all forms of bondage including material poverty and social injustice, it needs to be noted that Muslim revivalist movements also began as a struggle for social, political, and economic liberation.

Liberation theology has also had an influence on Buddhist thinkers in Thailand seeking to develop a Buddhist social ethic that will create liberation for the oppressed and disenfranchised people of Thailand. Even though Buddhism is often criticized as a religion concerned mainly with personal enlightenment and an individual turning from greed, Tavivat Puntarigvivat urges that greed be understood in sociopolitical terms as a built-in mechanism for oppressive social structures. Puntarigvivat describes the plight of Thai farmers unable to sustain their families through agriculture as a result of structural systems of poverty, and the increasing number of young girls who are forced to turn to prostitution as part of the illegal sex trade industry. While acknowledging that prostitution is against the teaching of the Buddha, Puntarigvivat is critical that the Thai sangha (community of monks) has historically remained silent about this issue. The reality of prostitution, as a by-product of unjust economic and social structures as well as a form of gender oppression, is one that Buddhist thinkers are seeking to address through the influence of liberation theology, using Buddhist sources to create a social ethic toward liberative transformation. Buddhist activists such as Buddhadasa Bhikkhu (1906–1993) sought to reinterpret Buddhism to incorporate sociopolitical concerns, encouraging social and political praxis in line with the Buddha’s teaching. Challenging personal and corporate greed, Buddhadasa discouraged the hoarding of surplus goods for profit, encouraging distribution for the well-being of all. Many Buddhist-based grassroots movements have emerged, including the bhikkhuni movement, to address concrete issues in Thailand, which seek to empower men and women to become actively involved in the struggle to overcome very real oppression and discrimination, both at the local level and at the broader structural level of the country. In neighboring Myanmar, the Buddhist monks were central to the “Saffron Revolution,” the antigovernment protests of 2007, which began as a people’s protest against the economic policies of the ruling junta.

With an emphasis on praxis, which stresses both theological reflection and action, liberation theology has been a radical movement that has significantly influenced the various religions of Southeast Asia, a region in which the question of liberation remains critical. Liberation theology, emerging with varied religious expressions and drawing on a diverse array of theological sources and traditions, seeks the liberation of the people from their particular contexts of oppression, working toward the transformation of both the individual and, essentially, the society, so as to remove the obstacles for human freedom and justice. Within this process, it is vital that religious groups come together for mutual enrichment and support, ensuring that all minority groups within a given region are afforded due recognition, dignity, and rights, and encourage mutual accountability in order to prevent liberation movements from becoming sources of oppression for future generations.

Adrian Bird

See also: Aisyiyah and Nasyiatul Aisyiyah; Bhikkhu, Buddhadasa; Bhikkhuni, Dhammananda; Buddhism; Christianity; Christian Conference of Asia; Communism; Confucianism; Daoism (Taoism); Engaged Buddhism; Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences; Freedom of Religion; Humanism; Interreligious Relations and Dialogue; Islam; Minorities; Reform Movements; Religion and Society; Women.

LOCALIZATION OF HINDUISM IN INDONESIA

Although being the world’s largest Islamic country, much of contemporary Indonesian culture is still strongly influenced by Hindu traditions. The national motto, Bhineka Tunggal Ika, usually translated as “unity in diversity,” is of Hindu-Javanese heritage, as is the national emblem featuring the garuda, originally Lord Vishnu’s vehicle, which also gave name to the Indonesian national airline, Garuda Indonesia. At the same time, the portion of Indonesia’s population professing Hinduism as their religion is vanishingly low and mainly concentrated on the island of Bali, with some pockets in Java and central Borneo.

Historically, Hinduism came to Indonesia as a religion of kingly courts, and only certain aspects of its mythology and cosmology penetrated the fringes of the traditionally concentric polities on the islands of Java, Sumatra, and Borneo (see van der Kroef 1951). In many indigenous societies of the archipelago, particular aspects of Hinduism have been localized and continue to influence the widely adaptive local religions, integrating Hindu symbolism, aspects of ritual practice, and cosmology into indigenous religious frameworks. After Indonesian independence, none of the local belief systems—dubbed kepercayaan—was officially recognized as agama (“religion”) in the context of Islamic monotheist conceptualizations, and in order to sustain their faith, strongly Hinduized local religions had to readopt universalized forms of an Indian Hindu Dharma framework in order to gain official state recognition. In consequence, some odd recontextualized versions of “Hinduism” exist in contemporary Indonesia, most prominently the Agama Hindu Kaharingan in Central Kalimantan on the island of Borneo, and the Agama Hindu Bali.

Hinduism(s) in Bali and Borneo

Evidence of Hindu influence on the island of Bali dates back to the first millennium of common estimation but became more pronounced after the defeat of the influential Hindu-Javanese kingdom of Majapahit in the fifteenth century, when the court sought refuge on the island of Bali and was able to reestablish a new dynasty here. A distinctly localized form of Hinduism developed during this time, with the Balinese identifying the mythical Mount Meru of Indic cosmology with their own sacred mountain Gunung Agung in the center of the island and incorporating indigenous spirits and divinities into the Hindu pantheon. In many local traditions of Balinese Hinduism, the ancient buffoon Twalen is still seen as an older brother to the Indian Hindu god Siva.

