ABSTRACT
After the British took control of the coastal areas of Sri Lanka in 1796 from the Dutch, it soon became clear that they, contrary to the Portuguese and Dutch colonial powers which preceded them, were after complete political control of the island. In 1815 they took Kandy and from that moment Buddhism and the Buddhist sangha gradually lost their dominant place in Ceylonese politics. Being deprived of the traditional protection of the rulers, the sangha entered a period of serious decline which eventually led to a series of reforms in the 19th century. This development can be considered crucial in the history of modern Buddhism and started a definite ‘change of character’ (Gombrich 1988, p. 173), leading to what has later been called ‘Buddhist Modernism’ (Bechert) or ‘Protestant Buddhism’ (Obeyesekere and Malalgoda). It originated as a protest against Christian missionary activities and at the same time incorporated typically middle-class, Victorian, Protestant values (Kloppenborg 1992). The main missionary organizations came to Sri Lanka in the being of the
19th century: the Wesleyans in 1814 and a few years later the Church of England’s Church Missionary Society. According to Malalgoda (1976, pp. 172ff )2 the Wesleyans were far more energetic and held the three main positions of Colombo, Galle and Matare. Although the Wesleyan missionary Daniel John Gogerly was one of the first to learn Sinhala and Pali, to study Buddhism seriously and to advocate the use of the vernacular in missionary schools and for native clergymen (de Silva 1965, pp. 157ff ), this was merely done out of missionary policy. The majority of the missionaries looked upon the traditional religion of the Sinhalese ‘as a massive evil structure that had to be destroyed before conversion proper could begin’ (Malalgoda 1976, p. 204). Since the missionary societies had their own printing presses, these were used for propaganda and polemics. In 1831 Gogerly wrote: ‘At present it is by means of the press that our main attacks must be made upon this wretched
system . . . We must direct our efforts to pull down this stronghold of Satan.’ (ibid, pp. 204-5). The Buddhist attitude towards non-Buddhist beliefs and practices has
always been one of tolerance; accepting one idea did not mean to them rejecting another idea. They ‘had no urge to regard two religions as violently opposed to each other, to regard one as the ‘‘Truth’’ and the other as ‘‘Error’’ ’ (ibid, p. 206). So when they were invited for discussions and debates, they really did not see the use of that. They offered the missionaries hospitality in their temples, monasteries and preaching halls, regarding them as colleagues. The harsh words and insults in the Christian propaganda changed their
attitude. First they felt injured and sent petitions to the government (beginning in the 1820s), with little result (ibid, p. 204). The petitions did, however, make the government aware of the possibilities of religious strife. The government was faced by a strong and well-organized missionary effort and, having ignored the Kandyan Convention of 1815, had financially supported Christianity. Therefore a much more cautious attitude seemed to be required to prevent an eventual increase of religious antagonism (de Silva 1965, pp. 118ff ). Then in the 1830s attempts were made to reply to the missionaries in order to
find their own, Buddhist, position in the ‘encounter’. When Gogerly published his ‘Kristiya-ni Prajn˜apti’ (Evidences and Doctrines of the Christian Religion) in 1849 (reprinted in 1853), including an introduction entitled ‘Proofs that Buddhism is Not a True Religion’, the Buddhists were willing to accept the challenge. They started two printing presses, one in Galle in 1862, financed by King Mongkut, and one in Colombo in 1855, an old press taken over from the Christians. The main authors whose works were published by these presses were Mohot.t.ivatte Gun.a
-nanda (1823-1890) in Colombo and Hikkaduve Sumangala in Galle. Gun.a
-nanda’s first publication was a reply to Gogerly’s book. He also started a Society for the Propagation of Buddhism, and these developments slowly made the Buddhists more self-confident, and made the conditions for a more equal encounter.
