@article{ART003229193},
author={KANG MINJI},
title={Elite Continuity and Religious Custodianship in Transitional Burma: Recovering the Legacy of U Htaw Lay},
journal={SUVANNABHUMI},
issn={2092-738X},
year={2025},
volume={17},
number={2},
pages={293-316},
doi={10.22801/svn.2025.17.2.293}
TY - JOUR
AU - KANG MINJI
TI - Elite Continuity and Religious Custodianship in Transitional Burma: Recovering the Legacy of U Htaw Lay
JO - SUVANNABHUMI
PY - 2025
VL - 17
IS - 2
PB - Korea Institute for ASEAN Studies
SP - 293
EP - 316
SN - 2092-738X
AB - This article presents a critical re-evaluation of U Htaw Lay, a nineteenth-century Burmese elite whose contributions to the religious and administrative spheres have been marginalized in dominant historiography. As traditional systems of Buddhist patronage unraveled, U Htaw Lay was instrumental in preserving sacred religious sites while serving under both the Konbaung monarchy and the British colonial administration. Rather than representing a rupture with precolonial traditions, his career illustrates the adaptive reconfiguration of elite functions within emerging colonial frameworks—an interpretive model here conceptualized as elite continuity.
U Htaw Lay’s involvement in colonial service did not indicate allegiance to imperial authority but rather constituted a calculated strategy to ensure the survival of Buddhist institutions. His actions exemplify a novel paradigm of religious custodianship, grounded in legal negotiation and bureaucratic innovation. By drawing on temple-based historical records, this study underscores the analytical value of non-state archives in challenging dominant colonial and nationalist narratives. In recovering U Htaw Lay’s legacy, the article contributes to broader scholarly debates on religious authority, cultural resilience, and the contested politics of historical memory in colonial Southeast Asia beyond the confines of Burma.
KW - U Htaw Lay;Buddhism;Elite Continuity;Cultural Memory;Colonial Burma/Myanmar
DO - 10.22801/svn.2025.17.2.293
ER -
KANG MINJI. (2025). Elite Continuity and Religious Custodianship in Transitional Burma: Recovering the Legacy of U Htaw Lay. SUVANNABHUMI, 17(2), 293-316.
KANG MINJI. 2025, "Elite Continuity and Religious Custodianship in Transitional Burma: Recovering the Legacy of U Htaw Lay", SUVANNABHUMI, vol.17, no.2 pp.293-316. Available from: doi:10.22801/svn.2025.17.2.293
KANG MINJI "Elite Continuity and Religious Custodianship in Transitional Burma: Recovering the Legacy of U Htaw Lay" SUVANNABHUMI 17.2 pp.293-316 (2025) : 293.
KANG MINJI. Elite Continuity and Religious Custodianship in Transitional Burma: Recovering the Legacy of U Htaw Lay. 2025; 17(2), 293-316. Available from: doi:10.22801/svn.2025.17.2.293
KANG MINJI. "Elite Continuity and Religious Custodianship in Transitional Burma: Recovering the Legacy of U Htaw Lay" SUVANNABHUMI 17, no.2 (2025) : 293-316.doi: 10.22801/svn.2025.17.2.293
KANG MINJI. Elite Continuity and Religious Custodianship in Transitional Burma: Recovering the Legacy of U Htaw Lay. SUVANNABHUMI, 17(2), 293-316. doi: 10.22801/svn.2025.17.2.293
KANG MINJI. Elite Continuity and Religious Custodianship in Transitional Burma: Recovering the Legacy of U Htaw Lay. SUVANNABHUMI. 2025; 17(2) 293-316. doi: 10.22801/svn.2025.17.2.293
KANG MINJI. Elite Continuity and Religious Custodianship in Transitional Burma: Recovering the Legacy of U Htaw Lay. 2025; 17(2), 293-316. Available from: doi:10.22801/svn.2025.17.2.293
KANG MINJI. "Elite Continuity and Religious Custodianship in Transitional Burma: Recovering the Legacy of U Htaw Lay" SUVANNABHUMI 17, no.2 (2025) : 293-316.doi: 10.22801/svn.2025.17.2.293