The syncretic Balinese religion was traditionally known as Agama Tirtha, the “religion of the Holy Water,” and recognized a diversity of local forms of adat, or “custom,” instead of a universally standardized version of faith and ritual practice. A mixture of Hindu-Buddhist scriptures, orally related mythologies, and localized rituals became the basis for religious life. However, constitutionally being a “monotheist” state, the Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs stipulates that every officially acknowledged religion has to acknowledge one highest divinity, must have a holy book (likening the Qur’an or the Bible), fixed places of worship and regular liturgical services, and observe annual religious holidays. In consequence, the highly syncretic Agama Tirtha in Bali had to be purified and altered to adhere to these requirements in the 1950s, and was acknowledged as an official version of Hinduism (Agama Hindu Bali) in 1958. Many of the local divinities had to be downgraded to become demons or saints, and the diverse local traditions (adat) found on the island were standardized (Picard 2004).

Three decades later, adherents of the Central Borneo tradition of Kaharingan, a set of diverse but not dissimilar local religions, sought Indonesian state recognition in comparable ways, reassigning new roles to former spirit beings and divinities, devising a standardized version of the myth of creation in form of a holy book, and institutionalizing regular religious ceremonies (Baier 2007). However, in contrast to the Balinese case, it can be argued that the basic tenants of Agama Kaharingan display as much Christian and Islamic influences as they are rooted in Hindu traditions. It seems that “Hinduism” here is used as a vehicle to receive authorization from state agencies for the continuation of indigenous religious life, even at the expense of compromising the magical prowess of traditional adat. In reaction to this, some communities in central Kalimantan have opted to formally convert to Christianity instead and, at the same time, to safeguard local traditions in “customary,” semireligious ways (Schiller 1997).

Christian Oesterheld

See also: Buddhism; Christianity; Contextualization; Hinduism; Indonesia; Islam; Minorities; Myth/Mythology; Religious Conversions; Spirit Mediumship; Syncretism.

LOH, I-TO

I-to Loh is a leading Asian church musician and ethno-musicologist in the second half of the twentieth century. More than any other contemporary Asian Christian theologian, he advances the work of theological contextualization that Shoki Coe began in the post–Pacific War period. His life and work explores the intrinsic connection of theology to spirituality, liturgy to music, faith to culture, and local to universal. His legacy is embodied both in the hymnals he produced and in his imprint on his students, many of whom hold key position in churches and seminaries in Asia and in the West.

Loh was born in 1936 at Tamsui, Formosa (Taiwan). His father Loh Sian-chhun was a pioneering evangelist and itinerary preacher among the Amis, Pinuyumayan, Paiwan, Rukai, and Tao tribes, at a time when Taiwan was successively occupied by two Asian powers—Japan and then by the autocratic Kuomintang regime that led to the island in 1949. His life and work would be marked by sensitive alertness to suppressed voices, mental strength, and cathartic discipline. Loh entered Tainan Theological College in 1955, at which time it was the trailblazing theological college in Asia under the helm of Ng Chiong-hui (C. H. Hwang, or more commonly known in the West as Shoki Coe). Missionaries Isabel Taylor, Kathleen Moody, and George Todd awoke in him the search in contextualization in church music. After graduating from Tainan Theological College in 1963, he pursued further studies at Union Seminary in New York and Columbia University. In 1982, he received his doctorate at the University of California (Los Angeles) for his studies on the tribal music of Taiwan, focusing particularly on the Ami and Puyuma styles.

Loh served as academic dean of the newly established Asian Institute of Liturgy and Music, based in Manila, from 1982 to 1994. From 1995 to 2003, he taught at Tainan Theological College and Seminary, which he served as president from 1995 to 2002. Loh composed over 100 original hymns and anthems, and edited over 20 hymnals. The editing of hymnals in fact became the occasions in which he probed new horizons, embraced new colleagues, and made new conceptual connections, from New Songs of Asian Cities (1972), to Hymns from the Four Winds (1983), Sound the Bamboo (1990, 2000), and Sèng-si (2009). In Search for Asian Sounds and Symbols in Worship (Loh 2012), the accessible collection of his literary work in English, also contains a full bibliography of his works.

Loh is a theologian as well as a musician and composer who gives expression to the spiritual traditions of Pacific Rim Christianity from Southeast Asia to the American West Coast. His life and work represent the challenges and new horizons of Asian theology. Ironically, he finds a more receptive audience in the United States than in Asia. He was the first non-Caucasian to be awarded Fellow of the Hymn Society of North America and Canada in 1995, and was the recipient of the Global Consultation on Music in Mission’s 2006 Award. He is a visiting professor of worship, Asian, and global church music at seminaries in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Taiwan.

Michael Nai-Chiu Poon

See also: Christian Conference of Asia; Christianity; Colonialism; Contextualization; Malaysia; Missionary Movements; Music; Philippines; Singapore.

L

LAO TZU (LAOZI)

Further Reading

LAOS

Religion in General

Buddhism

Animism

Christianity

Bahá’í and Islam

Further Reading

LIBERATION THEOLOGIES

Further Reading

LOCALIZATION OF HINDUISM IN INDONESIA

Hinduism(s) in Bali and Borneo

Further Reading

LOH, I-TO

Further Reading